Sustainable development in the wood sector Erasmus Project

Project Title

Sustainable development in the wood sector

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: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

The project involves two vocational high schools, in France and Romania, which offer training in the wood sector. At European level, the two countries are working closely together in this area. This is how the project finds all its meaning and interest. Romania is a very important protagonist in the production of wood in Europe and many French companies in the sector work with Romanian companies.

The working theme is sustainable development linked to the exploitation of wood. The preservation of forests and the biodiversity it shelters, the rational exploitation of wood, recycling, are all subjects that should concern future wood professionals beyond the borders of France, Romania, and even from Europe. The two establishments are already involved in actions related to environmental protection that the project aims to strengthen. Indeed, the Chablais vocational high school has set up a Sustainable Development Agency and in the Regele Mihai I high school, environmental protection is the subject of specific training.

In each of the two establishments, the young people involved in the project are between 15 and 18 years old and undergo carpenter training. The project will last two years and will involve 30 pupils and 6 French and Romanian teachers.

The first year will be devoted to raising awareness of the challenges of sustainable development in the wood sector. Mobility is planned in the two countries to exchange views on the subject and meet professionals. In each of the two countries, everyone will discover the specific challenges of the different territories by meeting various professionals. Thus, in Romania, the Cozia National Park in the Carpathians, The Forest District of Mușătesti whose function is to ensure optimal management of forest resources, and a Curtea de Arges company with more than 100 years of tradition in the wood industry will be associated with the project. In France, the Chablais Geopark and the Thônes ecomuseum will educate young people about sustainable forest management. Professionals will also introduce young people to the labels that exist in the wood industry.

The second year will be devoted to the creation of communication media and their dissemination. The mobilities provided for in this context aim to carry out mediation and awareness-raising actions in the two countries while promoting the project itself. Between the mobilities, the students work together remotely using the eTwinning platform to prepare the mobilities and their content, then to work jointly on the preparation of the project’s communication tools and supports. This project will thus make it possible to develop skills in oral communication among young people, to improve their command of the oral and written language, whether it is the mother tongue or foreign language while progressing in the mastery of digital tools.

Young people will then be led to become ambassadors for sustainable development at local, but also European level, by raising awareness among a large audience. For this, they create together useful objects for the preservation of biodiversity in the workshops of high schools during mobility. To carry out the wood manufacturing, the young people will work with wood labeled, local responsible and sustainable in both countries. These objects designed by the students, nest boxes for bats, insect hotels, flower boxes with honey plants, will be installed in the vicinity of the establishments with explanatory panels aimed at informing and raising awareness among a wide audience.

The project will also be the subject of communication and mediation actions. These actions will take place during the second year. Young people will pass on the knowledge acquired to professionals by creating awareness-raising tools: an exhibition, a video clip, and online communication thanks to the public page of the TwinSpace. These awareness tools, which will be disseminated locally and on the Internet, will be offered in three languages, French, Romanian and English. Students will also carry out mediation actions in their cities with different audiences, in schools, associations and local structures, which will allow them to publicize their project, develop communication skills and get involved. fully in raising awareness of sustainable development. It is a project which, at its level, thus contributes to the construction of a European identity around a transnational concern: the eco-responsible approach.

Following this project, the ambition is to continue the partnership between the two establishments, by expanding it to other European vocational high schools. This project will be built with different objectives but with the same concern for mutual enrichment.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 58790 Eur

Project Coordinator

Lycée professionnel du Chablais & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Liceul Tehnologic Regele Mihai I Curtea de Arges