PLACE: Paths to Learning: Active Community Exploration

Place based learning (PBL) is 'about a deep connection with people and place through emotions and knowledge... It is concerned with the interconnecting systems of environmental protection, community development and social justice- the very essence of sustainability.' (Cooper 2016)PLACE: Paths to Learning: Active Community Exploration is an innovative, transnational project that brings together 4 Place Based Learning (PBL) strands into a collaborative project whose super-ordinate goal is to improve the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people (CYP).PLACE will involve project partners and participants working collaboratively to develop a series of resources (learning guide, toolkit and online community hub) that weave the strands together into a coherent, holistic approach; We will deliver training in our PLACE approach and methodologies- face to face and through webinars; support teachers to develop and embed practice through focus groups and practical support; conduct evaluation and research to evidence impact. Our inter-connected themes include emotional health and wellbeing, environmental and community sustainability. We will focus on the ‘5 ways to wellbeing’ (New Economics Foundation report (2008)) of connect, be active, keep learning, give to others and pay attention. Children and young people will be empowered and through increased agency, will be local community change agents, able to think and act on global, inter-connected issues. This project has been developed to reflect current and ongoing global issues of local relevance, including – social effects of the covid-19 pandemic on people and communities, climate change and biodiversity loss, all of which have added more stress on the emotional health in young people. The project has also been prompted by a growing body of evidence on the importance of PBL and its impact on health and wellbeing, social action and community cohesion. “These practices [curiosity, multiple perspectives, focusing on micro-geographies of place] suggest ways in which ordinary places may be a catalyst for curiosity in ways that may benefit individual and collective forms of wellbeing.” Phillips, Evans, Muirhead. (2015) http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/94007/3/WRRO_94007.pdfOur overall aim is to develop a menu of tools and resources that will support teachers in utilising PLACE effectively as an approach to equipping and empowering children and young people as local and global change agents and becoming resilient and healthy global citizens. These will include:- Philosophy 4 Children (P4C) and Global Learning- Interpretation of Local Heritage and Questing -Therapeutic Approaches to Place - Community Activism / Service LearningTo achieve the project aim the following objectives have been developed:1. Promote knowledge of and skills in place based learning across all partner countries/ settings- including project partners and teachers2. Embed PBL methodologies and approaches to increase children and young people's Emotional Health and Wellbeing (EHWB) and skills in critical thinking and creativity, leadership, collaboration, communication, empathy and their understanding of community3. Engage teachers, children and young people in a range of activities and SDG linked themes that enable them to 'think global, act local'.4. Enable transnational transfer of knowledge and skills, between teachers and children.Our target participants will be teachers (24) in a wide selection of school settings, and their pupils (600) in 3 different countries. Wider dissemination will be to at least 600 more practitioners. The longer-term benefits of the project will be that schools are far better prepared - through deepened teacher competence and confidence - to equip their learners with the learning dispositions, capabilities and personal skills to navigate the complex issues which are inherent in a globalised world. These benefits will extend to wider school communities, building connections and social capital. This is especially important given the current and ongoing challenges to societal and inter-societal cohesion which is posed by dominant narratives around the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, migration and an uncertain economic future.