Forest Fire Prevention

<< Background >>The project aimed at making the students aware of environmental issues such as forest fires, climate changes, global warming, deforestation and focusing the richness of ecosystems biodiversity in Europe and beyond. We applied for dealing with these issues at a transnational level since all the countries involved in this partnership have lived every year the dramatic experience of forest fires in order to compare ideas, studies, proposals and solutions and develop in our students an environmental responsibility for building a more sustainable future for young generations. At the same time we (teachers) wanted to explore and experiment more creative and innovative methodologies (Debate, Project Based Learning, Inquiry Based Learning, Flipped Classroom, Game Based Learning etc.), breaking the boundaries among the disciplines: Biology, Science, Chemistry, Literature, Art, Technology, Computer Science, Civic Education and so on. Associated partners like Universities and local associations and Institutions could help us in this educational path. All the participant countries involved in the project had got the same needs, facing every year .the problem of forest fires in their territory. << Objectives >>We wanted to achieve by means of the project the following objectives: increasing teachers and students’ awareness of forest fires and ways of preventing them; disseminating information concerning forest fires and the measures that can be taken in everyday life to prevent them; contributing in fulfilling the EU’s overarching objective to halt the loss of biodiversity by raising people’s awareness of the gravity of the forest fires problem ; creating an information and dissemination campaign for preventing deforestation and climate changes; - learning to collaborate both virtually and face-to-face with students and teachers from different EU countries ; Improving the participants’ communication skills in foreign languages for both students and teachers and increasing intercultural awareness ; - integrating ICTs, open virtual learning and digital contents during the process teaching in order to develop digital skills for all the participants; - promoting the students' involvement, commitment, democratic participation and active citizenship; ensuring inclusion and equal opportunities to everyone breaking down any cultural, economic, geographical or educational obstacles.<< Implementation >>First meeting in Poland (November 2022) among coordinators for re-distributing roles, tasks and responsibilities, fixing the activities deadlines, cooperation with Lublin university.First Activities in each partner school: logo contest, internal competition of poems written by the students , paintings and drawings competition, cooperation with the associated partners for webinars and conferences about the prevention of forest fires, analysis of statistics about forest fires, their effects on flora and fauna, focus on deforestation. Mobility to Turkey: awareness of the effects of forest fires on plants and animals; reading of poems about forests; exhibition of paintings and drawings; planting a tree. Mobility to Spain: tips for a green transition, simulation by the firefighters, focus on deforestation by the local department of civic protection. First prevention campaign. Second year project: mobility to Portugal (October 2023), focus on forests and biodiversity loss, workshop on robotics, prevention campaign. Italy: welcoming of delegations (March 2024), focus on climate changes, cooperation with Messina University. Final meeting in Greece (May 2024) for teachers and key persons for assessing the project final results.<< Results >>We managed to reach both tangible and intangible results. Tangible results: exhibitions of paintings, drawings , pictures about forest fires; digital- anyway printable- collection of poems written by the students during internal competitions in each partner school, the Scientific Magazine (collection of articles from each partner), Erasmus corners at school. Banners, posters and slogans ( both digital and paper) for the prevention campaign to be run at a double level: physical by demonstrations and strikes and digital by social media and the schools websites. Project website . eTwinning project on the same aims, topics and sub-topics Other digital products: infographics, charts, diagrams, digital calendar, padlets and digipads for sharing contents and outputs, digital walls, articles for the scientific magazine. Intangible products: changes in the behaviour, adoption of greener practices, increasing awareness about the forest fires, their effects and how preventing them.; development of digital skills in all the participants; improvement of linguistic communication in English and the other languages of the partnership (Polish, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek), active citizenship carrying out prevention campaigns.