Activity Report

Activities carried out by the Partnership during the school year 2006/2007

Taking into account that:
- the approval date of the application was delayed, having only been confirmed in December 2006;
- the project of the first coordinating school was not approved;
- the Portuguese school only became Coordinator at a later date;
- the partnership activities do not correspond to those initially planned when the first application was issued in March 2006.
However, the activities of the project were reprogrammed taking into consideration the occurrences mentioned earlier. As a result, the activities that took place were as follows:
- all partner schools dealt with the themes of the project either during regular lessons, activities held during lunch breaks, morning whole school assemblies and/or local excursions, discussing such issues as global warming, climate changes and pollution;
- waste containers were built out of recycled materials;
- a questionnaire dealing with the issues of the project was created and given to the students participating in the project, in May 2007 so as to evaluate how the action of the project will trigger changes in the behaviours and perceptions of the participants;
- all three scheduled meetings of the project took place: 21st to 25th February in Portugal; 2nd to 6th May in Germany and 30th May to 2nd June in Malta. During these meetings all the scheduled joint activities were carried out. In the first meeting the group created the questionnaire to measure the awareness of the participating students regarding the theme of the project; the activities for the second year were planned; the group visited the region and a waste management station; an evaluation of the project up to the date was discussed. During the second meeting, in Germany, the students and teachers participating in the visit, evaluated the project and attended laboratory experiences carried out by the German group, regarding sustainable use of energy. There was also a visit to a waste burning facility as well as the region where the school is located. The students presented PowerPoint presentations which dealt with the situation of global warming and climate change in their countries and the statistic treatment of the results of the questionnaire applied in March 2007. In the third meeting, in Malta, there was a display of the materials made by the Maltese students from used newspaper and plastic, produced for the project, as well as the presentation of the environmental education activity of the Portuguese school. A visit to the Local Institute for Energy Technology served to highlight the beneficial effects of using wind and solar energy as alternative energy sources. The participants carried out a further evaluation of the project activities of the first year and scheduled the activities for the second year of the project.
- The Portuguese work group created a blog for the project, which can be seen at the following internet address: www.actiononclimatechanges.blogspot.com. The objective of this blog is to share the activities and results of the project with a broader audience.
The final evaluation of the activities carried out during the project was very positive and corresponded to the planned objectives, namely the raising of awareness of both school and community regarding the importance of climate changes and its impact on daily life.

Types of products produced during the school year 2006/2007
Joint Project Products

- Questionnaire to students to raise awareness about the theme;
- Articles in the local and regional newspapers, as well as in the school magazines and bulletins;
- Comparing the types of recycling and waste management in each region;
- PowerPoint presentations on the reality of the theme;
- Attribution of environmental certificates to the most ecological classrooms.
Products created by each school separately
- Portuguese School: making waste separation units from recycled materials; PowerPoint presentations on climate changes and its effects; tree planting; environmental education activity aimed at a younger reach of the school population.
- German School: statistic treatment of the results of the questionnaires given to the students; laboratory works and experiences on sustainable forms of producing energy.
- Maltese School: The implementation of labelled bins in each classroom and playground area for the separation of school waste for recycling (plastic and paper); seed sowing of local indigenous trees and their caring; Reuse of plastics and other materials such as used newspapers to build decorative objects as well as sewing and distributing cloth bags at school to reduce the use of plastic bags; exhibiting charts, projects and paintings in main school area made by students on the theme of the project; exhibiting photographs of activities in main school area carried out during the year.

The results of the research, the questionnaires and other activities carried out during the project will be available on the internet sites of each school. The schools will also organize exhibitions to share the activities with the whole of the school community. These results will be published in the local and regional newspapers.

Efficacy of the cooperation of the participant entities

During the work meetings between the partner schools, the distribution of the tasks was agreed according to the specificities of each school, and the teachers and students involved. The monitorisation of the project activities was carried out through frequent communications (via emails and telephone conversations) between the schools, the teachers and students involved, as well as during the work meetings. English was chosen as the working language for the project. During the activities that were developed throughout the project there were no obstacles that could impede cooperation and the fulfilment of the objectives of the project. The mobility activities were of fundamental importance in seeing through the objectives of the project. Both students and teachers who participated in these activities considered them of great importance to the development of the project activities, with the actual participation of the students involved. It also allows the fulfilment of one of the main objectives of these types of projects, the promotion of European citizenship through the establishment and solidification of the bonds between the inhabitants of the different countries and their realities, reaching far beyond mere academic elaborations. These mobilities institute an actual interaction between the participants in the project and the realities of an ever globalised world but where the differences are still visible and revealing of the different stages of development.

Joint Evaluation of the Activities of the Project and its progresses in the partnership.

The main conclusion out of the evaluation of this partnership was its relevance and opportunity in the current world situation, especially in what concerns environmental problems and its consequences in daily life. The effects of this problem can only be fought through awareness and the importance of everyday gestures, ideas to be infused with the school population, tomorrow’s adults. Thus, the importance of projects such as this takes on vital importance in this process of raising consciousness.
The request for the renewal of the project for a second year as already been handed over to the national agency, for a period of time ending in the summer of 2008, during which the planned activities will be continued.

The Portuguese Comenius Team