Mare Nostrum – the ecologically dying Baltic sea as natural, economic and political sphere – issues and challenges Erasmus Project

Project Title

Mare Nostrum – the ecologically dying Baltic sea as natural, economic and political sphere – issues and challenges

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

Project Summary

Based on the current debate on climate change as an existential crisis and the commitment of young people in the context of the Europe-wide Fridays for Future movement, the project “Mare Nostrum – the ecologically collapsing Baltic Sea as natural, economic and political sphere – issues and challenges” addresses the problem of the current ecological situation of this exemplary Baltic Sea region. The manifold influences on the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea are considered against the background of the principle of sustainability not only from an ecological and scientific, but also from a political and economic perspective. Thus, the project pursues not only a transnational, but also an interdisciplinary approach. With their different approaches, the departments of biology, geography, economics and politics contribute to the pupils’ awareness of the current ecological situation of the Baltic Sea and develop visions for the future of the Baltic Sea as an ecological model region in the EU. Concrete measures to save the Baltic Sea, which every participant and school community can take, will also be developed.
All participants are Baltic Sea bordering states. Pupils aged between 15 and 17 years and teachers will participate in the project activities. In order to enable as many pupils from the participating schools as possible to take part in a learning activity, 12 pupils from each of three project countries and two to three teachers will be involved in each mobility. A total of 96 pupils and 22 accompanying teachers will participate in mobilities.
In the first year of the project, during the first project week in Finland in October 2020, Polish and German pupils together with Finnish pupils will create podcasts on current political measures and their implementation with regard to ecological problems of the Baltic Sea. In the second activity in spring 2021, German and Finnish pupils will visit Sweden to experience, analyse and film the ecological problems of the Baltic Sea from a biological and geographical point of view with the Swedish pupils. The hands-on project on the Swedish Baltic Sea coast focuses on the topic of plastic waste and its avoidance. In the second year of the project, in November 2021, the film material prepared in Sweden will be used with Germany as the host country to realise the stopmotion film project “Present and future of the Baltic Sea as a living and economic area” with Swedish, Polish and German pupils. In this project-week, the political, biological and geographical aspects developed in the first two learning activities will be brought together and different future scenarios will be modelled. In the final project-week in Poland in spring 2022, a Baltic Sea board game “The climate is tilting” will be conceived with the obtained results, in which the complex relationships in this ecosystem will be made visible and tangible.
During the national periods of the project between the learning activities pupils will learn about the fundamental facts in their politics, biology and geography lessons at their national schools.
The central aim of both the learning activity weeks and the lessons in the national phases of the project is to motivate the pupils – in addition to dealing with the Baltic Sea ecosystem from a biological, geographical and political point of view – to take responsibility in their everyday lives, to develop and implement ideas for reducing environmental pollution and to become involved as EU citizens in improving the ecological condition of the Baltic Sea.
In addition to the theoretical and practical knowledge, the students will acquire methodological skills in handling a film camera, a camera, sound recording devices and the software for making stop-motion-films. They learn question techniques, how to create know-how posters and how to plan and carry out an exhibition. Last but not least, they acquire manual and conceptual skills in creating a board game.
The described project results are to be used as learning materials in the subject lessons of biology, geography and politics of the respective countries and also for bilingual teaching. In addition, it is planned to publish the posters through exhibitions in and outside the schools and the film scenes and podcasts at school events in all participating schools and on the internet. Finally, the results of the project are to be further disseminated through the school homepage, the school newspaper, regional media and passed on to environmental associations or libraries.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 115250 Eur

Project Coordinator

Humboldt-Gymnasium Ulm & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Zespol Szkol Ponadpodstawowych
• Jandelschool
• Kuopion taidelukio Lumit