<< Background >>The context of the project is both clear and dramatic: the world is racing towards an environmental catastrophe that can only be halted by immediate and persistent action. Not just action on a global, geo-political scale, but action by everyone in their every-day habits and behaviours. The more people learn about the threats to our environment, the more likely they are to modify their behaviours and persuade those around them to modify theirs. Of course learning can take place in many different contexts. Mainstream education is key, as are social networks and the more traditional media channels. But we need to take every opportunity to communicate the clear and present dangers to our environment, and language teaching organisations, whether private or public, can play an important role. Language schools across the EU teach hundreds of thousands of adult students every year. Of course these students attend language schools primarily in order to improve their language skills, rather than learn about environmental issues, but our contention is that we can achieve both goals simultaneously. In other words we can improve students’ language skills while, at the same time, focusing their attention on environmental issues. Given the number of language students the sector has access to, the overall impact could be significant. The idea of including environmental themes in language classes is not entirely new. Most course book writers and publishers now include at least one unit in their text books that focuses on the environment in one way or another. However, typically, this is only one unit out of ten or twelve, so the environment is entirely side-lined for at least 90% of the course. (Perhaps this is not entirely surprising given that publishers are intent on printing and selling as many of their glossy, non-ecological course books as they possibly can). But the demand for more study material that focuses on the environment clearly exists. According to a recent survey of 2,500 English language students untaken by the British Council (and due to be published in June) 71,5% said they would like their English language classes to contain more environmental topics. Similarly, 80% of a total of 1,800 English language teachers surveyed by the British Council claimed they need help integrating environmental issues into their lessons. Our own surveys, conducted by Molehill and Jantar with individual schools as well as national and multinational associations of language schools, give similar results. A large majority of language teachers would like access to a greater volume of study materials that focus on environmental issues. The principle objective of this project, therefore, is to obtain sufficient funding to develop a series of study materials designed for adult learners of English, Spanish and French, that focus on environmental issues, while ensuring that students also make excellent progress with their language aims and objectives.Of course it is not enough for language schools to persuade their students to lessen their impact on the environment; schools also need to practice what they preach. So our project also aims to guide language schools to a more environmentally sustainable future. We will achieve this by describing a range of policies and practices that language schools can adopt and adhere to – both inside the classroom and with regard to all their other business practices. Again, our surveys indicate that schools want to become more sustainable, and the vast majority readily acknowledge that they need help and guidance with this process. Our project is therefore designed to overcome what behavioural economists describe as the bystander effect, which is the tendency to wait for others to act rather than act ourselves. We simply do not have time to wait. The environment needs us all to act now and this project provides language schools with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to do so.<< Objectives >>There are thousands of language schools in the EU, tens of thousands of language teachers working in these schools, and millions of adult learners following language courses. The primary objective of our project is to increase the awareness of all these target groups of the urgent need to modify their behaviour in order to safeguard the environment. Most people within the EU have heard about climate change, but not all of them are aware of the impact it could have on their futures, and their children’s futures. They may also be unaware of the steps they can take as managers, teachers, or private citizens to help ensure that the worst outcomes that have been predicted are not realised. Similarly, while everyone has heard of other environmental issues such as pollution from plastics, the loss of biodiversity, or the over-exploitation of the world’s natural resources, not everyone is conscious of the need to consider these issues when going about their daily lives. Language schools have the opportunity to make a significant contribution towards safeguarding the environment for everyone’s benefit, and that is what this project sets out to do.We believe we can achieve this goal by encouraging language school managers to modify the way they operate their institutions; by encouraging teachers to adopt more sustainable practices in their classes, and by providing teachers with a range of digital study materials designed to encourage and facilitate the systematic integration of environmental issues into adult language classes. The production of 101 - the Handbook designed for language school managers and teachers - will explain how these target groups can adopt more environmentally sustainable policies and practices. The production of IO2 and IO3 – the videos and lesson plans designed for learners of English, Spanish and French – will enable the systematic integration of environmental themes at all CEFR levels. IO4 – the ECO-LAB platform will provide the digital structure of the project, ensuring ready access to all stakeholders and the long-term sustainability of the project. The project responds to a clear need that has been identified both by our own research, and research conducted by such institutions as the British Council. Both language teachers and adult language learners would like their classes to focus more on environmental issues. Our project is designed to facilitate this outcome. Of course we do not expect to transform the practices of all language schools in the EU overnight; but though the development of effective Impact and Dissemination plans, we do believe our project can have a transformative effect over time. We envisage involving at least 30 language schools, 200 teachers and 4,000 learners within one year of the project’s completion. Even at this modest level, the cascade effect of hundreds of teachers and thousands of learners adopting more sustainable practices could be significant, as they encourage their families, friends and colleagues to adopt similar behaviours.Another objective of the project is to increase the repertoire of skills among language teachers by introducing them to a range of range of new, student-centred teaching techniques. Some of these techniques will encourage the transition towards paperless teaching, thereby reducing the impact language classes have on the environment. The project will also help learners develop their language competences more efficiently, not only by improving their teachers’ skills, but also by giving them access to well-designed, digital study materials that will address issues that are both relevant and important, thereby increasing learners’ motivation to continue their studies.Additional objectives include improving the skills and motivation of staff within the partner institutions (by giving them more experience in the development of digital study materials). We also hope to enhance the image of the partners within the language teaching sector.<< Implementation >>The project activities revolve around the development of four intellectual outputs. These are designed to encourage language schools to adopt a series of policies and practices that will make their institutions more environmentally sustainable, and provide them with the resources they need to systematically integrate environmental issues in their classes (whether face-to-face or online) irrespective of the level of the learners involved. We have decided to produce these study materials for adult students of English, Spanish and French as these are the languages that are most widely studied across Europe. We are also responding to a clear need, which is to provide teachers and learners with the opportunity to discuss environmental issues in their classes more frequently while, at the same time, enhancing the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process. These four intellectual outputs will be developed over the 30-month duration of the project with piloting of all materials taking place within partner and associate schools as soon as the materials become available. In addition to these intellectual outputs the project also includes a range of activities designed to ensure its efficient management and implementation. These include four Transnational Meetings (one in each of the partner’s locations) which will give us the opportunity to discuss all items related to the project, both with regard to the development of the intellectual outputs and with regard to project management and implementation. These face-to-face meetings will be supplemented by regular online meetings, using digital platforms such as ZOOM.Partners will also develop a Quality Assurance plan to ensure that all the project processes and results meet the high standards we have set ourselves. The QA plan will cover all project management processes (e.g. by evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of transnational meetings) and will also cover the development of all IOs. As mentioned above, all materials produced will all be piloted by the partners and associate schools and feedback obtained through questionnaires sent to all relevant stakeholders. This will enable us to make any necessary adjustments before the final version of each IO is published. The partners will also develop a Dissemination Plan (DP) to ensure that the project results reach the widest possible audience. The DP will determine which communications channels are used (Websites, social media channels, conferences, etc.), which partner is responsible for each channel, and with what frequency dissemination activities should take place. Dissemination activities will also include a minimum number of Multiplier Events, which will be organised by each partner specifically in order to communicate the project results directly to an invited audience of interested parties, including local or regional language schools, environmental organisations, regional government authorities, etc. A first draft of the Dissemination Plan is already in preparation and will be discussed at length during the first transnational meeting.An initial Impact Plan (IP) has already been developed and is included as an annex to this application. The IP identifies the impact the project is likely to have with different target groups and outlines how these impacts can be measured both in quantitative and qualitative terms. The IP estimates the number of language school, teachers and learners that will benefit from the project, both during its 30-month development stage, and up to 24 months beyond the project’s completion, although the longer-term impact could be even more significant.Each of these project implementation plans (QA, DP, IP) will be overseen by one of the partners, although all partners are expected to contribute to their development and implementation at all stages. Each plan will also be subject to continuous revision and renewal, as is evidenced by the fact that the IP is already on its second draft.<< Results >>The principle results of the project will be the production of four intellectual outputs. IO1 is a Handbook designed to provide language school managers and teachers with all the tools they need to lessen the environmental impact of their activities, while also improving their competences as providers of language courses. IO2 is a series of 48 short videos (16 for each target language). Each video will cover a specific environmental issue and will be accompanied by tasks designed for language learners, thereby facilitating their exploitation both in the classroom and online. IO3 will consist of a collection of 240 original lesson plans (LPs) with 80 per target language. Each plan will be based on an environmental issue and will aim to develop at least one language item and one language skill. LPs will consist of detailed teachers' notes, including suggestions for staging the different sections of each lesson. LPs will also provide original texts featuring the target language, or links to suitable resources found elsewhere. LPs will also encourage sustainable practices in the classroom and beyond, thereby contributing towards the project’s main objective. IO4 is a digital platform that will serve as a repository for all the study materials developed during the project. The platform will provide instant access to all materials to users anywhere, and will also enable teachers to submit their own lesson plans to be shared with others. The platform will also enable school managers to measure the performance of their business activities against the environmental standards that have been outlined in Part 1 of IO1. The impact of these outputs (detailed in our Impact Plan) will be significant, both for participating organisations and for the wider language teaching community. Participating organisations will benefit in various ways. Their staff will further develop their ability to produce digital study materials; they will improve the effectiveness of their teaching, thereby helping students achieve better outcomes; they will become more aware of the many opportunities they have to protect the environment; and their image will be enhanced.The impact on other language schools could be transformative. By formally adopting the environmentally sustainable policies and practices suggested in IO1, schools will be able to highlight their environmental credentials in any marketing material, thereby enhancing their image and reputation with all stakeholders, and in their local communities. The impact on language teachers from other schools will also be significant. They will benefit from having ready access to the materials developed in IO2 and IO3, through the platform developed as IO4; they will gain greater knowledge of a range of environmental issues; they will also obtain new skills and competencies in their teaching.Adult language learners will benefit by having access to stimulating new study resources designed to improve students' competences across all language skills. Learners will also benefit by having the opportunity to study with teachers using modern, student-centred methodologies; and they should also gain heightened awareness of a range of environmental issues.By encouraging all stakeholders to adopt policies and practices that are environmentally sustainable in their teaching institutions and beyond, we also envisage a cascade effect, whereby stakeholders involve families, friends, and neighbors, thus widening the impact of the project in the wider community.Within one year of the project’s completion, we expect at least 30 language schools to have adopted the environmental policies, with 200 teachers actively using the study materials with at least 4,000 adult learners. Within 24 months of the project completion we expect these numbers to increase to at least 80 language schools, 500 teachers and 10,000 learners. These are the minimum numbers we envisage, the final figures could be significantly higher.