Act eco-locally to change into eco-globally

<< Background >>We applied for the project because environmental education is rarely used in high school curricula in many European countries, especially in vocational schools, so it needs further exploration. We thought that students needed knowledge, skills, values & attitudes that would enable them to contribute to sustainable development & to organise or participate in ecological actions, which develop communicative & social skills. In this way they would become aware of the benefits of responsible interaction with the environment.Many teenagers especially from vocational schools don’t have proper ecological & consumer habits. They aren’t aware of importance of ecological actions, protecting the nature, being green & climate changes. We noticed a strong need to arm students with ecological & consumer habits & eco skills to prepare them to become more conscious consumers, more active & more ecologically oriented European citizens.The main purpose of having this partnership project was to create awareness that the existing environmental problems we face in today’s world are global & similar in European countries. We wanted our students to get to know new ways to protect the environment & learn how to act locally to change into globally.<< Objectives >>By implementing the project we wanted to raise awareness about environmental issues & encourage more sustainable behavior among students, teachers & the community. Our goals were to help young people understand the importance of protecting the planet, develop eco-friendly habits & take part in practical activities like clean-ups & upcycling workshops. We wanted to achieve changes in consumer habits, in attitudes towards recycling &climate change, to increase motivation to save &reuse products. Thus, our main objective was to develop the ecological awareness & active citizenship & to increase the quality & relevance of ecological activities in 6 partner schools.Our goal was to develop in our students key competences (digital, linguistic, entrepreneurial, etc.) & skills needed for the society like: problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, decision making & creativity. They were developed through local & international ecological activities in interactive forms & methods: workshops, lectures, study visits, debates, greening activities etc.We also aimed to strengthen cooperation between partner schools, share good practices between teachers & give students the chance to learn & work together with others from different countries<< Implementation >>We carried out 2 TPMs (Getting to know each other in Poland & Closing the project in Turkiye) & 6 short-term teacher-student meetings called eco-workshops with: 6 public events called “Be eco”, 17 local green activities, 10 study visits to ecological institutions, 13 lessons observed. We established 5 eco-clubs.Each school locally-organised planned activities:3 ecological actions & 3 workshops sessions-organised unplanned ecological activities-we have 34 of them-conducted lessons on ecology in different subjects with the use of innovative methods & modern technologies–we had 26 lessons not 18-prepared reports with photos from each activity& lesson-created more than 1 digital game about ecology tested during eco-workshops–we have 14 games-had to prepare 3 scenarios but 28 online scenarios about ecology instead of 18 were preparedWe worked on the eTwinning platform & Twin space, disseminated the results on the project website, Facebook & Instagram. We carried out monitoring completing 13 monitoring sheets &evaluation activities. Turkiye organised a final conference where 6 final PPTs and 6 film from eco-workshops were presented.In total 46 teachers &159 students from 6 partner schools were directly involved in the project.<< Results >>PROJECT RESULTSThe guide of ecological actions in European schoolsE-book with eco reports and games E-book with materials for teacherseTwinning projectProject websiteProject logoEcology club in 5 schools NOT 18 but 28 online scenarios about ecology NOT 6 but 14 digital games about ecology 6 public events called “Be eco”–international discussions during eco-workshops on local problems and solutions to them6 project brochures in native languages and in English (each partner individually)6 final PPTs–project data, local activities, results, dissemination, benefits/impact, project evaluation2 Project evaluation reportsOTHER RESULTS6 films from eco-workshops6 local acts brochuresProject FacebookProject InstagramEvaluation reports of all project activitiesOUTCOMESincreased knowledge about ecological issueschanged attitudes towards consumption, recycling &climate changeincreased motivation to save, reuse & recycle products improved collaboration, teamwork, social, civic & intercultural skillsenlarged language competencesAmong teachers:-enlarged digital competences-improved organizational & managerial skills-increased knowledge about ecological topics & teaching methods-developed professional teaching skills