"“Protecting the environment is an opportunity! Not a burden we must bear.”""Umweltschutz ist eine Chance und keine Last, die wir tragen müssen."" (Helmut Sihler )"

"Context:Referring to the Treaty of Lisbon on 1/12/2009 on the conservation and protection of human health and the prudent and rational use of natural resources the Erasmus+ Project entitled ""Protecting the environment is an opportunity! Not a burden we must bear.” brought together schools from Germany, Finland, Lithuania, Spain and Turkey. The project implemented objectives formulated in the Agenda 2020 - Youth on the Move: improving educational systems and promoting international attractiveness of education. In a world of changes in regional labor markets, we wanted to promote the language and intercultural skills of the project members. Taking an active part in shaping Europe’s new face our aim through this school project was to make an important contribution to the preparation of our students in these pan-European challenges.Project objectives: The main objective of the project was the promotion of basic and cross-curricular competencies combined with higher learning motivation and the improvement of learning outcomes of the students, reduction of the rate of school dropouts and raising students’ awareness and responsibility they bear for the conservation of natural environmental resources, using the specific example of water. They acquired knowledge on specific environmental problems and improved their foreign language skills.Number and profile of participants:The project involved 5 schools. Turkey and Finland had previously none or little experience in international projects. Germany, Spain and Lithuania were very experienced. The participating students were aged from 12 to 16 years old. Teachers involved were mainly language and science teachers. The project included 121 students and teachers’ mobilities.Undertaken main activities:Three Transnational Project Meetings (TPM) were held to prepare Transnational Teaching and Learning Activities (TTALA) and to discuss the details of activities carried out during the project. Before each TTALA the students of each school prepared a presentation about a certain environmental topic in their homeland. During the TTALAs, participants expanded their knowledge on environmental issues via these presentations and other workshops. Full programs and detailed descriptions of the activities are in annexes. After the TTALAs, the participants spread information they had learned during the meetings at their schools. All the students in each school carried out practical actions to protect the environment at least once during the project. In the Language Labs during each TTALA the linguistic and intercultural skills of the students were trained. Results and impact:An evaluation of the project during and after the completion was carried out via questionnaires for students, teachers and parents involved. With the international activities in various fields, the use of ICT and interdisciplinary lessons, our project managed to improve the participants’ English language and technology skills and make them more aware of environmental issues. A lot was learnt about local cultures and cultural differences. The participating schools had an opportunity to share good teaching practices and the way different schools organize their everyday life. While working internationally it turned out that all schools have similar ideas and similar problems. The project involved not only the students who attended the mobilities, since the TTALAs and the activities were always presented to the whole schools and occasionally to a wider public via social media and news articles etc.This project had also tangible results. A European Phrase Book prepared before every visit for using it during the meetings developed into a pan-European phrasebook created with the five participating languages and English at the end of the project. It documented the increase of linguistic knowledge and it can also be used in future projects.A newspaper ""River Magazine"" was created after each TTALA by the host country. It included environmental issues explored during the meetings, information and images from the TTALAs, quizzes etc. During the project, a project website was established for documentation and dissemination of the project and for exchanging documents, videos and results. The website will remain available for the partners and other people interested in Erasmus+. A Twin space was also opened, mainly for teachers to share ideas for preparing lessons, to exchange educational experiences and to store material prepared during the project. In the future teachers of the schools involved will have the opportunity to maintain this contact and use the gathered info in their further teaching practice. During the project, the Spanish school prepared a marked path on the banks of River Ter provided with QR codes containing information about the flora and fauna of the area. The path will remain in use of locals and tourists as well as students in the future."