OBJECTIVES
Europe has been living under the pressure of a severe economic crisis in recent years. As a result, our schools and students have suffered from its negative effects, in particular, children of families where both parents are unemployed and/or are depending on the help of other relatives and charities.
Furthermore, there is a large number of students who belong to disadvantaged backgrounds, along with students with special needs. Educational difficulties, poor school performance and cultural differences are characteristic of these groups which often consists of immigrants (from developing countries), minorities, and broken families. The consequences are youth unemployment, the lack of money to cover the basic needs and a lack of hope when facing the future. Nowadays, many young people believe that they will not find work, neither within their mother country nor abroad.
Taking into account this alarming context, we developed a project called “Sustainability as a Resource”. Several schools from different European countries which face similar problems are going to collaborate in this project in order to benefit from each other’s knowledge derived from their distinct local cultures and environments. Its major goal is the promotion of the economic and social recovery of the areas in which the participating schools are found in Croatia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey and the development of useful skills among teachers as well as students to enable the latter to escape the vicious cycle of unemployment.
The approach of tourism applied in this project will not only positively affect the environment, but also the society and economy of the area of the participating schools.
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During the implementation of the project, sustainable tourism as an economic, cultural, social and educational resource will be explored by the students with the help of activities and workshops. More specifically, students are going to analyse the following aspects of sustainable tourism in each country: Sport, pilgrimage, health, thinking green, cultural and local heritage, snow and travelling with a disability. To do so, the relationship of inhabitants and tourists with the local history and traditions will be fostered and various means of modern technology are going to be used. Afterwards, the results of the project will be shared with the public.
By exchanging innovative practices, knowledge and experiences related to sustainable tourism between each of the European schools, youth unemployment should be prevented and students should become more competent in finding work and helping to revive our areas again.
Specific Objectives contributing to the achievement of some 2020 objectives
For students:
• the development of social and intercultural skills as well as a European Awareness of community
• the improvement of language skills which will help them to find work at home or abroad and which will strengthen the exchange between students of different countries
• the development of practical skills and an entrepreneurial thinking with respect to sustainable tourism
• the reduction of disparities between students from disadvantaged backgrounds in comparison to those who are better off
• the increase in student’s environmental awareness
• (the promotion of positive thinking and flexibility )
• the development of digital skills by using modern technologies: creation of a blog, e-groups, use of e-twinning, digital apps as wikiloc
For teachers:
• the development of social and intercultural skills as well as a European sense of community and the promotion of e-twinning
• the improvement of personal and professional training and the exchange of knowledge between European teachers regarding sustainable tourism as well as the development of a well-connected network, making teaching a more attractive experience
• the development of digital skills and an increased use of well-integrated and innovative ICT-based teaching methods and evaluation tools integrated in the curriculum
For the schools and their surrounding areas:
• the creation of synergies between secondary and vocational schools as well as between secondary schools and organizations related to tourism at home and abroad and Youth Centers
• the dissemination of the project’s findings to the public at home and abroad as well as to the Ministry of Education, town halls and local associations in order to gain their support with respect to already existing courses related to tourism and the creation of additional vocational training courses
• improved educational opportunities and additional job perspectives
• the economic recovery of the area where the school is situated with the help of better-trained young people and teachers
· Promoting the use of e-twinning in schools
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· Increasing the European dimension of our organizations
The achievement of these objectives will be possible in our project thanks to the variety of experiences and European countries which makes it excellent.