About Us
Why a Project on Action Against Climate Change?
“ClimAct Now!” Project stems from the shared concern over accelerating climate change and its tangible effects on all of us. It is also driven by our wish to explore an encompassing view of sustainability that includes its economic, social and environmental dimensions that are interdependent, overlap and together create a holistic perspective. We believe that our students have a central role to play in taking action to stop a dramatic turn in our lives. We feel that the best way to achieve this is by cooperating with European peers and making a joint pledge in tackling it. Taking part in a strategic partnership the benefits are multiplied: working in transnational groups broadens horizons, cultivates European identity and keeps motivation levels high.
What do we want to achieve?
The main objective revolves around altering existing lifestyles and mentality in view of the common threat imposed. Lifestyle choices that impose on the environment need to change and by exploring the right questions we can reach feasible solutions. Efforts are put in cultivating different values, attitudes and skills not only raising awareness on the issue. Cultivating and enhancing environmental sensitivity to students, teachers and the local community, adopting an ecological mindset, inspiring and involving students with learning disabilities and socially vulnerable ones are essential. Everybody is needed and welcome.
This is our team!
We are four secondary education high schools, with students aged 15-18: the 3rd Senior High School of Sparta, in the South of Greece that is also the coordinating school; High School Miron Costin Pascani, in the Moldavia region, in Romania; Grouping of Schools of Frazao, Pacos Ferreira, in the region of Porto, in Portugal and Information Technology High School, Belgrade, in Serbia. The participating schools from Greece, Portugal and Romania are comprehensive senior high schools wheres the Serbian partner is an Information Technology school. Participants are selected according to interest in the Project topic, willingness to participate and cooperate throughout its stages, linguistic competency, social and communicative skills. They are ready to leave their comfort zones, travel abroad, gain new experiences, experiment with new methods and explore new cultures.
How will we go about it?
The methodology followed is mainly based on innovative learning and teaching methods as the tool to connect real life needs to classroom practice. We aim to enable students to work collaboratively maintaining their motivation and interest through addressing real-world problems and attempting to answer complex questions. Project tasks chosen are inquiry-based and cultivate deep content knowledge, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills. They will be able to demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating public products for a real audience. They also include field research and hands-on experience, multiple resources and methods to meet students learning styles. Integrating environmental education in a cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approach is also crucial in the realization of the Project.
What do we expect to achieve?
We expect these activities to have a real impact on school and community level. Raising awareness about global environmental topics can reach afar through electronic media. Thereby, all student families and other stakeholders will be informed about our progress. It will highlight the imperative awareness from all of us about natural resources protection. Interdisciplinary lesson plans will be used long after the Project is finalized. In collaboration with cultural, educational and social organizations, this project will present positive results that will arouse substantial identification with the European Green Deal and civic participation. International bonds and the European identity will be strengthened.
What are our topics of work?
Prior to the mobility exchange, we will be cooperating in order to organize transnational activities, between our disciplines on the eTwinning platform. During the exchange, subtopics of interest will be explored in further detail. In Romania, students will engage in researching the life cycle of clothes, the soil and composting, the flora and fauna of the region and the process of waste disposal. In Portugal, the main topic will be understanding fresh and sea acidification is disastrous for ecosystems. In Greece, the focus will be on everyday consumption choices and food safety. Finally, in Serbia, urban growth occurring over the last decades and taking action to tackle the social and environmental challenges it entails will be studied. Videoconferencing, experiments and research guided and supervised by teachers will be carried out and visits to topic-specific, institutions are believed to bring added value to the effectiveness of activity implementation. Transnational group work, group and plenary discussion of findings and student suggestions are also key to tasks. Assessment of students performance will also be essential to determine the success of the interventions proposed. Green Open Days will inform the community on the Project.
