Zero waste schools: utopia or our shared future? Erasmus Project

Project Title

Zero waste schools: utopia or our shared future?

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: Reaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makers; Environment and climate change; Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions

Project Summary

Our project is embedded in our school cultures who are committed to change pupils’ minds about climate issues. Climate strikes show us their commitment, active involvement in sustainability is a natural consequence. That’s why within this project we would like to focus on the waste our youngsters and we as teachers produce, consume and leave behind. After several projects we still notice that it’s very hard to keep a green and clean school, so we really want to invest in that. It’s certainly better for the environment, but at the same time it has an effect on the well-being of everyone enjoying the surroundings. We hope that visiting places such as the seaside (B) and Via Francigena (I) will increase the bond with nature. Meeting people from other countries, meeting policy leaders during mobilities will help to put things in perspective, to find new ideas and to book a final result in which both committed schools end up to be a Zero Waste School that looks clean and green. Good practices should make pupils realize that we as school communities can reduce our carbon emission and our ecological footprint. This project also really focuses on the reduction of waste production in schools, as we are both schools offering vocational classes, this is definitely an issue. Next to the reduction of waste, we also want to invest in recycling. For that we’re going to encourage our pupils to open a second hand store so that entrepreneurship is also part of this project. We believe that if we can change the mindset in a positive way this will result in a lifetime of making sustainable choices, in professional matters as well as in personal matters. Those are 21st century skills that contribute to Europe’s Green Deal which in the end must lead to a green Europe, green countries, green schools and green people. All subjects at school will be implemented in this project. In mathematics classes we’ll work with numbers of litter and waste and look at the evolution, the positive change that will be the result of campaigns set up in English classes and shared on Etwinning with the other school. Videos, promotional campaigns, posters, … will all be part of the way in which pupils and staff will be made aware of the changes each of us can make. A level up is a visit to IMOG so that we get the chance to talk to experts in the field and gain knowledge. Taking part in debates is only useful when one is acquainted with the topic, so foremost we want our pupils to gain knowledge about the theme so they become experts themselves. Once they are, we are going to visit several parliaments and talk to ministers responsible for environment. Our pupils will ask them questions and hopefully do some recommendations themselves as they will have had some experience with innovative ideas such as circular economy. Our pupils will take part in debates with fellow pupils from other countries and do that in English, which is not their mother tongue. They should be able to come up with sound arguments, realistic and hopeful ideas and be able to word well what they want to achieve. That way they become stronger communicators which will help them once they talk to their principals and teachers about their outcomes. Via Etwinning pupils get to know each other and each other’s background and culture so they have an idea of how the country looks at waste being produced and recycled, how clean the school building and school area is, how intertwined all this is with the community so that it’s easier to come up with a plan of action. Once they have their plan of action to reduce waste in vocational classes, to reduce the litter in the building, to lessen their ecological footprint by reducing the school’s carbon emissions they present this to the other school, to the team of staff members responsible for sustainability and to the principals of the school. Once they’ve got feedback from the different people involved, they can actually work out their plan so as to create a mind shift in the entire community because in the second part of the mobilities we want to break the school walls and change the local community as well as active citizens. This project involves a lot of Etwinning and 4 mobilities for 64 pupils. One group of 16 Italian and 16 Belgian pupils exchange in March and April 2021. The second exchange takes place for the following groups in October 2021 and March 2022. During the first mobilities pupils will work out a mini-climate action plan and inform those pupils who will take part in the exchange in the year to come. Peer-to-peer learning will broaden their views and at the same time they get acquainted with another culture, a special occasion for some of our pupils who won’t study on after high school and won’t get the chance to go on Erasmus as a student. Some of them don’t have the economical wealth to do this either. Thanks to Erasmus+ they’ll have a chance of a lifetime, which will definitely enrich their high school career and memories.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 65160 Eur

Project Coordinator

RHIZO 3 & Country: BE

Project Partners

• I.S.S. CARDARELLI