Mieux consommer l'énergie : modifier nos habitudes et utiliser les énergies renouvelables

"Just after the International Climate Summit, we believe the use of clean energies is essential. The aim of the project was to make our students aware of the proper functioning and the use of renewable energies. Finally, around 110 students aged 12 to 15 from three European schools in France, Great Britain and Spain cooperated to build the mock-up of an eco-friendly house. The French school concentrated on the study of hydroelectricity, the Spanish school on solar energy and the British school focused on wind energy. Cooperation seminars were programmed to set up the planning of transnational exchanges as well as their contents (visits of firms, lectures, workshops...) After encountering some difficulties in creating a website, a blog was set up but with some access restrictions, especially as regards the French and English schools. (legal restrictions in both countries). Communication was made easier with the exchange of mails and by the use of ""Whatsapp"". All the teaching material, student production, programmes of activities were put on a shared drive. Communication between partners took place in French, English and Spanish, an opportunity for all participants to improve their linguistic skills. Visits in research centres of renewale energies, the intervention of engineers, the experiments par students in workshops, the building of the mock-up, the use of several means of communication (press, radio, brochure), sharing of ideas (logo, radio show jingle, instrucion manual ...) are all examples of the different activities that were set up to finalize the project.We wanted to give to all students involved in the project better information on renewable energies, a modification of their energy consumption, the discovery of different lifestyles and culture. At the end of these two years, we feel we have acheived our goal, and have enabled them to obtain the necessary skills to plan their future as responsible eco-citizens."