Fresh water for the future

<< Background >>Pollute free fresh water is an absolute necessity of life and still something most of us takes for granted. The increasing global temperature do not only affects the mean annual temperature but also the precipitation and evaporation throughout the world. Countries in southern Europe, especially Italy, have during the last couple of years suffered from severe drought and/or subsequent flooding, in many cases of levels higher than ever measured, and the situation is expected to get worse. It is therefore an absolute necessity that the theoretical knowledge is visible and possible for the students to grasp to build a solid foundation of knowledge, theoretical and practical, in the youth of today, During the last couple of years the results of PISA has been decreasing for both Sweden and Italy which calls for a retake of the didactical approach, especially in natural science. Updated didactics focused on interdisciplinary solutions is therefore an absolute necessity to meet the extraordinary challenges with the fresh water scarcity in Europe. The outcome of educational projects focused on environmental challenges is therefore equal to investments in future generations and their society. << Objectives >>With this educational project we intended to 1: achieve an increase in the students amount of awareness and knowledge of the reliability and vulnerability of the fresh water supply in two European societies today and 2: increase the connection between theoretical knowledge as learned in school and observations of the actual environmental phenomena in the northern compare to the southern country. The overall aim of the project was to achieve an increase in knowledge to be used as a stepping stone for the students to choose sustainable alternatives in the future which will preserve our fresh water for future generations. A preserved fresh water supply will keep a stable society, which is a necessity for a maintained democracy and achievement of the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).We also intended to integrate students from different parts of the EU, here Sweden and Italy, to make them feel comfortable with working with people from different countries within the EU in the future. We wanted the students to learn about the different cultures and to socialize with students from our two schools, By inviting the visiting students to the students families for dinner both in Italy and in Sweden we achieved that goal. << Implementation >>The students studied the freshwater of their own county and introduced it to the other group by digital meetings in English which is the non-mother tongue of all participants. Subsequent the introduction the Italian students came to visit Sweden and performed several excursions representing areas of different environmental challenges, had several lectures related to the project and took part in the everyday teaching activities. For cultural exchange the Swedish students invited the Italians to dinner in their home. The Italian students then put together podcast and videos about the freshwater related issues of Sweden. The Swedish students visited Italy and explored different ecosystems in relation to the water scarcity and took part in environmental related educational activities in school. The Swedish students got invited into the homes of the Italian. In addition, some of the Swedish students performed their graduation projects within the scope of the project and perform interviews and field studies while in Italy. Back home the Swedish students put together podcast about the freshwater related issues of Italy. At the end of the project the teachers met again to evaluate, reflect, and concretize what to learn from each other. << Results >>To practice content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is proven beneficial for the academic growth and the improvement of both science and language skills and so also in this project. Both Italian and Swedish teachers have observed improved learning among students taken part in the project compared to other students within the organizations. CLIL is a practice well developed in Liceo Cavour and something the Swedish teachers, as head of teaching at Nyköpings Enskilda gymnasium, will integrate and educate their colleagues about. Many of the students involved in the project, Swedish and Italian, has shown an impressive personal growth after participating in the project and state themselves that the project has changed their life. In the evaluation of the project the absolute majority of the students report an absolute increase in the awareness of the climate change and water sustainability and at Liceo Cavour the Fridays for Future movement now is an common element of the school thanks to the class involved in the project pursuing both questions concerning humanity and equal rights as well as climate change. The sense of joy after this project is a stepping stone for the students ambition to solve problems within the EU.