Think act go … Green Erasmus Project

Project Title

Think act go … Green

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 : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

This project ‘Think act go … Green’ ran for 2 years (2016-2018) with 4 partners. They were all secondary schools from Belgium (the Institut Technique Horticole of Gembloux), from Sweden (the Aranäsgymnasiet of Kungsbacka), from Portugal (the Grande Colégio of Póvoa de Varzim) and from Turkey (the Rifat Canayakin Anadolu Imam Hatip Lisesi of Istanbul).
The students that joined the project were all studying sciences or environment and were aged from 16 to 18 years old.

It aimed, through a scientific, climatic, geographical, socio-economic and historical investigation, at raising young people’s knowledge and awareness of the environment and associated challenges, with a specific focus on the COP 21 climate summit and its outcomes.

The objective of this project was to inform and educate students and teachers on the crucial issue of climate change and its implications on the environment. The Paris Agreement, which was negotiated and adopted during the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, set out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C. This was the premise of the project.

The context in which this project was born reflected the strong belief that this theme had to be faced by schools and educational services throughout Europe. All of us agreed that the topics of climate change, global warming and sustainable development couldn’t be addressed at a local level alone. By working with countries across Europe, we have generated a greater response to the issues raised.

This project aimed at studying and analysing the environmental behaviors of European young people, and assessing the significance that the environment and natural resources have for each individual.

The project proposed an analysis and an exchange of information relating to environmental factors among the European schools involved, in order to foster awareness of the importance of sustainable development. Through a scientific approach, multimedia technologies, by creating an e-learning , developing ICT skills, mobilities and the use of the English language as a means of communication among member schools, the partnership aimed at reaching a common scientific, cultural and human reflection not only on the importance of the preservation and conservation of the environment and of natural resources on earth, but also on good environmental practices that can be applied across Europe.

The work was therefore based on a peer-to-peer scientific analysis of environment phenomena occurring in our respective countries, which were shared in order to draw up a set of guidelines on a correct lifestyle and proposing some solutions to avoid global warming, to preserve and protect natural resources, and, in so doing, to strive towards the objective set by the Paris Agreement at the COP 21 climate summit.

The approach adopted for this project was
– learning by doing;
– cooperative learning;
– visiting companies putting forward sustainable development;
– following seminars given by experts;
– visiting local initiatives, science museums;
– creating an e-learning;
– using social learning networks such as Facebook;
– making short videos;
– taking part in project work ;
– a participative methodology, divided into 4 phases :
1) an orientation phase;
2) a development and consolidation phase (planning and research);
3) the “carrying-out” phase where pupils were given different tasks which were then shared with each other;
4) the “follow-up” phase where pupils evaluated their experiences together with their partners through “focus groups”.

And also around 4 topics studied at each Learning/Teaching/Training short-term activities meetings:
– in Belgium: food and farming ;
– in Sweden: energy ;
– in Portugal: climate changes and impact on biotopes/ecosystems ;
– in Turkey: transport and industry.

The main activities undertaken were :
Before each meeting, students answered a questionnaire on the topic of the week and created a short video.
During the week, workshops on the topic, visits of companies or research centers, seminars given by specialists.
At the end of each meeting a short slide show was created.

The slide presentation, the logo, as well as the assessment questionnaire and other materials are available in English and are downloadable for free on the project’s website.

The long-term benefits of our project are the following:
Through collaborative work, pupils have developped awareness of and respect for the diversity of European cultures, and they have acquired life skills and competences necessary for personal development and active European citizenship. They have also increased their linguistic knowledge and their involvement in nature protection.
The project has also enabled each school to increase their European school network and develop teachers and students exchange in new Erasmus+ partnerships.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 108010 Eur

Project Coordinator

ITHCF gembloux & Country: BE

Project Partners

• Aranäsgymnasiet
• Rifat Canayakin Anadolu Imam Hatip Lisesi
• Grande Colégio da Póvoa de Varzim, SA