Deplastify the Planet
Erasmus+ Project (KA220-SCH-97993B72)
Projectdescription
The „Deplastify the Planet“ project is an Erasmus+ KA220 school cooperation conducted by the project coordinator school Sint-Gummaruscollege from Belgium and 4 partner schools from Spain, Portugal, Austria and Croatia.
This cooperation was founded because all partners have experienced limitations in the area of environmental skills and awareness among teachers and students. The partners have observed a lack of motivation and willpower to create a green school and an eco-friendly attitude among stakeholders at school. The main priority this project faces, is to protect environment and fight against climate change in order to reduce the use of plastic. The partners will create measurements on how to develop an eco-friendly school and share and collect experiences and effective methods on how to protect the environment and reduce plastic waste. This project will design a structured methodology to develop new approaches in the field of environmental education and a collection of best practices for schools.
The first main target group of this project will be students aged 12-15, who will be affected by the plastic waste problem in the future. The second target group are teachers with different profiles in order to cover as many project fields as possible to carry out EU activities related to the objectives of the project. Furthermore, the partners also invite a wide range of other stakeholders (parents, staff, local/regional/national institutions, politicians, local communities and NGO) to participate in the implementation of this project. The main language of this project will be English.
In terms of environmental protection and green sustainability the partnership pursues 2 main objectives:
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reduction of single use plastic
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increase of awareness of the impact of plastic waste
These objectives will be accomplished with a wide range of different activities.
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Best practices on how to reduce plastic and how to raise awareness will be collected in an E-book.
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A comic book dealing with the environmental aspect about the impact of plastic waste on the climate will be designed.
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Planet Earth Days and Clean Up Days to raise environmental awareness among all stakeholders are organised by all partners.
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“Clear out your garbage” and “Reduce – Reuse – Recycle” activities exploring the students/teachers habits in the use of plastic are conducted.
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The creation of the comic book covers the digital and creative aspect of this project.
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Innovative, communicative and interactive learning scenarios like the use of Kahoot quizzes, creation of videos, use of virtual platforms (eTwinning), presentations, computer applications, use of QR codes are implemented.
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Students’ and teachers’ exchanges in all 5 partner countries are organised.
The most obvious impact of this project will be the reduction of plastic at all partner schools. With this project students will get an insight into the impact of plastic waste on the environment, and they will change their behaviour and act more thoughtfully with regard to their surroundings. The wide selection of activities and products like the E-book and the Comic book will be useful material to apply at school to implement innovative methodologies to raise awareness for the negative influence of the use of plastic on the environment. The implication of school external stakeholders (politicians, NGOs, communities etc.) in this project will transfer the project ideas into public and will have a positive effect on public awareness.
Target groups:
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Students aged 12-15 years will get access to this E+ project. At these ages, they have developed a good linguistic competence to cooperate with partner students and they are mature enough to show responsibility in their work. Students participate in Erasmus+ activities (students’ exchanges/visits abroad) to experience Europe in a more sophisticated way and to actively create and understand Europe. Students with fewer opportunities and special demands in the field of learning difficulties, challenging social/financial/cultural background are especially involved in the activities to grant access to everybody and to raise quality education at school. The school will also offer highly motivated and gifted students the opportunity to take part in EU activities, to support their abilities in European individual mobilities/trainings/competitions/programs/exchanges. The coordinators will keep a balance between male and female students in project activities to guarantee gender equality.
Participating students will excite family and friends and share their new environmental skills with them. By distributing pamphlets and carrying out clean up actions in the local community, we draw attention to the environmental problem and provide tips.
A wide variety of teachers with different profiles will be integrated in Erasmus+ to cover as many fields to carry out EU activities related to the objectives of this proposal. Teachers with special motivation and interest in EU activities who want to support the EU school strategy to grow and to professionalise are preferred. Teachers in the following fields are also involved: languages, methodology and didactics, sustainability, digitalisation, inclusion, communication, project management, social and cultural studies and arts. The school staff (managementteam) will see this project as a start to an eco-friendly school, continue to encourage it among
teachers and students and incorporate it into the school curriculum.
Synergies:
Our project is aimed at achieving the following synergies:
Inclusion of all members of our community. We see a school as an inclusive environment where all members have equal opportunities, without discrimination based on gender or social and economic background. Raising our students' awareness of climate change and the need to change their behaviour in relation to this problem. They must be aware that their community (partners, school, family) is part of the solution to this problem. This awareness, which is taught and implemented at school, will have a positive influence on the environmental behaviour of the students and on their actions in youth movements, sports clubs, etc, but also during the annual trips with the school.
Implement the integration of digital technology in the teaching-learning process. The activities carried out under this project are directly related to the objectives of our school's digital transformation plan to promote the use of digital technologies in the teaching and learning process. The interaction between students and teachers using digital tools will also enhance their social and intercultural competences.
The project is aimed at students, teenagers and young people who will have to deal with the plastic waste problem in the future. The project will teach them how to reduce plastic waste and manage environmental problems. Through workshops, online meetings with project partners and mobility activities, students and teachers will receive formal, informal and non-formal training. This project will provide various forms of training to all stakeholders. These trainings will give project members and teenagers the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their skills and creativity.
The important role with local environmental NGOs, private companies and schools can ensure long-term cooperation that will benefit both.
Politicians can participate the clean up days to show their ambition and put their green goals in a positive light. In addition, this project will also improve the skills and competences of students and teachers in various ways: communication and cultural skills, environmental awareness, languages, arts, entrepreneurship, motivation, digital skills, EU
citizenship, presentation skills, etc