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European School Education Platform
Drop of Water; Erasmus+: Clean Water Clean Future
PROJECT
Active

Clean Water, Clean Future

Thoughtless use of water was the initial concern that led us to head on trying to change consciousness and, consequently, habits as far as water consumption is concerned, not only in the minds of young learners, but also their households, at first, and enlarged communities. It was our main purpose that they became aware active defenders and promoters of responsible water usage, leading local campaigns “Save the water for your children”, analysing people’s behaviour towards water in their local communities, to further improve habits, and, eventually, come up with a plan to turn our schools into water-friendly schools, presenting it to local authorities, so that the project and its actions could really make a difference in the end. Our primary and general objectives were, in a chronological perspective, to increase knowledge about water in scientific, cultural, literary and artistic perspectives; raise students’ awareness of the importance of water for the humankind; help students identifying general problems about water shortage and personalize them to their local context and improve water-friendly habits within the school facilities and amongst students/ families, helping this aim to expand. Transversely, the project’s general objectives aimed at foster students’ civic engagement in community problems related to ecology; strengthen the role of the school in the local community; develop students’ soft skills, creativity and cultural awareness and improve communication skills, both in native language and English. The activities held mirrored “Water in the past - Art through literature, folktales, music”; “Water and health”; “The Science of water”; “Water and the future – excessive consumption, pollution. Eco-campaigns” and “Making our schools sustainable water consumers”. Throughout these five major objectives, students have successfully written poems and songs, analysed famous paintings, researched about idioms and proverbs, recorded films about local water supplies, created maps of water sports facilities in their local areas, and went on field trips to take water samples and measure its drinkability. They have also developed, applied and analysed questionnaires on their local communities to measure the consumption of water and observe the purpose of water consumption in households before and after the project, to measure its impact. After that, teams got involved in organizing local campaigns to raise people’s awareness about the effects of irresponsible water use and produced written advertisements; inefficient water use in schools was identified, and solutions to make the school water-friendly were presented. Eventually the Water Friendly School (WFS) plan was designed as a collective group work and presented in each school to principals and community leaders, setting partner schools as examples of eco-friendliness. Works have been presented in online conferences on eTwinning as well as personally during exchange mobilities. Throughout the project, lessons on varied topics, such as painting, geography, biology, chemistry, physical education, multimedia and writing skills were attended. The fact that we have implemented an Erasmus+ project, and specifically one related to raising awareness about local issues that dramatically affect the quality of life, is like a quality label that we will take pride in. Teachers are proud to realise that, on one hand, the project has touched deeply on students' consciousness about water-related worries and, on the other hand, has united parents, schools and local authorities in one common goal. We are happy to say that our final plan for building a Water-Friendly School has received approval and genuinely strong consensus about simple and effective measures that can be taken in every school with the support of social partners. And the team has received feedback that most of the actions proposed are, in fact, taking place in our schools. Also, we can arguably state that soft skills, such as communication and presentation skills, creativity, critical thinking, teamwork and decision making were developed. Participants are now more aware of different cultures, and more able to discover new things about themselves. Their English language skills also improved alongside their general knowledge, intercultural awareness, tolerance and respect towards others, communication and group management skills, and problem-solving abilities. Long-lasting bounds between all participants were created.
Created on
8 members

Information

Members:
8
Membership:
Portugal(4), Romania(2), North Macedonia(1), Poland(1)
Age range:
12
-
15