Urban development facing the climate challenge Erasmus Project

Project Title

Urban development facing the climate challenge

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 2019

Project Topics

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

Project Summary

Our school has been working in partnership with a Spanish school for four years now. For the moment, it is limited to a meeting during which the French pupils meet the Spanish ones in their school. From this good relationship, came the idea of a more ambitious and collaborative common project which would take place for a longer period time and above all in equal terms. We wish to discover the Spanish culture just as we wish to present the French culture.

On second thoughts, we (the French and the Spanish teaching teams) have decided to work on a project that would neither be purely French nor purely Spanish, but that would affect both countries equally, and letting each react its own way to the studied theme.
This is how we have decided by common consent to work on the consequences of the climate change. The architecture and the urban planning of the city of Valence have really impressed us and, to be honest, this is what inspired our project. Then, we thought about doing a research work in order to discover how this huge city of 800.000 inhabitants is getting ready for the climate change.

By extension, we thought we would conduct the same reflection in our country, with this issue: what are the strategies and adaptations planned to limit the impact of climate change on an increasingly urban population? The project has several goals. We wish to concretize a climatic situation that may seem abstract for some of our students. Through this, we will use this project to develop awareness of climate emergency based on scientific facts and not beliefs. For this reason, we will lead this project with, in France, a class of 30 3rd graders who are between 14 and 15 years old and in Spain, a class of 30 Tercero students from the ESO who are also between 14 and 15 years old. To carry out this project, the French teaching team made up of teachers of Spanish, physics and chemistry, plastic arts, technology and biology, will be supported by professionals from urban planning and architecture. These external stakeholders will help us to develop our knowledge of urban and architectural developments in response to climate change. To do this, we will visit the different districts of the city and use the examples seen and explained to produce a model that will report on the developments made and those that the students will imagine possible. This will be an opportunity to develop computer skills. The Spanish team of 2 French teachers, supported by science teachers, will carry out the same work.

Besides, the different stages of the project are planned in order to be able to respond to a precise and efficient planning. Step 1: In September, presentation of the teams, students and project objectives. Exchange on the eTwinning platform Step 2: In both countries, students will visit the cities with a specialized guide. The objective is to compare the different districts to discover what are the current urban developments to take climate change into account. Clues will be collected by students and presented to their partners via the eTwinning platform. These clues will be used to design the final model. Step 3: In early October, French students will participate in workshops at the Centre d’architecture et d’Urbanisme (WAAO) in Lille. The supervisors will offer them the opportunity to work and reflect on different workshops such as “Build your city of the future” or “Imagine an eco-neighborhood”. They will discuss architectural, spatial, environmental, technical, social or historical concepts. Stage 4: Mid-October: travel of the French students to Valencia, discovery of the partner country, its local culture and urban planning. The students will meet each other, discover the specificities of each country and local constraints. Students will present their findings to the partners. Step 5: January: Work on the model with a 3D printer. Step 6: March: Travel of the Spanish students to Cysoing. Presentation of local architecture and its urban planning and exchange on practices. Step 7: April: Construction of the model of the “district of the future”. Final step: Presentation of the projects to families and during the college’s Open House. The models produced will be presented by the students. They will serve as a basis for reflection on the impacts of climate change. How can we also prepare for it? How can it be limited? By videoconference, students from 2 countries will be able to present and explain their achievements. A presentation will also be made to the 6th grade classes of the school to raise their awareness of the problem. In this way, we hope to initiate a reflection within the College

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 56730 Eur

Project Coordinator

Collège Paul Eluard & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Colegio Sagrado Corazón HH. Maristas Valencia