The project 'Developing key students' competences and strengthening self-esteem through their personal development' focuses on the development of key competences among students as an important element of preparing them for adult life. This project involves secondary schools (mainly vocational and technical schools) from Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Lithuania, Spain and Poland. The proposing organization is located in Poland. Six actions are planned related to learning, teaching and training, including the first meeting in Poland, in which two teachers from each school will take part. Together, it was determined how important key roles in the teaching and learning process are key competences, while the project group agreed on the fact of struggling with problems resulting from the lack or insufficient implementation of key competences in the youth education process. Therefore, each of the partner schools indicated the most important problems that their students are facing during education. These problems can be divided into three main groups of key competences: social competences, mathematics and technology as well as language skills. Among social competences, partner schools and the applicant school exchange low self-esteem, lack of faith in one's own abilities, low ability to work in teams and lack of self-presentation skills. The main difficulties associated with mathematics and technology skills result from poorly developed creative thinking, low mathematical and IT competences. When it comes to language competences, students struggle to express their thoughts and opinions in their mother tongue and foreign languages.In addition to the emerging educational difficulties, each partner school has identified methods, tools and educational and upbringing programs that function in their facilities and contribute to the improvement of the quality of learning outcomes and develop key competences. Among these tools are tutoring tutoring, getting to know and working with such applications as: ONMAT, KAHOOT. EDPUZZLE, information and communication technologies, implementation of the STEM system combining natural and engineering subjects, workshops developing creativity, parental education program S.S.I.A preventing early termination of education and workshops with the trainer of self-presentation and rhetoric.The main objective of the project is to exchange good practices between teachers, in the first place taking part in particular stages of the project and then spreading the newly acquired skills among the schools' own communities and schools in the region. Each school will equip teachers who take part in the project with appropriate theoretical and practical preparation for further implementation of the method and tools for working with students. The products of the project activities are to be instructional videos, educational materials and improving the effectiveness of teaching in the field of science and foreign languages.

The whole economy of modern societies rotates directly or indirectly around the STEM disciplines, so it is impossible to find a part of society that somehow does not interact with them: in fact, in its broader definition STEM Education includes the fields of information technology, engineering, earth sciences, science, mathematics, physics, astronomy, chemistry, life sciences.According to EU estimates, employment in the STEM professions is expected to grow nearly twice as fast as the average for other jobs, and it is estimated that by 2025 there will be a shortage of more than half a million workers in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).Furthermore, it should be noted that among the most frequent causes of school dropout there are the failures that students experience in learning mathematical and technological-scientific disciplines; students who leave school prematurely find themselves with low basic skills that affect their employability.In line with the specific objectives of the Erasmus + program, the proposal aims to-promote the acquisition of specific skills and the strengthening of the professional skills of the teachers of the schools directly and indirectly involved in the project-inducing the teachers involved in the attention of the ongoing changes in the STEM sector by promoting the culture of lifelong learning and supporting them in learning through self-empowerment, both content and methodological, which allows them to face the growing diversity of learners and pedagogical innovations-support the development of the basic and transversal skills of the learners of their vocational training, i.e. oriented towards the labour market-support dissemination and systematic actions of open and innovative teaching methods-to stimulate the permeability between different sectors of education and training-improve the quality, innovation and internationalization of school education and training through transnational cooperationDuring the joint training events (Learning/Training/Teaching Activities) the hosting organizations will prepare each one a program on a different activity that involves the use of STEM education, using teaching techniques and methodologies such as flipped classroom, use of ICT useful for integration purposes also in other school disciplines.This training will have an even wider impact than on direct beneficiaries: to benefit from it will be all the staff and the student body of the institutions involved which, hosting the training events, will open the whole institute to the exchange of good practices and a positive contamination among the participants. Furthermore, the parents of the students will also be directly involved in some of the proposed activities.Thanks to the exchanges students will have the opportunity to interact with people and peers of different language and culture, to compare their respective contexts of life in person, in order to:·Take a cue for the subsequent planning activities and be aware of the conditions of planning and urban life·Develop the language skills related to the Italian and French languages, and of the other vehicular language, English, which will be used by students and teachers to communicate·Develop transversal skills, such as the ability to relate and compare in a different cultural and social context, the capacity for dynamism, entrepreneurship and adaptation to various situations, intercultural awareness and European citizenship.

CONTEXTThe Renewable Energy Directive establishes an overall policy for the production and promotion of energy from renewable sources in the EU. It requires the EU to fulfil at least 20% of its total energy needs with renewables by 2020 – to be achieved through the attainment of individual national targets.We established this partnership with a view to raising the awareness of students about the necessity to increase the use of renewable sources of energy, which is expected to increase by 7% in the next 10 years all over Europe (RED). We want them to gain an in-depth knowledge of how these sources of energy are used, make them experiment with them through STEAM and Project Based Learning, draw their attention to benefits and drawbacks of all energy sources and provide a context for critical and creative thinking, in which sts assess, research and analyse, produce tangible outputs collaboratively. OBJECTIVESThe project aims to set the grounds for the 5 partner countries to cooperate and share practices in the area of renewable energy resources and sustainable production and consumption through activities designed for students which are meant to:1. develop their understanding about scientific concepts and processes in production of sustainable energy2. develop their overall awareness about alternative sources of energy and how their usage can be enhanced 3. improve skills and competences through interdisciplinary projects in the STEM field4. improve collaboration, team work and communication skills of students and teachers5.develop soft skills – critical and analytical thinking, creativity – in order to foster sts’ employability6. enable teachers to share school models and practices in the areas of STEM, ICT, coding, robotics that can be transferred into their schools7. improve self-awareness and intercultural awareness of young European citizens, as well as promoting European citizenship and EU policies in the field of renewable energy usage.ACTIVITIESC1 Traditional and alternative sources of energy. BioenergyC2 Wind Energy and STE(A)M C3 Solar Energy and STE(A)M C4 Water energy and STE(A)MC5 Sustainable energy in future – designing smart, green city modelsPARTICIPANTS100 students aged 15-18 from general education highschools and 40 accompanying teachers of English, IT, Physics, Science etc.RESULTS- presentations about renewable energy sources and statistics and trends from the 5 partner countries- posters for campaigns encouraging European citizens to use solar energy more.- presentations about alternative building systems- models of buildings using alternative types of insulating materials- simulations of power plants- STEM projects – anemometers, wind vanes, solar cookers etc.- research data and conclusions- simulations/models of sustainable citiesTeachers will produce exchange reports in which we will include data measuring the quality of the activities, the impact of the activities on participants, pictures and videos taken during the exchanges. Other deliverables: Europass mobility documents, initial and final evaluation forms, feedback forms, self-assessment sheets, student observation sheets, participants’ testimonials, dissemination platforms, eTwinning communication platform, project final brochure “STEM ideas for highschool”.METHODOLOGYAll of our activities will be implemented by a wide range of innovative teaching methods both in and outside of school, incorporating: Critical thinking, digital competence, collaboration and team work,communication skills, personal and social responsibility and metacognition.IMPACT- Increased participation among young people in society- Students, their families and teachers gain a more environmentally friendly lifestyle by being critical of how their energy is produced-Students and teachers develop personally and professionally- Enabling young people to explore the possibility of influencing local, national and European policies and decision making processes concerning energy production- Empowering young people while at the same time teaching them the skills of dialogue, compromise and diplomacy when working with external stakeholders- Providing an active contribution to social capital through the promotion of renewable energy sources which boasts of quality and cost effectivenessThrough project activities, the school will promote its image in the local community as an institution that prepares students for the future and aligns to the 21st century needs.The cooperation with local community will improve through partnerships and agreements with local experts and businesses in energy field. Local authorities will be invited to attend some of the project activities, which will lay the basis for future cooperation among local institutions in other projects related to renewable energy or similar.The schools will acquire/develop a European dimension, which shows openness and flexibility to the ever-changing world of education.

One of the global issues crucial for the development of our mankind is environment protection. It is not by chance that so much focus is put on coping with this pressing problem- recent surveys have shown that 68 per cent of all extreme weather events studied in the last 20 years were made more likely or more severe by human-caused climate change. This is only of the alarming facts that calls for action not only at political or economical level, but at educational level as well.Because shaping ecological consciousness with young people through education today is the stepping stone for resolving such an important issue in the future. According to a research called Environmental Orientation of the Youth- between sustainable development and techno-centrism (Faculty of Economics Osijek, 2007), 79% of the respondents understand and support sustainable development.On the other hand, a national project called The Research Among Young People in Croatia (Friedrich Ebert Foundation Zagreb, 2019) on how young people spend their free time, showed that only 5% of young people participate in ecological projects. Having the given results in mind, it is obvious that young people’s interest in environmental issues exists- it just has to be encouraged through active involvement in an international environmental project where partnership between schools will have a direct impact on the ecological awareness and activism of the students.In this regard an environmentally-oriented project has been set up between the coordinating school from Croatia and partner schools from Turkey, Greece, Lithuania, Sweden and the Netherlands. Bearing in mind specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based criteria, four clearly defined objectives have been determined for an effective carrying out of the project:1.to enhance students’ awareness and knowledge about environmental issues2.to encourage students to be actively implicated in ecological activities by bringing solutions to environmental issues3.to raise environmental awareness and sensitivity in public4.to engage students in developing their personal responsibility within global eco-friendly citizenshipDuring the formation of partnership, the coordinating school mainly focused on the works, activities, knowledge, experiences, motivations, solution proposals of their prospective partners and the integration of environmental issues into their curriculum. We cooperated among the partners via online meetings. Both Croatian and Swedish schools are newcomers to the Erasmus family who will benefit a lot from other experienced partners. Also, Turkish partner has been awarded the eTwinning Quality label thus making a great contribution to our project as a very active participant of the most influential platform for Erasmus projects.In the course of two years, we plan to organize different eTwinning (communication, uploading materials, forums), dissemination (press conferences, preparing articles, uploading results on platforms) and activities outside (special day celebrations, workshops, exhibitions, competitions, film screening and literary events) and during mobilities (presentations, workshops, competitions, outdoor activities, interviews). All activities will be objective- based and student- oriented. Among the group of 5 students who are going to participate in mobilities, we will encourage students with fewer opportunities (economic, social obstacles etc.)We will use a systematic implementation methodology: Each partner will host a mobility during which we will focus on specific environmental issues like pollution, zero waste policy, preservation of plants and wildlife, organic farming and food, climate change, energy use, sustainability, etc. Before mobility, students will examine local conditions and solutions to the issues. At the LTT participants will continue to work on the topic together combining their findings and discovering new perspectives and solutions. During the project, all students and school staff will learn practical skills to implement a more eco- friendly lifestyle, conduct surveys, create awareness- raising campaigns, influence school practices and local/national/international policies. By taking part in the activities, they will also train the use of ICT, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership and language skills and cross-cultural communication. We aim to reach at least 7000 people, especially by the effective use of social media. We hope that, by participating in this project, rising generation will learn to appreciate different contexts and conditions around Europe regarding environment protection, its challenges and possibilities. They will gain confidence to actively participate in decision-making, which will again improve school and local policies in general and set an example for the whole local community to initiate concrete actions with long-term benefits for a more eco-friendly society at national, international and global level.

"""The End of Hospitality?’’ came into existence because of five schools' joint desire to work together on a new European project on the theme of the migrant crisis. The objectives were varied.First concerning students: reinforcing links between school education and active citizenship, economic, social, cultural and European considerations, increasing their self-confidence, and helping them acquire better language and digital skills. For teachers: enhancing their professional development by integrating a collaborative and innovative approach into the activities we proposed. The successful relationships between teachers concerned will lead to future collaboration as a result of this project. As far as schools are concerned: the aim was primarily to open our schools to internationalization and increase the European dimension of the education we provide.There was a class of 30 students, aged between 15 and 18, working on the project in each of our four schools from verydifferent socio-economic and geographical backgrounds. This two year project was divided into four semesters, eachfocusing on a particular aspect of the question in four areas: the history of immigration since the Second World War, the human stories of migrants through the study of a book written by a young Syrian refugee 'Nujeen', the changing attitudes of people in our five countries towards refugees and finally the way the refugee crisis is dealt with by the media. All the proposed activities were selected as a result of consultation with colleagues interested in sharing their methods with others and learning from the approach of other European teachers and involved people living and working close to our respective schools.Four transnational learning activities offered the opportunity to compare, to pool and conclude the work carried out on such questions beforehand in each individual school. Students in turn investigators, interviewers, reporters, writers, secretaries,artists, webmasters thus, thanks to the collaboration with students from partner schools, constructed their own learningprocesses, their relationships, their sense of responsibility, making them truly European citizens. The tools available on the eTwinning platform enable teachers and other schools to find inspiration from our work thus contributing to other forms of innovation."