CitizensHip cOmpetences to tackle clImate ChangEs

Our decision to apply for this project stemmed from the recognition of a need for thorough citizenship education addressing climate change within school environments. Our primary goal was to embar...

The CHOICE project’s main goal was to promote the development of active citizens equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to take responsible and informed actions in response to climate change. The project's impact extended beyond individual schools and communities, contributing to the development of a more environmentally conscious and responsible community. CHOICE project facilitated the exchange of ideas and experiences across Europe, fostering a collective approach to addressing this global challenge. Through its comprehensive approach and unwavering commitment, CHOICE has transformed classrooms into incubators of climate action, empowering young people and teachers to become the driving force behind a sustainable future. The CHOICE project has successfully achieved these objectives by providing teachers with professional development training, developing engaging educational materials, and fostering collaboration between schools, families, and organizations. The project has also created a multilingual platform for sharing best practices, learning and teaching material and disseminating knowledge on climate change education at a European level.

R1.A1: Extraction of key elements and products from the EcoLife project (lead: Deep Blue) As working partners of EcoLife project, DBL was tasked with the extraction of EcoLife relevant elements and products to be proposed and adapted for CHOICE purposes. The key elements from EcoLife have been included in the CHOICE Educational Paths, which compose the Set of Citizenship activities on climate change (i.e. CHOICE main product). Furthermore, activities, videos, and educational material from various EU projects, international environment-related bodies and institutions have been included in the Set of Educational Activities, which were identified and incorporated in the CHOICE Set, after a thorough research in online public databases from national educational institutions, sustainability-related NGOs, and intergovernmental bodies. Finally, DBL also promoted synergies with ongoing EU projects on sustainability and environmental preservation. The collaboration with Circular Bricks (circular economy) and RENAISSANCE (Local Energy Communities) European projects was beneficial as it brought precious insight on specific sustainability topics to CHOICE, while being an opportunity for collaborating projects to disseminate their work and results. This activity contributed to the CHOICE results as it was the starting point for the design of the Educational Paths, which were built starting from the results of the EcoLife project, including knowledge and work from other projects on sustainability. R1.A2: Definition of the Citizenship competences in the context of climate change (lead: CTI) Development of a list of skills developed using school activities (R1.A1), in line with the EU framework on Key Competences. CTI conducted research focused on the identification of the initial set of competences. It presented the results to the partners, conducting an evaluation and assessment activity of competences in which all partners were involved and provided feedback on the citizenship competencies relevant to sustainability and climate change. Subsequently, CTI proceeded with the identification of the final set of competences, which once again were presented to the partners. The final set of competences were also evaluated by relevant stakeholders from the partner schools (teachers, educators, school headmasters/principals). R1.A3: Collection of stakeholder feedback and validation of the set of activities (lead: Consorzio Ro.Ma.) 2 stakeholder meetings were organised in each partner school to collect feedback, validate the set of activities developed in R1.A1 and identify the skill gaps of teachers regarding citizenship education on climate change. This activity was key to understand the opinion and the needs of schools, as well as to identify potential gaps in teachers’ competences regarding the delivery of the Set of Citizenship Education Activities on climate change. Consorzio Ro.Ma led the A3 activity, starting with the setting of instructions for organising R1.A3. It proceeded with the creation of materials to be used for R1.A3, such as attendance list, presentation for parents, PPT to be used by teachers during their presentation to school colleagues and students’ parents, reporting format, skill gap assessment forms. Consorzio Ro.Ma regularly updated with DBL in order to check the status of the activity. To finalise the R1.A3 activity and set the materials for supporting school partners in the feedback collection. Finally, Consorzio Ro.Ma provided the description of the activities and results carried out during R1.A3 to the partners, while reviewing with CTI and DBL the teachers’ skill gap assessment and identifying their needs. They finalised the activity by presenting the results obtained from the feedback collection and analysis. R1.A4: Detailed planning of the Set of Citizenship Education Activities on climate change (lead: Deep Blue) Based on the results of R1.A3, the Set of Citizenship Activities on Climate Change was detailed, including information on the number, objectives and contents of each session, resources needed and connection with the development of the selected citizenship skills. DBL, in collaboration with all partners, designed the Educational Paths, addressing the needs and feedback from stakeholders gathered during R1.A3. With support from CTI, DBL designed 10 (ten) Educational Paths that each address specific aspects of climate change, environment, and sustainability, raging from the causes of climate change and environmental issues (providing an overview about the major man-made phenomena that are greatly impact the environment) and solutions to environmental issues (exemplifying sustainable practices in everyday life, such as transport, clothing, use of electronic devices, and shopping). All partner schools were tasked with translating the Educational Paths in their national languages (Greek, Italian, Polish, Romanian, and Turkish), as well as identified ways to adapt the Educational Paths to their students age. R1.A5: Design and development of a Train-the-Trainers course (lead: IMSGBruno) According to the results R1.A3, a course for school teachers was designed to enable them to deliver the Set of Citizenship Activities on Climate Change in their schools. Macro design of the training course (identification of training contents, learning objectives and outcomes), collection of feedback from partner schools (organisation of meetings with teachers and school staff), and micro design of the training course (definition of methodology, pedagogy, delivery, assessment, teaching learning resources, activities, tools, etc.) was conducted by IMS Giordano Bruno, with the support of DBL, CTI and Consorzio Ro.Ma. Online staff meetings were organised with DBL to manage organisation of the training, identify the problems to be tackled with the online (amounting to 20 horse prior the Train-the-trainers course) and onsite training (6 days-long including final assessment), and define the competences involved in the online training. Finally, IMS Giordano Bruno drafted the agenda of the onsite Train-the-Trainers course - JSTE in Larissa, Greece, with support from DBL, CTI and Consorzio Ro.Ma. R1.A6: Design and Implementation of an e-platform (lead:CTI) A small-scale e-platform was designed to share teaching resources and provide mentoring to the teachers in view of activity R1.A7. E-learning will be used for 20% of the train-the-trainers course. With support from DBL, CTI designed and implemented the CHOICE eLearning Platform, an open access, free of charge platform where the main CHOICE products, name the Set of Citizenship Education Activities on climate change - Educational Paths, the CHOICE Training Material for teachers, including the video recordings of the five CHOICE Online Training sessions, are available. The platform is available in six languages (English, Greek, Italian, Polish, Romanian, and Turkish) and the materials are all complete with instructions, videos, templates and resources for further research. Furthermore, CTI designed the platform also to be a forum of discussion for teachers and educators who want to exchange insights and opinions on how to deliver the Educational Paths, teaching methodologies, and best practices’ exchange. The platform is accessible without registration. This activity actively contributed to disseminate and make available the CHOICE materials and results. The platform was purposely designed to be open access and free of charge. The CHOICE eLearning platform represents the main gateway to CHOICE products, and it’s a digital, accessible and easy-to-share platform which provides the main only repository of CHOICE products. R1.A7: Piloting (lead: SPJP) Each CHOICE partner school tested 3 Activities from the final version of the Set of Citizenship Activities on Climate Change, involving 3 teachers, 60 students and their families per each school. Each school designed a Vademecum for parents on sustainable habits in everyday life (e.g., transportation, shopping, household energy consumption). The teachers involved in the pilots participated in the Train-the-trainers course and implemented activities, techniques and methods learned at the training. The Piloting phase lasted between two to three months, during which students implemented the Educational Paths, theory, hands-on activities, and call to action. Feeding from the lessons learned in the Educational Paths, the students designed and drafted Vademecums for sustainable habits, focusing on specific aspects of everyday life most relevant to them. In addition, during the pilots, students documented their activities and work through video media and produced a short video, which is related to R1.A9 - Video Case studies. Below, a list of the Educational Paths implemented by each partner school: ARC: Deforestation, Bioeconomy, Melting Ice IMS Giordano Bruno: Fashion and Clothing, Deforestation and Habitat Conservation, Sustainable Mobility 16Larissa: Carbon Footprint, Deforestation, Green IT: Device Recycle SPJP: Melting Ice, Save Soil, Bioeconomy. TEK: Fashion and Clothing, Bioeconomy, Deforestation. R1.A8: Pilot Evaluation (lead: Deep Blue) Using questionnaires and an interview track prepared by Deep Blue and Consorzio Ro.Ma, partner schools collected feedback from teachers, students and parents involved in the pilots on the effectiveness of the pilots and their impact. The questionnaires produced a report summarising the feedback from teachers (21 respondents) on one side, and students’ (84 respondents) and their families’ on the other. Overall, feedback from teachers was definitely positive. In fact, activities were considered interesting, leading to reflection and designed in a suitable way. More than 90% of teachers expressed their positive judgement with regard to the provision of substantial knowledge, level of engagement and possibility to be implemented in the school environment regularly. When asking students and families opinions, more than 70% consider the activities as engaging, interesting, reflective, well organised and inclusive. Most importantly, activities met the expectations of participants. R1.A9: Video Case studies (lead: TEK OO). With support from DBL, TEK drafted a line-up for the realisation of short videos on the pilots, with instructions on technical requirements, contents, style of the videos. During R1.A7- Pilots, school partners shot a video in their language with English subtitles, documenting the activities they conducted during the piloting phase in which each school chose three Educational Paths and implemented its activities. The videos also documented interviews to teachers and parents about their involvement in CHOICE and their feedback on the project activities and their effectiveness in raising awareness on climate change and sustainability. The CHOICE pilot videos are available on the project YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@choiceproject2124) R1.A10: Fine-Tuning (lead: 16Larissa) Change. The aim of this activity was to make adjustments to the set of activities to ensure they are effectively shared, promoted, and utilised.To complete the fine-tuning task, 16tLarissa adopted a systematic approach. The process began by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the feedback collected from teachers, students, and parents during the pilot evaluation phase. Additionally, 16Larissa thoroughly examined the data gathered from both the pilot reports and the final summative questionnaire report. This analysis allowed 16Larissa to identify the strengths of the activities and areas that may benefit from further improvement or adjustment. The aim was to ensure that the activities are effectively shared, promoted, and utilised while building upon their existing strengths. Finally, 16Larissa drafted a summative reports in which the feedback from each school is summarised, including their thoughts on the activities, benefits and challenges, and overall engagement of the stakeholders involved.

R1A1: Extraction of key elements and products from the EcoLife project. DBL reviewed the results, ideas and materials of the EcoLife project to identify activities, best practices and concepts from the past project. Activities such as the Short Novel Photo Contest and the Vademecums for families were inspired by activities conducted during EcoLife. R1.A2: Definition of the Citizenship competences in the context of climate change. This activity identified the relevant competences and skills related to climate change and sustainability. CTI identified an initial set of competences and skills, which were evaluated by the partners, together with stakeholders not directly involved in the project. Finally, a final set of competences and skills was drafted, such skills were then considered in the design of the Educational Paths. R1.A3: Collection of stakeholder feedback and validation of the set of activities. This activity involved the stakeholder engagement activities, and produced presentation for parents, PPTs to be used by teachers during their presentation to school colleagues and students’ parents, reporting formats, skill gap assessment forms to gather data on teachers’ and educators’ knowledge gaps on climate change. R1.A4: Detailed planning of the Set of Citizenship Education Activities on climate change. This activity was at the core of the CHOICE project, the Set of Citizenship Education activities on climate change, that is composed by the Educational Paths. Below, the list of Educational Paths: Environmental Problems: Fashion and Clothing (14-18yo), IT Power Consumption (14-18yo), Save soil (6-9yo), Deforestation and Habitat Conservation (14-18yo), Deforestation (10-13yo), Melting Ice (6-9yo). Solutions to Environmental Problems: Sustainable Mobility (10-13yo), IT Devices Recycling (9-14yo), Carbon Footprint (10-13yo), Bioeconomy (6-9yo). R1.A5: Design and development of a Train-the-Trainers course: this activity was responsible for the design and implementation of the 6-day-long JSTE Train-the-trainers course, which was held in Larissa, Greece, on February 20-25, at the University of Thessaly - Gaiopolis Campus. The JSTE comprised a final assessment for the trainees about the topics and notions discussed during the CHOICE Online Training sessions and the JSTE Trainers course. R1.A6: Design and Implementation of an e-platform: This activity produced the CHOICE eLearning platform, an open access, free of charge digital platform featuring the Set of Citizenship Education Activities on climate change - Educational Paths, and CHOICE Training Material for teachers. R1.A7: Piloting. Each school drafted detailed reports on the activities conducted during the piloting phase, including which Educational Paths implemented, engagement activities conducted, adaptation measures taken, and people involved in the activities. R1.A8: Pilot Evaluation. A report was drafted featuring the feedback collected by the students and teachers who were actively involved during the months of the pilot. The feedback collection was conducted through specific questionnaires for teachers and students (including their families). R1.A9: Video Case studies. The CHOICE pilot videos were shot and produced by the partner schools. The videos document the activities that the classes involved in the CHOICE pilots conducted, together with the raising awareness activities they organised in the school, which were open to their families and local communities. The videos also feature interviews to students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders of the project sharing their insight on the project activities. R1.A10: Fine-Tuning. Feeding from the pilot evaluation, a report was drafted summarising the feedback collected from the teachers, school staff, students and parents involved in the CHOICE piloting activities. The report provides an overview of the stakeholders’ reception of the CHOICE activities, its strong points and challenges for further development and dissemination.