Love Earth to the Moon and Back : Development of E-Curriculum on Climate Change and Environmental Education for Secondary Education Students in Online Learning Platform

"<< Background >>We applied for this project to address the urgent need for effective environmental education, particularly for high school students, who play a key role in fostering environmental awareness and responsibility. Grounded in the alarming global challenges highlighted by the IPCC, our surveys revealed that students often lack understanding and connection to environmental issues, limiting their ability to act. Despite its importance, environmental education is inadequately addressed in traditional curricula, with few schools offering dedicated lessons.Our project, Le_MOON, bridges this gap by developing an innovative online program that fosters ""life and professional skills,"" ""learning and innovation skills,"" and ""information, media, and technology skills,"" catering to today’s tech-driven generation. It aims to inspire positive behavioral changes and empower individuals to tackle environmental challenges.By supporting teachers and professionals to enhance their digital competencies and create impactful content, Le_MOON not only meets students’ needs but also engages the wider community, ensuring a lasting impact through understanding, engagement, and action.<< Objectives >>We aimed to provide secondary school students—particularly 15-year-olds—with a comprehensive environmental education so that they can understand, analyze, and address complex environmental challenges. We also aimed to:1.Develop a Co-designed, High-Quality e-Curriculum: Working transnationally, we aimed to define a universally applicable curriculum with appropriate teaching hours, topics, methods, and pedagogically sound materials tailored to the needs of students.2.Promote Hands-on and Inclusive Learning: We aimed at a more engaging environmental education. 3.Support an Interdisciplinary STEAM Approach: We integrated environmental issues with policy, economics, culture, and science to promote interdisciplinary teaching and a holistic perspective.4.Foster Intercultural and Intergenerational Collaboration: Involving a diverse range of stakeholders we aimed to promote dialogue and understanding across generations and cultures. 5.Strengthen Engagement and Inclusion: Recognizing the shared environmental problems, we created an e-platform to exchange knowledge, skills, experiences, and perspectives. We worked with Austrian Blind Institute giving a unique chance of including people with disabilities.<< Implementation >>In our project, we implemented a wide range of activities across three interconnected phases to achieve the objectives and produce the planned intellectual outputs effectively. Below is a summary of the activities carried out in each phase:Phase 1: Preparation and Research (Year 1)Objective: Develop the foundational framework for the e-Curriculum.Activities:Preparation Activities: We conducted promotional efforts to raise awareness about the project.Desk Research: We reviewed academic and grey literature to understand climate change issues, current environmental education practices, and students' engagement levels.Focus Group Discussions: We engaged young people, teachers, youth workers, policymakers, and the wider community to explore their needs and experiences related to environmental education.Framework Development: We integrated research findings and feedback into a structured framework to guide the development of the e-Curriculum and materials.Digital Competence Training: We organized training sessions to enhance teachers’ and participants’ skills in creating open digital resources.e-Learning platform development: based on the partner teacher surveys and discussions we found out that the teachers use online platforms in their classes for curriculum and learning content sharing rather than organization of online teaching; thus it was decided to use the online platform focusing on teacher use rather than the student use. Focusing on platform sustainability after the project, it was also decided not to create a new platform from scratch, but to adapted already existing VMU platform which contains online materials (created in different European projects) for teacher trainings or use. The platform will be constantly updated and administered by VMU specialists as it is planned to be used after the project ends.Phase 2: Development and Co-creation (Years 2 and 3)Objective: Build and refine the e-Learning Platform and e-Modules.Activities:e-Learning Platform Development: e-Learning Platform Development: We adapted the platform to host educational resources and interactive learning modules.Workshops for Co-Development: We collaboratively designed teaching and learning materials with students, teachers, and youth workers through inter/national workshops.Piloting Studies: We tested activities and resources with a sample group of learners and teachers, incorporating technological enhancements.Phase 3: Piloting, Refinement, and Dissemination (Year 3)Objective: Localize outputs, enhance inclusivity, and ensure sustainability.Activities:Localization and Translation: We developed Module 0 as a guidebook for culturally specific translation of the e-Curriculum and recommendations about how to use e_Modules in each country ensuring relevance in different education systems .Creation of a Handbook: We designed a User Guide and a research report. We revised and improved e_modules to include workshops (by Austrian Cultural Diplomacy) featuring extracurricular activities (sports, artistic, and scientific), games, dances, music… etc and for mobile learning integration for Visually Impaired People . Policy Recommendations: We produced a summary with actionable recommendations for policymakers.Inclusion Efforts: We adapted materials for disadvantaged groups by collaborating with Austrian Blind Institute. Multiplier Events: We organized events, such as the 1.5 Campaign, which included activities like an online photovoice exhibition, participatory dramas, virtual mobility programs, orienteering and an international forum where youth presented environmental solutions to policymakers.Transversal Activities:Transnational Meetings; We held four transnational project meetings to coordinate efforts.Online Meetings:We conducted six virtual meetings for regular updates and collaboration.Learning, Teaching, and Training Activities: We implemented five activities. Dissemination Campaign: We promoted project outcomes through local and international initiatives, ensuring broad impact. << Results >>Below are the key outputs and outcomes:Concrete Outputs:e-Curriculum Program- an online curriculum on climate change and environmental education.e-Learning Platform-a digital platform functioning as a repository of Open Educational Resources (OER) created in the project/ project deliverables (e.g., e-Curriculum, e-Modules) and an interactive dissemination tool for stakeholders and the wider community.e-Modules- activity-driven learning modules designed in alignment with the e-Curriculum, addressing gaps in environmental education resources and including innovative materials and activity sets.Other Results and Impacts Enhanced Competences and Literacy: Digital Competences, Ecological, Information, and Media Literacy, Language, Communication, and Organizational Skills, Positive Behavioral Changes: Environmentally sensitive attitudes and practices, including a ""zero waste"" mindset, sustainable practices like ecotourism-based rural development, organic agriculture, and nature sports.Career and Entrepreneurship Opportunities: career growth in environmental sciences, particularly for females and disadvantaged groupsInclusive Education: Disadvantaged groups ( specifically visually impaired learners)Wider Community Engagement: Raised awareness of environmental issues and solutions across diverse audiences.Le_MOON has thus created a comprehensive framework for environmental education, blending interdisciplinary learning and inclusive, innovative practices to inspire long-term positive change in attitudes, behaviors, and career paths related to sustainability and climate action."