Leaving footprints Erasmus Project

Project Title

Leaving footprints

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The main idea for the project “Leaving footprints” is sustainability and derives from the two concepts of the “ecological footprint”and “digital footprint.” It addresses our sixth-form students aged 16 to 18 years, some twenty students per school, a hundred students for the whole project. With this project we want each of them to reflect on their everyday decisions and actions, the traces they leave in the natural environment and the digital world by making them answer two questions: 1. How can I act responsibly with as little harm to my environment as possible? 2. How can I, as a young person in the 21st century, develop my potential, find my identity, my place, grow – AND STILL make positive changes at home, for the benefit of my school and local community? We are convinced that by participating in the project our students will evolve as responsible human beings and citizens and that our schools and local communities will benefit from their contributions to our schools’ digital and eco-curricula as well as from our students’ and teachers’ shrinking ecological footprints.

Our partnership is made up of schools from Finland, Germany, Lithuania, and Poland. The working language is English. “Leaving footprints” will give our students and schools unique opportunities to learn from their European partners and their schools’ best practices with respect to a more sustainable school life. Similarly, we will all benefit from our partners’ digital and e-learning experience, raising students’ awareness as to internet safety and their digital footprints and encouraging them to develop a positive digital profile for themselves. To achieve this, students will make good use of eTwinning by documenting their work and results of research, by maintaining an e-library and by their communication with one another using the social networking tools of the platform.

“Leaving footprints” means to focus on the digital and ecological footprints from a rather scientific viewpoint in two of the project meetings. But we are genuinely looking forward to familiarizing ourselves with the concept of student entrepreneurship and approach the topic through means of artistic expression represented by the Finnish and Italian schools. They will give our students extra motivation, spark their creativity, flexiblity and their problem-solving skills and, in doing so, will develop their “21st century skills.”

The main objectives pursued with the project are: firstly, to raise our students’ ecological awareness and to actually and measurably reduce their ecological footprints through a set of measures discussed by and agreed upon by the group; secondly, to raise our students’ awareness concerning their digital footprint and the risks that come with it, and, at the same time, to consider the chances of developing their individual digital profiles, especially as a tool for their educational and professional futures; thirdly, to familiarize our students with the idea of student entrepreneurship as they will realize their own small-scale sustainable projects together with their European partners. These projects, carried out either for an ecological or social cause, will make positive contributions towards a more sustainable school life and improve living conditions in our local communities. By carrying out their projects, our students will become more self-organized, autonomous and improve their digital skills as they will develop their project and document it over many months with photos, audios and videos they will be recording and which will, finally, be made into a digital story by them. These digital stories will give evidence of their continual, dedicated work and commitment.

On the whole, we consider this project to be a great chance to make our schools more eco-friendly, digitally innovative – two aspects with results that will find expression in our schools’ curricula and development plans. Apart from that, students and teachers will become more open-minded because the project has enormous potential for intercultural learning, foreign language learning and, with subjects as diverse as Geography, Biology, English, Drama, Art, ICT and Social Studies, it offers an interdisciplinary approach to studying and teaching. Moreover, the travelling that comes with ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnerships makes for travel and learning experiences for less wealthy students, who would not have the opportunity to take part in a students’ exchange without the help of the ERASMUS+ grant.

On submitting the application for “Leaving footprints,” schools across Europe are still closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with their reopening not yet in sight. In view of these developments we are as committed as ever to give our students the opportunity to participate in the valuable experience of being part of an ERASMUS+ partnership.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 124560 Eur

Project Coordinator

Phoenix Gymnasium Wolfsburg-Vorsfelde & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Pyhäjoen lukio
• I.S. TRAMELLO – CASSINARI
• Zespol Szkol im. Jana Kasprowicza
• Vilniaus r. Nemencines Gedimino gimnazija