The topics of biodiversity and how people affect their environment were the main focus of the Erasmus+ mobility to Spain. Our project, ACT FOR ENVIRONMENT, focuses on making students aware of different environmental issues and what they can do in order to help.

We also believe it is important to inform them and thus give them everything they need to have a better understanding of everything around them. This is why, our Spanish partners organised an informative workshop on the European project, Life Wood for the Future. 

They learnt how the local authorities get invloved in protecting the environment by plpanting trees which can be used for sustainable and eco friendly constructions. They exaplined the participants all the negative effects of the humans activities on the environment and how they need to be more aware for the future.

The second activity was LA VEGA DE GRANADA where students learnt more about the loca biodiversity and how local producers chose to get involved in protecting it. They were explained the way the plants evolved in the area and how different species were brought into their biodiversity. 

We truly beileve that Erasmus+ projects cand make a difference in our lives and contribute to developing skills which are necessary in adult life. Being informed and aware gives the students the attitude they need in order to be more responsbile in the future. 

A new episode in our Erasmus+ adventure took us to Santa Fe Spain, where students explored more on the topic of biodiversity and global warming. The purpose of the meeting was to get them informed and aware of the things that happen in eahc partner country when it comes to protecting endangered species and measure the governments take in order to help the biodiversity context evolve. 

So, students made presentations of the biodiversity in their countries as well as the endangered species they have, discovering similiarties as well as some differences in each system. They also presented the way the authorties gor involved and what can be done for younger generations to benefit from a better environment.

They had national presentations and then they worked in international teams to do different challenges around Santa Fe. Thus, learning by discovering proved to be very beneficial and helpful. They learnt how to manage the tasks and the time alloted for the challenges. 

They also learnt about national projects that help the communities protect the natural habitat of different species as well as the local producers that support all the initiatives in this regard. 

We have learnt some interesting pieces of information that show us how people have become more and more aware of their actions' impact at the level of biodiversity as well as global warming. 

https://englishpagesforyou.com/tutorials/

https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/en/professional-development/courses

eSafety Label este o acreditare europeană și un serviciu de suport pentru instituțiile de învățământ, care are ca obiectiv furnizarea unui mediu sigur și bogat, pentru ca accesul în siguranță la internet să facă parte din procesul de predare și experiența de învățare.

Website-ul eSafety Label dorește a fi un spațiu unde cadrele didactice, directorii de școli și administratorii IT pot:

evalua gradul de siguranță online al școlii
lua măsuri pentru a-l îmbunătăți și consolida
împărtăși cu ceilalți exemple de bună practică

eSafety Label a fost inițiat ca un proiect cu mai mulți actori sociali implicați. El a fost creat datorită faptului că o serie de companii (Kaspersky Lab, Liberty Global, Microsoft și Telefonica) împreună cu Ministere ale Educației (Belgia, Italia și Portugalia) au recunoscut nevoia crescândă a școlilor pentru asistență și au decis să își unească forțele cu European Schoolnet pentru a acoperi această nevoie. Consorțiul a fost susținut în acțiunile sale prin Ministere ale Educației și organizații educaționale din Austria, Estonia, Spania și s-a extins și în alte țări europene.

Am aplicat pentru liceul nostru și a fost o experiență din care am învățat foarte mult. Pe lângă completarea formularului, cei care doresc sa obțină această acreditare europeană trebuie să contribuie activ pe platformă cu materiale de la activități desfășurate în școală și pe forumul platformei.

Working on a collaborative presentation using Canva to show some of the most famous parks and reservations from Romania. The task is also part of the collaborative work in our Erasmus+ project, Act for Emvironment. 

Students also addressed the issue of what they need to in order to be more sustainable in their holidays. They found about eco tourism and how this can be encouraged in their country. 

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFXeELi5Js/mMcI3uX4NKB9dxgcCvTbsg/view?utm_content=DAFXeELi5Js&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

MOBILITY IN PORTUGAL - ONE WEEK BETWEEN THE RIVER AND THE SEA

LANGUAGE WORKSHOP

They learn some basic elements of a new language and they make dialogues introducing themselves. 

PRESENTATION TIME

They make presentations on national topics and present them to their partners.

GLOBAL WARMING WORKSHOP

They learn more about global warming and its effects on local environment. The workshop was very interactive and challenging. 

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY- cleaning the green space from an invasive plant. Learning about how invasive plants affect the local environment and how young people can be more involved in volunteering activities which can benefit the environment. 

CLEANING THE BEACHES: learning about the way people's activities affected the life of the ocean and what the local communities hose to do in order to bring balance. 

MULTINATIONAL TEAMS WORKSHOP

Working together on global warming topics. Making promises for a better attitude towards the environment.

Alina T: The experience in Portugal has made me not only learn new things that I wouldn't have tried on my own, but it has also made me fall in love with places I wouldn't have got to anytime soon. I was pleasantly surprised by the Portuguese children's desire to work with us, to get to know us and mostly, I was surprised by the things they learn in school. I think that this mobility, even if it was one with quite busy days, made me learn more about people, culture, and their customs than I would have learned on my own.
I also learned how many wonderful things and creatures the ocean hosts and how careful we should be to protect this environment that is so useful to us. The documentation visits at the Oceanario, at the Museums of divers, the volunteering activity on the beach and the multinational workshops have offered us the possibility to collaborate and learn from one another which is the best part of the Erasmus experience.
I will definitely not forget this experience and I will appreciate every memory here. I will always remind myself that when I take care of the environment, I take care of myself.

Anastasia G: I consider that the Erasmus+ mobility to Portugal, Almada, has brought me to three main stages; first, going into the, unknown: meeting new people, hearing a new language, seeing new places and getting out of my comfort zone.
In the second stage, after a few days, the “strangers” that we had met became our friends, the places that had been foreign to us slowly began to feel like home and their culture was not so strange to us anymore. The last stage was, unfortunately, the saddest one, where we had to say goodbye, leaving with beautiful memories and with the knowledge that we gained, making promises to see each other again.
I am very impressed by the influence that only one week in this mobility had over me and my life. I realized that you can learn new things in so many ways, not just the traditional ones, and I am more and more fascinated about the world that we live in. The workshop on Global Warming was the best “lesson” I could sit on environmental issues and all participants had the same thought: why don’t we do this at school? I spent a week “between the river and the sea” but I also feel like I learned much more about the insides, the species, as well as about the problems that they face. I realized that we have to protect the environment at all costs if we really want to have a planet for future generations.

Andreea M: This mobility has made me realize two things about myself: one, I can handle any situation that's given to me and two, I’m surer on myself than ever. Although Portugal wasn't the first country I went to through Erasmus, I still found myself be in love with the activities and workshops. I met new people and we worked together on finding solutions for the sea and rivers that are affected because of global warming. We presented our projects about water pollution in our country and what we can do to fight it, thus discovering how much we actually have in common and how local authorities have slowly started to take different measures.  We also had the opportunity to learn from our partners about how they deal with it in their countries realizing that we all do a little something to help and make a difference.
Besides this, we also had documentation visits such as our workshop at the Oceanáiro de Lisboa where we had a marine educator explaining us different environmental concepts and we talked about the greenhouse effect and how that can affect the marine life. Then we had a visit around the aquarium where we saw how they help and protect the species. But everything must come to an end. We left with the knowledge about the marine life as well as the memories, making a promise to ourselves of what we'll do in our daily lives to be more sustainable and eco-friendlier. We also worked together to provide solutions to different problems and we used our critical thinking to make real-life analysis and presentations in multinational teams. We did volunteer work on the beach by collecting the rubbish and also cutting invasive plants.
We spent a week" between the river and the sea" where we learned about how affected the water life is by the actions of people, how we are unfortunately killing the whole ecosystem with our recklessness and how little steps can make a huge difference. So, we do have to Act now, to protect this beautiful planet!

Delia M : “Act for Environment”, Erasmus+ is a great project that combines learning and interacting with the others, improving social skills and gaining knowledge. The theme is really important and we believe that we raised awareness through the presentations on plastic pollution in our waters and actually acting for the environment by cleaning the beach and removing invasive species from the trees.
The mobility gave me the opportunity to visit a gorgeous place and meet wonderful people. We started as strangers but through the activities we have done together we have got to know each other better and I even became friends with some of the people there. My favourite activities were the workshops in which we had to form international teams, because we had to get out of our comfort zone and interact with everyone in the group. I really liked it because that's how I started talking to one of the girls and we ended up having a lot in common. Moreover, I saw the ocean for the first time in my life and it was an unforgettable experience. I enjoyed the entire week and I am excited to keep in contact with the friends I made there in Almada and from whom I have learnt so much!

Students have to enroll in the two introductor modules and then choose one module. When they have 100% in all three, they can downlad the certificates. 

JA Romania works in partnership with the Minsitrty of Education. They have recently extended the deadline for joining this project until the end of December. My students had a lot of fun! 

They can choose from:

1. Metals and the circular economy

2. Fashion and the circular economy

3. Rethinking plastics

4. A circular economy for smartphones and electronic devices

5. e-waste and the circular economy

6. Robotics and the  circular economy

7. Tackling climate change through circular consumption

8. Circular economy of food in cities

9. Sustainable mobility for ciruclar and inclusive cities

10. Climate neutral hopsitals for future- saving lives the circular way

11. Circular and climate rsilient transformation of cities

12. Artificial intelligence and the circular economy

13. Schools as living labs for systematic food circularity

Despre fapte si opinii pe teme de interes: sistemul de invatamant in Romania, locuri de munca in Romania si viata adolesecentilor. Temele au fost abordate in limba engleza asa ca elevii au dezvoltat abilitati de a comunica opinii in limba engleza, de a argumenta un punct de vedere, de a asculta ce au colegii de spus si de a solicita informatii suplimentare. Ei au lucrat in echipe pentru a transforma opinii in fapte si fapte in opinii. 

Evenimentul "Cea mai mare lectie din Romania: Cum deosebim faptele de opinii in mass media?" a fost organizat de Centrul pentru Jurnalism Independent și UNICEF în România.