Climate Innovator Educational Platform

<< Background >>The Climate Innovator Educational Platform (CIEP) project aimed to support schools in integrating sustainability into their curriculum by creating a centralized online platform and a training guide for teachers and providers. The project was conducted from January 2022 to December 2024, involving international partners from the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Germany.The project addressed a critical need: 90% of schools lacked a clear overview of sustainability programs, projects, and certifications, limiting their ability to choose appropriate initiatives. By developing an online platform and complementary resources, CIEP enabled schools to access and implement sustainability solutions effectively.As consortium partners we noticed that there is a multitude of providers of sustainable project for education. For example, there are already several labels that a school can achieve, such as ecoschools or the united nation schools. In addition, a multitude of challenges and separate projects exist. But there is no overview of providers, let alone a ranking of quality.<< Objectives >>The overall goal was to contribute to the European Green Deals target of being CO2-neutral by 2050. We achieved ourcontribution by supporting schools and providers by building a quality online platform which schools can freely use to find providers of sustainability projects programs and/or labels. We're building capacity by capturing our working method which can beduplicated by other regions.We did this by-Organizing focus groups in order to identify and focus on specific sustainability providers that best address the needs ofthe project’s stakeholders.-Mapping best practices and methodologies applied for schools in partner countries. (What works and why)-Developing a trainers’ guide addressed to the schools and providers that will work with the platform and will design,support and evaluate the platform- Developing a monitoring framework for measurement of use and results.<< Implementation >>In this project, we mapped initiatives of providers of sustainability projects, programs, and/or labels for primary schools, secondary schools, and VET institutes. This mapping was done in a to-be-developed International online platform. A complementary guide was developed for schools and providers to use the platform. When developing the platform, we took into account what the end users (schools) needed in terms of information to decide which provider they wanted to hire. We also considered that providers couldn’t share all information due to their unique selling points. Furthermore, we built capacity on a regional level to ensure our platform was adopted and used, allowing it to grow.<< Results >>The project successfully developed a user-friendly digital platform to connect schools with sustainability providers. This platform functioned as a comprehensive directory of projects, programs, and certifications related to sustainability education. Providers were required to meet defined quality criteria to be listed, ensuring credibility and relevance. The great advantage is that it can be used by any teacher; it is modularly designed, providing a high degree of flexibility. You can use just an introduction, but it is also possible to make the material more sustainable by integrating it into your curriculum.The trainers' guide has been developed and includes practical methods for schools and providers to use the platform effectively. Both results have been uploaded in the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform.