GIS FOR GIST OF EUROPE

We applied for the project to address the urgent need for climate change education and to integrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into high school teaching. Our goal was to equip teachers and students with digital tools and spatial thinking skills to better understand environmental challenges and become active participants in climate action. Our project aims to improve GIS teaching in European schools and integrate it with the study of climate change, leveraging the diverse expertise of partners, from the implementation of GIS curriculum in Latvia, Belgium, and Estonia, to the technological competencies of IEA, Eurogeo, and the academic expertise of UNIZAR in teacher training. The results of our project stem from a stringent necessity: to ensure a healthy and sustainable global environment for present and future generations, especially for students. We consider GIS essential for protecting the planet and leaving a viable world for future generations, making it our duty as educators to create educational environments focused on global needs and a green signature for the future.

Our project aimed to make GIS a practical part of the curriculum, enhance teachers' digital and spatial skills, and increase students' awareness of climate change. We also wanted to create these specific outcomes: GIS for the Future - LMS Platform: An open-source management system featuring courses, events, and climate change news for teachers. It also allows teachers to interact and share experiences. GIS E-learning Module Against Climate Change: This module offers courses for teachers, structured to support individual learning paces, and is accessible in various native languages. GIS Case Studies Against Climate Change: A dedicated section with activities tailored for learning outcomes related to climate change in Geography and Natural Sciences courses. Ultimately, we sought to provide teachers with practical resources and concrete lesson plans, contributing to environmental education and the development of new competencies through interdisciplinary and digital approaches. Through the "GIS for Gist of Europe" project, our partners developed and implemented a sustainable "green footprint" focused on global impact.

We implemented several key activities, organized into three main work packages: Project Management We facilitated project management through four transnational project meetings (TPMs) with all partners and 25 monthly Zoom meetings. This included rigorous financial management and applying a strict quality management methodology to monitor progress and guarantee high-quality results, alongside developing a comprehensive dissemination and sustainability plan. Development of the "GIS for the Future" LMS Platform We successfully developed and launched a functional online Learning Management System (LMS) platform, which serves as a central hub for educational resources. This platform was tested with over 250 teachers and students. Creation of Open Educational Resources and Teacher Training We conceived and delivered two key intellectual outputs: an e-learning module on "GIS against Climate Change" and a collection of 51 "GIS against Climate Change" case studies. To support the use of these resources, we organized five Long-Term Training (LTT) sessions in partner countries. These LTTs covered topics such as LMS utilization, creating e-learning videos, and sharing GIS experiences in schools.

Work Package 1: Project Management Colegiul Tehnic "Unirea," as the coordinating institution, was responsible for delivering the detailed financial plan, monthly meeting reports, transnational project meeting (TPM) reports, and Gantt charts to monitor progress. IEA led the creation of the dissemination and sustainability plan. Work Package 2: LMS Platform Development A core outcome is our functional and accessible online LMS Platform. It features a web page with climate change news, a user registration module, and a multimedia training module. To ensure its relevance, the platform was tested over 100 teachers and students. Work Package 3: E-learning Module and Case Studies The final version of the e-learning module contains 4 units with 18 interactive multimedia sections, accessible at https://gis-t.eu/gis-for-the-future. All partners contributed to the 51 case studies, which are now available in translated versions within a searchable database on the final platform. Work Package 4: Dissemination For dissemination, we organized two on-site and four online multiplication events.