Our Sustainable Steps Erasmus Project

Project Title

Our Sustainable Steps

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: Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

One of the functions of school is preparing students with the global life skills needed to succeed in the 21st century society. So, among others we need to develop critical thinking and awareness of shared global and local challenges. One of those targets is learning environments – and since global warming and climate change has become an omnipresent fact that concerns every single individual, and we consider both our knowledge and preparedness not enough to be ready to accept the climate challenge, so we believe we need not only to learn a lot more about how to live and act sustainable, we have to do something practical, make a difference in our everyday life.
Accordingly, four schools from Estonia, Germany, Italy and Poland are going to prepare one Learning, Teaching and Training activity engaging 5 students (aged 15-19) and 2 teachers per school in each country to deal and experience different aspects of sustainable living: WASTE TREATMENT; SUSTAINABLE FOOD / TRANSPORT / ENERGY; RECYCLING CLOTHING / HOUSEHOLD; MAINTAINING NATURAL DIVERSITY.
Our intention is to introduce to the partners an old Estonian custom – bees i.e. local gatherings for work, introducing the campaign Let’s Do It https://www.letsdoitworld.org/ by involving the partners during the LTT activity in Estonia in May 2021. During our project by implementing all kind of voluntary work and practical workshops we give the participants the chance to experience useful work, which has to be done, if we want to reduce our ecological footprints.
The more, we are going to address the topic of civic engagement and responsible citizenship. Acting environmental-friendly often needs a great deal of willpower and endurance, so that one could fight against hardened comfortable behavior and growing consumption. All in all, we intend to share each other’s good practices in the area of sustainable living, teaching and learning mutually, using the diversity in curricula, trying to turn local usages and practices more sustainable. An international teamwork in this field will make it possible to learn creative approaches from each other and at the end to obtain new values.
Accordingly, the objective of project activities P1-P4 is preparing for exploring the Focus topic of the next LTT activity involving not only all the students of school but a wide range of school target groups. Exploring the present situation in the participating countries, project teams will compose PP introductions and e-Surveys of the ecological behavior of the schools’ target groups. Every class teacher will be responsible for taking part in or organizing a workshop or any kind of real action. At the same time international teams are creating a joint video blog showing the actions – our sustainable steps – made in our schools. All performed activities will be reflected on the eTwinning platform.
On the first day of a LTT activity we are discussing previously prepared PP introductions, results of the e-polls and video blogs of the focus topic. On the following days we will introduce and experience different ways of acting environmentally friendly in all the other aspects – including the most of the marked topics as well as other possible related issues – in every participating country, taking part in bees, voluntary work or workshops.
As a result of collective work gatherings both before and during the LTT activities there will be outcomes, such as trash containers for recycled bottles, grounded flower meadows in towns, some square meters of restored bogs, upcycled clothes or bags etc. made by students and community members in our schools and communities. Not to mention the attained know-how and personal experiences of every participant student, teacher, parent or other citizen ready to spread it further.
At the end of the project, comparing the climate behavior Surveys of Before and After we are going to check the difference in the behavior of our target groups, and publishing the joint video blog via Facebook and e-Twinning platform our model of sustainable behavior can be mirrored in the world. Changing the world should start with changing oneself, so the above described objectives and actions will be a beneficial medium to implement one of our priorities – common values, civic engagement, participation and critical thinking. On the one hand, the students will be in charge of creating, composing and also – via eTwinning – introducing to partners and publicity all visual and written presentations and documents of project activities. On the other hand they are going to take part in various bees, herewith experiencing the process of useful work, performing climate friendly steps, including charity actions e.g. in a Food bank, Recycling center or National park. All in all, our vision is to raise the awareness of the European dimension among students, to contribute to a cultural exchange and enable the participants to get in touch with the diversity of European cultures.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 79084 Eur

Project Coordinator

Loksa Gümnaasium & Country: EE

Project Partners

• Gymnasium Winsen
• Liceo Classico Statale “Dante Alighieri” di Latina
• Zespol Szkol im. Jana Kasprowicza