R-ValuE: Promoting R-Valuation of Second-hand Use

2022-1-ES01-KA220-SCH-000087944

Erasmus+

2022-2024

Project Bio

The European Commission stated that the world currently generates 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with at least 33 percent of that — an extremely conservative figure —not managed in an environmentally safe manner. Worldwide, waste generated per person per day averages 0.74 kilogram but ranges widely, from 0.11 to 4.54 kilograms (Eurostat).

One of the main pillars of our society is education. In fact, it is within the educational system that changes can be made in order to approach environmental sustainability through tangible
changes. The R-ValuE project proposes an innovative, practical approach to promote sustainability in classrooms. The main aims are raising awareness on important environmental issues that need to be addressed which will consequently have a ripple effect, where students who take part in the project continue the process of educating their own families and friends.

All partners in this project undoubtedly believe that we need to address environmental sustainability in our schools and that students need to truly understand environmental
issues such as climate change, the circular economy model (reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse practices). Younger generations are the future, if we expose them to these important environmental issues from a young age, get them involved, ask them to tell us their stories, it will increase the chances of a paradigm shift which will empower them and make them feel that they are important players to improve the present situation. In fact, these young students will be future parents,
stakeholders, perhaps even policy makers, and it is our mission to face this challenge in a constructive, positive way.

Project Objectives

The main, long-term goal of the R-valuE project is to introduce environmental sustainability in the school curricula, and make it a pillar of the education system, which will in turn have a direct positive impact on the environment.

We propose to create a series of resources that can be integrated into formal curriculum, but most importantly, into everyday lives. Our desired outcome of the project is to create a multinational community of people who take an active role in the promotion of environmental change. We want to facilitate the inclusion of environmental sustainability topics in the school curricula, in a way that is fun, interactive, and incites students to keep learning and take responsibility for their actions. One of R-valuE’s main objectives is to bridge the gap between knowledge and actions concerning sustainability in the younger population. This will be done by student-led approaches and using different tools throughout the project.

R-ValuE intends to increase awareness about environmental sustainability in students starting from early stages in education. We plan to do it in an organic and personal way: focusing on the main current global environmental issues, while using students’ personal digital stories.

During this project, students and teachers from schools in Spain, Poland, Turkey, Italy, Cyprus and Czech Republic will be encouraged to take active action outside the classroom. As a reference, the Pachamama Alliance (www.pachamama.org), an environmental conservation organisation, describes four levels of societal action to generate change regarding the climate crisis:

• Individual: recycling at home, using public transport, family and friends
• Community and local institutions: raising awareness in schools and local communities
• Changing policy and economic measures: the “Paris Agreement” or the Kyoto Protocol to reduce climate change).

RValuE is committed to eco-education by having students learn what they can do on an individual and community level; for example creating their own green edu-games, initiating school gardens, growing their own food, generating compost, recycling at school and at home, restoring local degraded areas, and many other innovative ideas. These ideas will be created by students from 5 EU schools, shared with other students with the end goal of creating an active learning space for the participants.

Partnerships

• Archivio della Memoria (AdM), Italy
• Center for Social Innovation (CSI), Cyprus
• Danmar Computers, Poland
• European Learning Centre (ELC), Spain
• ProEduca, Czech Republic
• SBTC, Turkey

Project Outputs

The main outputs of the ACCESS project are as follows:

• What is Green? Investigation and Methodological eBook: the R-ValuE Methodology Framework will be presented as an eBook and will include a literature review, analysis and evaluation of existing learning and teaching national examples on how to educate for sustainable development (environmental) goals, (SDGs). This outcome aims at building and sharing knowledge and gaining practice on how to integrate these SDGs into the present school curricula.
• Integrating Sustainable Practices in Schools Teachers' Handbook: This outcome involves the creation of a flexible and adaptable curriculum that can be used in different countries and contexts, and which outlines what constitutes principled practice in the teaching of a broad range of sustainability development topics in the context of schools.
• “Practice Green” Toolkit: The "Practice Green" Toolkit directly relates to the development of new skills and green practices. In practice, a set of innovative and customisable resources and tools, which will enable practitioners in different countries, contexts, and levels of qualifications to develop their own teaching materials for the effective realisation of the project’s objectives will be created. The toolkit will be available online, with the option to be downloaded and printed only when necessary. The resources will be based on key principles of school literacy education.
• GOER Platform and Online Newsletter: The GOER platform will promote the use of green practices and raise awareness on the importance of incorporating Green Practices in Schools. In addition it will allow students to be the leaders of change for the future, bridge the gap between knowledge and action and allow for the sharing of ideas and promote conversation amongst young communities across Europe.

All Project outputs are now available to the public as open source on the R-ValuE website.