The core purpose of this project will be to assess waste management systems with a particular focus on single use plastic within rural and urban areas. Our data gathering will inform future strategies to minimise environmental impact. Actions will be student led, working towards a cleaner more conscientious Europe, as demonstrated by a range of modified systems preventing wasteful use of materials whilst mitigating their impact through better management. Key to this will be for students to develop a range of skills: technological, problem-solving, presentational and inter-personal skills alongside integrated social skills essential for employment. These will enhance teaching and learning through collaborative tasks, across a range of subject areas: developing young European citizens who understand the shared environmental challenges facing us. Students will also develop a deeper understanding of the rich and varied socio/cultural and historical context of the partner schools. Collaborative learning will be established through the exchange of key vocabulary whilst conducting in depth research to broaden their knowledge of the area they are visiting. We will use results from our data gathering to inform all our students at home and transnationally, convincing them of the need to become part of the solution. They will develop as reflective and proactive individuals and will demonstrate an improved understanding of their role and their civic duty in the fight against climate change. Initially some 200 students will be involved directly in the project but approximately 2,200 students will participate in a cross-cultural experience, many of whom rarely get this opportunity. A recent survey conducted by the BBC showed that West Dorset is in the bottom quartile with regard to opportunities and access to amenities for youngsters. In addition pupils at Beaminster with SEN are much higher than national (33.8% compared to 10.6%). Some of these factors promote low aspirations: a similar scenario for the German school from Hamburg, however this will contrast with the more privileged background of our French partners. The context of the projects will necessarily draw on a range of subject knowledge and skills as well as providing a tangible reason for learning another language, encouraging participation and second language study at all partner schools with the potential for improved aspirations. Student mobility projects will provide an arena to showcase students’ developed skills through the exchange of good practice: collecting and collating data, establishing working relationships, implementing and analysing new practices, responding to feed-back, developing presentation skills. Groups of between 60 and 80 students will be responsible for analysing data and presenting reports on exchange visits.. Large numbers of students will take part in data collection, actively litter picking, participating in surveys or collecting waste material, to be sorted and to provide initial findings on which the first activities will be based. By involving large numbers they will be encouraged to understand the issues first hand, and will better understand their role in the solution. As a result students will then plan, prepare, deliver, assess and negotiate their proposed activities to achieve their objectives. Students will seek expert advice from local businesses and action groups to promote civic engagement and to aid them in meeting their objectives. They will be sub-divided into action groups looking into: promotion, implementation, finance and research of the project. The development of ICT skills will be intrinsic to the project. Key to its success will be the ability to disseminate the information between groups, primarily via a range of technology based tools. Information will be student led, with the core group of year 7/8 students being responsible for working with news groups and through assemblies, keeping all abreast of projects and progress, explaining plans, outcomes, successes and the need for continued participation. With regard to the broader communities this will take place via radio broadcasts, school newspapers, the local media, social networks and the eTwinning platform. Continued reflection and formative assessment will allow students to monitor effectiveness: it is to be expected that not all intended outcomes will be realised. This will build resilience as it is the students’ response to the results which will be crucial to the success of the activity. Success will also be informed by consultation with all stakeholders across all communities. It is our intention that the legacy of this project will be in place for years to come through an established network of groups at a transnational and local community level to improve the outlook for the environment within Europe and globally.

The name of the project is “Do! Learn! Be sustainable!” This project was aimed to help teachers and children from different European countries to keep in touch and motivate them to learn about and understand what sustainable development is, as well as to expand their understanding of the concept. The aim was also to improve their English language skills and ICT skills. Different methods were used throughout the project. Drama and arts allowed the children to express their ideas creatively. Through entrepreneurship education, the learning experiences were expanded to include project management and the value of work. Learning by doing helped the students put the theories into practice. Children and teachers came from different parts of Europe: Finland, Italy, France and Spain. Participating schools were all public schools but there were differences between them in the number and age of children.These differences brought us a rich diversity of ideas. Sustainable development is currently one of the most important challenges in the world. We approached this subject by dividing it into four sections: cultural, ecological, social, and economical sustainability. One section lasted one semester, and each partner school was responsible for coordinating the activities during this section. During these sections the following activities were: Preparing tasks:Project websiteFinland was responsible for creating and updating the project website https://dolearnbesustainable.com/.All the final products were uploaded to the project website. Project Logo: Do! Learn! Be sustainable!Children designed a logo to be used on all documents/work prepared by the Project ‘Do! Learn! Be sustainable!’ and on the Project website.In each school there was a logo competition for the project. The final logo was chosen in Italy.MascotEach school chose a mascot and wrote every day happenings to the diary. In Italy, we changed the mascots and each school got a new mascot.Launch DayEach school organized an official Launch Day for the whole project in their school.Activities: The descriptions of the paths are found on the website: https://dolearnbesustainable.com/.Cultural sustainability: Italy was responsible for coordinating the activities:Cultural path Food path Musical pathLiterary pathThe first project meeting was held in Frosinone, Italy. Ecological sustainability:France was responsible for coordinating the activities: Recycling path Growing path Transportation pathThe second project meeting was held in Vigy, France Social sustainability:Finland was responsible for coordinating the activities: Team path Fitness path Cooperation pathThe third project meeting was held in Nivala, Finland. Economic sustainability:Spain was responsible for coordinating the activities Consumption path Footprint path Sharing path Conclusion pathBecause of the Covid-19 restrictions the final project meeting in Sant Joan d’Alacant, Spain couldn’t be arranged. The desired impact was to improve the awareness of sustainable development and the ways of living sustainably in everyday life. The future of the planet will one day be in the hands of the generation we are educating. Through internalizing the goals of sustainable development they can make a difference for our own countries, Europe, and the world.

"The objective of this project called ‘A healthy perspective on myself, my mental health, and my future’ was to tackle issues that had been red flagged in our various schools (Realschule+ Neustadt (D), St Marys college (Irl), IES Gran Tarajal (E), collège Charles de Gaulle (F) and Scoala Gimnaziala « Alexandru cel Bun » (Ro): obesity, dropping out of school, lack of self-esteem, feeling rejected.The first year was devoted to getting a better understanding of unhealthy eating habits, a scourge among youngsters.We looked at the following issues:- How to eat a healthy and balanced diet. Workshop discussions raised awareness of sugar overconsumption, the ingredients of ready meals and portion control.- Gaining awareness of how advertisements tempt the consumer by making junk food seem trendy and easy to eat. Also we looked at how to decipher food labels.These discussions were led in combination with a program of varied physical and sport activities such as brisk walking, rock climbing, playing outdoors, body balance, stretching, Pilates.We also looked at the crucial issue of self-esteem by inviting image specialists who gave talks about clothing, body image, hygiene, speaking in public for a job interview.The second part of the project ‘Gaining a healthy perspective on my future’ hinged around the creation of a start-up. The French school had some experience in this area and initiated the development of this project in association with the organisation ‘Entreprendre pour Apprendre’ (‘Learning through working’). The aim was to introduce the young pupils to the workplace through the development of a product that they came up with together: a stick soap (""defrisoap""). The development of the product followed the steps of an actual project development in a company (market research, advertisement, and sales) and the regulations binding a company.Digital communication became a necessity to help a project that involved participants from different countries speaking several languages. The students were rigorously trained to use information and communication technology (TIC in French) and EXCEL for their ECDL diploma. Their outstanding effort and commitment were rewarded by the Prize for Innovation at the Mini Start-Up Championship in the European Parliament in Strasburg.The objective of all these projects was to promote the European ideal, international collaboration and multiculturalism, with a special focus on languages and communication. Each school involved in the project raised awareness for it through local newspapers and online updates. One of the challenges of the projects was to connect each school with the workplace by establishing links with workplace experts. New ideas were developed to facilitate the continuation of the project with or without partners.This outstanding result was achieved thanks to a strong team spirit among the students and the supervisors. Through their experience, the students learned valuable skills about themselves, they discovered what the workplace looks like and they broadened their horizons by travelling in Europe with confidence."