TEACHING GREEN - From Climate Change Education and Awareness to Citizen Science Action

<< Background >>Based on NEEDS ANALYSES carried out in spring 2021, students aren't being prepared to face the effects of climate change, or taught to understand the solutions, which in turn leads to an inability to take responsibility for their impact on the local environment. One of the reasons is that teachers are missing relevant skills, knowledge or, more often, motivation for climate education. The key role of climate education should be not only to deliver knowledge but to change the attitude of people and to increase their activities towards the sustainability of local communities. The project responded to the following needs of the target group of teachers and students aged 10-16: - adapting education to global environmental challenges, - applying climate education more and reporting less,- to focus on the relationship of humans to the environment and their involvement at the local level, - addressing the lack of training opportunities and educational materials for climate change teachers.The project also responded to the needs of partners from Slovakia, Italy, Spain and Cyprus, especially in an exchange of good practices of partners with different backgrounds, expertise and experience, in the field of climate change education.<< Objectives >>The project provides teachers with innovative materials for climate education, nowadays missing in educational markets of the partner countries, with the aim to: - Educating and supporting teachers of students aged 10 – 16 and raising awareness of climate change, - Strengthening the knowledge and digital skills of teachers and students through the use of digital technologies in education, - Increasing the use of new and innovative learning and teaching methods, - Supporting critical thinking of all participants and fostering the environmental behaviour of individuals, pointing out the necessity of lowering our impact on climate change and raising its awareness, - Supporting a sense of social responsibility for the local environment. These general objectives and overall project goal “Supporting the competencies and skills of teachers in the implementation of practical education raising awareness of climate change, its impacts and mitigation actions” were reached by developing 4 project results. In addition, the project supports the green skills of all participants, the inclusion and diversity, and key competencies of teachers and students: 6 out of 8 key skills, specified by the EU.<< Implementation >>To achieve project objectives and results, 6 project partners from 4 countries (INAK, UKF Nitra and Strom zivota from Slovakia, CNR-IBE Italy, VITA XXI Spain and CARDET Cyprus) implemented the following activities:- 2 TRAINING ACTIVITIES, to strengthen teachers` skills and gain new knowledge, exchange experiences with other teachers and raise awareness about climate change and support climate literacy, - ONLINE LEARNING of TEACHERS, to strengthen their digital and green skills and knowledge,- 2 EVALUATING PERIODS, to evaluate students` character quality improvements towards an increased sense of social responsibility, - PRACTICAL MONITORING with app. 550 students involved, aimed at reviewing the impact of climate change in urban/rural areas as well as human impact on climate change, leading to increased ICT skills and an increased sense of social responsibility, while supporting critical thinking and climate literacy, - 9 CHALLENGES for students, with concrete 18 practical steps towards sustainable living for individuals, leading to an increased sense of social responsibility of individuals.<< Results >>In the project, the following results were developed: - ASSESSMENT TOOLS: a set of 9 tests for evaluating the INPUT/OUTPUT level of students' character qualities and for monitoring changes in individual behaviour in the area of raising awareness about climate change,- ONLINE TRAINING COURSE: 11 online modules, representing learning materials for the achievement of relevant and high-quality green skills and competencies of the teachers, to strengthen their teaching profile for successful implementation of practical climate education, - TOOLKIT FOR MONITORING: a guide to practical monitoring of 9 pre-selected indicators of climate change impact on the local environment, providing students with essential materials for citizen science research, offering step-by-step methodology, on how to monitor selected indicators,- BEST PRACTICE REPORT: 26 examples of good practice, the real results from citizen science research on climate change impact and mitigation actions in partners’ countries, - CHALLENGES: 18 proposed activities as concrete steps towards sustainable living for individuals, leading to an increased sense of social responsibility for the local environment,- Information posters and project website promoting climate education.