STAND UP FOR EUROPE!

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Project title

Stand up for Europe! Argumentation training against undemocratic slogans: European extension and updating

 

Project Reference

2023-2-DE04-KA220-YOU-000175190

 

Lead partner 

Akademie Klausenhof gGmbH (Germania)

 

Programme

Erasmus+ – KA2 Cooperation partnerships in Youth (KA220-YOU), Call for Proposals 2023

 

Ongoing project

 

Brief description

The project brings together 6 partners (2 from Germany, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Turkey, 1 from Slovenia and 1 from Italy) to prepare a specific training to respond to antidemocratic slogans and discourse. The training material will be freely accessible through a curriculum, a handbook, and an online self-learning tool (comic self-reflection stories).

 

The project outputs will be the result of the update of Klaus-Peter Hufer’s method “Argumentationstraining gegen Stammtischparolen” (Argumentation against populist slogans, widely used in Citizenship Education in Germany, Austria and Switzerland) in a European sense: the partners will make a European version of the training, by enriching it with Europe-specific topics, methods and inputs from the European partners. One of the partners is the University of Augsburg, where Klaus-Peter Hufer developed the training.

 

The project targets groups who are victims of verbal (and physical) attacks through populist, extremist, sexist and stereotypical arguments (migrants, Jews, people with disabilities, women, disadvantaged people, queer people) as well as topics that have become particularly relevant in recent years and are the focus of radical, verbal attacks and hate speech. These topics include: democracy and Europe, gender, climate change, sexual orientation and equality, science/health (vaccination), fake news and migration, war and humanism.

 

The material will serve as a basis for workshops and trainings conducted in the youth and school context, by educational institutions targeting youth. It will consider situations in the family and among friends, in public spaces and in leisure time, at school, in (political) discussions, in voluntary social or political engagement. There will also be a special focus on discussion forums in online media, especially in social networks.

 

What is Argumentationstraining gegen Stammtischparolen?

Stammtischparolen are populist statements and slogans with which numerous groups of people (often social minorities, but also representatives of the “elites”) are discriminated against. Usually, they are also directed against “the” European policy. These slogans are dogmatic, rigid and prejudice-based: in these speeches, there are very strict categories (“we” and “they”), which defend their positions aggressively and with an exclusionary attitude.

 

Professor Dr. Klaus-Peter Hufer is a trainer, a lecturer, an author and scientist. He himself works as an adult educator and as an applied professor. His Argumentation training* teaches effective techniques and tricks for responding to populist slogans in conversations (e.g. with facts, irony, critical inquiries, etc.). In its interactive form, the argumentation training offers the opportunity to try out and experience in exchange with the seminar group how to react appropriately to such slogans.

 

Hufer’s training have been frequently used in educational work for many years, also in youth education or in training for employees and volunteers of NGOs and other institutions, parties, companies, schools and organizations.

 

* Klaus-Peter Hufer: Argumentationstraining gegen Stammtischparolen. Materialien und Anleitungen für Bildungsarbeit und Selbstlernen. 10.  Auflage 2018, 120 Seiten, Wochenschau-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main

 

Target groups

The target group of the workshops is primarily politically and socially interested and active young people from 13 to 30, who are to be strengthened in their civil courage in order to take effective action against radical arguments in everyday life online or in personal discussions.

 

Moreover, the project targets are:

  • Teachers/trainers in schools and youth (education) centres
  • Politically engaged young people
  • Activists and volunteers in youth movements / political parties
  • Employees of NGOs, initiatives, civil rights movements, with focus on youth
  • Stakeholders, scientists, politicians
  • General public


Objectives

  • Identifying and implementing core European values
  • Development of a training programme (curriculum) to train young people to argue effectively in discussions (offline and online) against anti-European statements.
  • Developing methods for raising awareness and communicating European values, through the collection and integration of proven methods for argumentation training and comparable approaches.
  • Defending fundamental values and rights.
  • Recognising violations of fundamental values, by developing methods to identify anti-European values, especially in oral discussion and dialogue situations and in the digital space.
  • Encouraging reflection on one’s own commitment to fundamental values and avoid using stereotypical arguments and behaviour.
  • Use stories/scenarios with a high identification potential to question and evaluate one’s own behaviour.

 

Partnership

Lead Partner: Akademie Klausenhof, Germany (adult/youth education provider)

Other Partners:

University of Augsburg, Germany

InEuropa srl, Italy

KatHaz, Hungary

Doga School, Turkey

Socialna Akademija, Slovenia

 

Duration

24 months (from 01/03/2023 to 28/02/2026)

 

EU grant

250,000 total grant

SURF – Sustainable Rural Future

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SURF – Sustainable Rural Future

Agreement number: 2023-1-ES01-KA220-ADU-000151613

 

Program and Call

ERASMUS PLUS – Call 2023 Round 1 KA2

KA220- SCH – Cooperation partnerships in Adult Education

Ongoing project

 

Short description

The project aims to improve knowledge about climate change in rural communities through the creation of an educational itinerary (integrating formal and nonformal education) in order to foster learning for green transition in rural areas. In addition, SURF seeks to promote the development of integral solutions and connect people through the consolidation of a European Rural Network. The project will use the participatory action-research (PAR) approach in order to emphasize the participation and action of community members in targeted rural areas to create a learning pathway that strengthens existing capacities and provides solutions to local problems by involving local communities in decision-making.

 

Objectives

The main objective is to create an innovative training itinerary for adults to increase the opportunities of rural areas in the context of green transition and climate change adaptation by:

– Improving rural communities’ knowledge of climate change;

– fostering social participation to involve communities in decision-making processes;

– contributing to sustainable rural development;

– creating a European rural network to promote information exchange.

 

Main activities

The most relevant activities for achieving the objectives are:

– Creation of an online platform containing all project materials;

– training course on climate change adaptation in rural areas and participatory research-action approach;

-local training events for implementation of the PAR approach to identify opportunities, challenges, difficulties of rural communities;

– creation of a Good Practice Guide;

– formation and consolidation of the European Rural Network.

 

Expected results

Tangible results: online platform; updated content; discussion forums; climate change educational materials; online course on the PAR approach (manual, course and training); guides; webinars; workshops; a connected rural network; events.

Intangibles: discussions among people with similar concerns; ongoing social participation in different locations; increased knowledge and skills of educators and local community members.

 

Coordinator

– Fundación de la Comunitat Valenciana para una Economía Baja en Carbón – Low Carbon Economy Foundation (ES)

 

Partenarship

– InEuropa Srl (IT)

– Universitat Jaume I De Castellon (ES)

– Center Za Trajnostni Razvoj Podezelja Kranj – CTRPK (SI)

– Univerza V Ljubljani (SI)

– Associazione A.R.C.E.S. (IT)

 

Duration

The project will last 24 months (4 December 2023 – 3 December 2025)

 

Budget

250.000 €

RUSTIK

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RUSTIK

Rural Sustainability Transitions through Integration of Knowledge for improved policy processes

Program and call for proposals

Horizon Europe, Research and Innovation Actions, Action “Resilient, inclusive, healthy and green rural, coastal and urban communities” call 2021

Active project

Brief description

RUSTIK is a transdisciplinary research project that aims to enable rural community actors and policy makers to design better strategies, initiatives and policies, to facilitate transitions towards rural sustainability through an advanced understanding of the diverse functionalities, characteristics and future of rural areas, their potentials and challenges. To prepare for the growing social and ecological challenges, the project includes an analysis of current adaptation requirements and support for effective rural policy-making processes.

InEuropa srl supports OI Pomodoro da Industria Nord Italia in management activities.

Objectives

The objectives of the project are:

  • To provide a sound methodological framework for functional rural areas;
  • To define databases that integrate data of different types and from different sources;
  • To devise better strategies and governance approaches for policy makers and rural stakeholders;
  • To develop better approaches for rural impact assessment and decentralized rural proofing.

Actions

Starting from the basic idea that practical solutions must be collaboratively created in real-world settings, the project’s main activities involve Living Labs in 14 European Pilot Regions in the 10 European countries involved. They are the main tool for collaboration with stakeholders, and serve as a platform for implementing, evaluating and understanding social and technical innovations in a real-world context.

These are the key elements of an action-oriented multi-actor approach to researching rural diversity and social transformation, used to bring stakeholders together to develop and test new ways to solve problems in their regions.

All project activities are supported by a comprehensive communication and dissemination strategy to maximize the impact of RUSTIK.

Results

The main results of the project are:

  • The implementation of 14 databases at the regional level and 1 RUSTIK information system at the European level.
  • To improve the knowledge and capacity of stakeholders by disseminating innovative methods of data collection and analysis to ensure understanding of the diversity and dynamics of rural areas.
  • To devise innovative methods and processes for designing and evaluating policies and strategies, e.g., a standardized model for decentralized rural proofing, approaches for designing interventions, improving the policy governance framework.

Lead partner

Institute for Rural Development Research (DE)

Partnership

  • Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of Agricultural Economics – IT
  • MCRIT – Multicriteria Planning – ES
  • University of Gloucestershire – UK
  • University of Eastern Finland – FI
  • Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research – AT
  • Galician Enterprise-University Foundation – ES
  • Euromontana – FR
  • University of Ljubljana – SI
  • Faculty of Agriculture- University of Belgrade – RS
  • Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences – PL
  • European Leader Association for Rural Development – BE
  • Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski – BG
  • GAL MontagnAppennino- IT
  • Regional Development Agency Eastern Serbia – RS
  • Allium, Employment Centre, Zoo Soc. Ent. – SI
  • Association of the city of Troyan, Apriltsi and Ougarchin – BG
  • OI Pomodoro da Industria Nord Italia – IT
  • Regional Council of North Karelia – FI
  • University of Santiago de Compostela – ES
  • Rhein-Hunsrück Regional Economic Council – DE
  • Spittal-Millstättersee-Lieser-Malta-Nockberge Regional Association – AT
  • Foundation for the Development of Polish Agriculture – PL
  • Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce – PL
  • Decentralized Municipal Entity of Sant Miquel de Balenyà – ES
  • Galician Agency for Rural Development – ES
  • University of Strathclyde – UK
  • Gloucestershire Rural Community Council – UK
  • MapitaOy – FI
  • Monmouthshire County Council – UK
  • Ersilia Foundation – ES

Duration

The project has a duration of 48 months (September 1, 2022 – August 31, 2026)

Total budget

The total budget is €5,886,818.88, 100% subsidized by the EC. It is supplemented by a Research and Innovation fund earmarked for the participation of United Kingdom entities amounting to €1,099,629.70

Funding body

European Commission – EuropeanResearch Executive Agency

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® WORKSHOP – EUROPEAN YOUTH FAENZA

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Project: Europe for young people: values, methods, tools

Implementing partner: Unione Romagna Faentina

Funded under: Call for the promotion of European citizenship 2022 (Bando per la promozione della cittadinanza europea 2022)

Period: November-December 2022

Objective: to promote a learning journey about European values, rights and opportunities, as well as young people’s participation in public administration choices and European planning, intended for middle and high schools in EU territory.

These are the main activities:

  • Workshops on European values called “Bricks4Rights,“ carried out using the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY methodology, intended for middle schools, identified through the schools participating in the initiative.
  • Seminars presenting European opportunities and informative workshops. Meetings partly dedicated to high schools, partly aimed at local youth, identified through youth associations and by individual registration.
  • Workshop on digital communication of cultural heritage. Meetings held by the European Route of Ceramics Association, a Council of Europe-certified Cultural Route, coordinated by the City of Faenza. Again, the meetings are geared towards young people.

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Workshop Number: 4

The experience of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshops, called “Bricks4Rights – European Values and Rights,” allowed students from secondary schools in the Municipality of Faenza (third year students) to undertake a unique experience, being stimulated to reflect and open up through sharing and confrontation on issues such as citizenship, their own identity and the identity of the European Union today.  The LSP methodology is a tool that has still proven to be innovative and effective in channeling individual energies and knowledge into discussion and reflection on a given topic. Through the workshops, not only was the purpose of raising awareness toward European values and rights achieved, but also the (no less important) purpose of bringing out feelings, passions, and thoughts.

SHINE – mainstreaming Systems tHinking In Natural sciences and Environmental education

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SHINE – mainstreaming Systems tHinking In Natural sciences and Environmental education

Agreement number: 2023-1-DE03-KA220-SCH-000158255

Program and Call

ERASMUS PLUS – Call 2023 Round 1 KA2

KA220- SCH – Cooperation partnerships in School Education

Ongoing project

Short description

Education for sustainable development gives learners of all ages the knowledge, skills, values and agency to address interconnected global challenges including climate change. The call for teachers is to develop strategies, tools and methodologies to achieve such key competencies to address the required complexity. Managing and solving sustainability problems require people with systemic competences who are able to see the whole in the individual, presenting a breadth of vision for a complex world. Since Systems Thinking (ST) is one of the key competencies in the education for sustainable development, it is crucial to train in-service teachers on the ST approach to give them the possibility to implement ST at school in science education classes. The SHINE project aims at bringing the ST approach in Natural Science education involving in-service teachers and students in the target age of 8-16 years old. SHINE aims at introducing the ST approach at school by training in-service teachers and by developing, validating and testing innovative didactic tools to effectively introduce and practice ST with students in natural science and ecology education. ST offers a new language in understanding how the world works, it enables students to see the parts of the whole and the network of relationships simultaneously, and consequently it tries to reveal the structure that creates change by questioning how events occur over time.

Objectives

SHINE’s overall objective is to prepare future citizens to face climate change challenges by promoting the introduction and mainstream of ST skills in natural science education. To reach this objective, SHINE sets 5 specific sub-objectives:

  1. Educate in-service teachers on ST principles and how to apply them in natural science;
  2. Support students in developing ST approach by introducing game-based learning and innovative didactics approach in science education;
  3. Sustain scientific skills and the deep learning of complex topics such as ecosystems and climate change;
  4. Promote collaboration among different school grades (8-16 y.o.)

Main activities

–  Development of a training course for in-service teachers replicated in each partner’s country and involving at least 25 natural science teachers.

– Design of a serious game (digital/board with different levels of difficulties accordingly with target age) to support students in practicing and experimenting ST applied to climate change issues.

– Creation of a digital toolkit containing specific didactic modules to introduce ST at school in natural science classes, assessment tools to evaluate the students’ improvement in ST reasoning in a long term perspective;

– Organisation of a set of digital and in-person transnational events to boost both students and teachers from partners’ countries to cooperate in understanding and finding possible common answers to the climate change effects occurring now and in a future perspective.

Expected results

  • Effectively supporting teachers in implementing and assessing ST at school with students of different ages by training them on the approach and co-producing specific didactic tools.
  • Applying ST in natural science and sustainability disciplines for assessing the student’s progress in a long-time perspective.
  • Enhancing the promotion of more engaging didactics and boosting the active involvement of students by cooperation “inter pares”
  • Facilitating and mainstream the introduction of ST into education as a way to deepen science principles and especially as a lens for understanding problems such as climate change and environment protection.

Coordinator

Hochschule RheinMain (DE)

Partnership

– InEuropa Srl (IT)

– Libera Università di Bolzano (IT)

– Tallin University (EE)

– Virtual Campus Lda (PT)

Duration

The project will last 36 months (1st October 2023 – 30th September 2026)

Budget

The grant is € 400.000,00

ATTUNE

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ATTUNE 

Activate the University for Climate Change

Programm and call

Erasmus+, KA220-HED – Cooperation partnerships in higher education, 2022, Round 1

Ongoing project

Brief description

ATTUNE is a programme that directly addresses Climate Change on the university campus and promotes as well as encourages action by all members of the university community. It is an innovative learning programme that contributes to a university becoming increasingly sustainable. The project is aligned with the new New European Bauhaus initiative that connects the European Green Deal to our daily lives to build a sustainable and inclusive future.
The original ATTUNE programme formed part of a project Re-Activate+, which GAP Spain conducted in the Basque Country. This project aimed at changing people’s habits using the Ecoteam approach, branching out into other communities (schools). In 2018, the first version of the programme was launched at the Leioa campus of the University of the Basque Country (UPV) and its success compelled other UPV campuses to adopt programme, followed by other universities around Spain.

University life goes beyond formal educational activity. Campuses are not only places where people gather to study and work, but also affect many other areas, such as recreational & sports activities, mobility, consumerism, food, leisure, etc. Universities also impact on the local population and directly influence the sustainability of the area where they are located. The university community is an ideal environment to influence behavior to produce a more sustainable society.

ATTUNE recognizes that each university is different, not only in the way it functions, but also in its objectives in responding to the Climate Crisis.

ATTUNE specifically addresses the following priorities:

– common values, civic engagement, and participation: the programme is designed to involve and engage all members of the university community – students, teachers and staff – based on common values that help to mitigate the impact of climate change.

– promotes interconnected higher education systems: whereby the programme not only unites faculties and campuses of the participating university, but also other universities in the numerous existing networks.

Objectives

The main objectives are:

  • to enable members of the university community to move from knowledge to action;
  • contributing to the Green transition: in addition to their traditional functions (teaching, research, etc.), universities can also be a role model for environmental sustainability based on their infrastructure and operations. To ensure that they become increasingly sustainable, it is vital that all the community participates in the process.

Other objectives include:

  • Create a methodological framework that can be used by any European university
  • Develop actions adapted to the university community so that they can act against Climate Change in their daily activities
  • Test & validate the programme in 5 European universities that will act as an example for other universities in their networks

Activities

ATTUNE is structured in two different phases to promote change in habits:

  • Phase 1: during the first academic term, the entire university community (students, teacher and staff) are invited to join an online program –  structured as a set of questionnaires and manuals – focusing on environmental and social issues relating to sustainability. The objective is to reduce the carbon footprint in the context of daily activities on the campus
  • Phase 2: the second and third academic term is based on creating 1 or more “research-action” teams that focus on a particular issue, such as waste, mobility, etc. They research the problem, design an action program and deliver the action program to the rest of the university community. This “research-action” team is made up of students, lecturers, and staff. At the end of this Part results and impact measures are collected and then shared with the stakeholders and the public at large.

The materials and structure of the program, which are based on projects previously implemented by GAP Spain, are in place and don’t need to be re-invent.

The main activities are:

  • 3 Meetings: The kick-off meeting in Bilbao, LTTA in Italy and dissemination event in Germany
  • Development of contents, materials, and methodology
  • Online platform development in 6 languages. The structure will involve 2 parts: Implementation and validation process by testing in the participating universities, and the development of guidelines which will include several manuals
  • ATTUNE programme set up & running in 5 universities.

Expected results

The main expected results are:

  • Proven & workable methodology: a valuable tool to mitigate the impact of the Climate Crisis in the European higher education sector
  • Reliable data: the validation process will generate a wealth of data which can be collated and analyzed
  • Motivated participants: the users will experience behavioral changes
  • Online platform: a working tool that can be adapted to different cultures and easily translated to make it more accessible and local.

The programme can be repeated on the campus over many years. So, it’s not a one-off program for the university.

Coordinator Asociación Plan de Acción Global para la tierra GAP (ES)*

Partnership

  • InEuropa Srl (IT)*
  • Agado Gesellschaft für nachhaltige Entwicklung UG (DE)*
  • Fundacja GAP Polska – Plan Globalnego Dzialania na rzecz Ziemi (PL)*
  • Mikado Danismanlik Hizmetleri Ltd. Sti. (TR)*
  • Università degli studi di Siena (IT)
  • Universidad del País Vasco/ Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (ES)
  • Ozyegin Universitesi (TR)
  • Akademia Pedagogiki Specjalnej IM.MARII GRZEGORZEWSKIEJ (PL)
  • Stiftung Universität Hildesheim (DE)

*GAP organisations

The GAP organization in each country will lead the programme and work closely with the university, either through its sustainability office or the team / person responsible for sustainability in the university. The university role will be one of promoting the programme and encouraging participation and action, while the GAP organization provides the material and delivery systems.

Duration

The project has a duration of 26 months.

Budget

The grant is € 400,000.00

Project A(RT)CTION for Climate Change

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A(RT)CTION

A(RT)CTION for Climate Change

Programme and Call for proposals

Erasmus + KA220-YOU Cooperation Partnerships – Youth – call 2021

Project number: 2021-1-EL02-KA220-YOU-000029005

Open project

Brief description

A(RT)CTION is a transnational project co-funded by the Programme Erasmus + KA2 – Cooperation Partnerships – Youth within EAC/A01/2021 (Call for proposals 2021).

InEuropa srl is partner in the project.

Objectives
A(RT)CTION project was born out of all partner’s shared vision to contribute to the fight against the most pressing issues of our time, that is climate change. It is a multi-dimensional project that will enable behavioural changes for individual preferences, consumption habits, and lifestyle by training and educating young visual artists and youth workers on how to be true agents of change and green entrepreneurial practitioners. In the specific, the project intends to contribute to a more sustainable future by capitalizing on the influential power of arts and green entrepreneurship to raise awareness about environmental issues and foster positive behavioural change. The involved young artists will be able to employ their artworks as a tool to raise environmental awareness and trigger change at transnational level.

Deliverables

The project foresees the achievement of 4 main deliverables:

  • Artists ‘as Green Actors of Change’ Curriculum: development of the research methodology and implementation of questionnaires and interviews with the target groups; development of the structure of the Curriculum, with interrelated topics connected to the issue of climate change and how young visual artists can address it; testing of the Curriculum prior to its dissemination.
  • The ‘Green E-learning Platform & Cross-cultural Network for Collaboration’ Platform: design and development of the platform; transformation of the Curriculum into e-learning materials; assembly of the Curriculum into a cohesive course ready for piloting via the interactive platform.
  • ‘Artists for Climate Change’ Toolkit: creation of this tool with content and resources aimed at young people and arts professionals.
  • Book/e-Book for Young Artists on ‘How to become a Successful Green Social Entrepreneur/ Actor of Change’: aimed at young artists, it will offer practical advice and guidance regarding green arts and entrepreneurship, with a special focus on how visual artists should employ their art to raise awareness toward green issues, inspire appropriate behaviour, and influence people to be more environmentally conscious.

Results
The main expected results of A(RT)CTION are:

  • Strengthening the sense of initiative of young people, through the promotion of green entrepreneurship and creative learning;
  • Increase in the number of young artists and youth workers who act as true agents of change and help the society in which they live to face the challenges of climate change;
  • Increased quality innovation and recognition of youth work (in the arts sector) as well as productive knowledge exchange, and stimulation of intercultural dialogue with people across Europe;
  • Developed sustainability competences of educators and education leaders and support the planned approaches of the participating organisations regarding environmental sustainability.

Applicant
ORGANOSI GI (GREECE)

Partners

  • CENTRE FOR ADVANCEMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY LTD – CARDET (CYPRUS)
  • INEUROPA SRL (ITALY)
  • FUNDACIO INTERARTS PER A LA COOPERACIO CULTURAL INTERNACIONAL (SPAIN)
  • AMAZING YOUTH (GREECE)
  • ARTIT ATHENS ΜΟΝΟΠΡΟΣΩΠΗ ΙΔΙΩΤΙΚΗ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΥΧΙΚΗ ΕΤΑΙΡΕΙΑ (GREECE)
  • KENTRO MERIMNAS OIKOGENEIAS KAI PAIDIOU (GREECE)

Duration
24 months (8 December 2021 – 7 December 2023)

Website
under contruction

Budget
The project received a grant of € 255.650,00.

Co-financing Organization
Erasmus+ National Agency – NEDIVIM Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation – GREECE

JUST ACTION – Teachers and students towards a sustainable transition

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JUST ACTION – TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE TRANSITION

Action on Global Citizenship – empowering student voices for climate action at primary and post primary level

Project number: 2021-1-IE01-KA220-SCH-000031615

Lead Partner
Global Action Plan Ltd. (Ireland)

Programme
Erasmus+ Programme – KA2 Cooperation partnerships in school education, Call for Proposals 2021

Brief description
Action on Global Citizenship (AOGC) is a programme that aims to empower teachers in primary and secondary/high schools to engage their learners critically in the theme of climate action through a Global Citizenship Education (GCE) lens and to support learners in taking relevant, meaningful action to the climate issues they encounter.

The project stems from a growing awareness of the globalised and interconnected nature of climate action and the need for systemic change starting with young people, supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Action.

Creating the space for exploration within the school environment will enable students to actively engage in transforming the world around them for the better.

In this context, a partnership of environmental education organisations from the GAP International Network from Italy, Ireland, Spain and Norway have designed the Action on Global Citizenship programme to support the acquisition of knowledge (head), values & attitudes (hearts) and skills for action (hand) so learners can take appropriate actions to address climate and sustainability challenges.

Given the ability to reach a large number of learners and their influence as educators, the programme has a strong focus on supporting teachers.

Objectives
The overall project objective is to implement a sustainable, scalable Global Citizenship Education programme at primary and secondary that has been designed and piloted through a participatory design methodology and will reach teachers and learners across the programme countries.

Specific objectives of the programme are:

  • to provide appropriate educational resources for primary and secondary teachers and their students
  • to provide a training programme for teachers at both levels, supported by an online Resource and Learning Platform for teacher and student access
  • to make learners feel empowered to participate as an active global citizen and take action on climate and sustainability issues and challenges that matter to them most
  • to create greater opportunities for school to school collaboration via eTwinning
  • to grow, scale and sustain the programme through the regional education systems in each country, thus increasing access of the programme to schools, teachers and learners nationally and transnationally
  • to build capacity of the programme partners to manage the design life cycle of educational programmes

Activities 

  • Secondary School Action on Global Citizenship Programme: a toolkit that supports teachers in secondary schools to guide learners together in tackling local issues identified by learners that are related to the climate crisis and exploring them critically through a global lens and collectively creating meaningful actions and campaigns that address these issues. Included will be a student workbook that will support learners during the programme.
  • Primary School Action on Global Citizenship Programme: a toolkit that supports teachers in primary schools to guide learners together in tackling local issues identified by learners that are related to the climate crisis and exploring them critically through a global lens and collectively creating meaningful actions and campaigns that address these issues. Included will be a student workbook that will support learners during the programme.
  • Action on Global Citizenship Teacher Training Programme: the programme will support primary and secondary school teachers and give them the competencies to integrate the GCE programme in their teaching and learning practices. The deliverables for this output will be in the form of training materials (presentations, activity books, learning resources, support videos) and support documents for the programme such as learning outcome documents, lesson plans and administration forms.
  • Action on Global Citizenship Resource and Learning Online Platform: resource platform for schools to access a comprehensive repository of open education resources and learning materials that will support the teaching and learning process as they undertake the Action on Global Citizenship programme in their school. The platform will be multilingual in English, Spanish, Italian and Norwegian. Designed into the overall programme will be an emphasis on international school collaboration using eTwinning.

Expected outcomes 

  • The Action on Global Citizenship programme piloted in 8 primary and 8 secondary schools, with 32 teachers and up to 1000 learners
  • 200 teachers trained in Action on Global Citizenship training
  • 12,000 learners reached by the programme and connecting to other European students via eTwinning

Target group
The main target groups and beneficiaries of the project are students, teachers and school managers from primary and secondary schools.

Partnership
Lead partner: Global Action Plan Ltd. (IE)
PP1: Framtiden i våre hender (NO)
PP2: ASOCIACION PLAN DE ACCION GLOBAL PARA LA TIERRA GAP ESPANA (ES)
PP3: InEuropa Srl (IT)

Duration
The project has a duration of 36 months (from 01/11/2021 to 01/11/2024)

EU grant
The project has a total cost of di 258,538.00€

e^4 — tools in higher Education for an Embodied & creative Energy Education

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E^4 — tools in higher Education for an Embodied & creative Energy Education

Programme and Call for Proposals

 

ERASMUS PLUS – Call 2021 Round 1 KA2

KA220-HED – Cooperation partnerships in higher education

 

Brief description

Given the urgency of environmental and technological change in the face of challenges such as climate change, the main need recorded is raising awareness of possible solutions and necessary measures, also given the challenge of educating the coming generation in these matters.

We feel the urgent need for both supporting and reforming teacher education (for teachers of primary school and lower secondary or middle school levels) at academic institutions in matters concerning energy (energy solutions, energy and the environment, energy and society).

On this scenario, we intend to create:

  • Innovative materials for teacher education in the field of energy technology.
  • A network of academic institutions and external stakeholders dealing practically with matters concerning energy.
  • A dedicated web platform were both learning materials for university courses and material, knowledge, and opportunities provided by the network are available.

Objectives

  • Develop and/or enrich higher education curricula (in teacher education for primary and lower secondary school levels), following a didactic approach based on “tools of imagination” like storytelling, gamification, embodied simulation, digital simulation, and play to facilitate science communication;
  • train academics charged with teacher education in innovative pedagogies and approaches to teaching science courses (including the use of appropriate aids and materials);
  • promote learning and teaching partnerships between universities and the private energy sector;
  • upskill future science teachers with new approaches to teaching to encourage girls for scientific carriers and fight against gender stereotypes in scientific and engineering careers;
  • support the strengthening of science skills of EU citizens and professionals to make conscious choices and use creativity and a critical mindset to contribute to lower CO2 emissions towards EU 2050 targets.

 

Main Activities

  • Creating guidelines for a Network of academic and private/public partnerships.
  • “Imaginative course” Curriculum for teaching through imaginative tools.
  • Interactive web platform supporting the Curriculum and the Network.

Results

  • Increased competences and skills of partners’ staff.
  • Increased competences in teachers of primary and secondary schools: 20 teachers (5 for each of the 4 countries involved) will participate in a transnational training session to get acquainted with the offline workshop activities proposed.
  • 30 prospective teachers in each country will join local testing and implement full testing of the blended course (web and software-based activities plus workshop activities). We expect 75% to 85% of participating teachers to be women. Thanks to local testing the project will reach about 1000 students in the 4 countries.
  • 300 participants will be interviewed as part of project assessment.

We expect the project to produce a change in teaching approaches at all levels:

  •  At university level, improving academics’ science teaching approaches, also blending online and in presence courses, improving the efficacy of their courses both at university and jointly with the private and public energy sector.
  • At school level, helping student teachers and in-service teachers to be more motivated for and engaged in new imaginative teaching methods, will lead to innovation in school curricula. Teachers will be able to adapt their teaching approaches to the new generation’s learning capacities and skills needs through the application of creativity fostered by imaginative tools.

Lead partner

LIBERA UNIVERSITA’ DI BOLZANO (Italy)

Partners

– InEuropa Srl – Italy

– Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika W Toruniu – Poland

– Esciencia Eventos Cientificos Sl Aragón Zaragoza – Spain

– Universitat de Valencia – Spain

– Sustainable Innovation Technology Services Ltd Mid-West Castletroy – Irleland

– Università degli Studi Di Modena e Reggio Emilia – Italy

– Dublin City University – Ireland

Duration
The project will last 36 months (28 February 2022 – 27 February 2025)

Website
https://energy4teachers.eu/

Budget
The project received a grant of € 395 506,00