Our Planet – Our Future Erasmus Project

Project Title

Our Planet – Our Future

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: Health and wellbeing; Environment and climate change; Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions

Project Summary

Mission statement:
The “Our Planet – Our Future” project is bringing the ideas of environmental awareness and protection as concrete initiatives into the hands of students. Through a cooperation between schools in Austria, Belgium and Estonia, specific and achievable goals will be developed and administered. This foresight will allow students to proactively change the everyday behaviours within their own schools and their communities. Additionally, partnerships with local government and organisations, will further spur change, which tackles the very real threat of climate change and environmental collapse. By working together, the schools and its participants will be able to take theoretical ideas into practice, and inspire an entire generation to become ambassadors for the environment.

Participating Organisations:
HLW Wolfsberg, Austria. 25 students + supervising teachers. E10060582
Sint-Guido-Instituut; Belgium. 15 students + supervising teachers. E10042914
Viljandi Vocational Training Centre, Estonia. 20 students + supervising teachers. E10170198

Objectives:
– First of all, creating a broader awareness amongst young people towards environmental issues and the effects of neglecting them is our top priority. Youngsters are very aware of what is happening worldwide, especially with movements like Friday’s for Future. A mixture of worry, apathy or lack of awareness as to how an individual can make meaningful change is where this project comes into play.
– Our second aim is to show them what they can actually do by introducing them to various opportunities that they might have come across already but never really experienced themselves. Additionally, experts will be there to give them first-hand advice on what else is achievable and what these favourable effects would be. That way they will find out first-hand the impact an individual can have.
– A third objective for which Belgium is responsible is to create a universal climate plan that can then be used in different schools. As a basis, a universal tool to map out the current situation of the schools will be created to find out to what extent climate/emissions/environment/etc are already taken into account in order to respond thereafter and create a plan that can be used in every school. At this stage, experts will be ready to assist and give useful tips in order to include all the areas necessary.
– In Estonia, the main focus of the activities is on the appreciation of the environment and how the students can take meaningful action in their daily lives. Consequently how to deal with/avoid food waste will be the central topic and students´ attention will be drawn to that aspect of environmental protection. A short commercial will be prepared in advance and then adopted according to the ideas of the incoming students when working together. Furthermore, Estonia will be responsible for a film covering all the events/activities carried out in the course of the project. This will then be shared hoping to inspire other schools, students, and teachers to follow our lead.
– A final objective is to show everyone who is interested in the topic that if we all work together instead of looking away and ignoring things going on around us if we exchange ideas and are ready to learn from each other, we can make a difference.

Activities:
* mapping the current situation,
* organizing and carrying out workshops with external partners,
* raising awareness among fellow students, teachers, heads,
* drawing up the final plan
* preparing a tool to assess the impact of the climate plan.
* visiting and appreciating nature
* creating an actionable plan to minimize food waste
* implementing school wide green-initiatives that can be fostered into other schools, workplaces and communities.
* filming of the process, meetings and results.
* creation of commercials for educational purposes.

Conclusion:
At the end of every learning mobility, we would like to ask the participating students and teachers for feedback. Therefore, we will create a questionnaire which can easily be filled in online and evaluated afterwards. This will help us make adjustments at any stage of the project if necessary.
Towards the end of the project, students will be asked to sit down and create presentations about what they have experienced in the course of these two years. The focus will, of course, be on the main topic but on any other aspects (life in other countries, school systems, etc) encountered as well. Moreover, they will have a folder filled with all the relevant information they have received from experts, guests, hosts, etc which they can always refer to if needed.
Furthermore, each school will analyse what kind of programs or activities in concern of the environment had begun as a result of the project, and whether or not they are able to maintain and improve upon these initiatives.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 93228 Eur

Project Coordinator

HLW Wolfsberg & Country: AT

Project Partners

• Sint-Guido-Instituut
• Viljandi Kutseõppekeskus