The agenda 2030´s goals of sustainability – their significance and realization in European countries Erasmus Project

Project Title

The agenda 2030´s goals of sustainability – their significance and realization in European countries

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: Energy and resources; Environment and climate change; Home and justice affairs (human rights & rule of law)

Project Summary

The United Nations’ Agenda 2030, adopted in 2015, contains 17 development goals for sustainability.
From these we have selected the following sub-goals together with our partners for our project:
1. Affordable and clean energy
2. Peace, justice and strong institutions
3. Climate action
4. Responsible consumption and production

Involved schools:
– Niels-Stensen School Schwerin, Germany
– Kotkan lyseo, Kotka, Finland
– IIS Mario Rigoni Stern, Bergamo, Italy
– III Liceum Ogólnokształcące in. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie, Świdnica, Poland

The students involved in the project are about 16 to 18 years old and learn in high school grades 10 – 11. During the two-year project period, 4 meetings will take place. A joint work phase of 5 days is planned at each school location. About 8 pupils from each school are to take part in the project meetings. During the project, the participants should not only get to know the 2030 Agenda better, but also work out the relevance of the selected sub-topics in their home country and beyond in a comparison of European countries. For this purpose, the pupils first determine the respective status quo in their countries at their own school. The pupils collect information, question the responsible institutions and adopt the relevant legal provisions. These inventory assessments are compared and discussed at the joint project meetings. The comparison and evaluation of these initial situations in the participating countries is the basis for further processing. We expect quite different results in the participating countries, especially when peace, justice and strong institutions are compared, but we consider this a challenge and not an impediment.
Nevertheless, possibilities for the realisation of the sustainability goals in the respective countries should be worked out, whereas, on the other hand, solutions should be found how the selected sub-goals can be implemented in all the participating countries in a united and equal Europe. Experiences from a previous ERASMUS+ project underline that despite Euroscepticism and even rising nationalistic tendencies the European idea has a strong and positive influence on young people.
It will be decided in the group and with the partners through discussions and critical consideration whether a minimum or a maximum consensus promises the greatest possible implementation. The content of the work during the project meetings should be varied and supported by a wide range of activities and methods. Among others, we planned various workshops, courses / laboratory work / lectures at a university, visits to companies and research institutions, discussions with members of the parliament as well as with officials from public institutions. The students will create a variety of materials for further use during the project meetings. The project should then be transferred to the wider school framework by making all results visible. The topic can also be worked on by other classes, class levels or learning groups of all schools after the official project has ended. In the long term, the project work should help to develop an understanding of the importance of sustainability in the selected fields on a national and European level, to possibly raise critical questions and to change the students’ own attitudes and behaviour patterns, and to get the students interested in the other sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda. By working on the planned project, the pupils not only acquire intercultural and regional knowledge, but are also forced to do this exchange in the foreign language (English). In this way, they deepen and expand their foreign language skills. This language competence will be of valuable advantage in their post-school life in a common Europe.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 119784 Eur

Project Coordinator

Niels-Stensen-Schule Schwerin & Country: DE

Project Partners

• ISTITUTO ISTRUZIONE SUPERIORE MARIO RIGONI STERN BERGAMO
• Kotkan lyseon lukio
• III Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Marii Skłodowskiej – Curie