Our students consume videos from well-known internet platforms almost on a daily basis. A simple classroom-survey has shown that the range of videos the students watch varies from explainer videos focusing on school-related content, or tutorials to watching gamers on their quest. Additionally, parents have mentioned that our students watch online videos intensively. Hence, the wish to incorporate the students’ interest in videos into our daily curriculum has arisen.That is why we want to use the students’ high intrinsic motivation and let them create their own videos. At first, we want to focus on explainer videos. Each STEM-subject has its own set of recurrent topics that students need to know and be able to work with. Experience has shown that some students have difficulties with these core basics of the different scientific subjects. Thus they are going to be the focus of the explainer videos. With a strong reference to the individual curricula of each subject and each country common core basics will be determined. On these the explainer videos will focus while putting an additional stress on videos dealing with physics, or very important physics videos, in short: VIP.This “VIP-project“ tries to reach several aims. One is to improve the students’ digital competences by creating explainer videos dealing with STEM-related issues and especially physics. Secondly, to enhance the students’ general learning abilities. And, lastly, to broaden the students’ understanding, acceptance and tolerance of different European countries. By creating explainer videos based on the countries’ individual curricula, the students will have to work together and interact which will lead to a higher understanding of different ways schools run in Europe. This intended tolerance and higher level of understanding will also be reached through mutual visitations in each other’s countries.There are three participating schools in the VIP-project:- Gymnasium Georgianum Lingen, Germany; a public grammar school and European School with about 1300 students and 100 teachers/employees- Gymnázium Karola Štúra from Modra, Slovakia; a public secondary school with 310 students and a staff of 310.- Petofi Sandor Evangelikus Gimnazium es Kollegium from Mezőberény, Hungary; comprising 591 students and 60 teachers as well as a boarding school departmentTo start with, the teachers involved in the VIP-project are trained themselves. At a first encounter skills of film making and creating explainer videos are established as a common working basis.Next, the students have mutual student exchanges with the project’s partner schools. Their task in small groups abroad: based on the host country’s curriculum they create explainer videos teaching fundamental contents of physics and how to conduct corresponding experiments. These videos are shot with appropriate digital devices (e.g. tablets) and edited with basic software. In a second meeting the students expand their acquired competences to other STEM-subjects.At a final encounter the students put stronger emphasis on producing more sophisticated films including not only advanced techniques of film making but also covering various fields and topics of STEM-subjects in order to show learning progress. The specific contents during the course of this project are in part prepared by students and teachers alike using the collaborative “eTwinning“ platform provided by the European Commission. And of course the project offers numerous opportunities of intercultural exchange for all participants by doing local, regional and foremost traditional social activities in the host country.The results of the project are explainer videos, tutorials and short STEM-related films which are published and shared via eTwinning, providing easily accessible and understandable learning units for other students.In the methodological sense of the “flipped classroom” students become the teacher and gradually gain as well as show their competences dealing with scientific subject matter throughout the VIP-project process.

"CONTEXTAfter the outbreak of the COVID-19 in December 2019 and its spread in Europe, education institutions such as high schools or primary schools had to close their doors and try online education with the few resources they had in hand. Schools and other educational institutions had opened their doors again for the academic year 2020/2021, but there is a growing concern about a future wave of the coronavirus and shutting the schools doors again for a longer period of time. Not only that, but some upper secondary schools or higher education institutions have decided to work with a semi-presencial methodology in order to minimise health risks, without knowing very well how the students will adapt to this new method. This has created a great need for modernisation within education and training systems across Europe and this project aims to provide a tool for this void.OBJECTIVESInside the school readiness, the GETUP! project has identified three objectives that can be accomplished with the development of the project:1. Innovative and digital gamification as an educational tool for upper schools on Parks and environment.2. Promotion of biodiversity protection and natural parks as relevant social and educational value of European cultural heritage, with strong connections to job creation and economic growth.3. Strengthening the profile of the teaching professions with new skills and knowledge in Digital tools and gamification.PARTICIPANTSRegarding the organisation that participated in the project, we have created a partnership with 8 partners and a total of 5 European countries involved in it:1. eco&eco: (Italy) a company in the field of economic research and consultancy for the management and interpretation of local resources.2. InEuropa srl: (Italy) it works in EU projects with the aim of supporting public and private bodies in accessing European Financial opportunities. It also provides technical assistance in the design and management stage, as well as implementing and assisting in education & training, youth, culture, environment and social issues.3. IES BOTÀNIC CAVANILLES: (Spain) A secondary education school that has an extensive knowledge in students mobilities, but also has a deep concern for environment education.4. DNAMAR COMPUTERS SP ZOO: (Poland) it is private company providing training and ICT solutions for various sectors and for all age groups.5. ENTE DI GESTIONE PER I PARCHI E LA BIODIVERSITÀ EMILIA OCCIDENTALE “PARKS AND BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY - WESTERN EMILIA"": (Italy) it is a public authority which deals with nature conservation.6. GYMNASIUM KAROL Štúra: (Slovakia) it is a secondary grammar school and general education7. ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY OF ICELAND: (Iceland) the Environment Agency operates under the direction of the Ministry for the Environment. It's role is to promote the protection as well as sustainable use of Iceland’s natural resources, as well as public welfare by helping to ensure a healthy environment, and safe consumer goods.8. LOW CARBON ECONOMY FOUNDATION - (Spain) It is the project coordinator, with experience in environmental education, innovative methods for education and sustainability, and project management.ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGYGET UP! can be divided in three phases: the first will be the initial development of the project for research about the environment and the knowledge to be transmitted to schools. The second will be how to apply this knowledge in environmental education through gamification, merging everything into a learning game, as well as creating a space for knowledge transference among teachers/professors, and involving the students actively in the project. The final phase will be once the project is finished, to sustain it and update information to keep it working.Linked to these phases, there are five IOs (the first two IOs will take place during the first phase and the three last outputs during the second phase):- IO1: Global and Local Environmental Scenarios Report- IO2: Local Protected Areas and Nature protection Scenario Report- IO3: The use of gaming in Environmental Education - Guidelines- IO4: Digital Educational tool on parks and environment- IO5: We really GET UP! Guidelines for students to become “Parks and Nature Ambassadors”The LTTAs that will take place in the second phase are:- C1: Educational Training on gamification and digital tools for teachers (short-term joint staff training event)- C2: Setting up of the Educational tool (short-term joint staff training event)- C3: Field visit and experimental application of the method (short-term exchange of groups of students)RESULTS AND IMPACTIt is expected that the GET UP! project will contribute to environmental education, school readiness, modernisation in education methodologies, and European cultural awareness. Its impact will be mainly in the education field, but also in institutions related with environment and EdTech."