"Outdoor Education for Climate Action: Empowering Teachers and Students for a Sustainable Future"
Our direct response to climate change and global warming is encapsulated in our “Cooler schools, Schooler Planet” education proposal, for a change starting from schools. Our faith in how much impact schools can have in the wider society is showcased through our specially designed programmes aimed at teaching and learning outdoors, which essentially means enabling hands-on experience with our surroundings, with our very own nature. To make this possible, we redesign curricula accordingly.
Cross-border/international
Greece
Other
In the UK
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Sweden
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Spain
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: France
Region of Halkidiki (Greece)
Region of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Region of Athens (Greece)
Region of Aberdeenshire (UK / in the past, please find in the pilot)
Region of Linköping (Sweden)
Region of Larissa (Greece)
Region of Madrid (Spain)
Region of Paris (France)
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As an individual in partnership with other persons
First name: Aristea Last name: Kyriakou Gender: Female Nationality: Greece Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Nea Potidaia Halkidiki Town: Nea Potidaia Postal code: 63200 Country: Greece Direct Tel:+30 694 653 0803 E-mail:aristea.kyriakou91@gmail.com
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Yes
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites
Our initiative is focused on revolutionizing education for a sustainable future by incorporating outdoor learning and hands-on experiences with the natural environment into the curriculum. The initiative aims to achieve this by introducing the concept of creating an outdoor classroom in every school and equipping the school communities to make that a reality. This approach emphasizes the importance of teaching students about the impacts of human activities on the environment and the importance of taking action to address several environmental issues such as climate change and energy.
The program also has a strong focus on educating students about the importance of sustainable living, zero waste and the role they can play in creating a more sustainable future. It encourages students to think about the impact of their actions on the environment and to take responsibility for their role in creating a more sustainable future. Additionally, the program empowers teachers to integrate outdoor learning experiences while still achieving the national curricular goals.
This can all become possible by providing the resources of know-how to kindergartens and primary schools, through which the initiative aims to reach a large number of teachers, students and communities and hence increase the chances of having a positive impact on society and the environment on a European-wide scale. The original education programs are designed as tools to accompany the process of creating outdoor classrooms in a very accessible manner for public or private kindergartens and primary schools and take the school communities outdoors. A dynamic curriculum for a "Schooler Planet" aims at empowering teachers to take their students outdoors and still achieve the national curricular goals, yet with a content plot twist around tackling climate change and energy-related problems.
We advocate that by "cooling" our schools -literally & metaphorically- we can have a positive impact on cooling our planet.
outdoor education
climate change
curriculum design
inclusion
multi-disciplinary curricula
The "Cooler Schools, Schooler Planet: Sustainable Outdoor Education" initiative is an ambitious project that aims to promote sustainability education in Europe by incorporating outdoor learning and hands-on experiences with the natural environment into the curriculum. Our key objective is to empower teachers to achieve national curricular goals while also addressing issues related to climate change and energy as part of their daily school life.
The dynamic curriculum for a "Schooler Planet" emphasizes the importance of teaching students about the impact of human activities on the environment and the importance of taking action to address these issues. The program also aims to educate students about sustainable living and their role in creating a more sustainable future, starting with the management of their outdoor classroom and its impact on climate.
This initiative is particularly noteworthy in its approach to sustainability education because it emphasizes the integration of outdoor learning and experiential education into the curriculum. Our approach makes the initiative adaptable to every school, while still achieving national and European-wide goals. By integrating outdoor learning and experiential education, the initiative helps students develop a deeper understanding of the environment and their relationship to it, bringing school communities closer to nature. Furthermore, this approach promotes a culture of sustainability within the school community, which is crucial for creating a sustainable future.
One of the main benefits of the initiative is that it addresses issues related to climate change and energy, but it extends beyond them to the economic and societal aspects as well. There is space for members of local communities to join the process of creating outdoor classrooms and participate in open discussions about nature-based solutions and materials that can be used.
Our initiative places a strong emphasis on aesthetics in the design of outdoor learning spaces. We aim to empower teachers to create and sustain outdoor classrooms with their students by providing them with resources and training. This initiative stands out in its focus on the following:
Design: The creation of visually appealing, safe, and functional outdoor learning spaces that enhance the aesthetic experience of students and teachers. This is achieved through the involvement of landscape architects and local designers in the design process, as well as by involving teachers and students in the design process. The integration of nature and the outdoors into the curriculum deepens the appreciation and understanding of the natural environment, further enhancing the overall aesthetic experience.
Positive Emotions: The initiative seeks to improve the emotional well-being of students and teachers through experiences in nature and the outdoors. Inclusivity is key to fostering positive emotions, allowing all members of the community to contribute in their own unique way. When each teacher and student feels their talents and interests are contributing to the shared goal of developing the project, positive emotions are generated.
Cultural Benefits: By including the wider community in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the outdoor classrooms, the initiative also aims to promote a culture of sustainability and environmental awareness within the school and broader community. This is achieved through teacher and student involvement in the design process, hands-on and experiential learning opportunities, and professional development opportunities for teachers. The initiative reinforces the cultural benefits by promoting a sustainable and environmentally aware culture within the school and wider community.
The key objectives of our initiative in terms of inclusion include:
-Accessibility and affordability for all. Our foremost priority is to make the initiative accessible and affordable for all members of any school community in Europe, regardless of their socio-economic background. This objective will be achieved by minimizing costs through the use of locally sourced, natural, and reused/recycled materials and by involving the wider community in the creation of their outdoor classrooms.
-Inclusive decision-making. To ensure that the initiative is governed in a fair and equitable manner, taking into account the needs and perspectives of all stakeholders, including students, teachers, and community members, we will involve everyone in the decision-making process by incorporating it as part of the accompanying curricular activities.
-Design for all principles. The outdoor learning spaces will be designed to be inclusive and accessible to all students, regardless of their abilities, through the involvement of accessibility experts in the design process and by adhering to "design for all" principles and guidelines.
-New societal models. Our initiative aims to promote sustainability, social inclusion, and equity by incorporating nature into the curriculum, using green areas as connectors between common and shared spaces across different age groups, so to speak by incorporating nature-based learning into the curriculum to engage students and teachers alike.
The initiative can serve as a model for inclusion and equity in outdoor education by providing affordable and accessible opportunities for schools across Europe, independent of income. It also highlights accessibility and affordability for all, by revolutionizing the almost zero-budget equipment used in outdoor classrooms through thoughtful design. Furthermore, by following our design for all principles and guidelines, every school will have unique and inspiring characteristics to showcase to other schools.
Our "Cooler Schools, Schooler Planet" initiative is designed to involve schools as living organisms that are an integral part of citizens and civil society. The program has been created to have a significant impact on the local environment by involving local community members in the design and implementation of outdoor classrooms. This can be done through consultations and workshops offered by nearby citizens, who can provide input on program goals and activities and suggest ways to improve the outdoor classrooms. We aspire that the process of creating an outdoor classroom for each school will stand alone as an open dialogue and space for involvement of the civil society in the initiative, in the most creative way.
For example, if an area is characterized by a high density of pine trees, the school's outdoor classroom can be constructed using pine wood and local carpenters can explain the process to students. The program also involves local organizations and businesses by inviting them to participate in workshops and presentations. These place-specific workshops can be conducted through partnerships and collaborations with members of the community working on environmental or sustainability issues. This approach will increase the reach and impact of the program, as well as provide a wider range of resources and expertise.
The initiative aims to involve students and teachers in hands-on, experiential-based activities that bring individuals and communities closer to nature and contribute to the preservation of natural ecosystems. This organic dialogue between schools, community members, and local enterprises and organizations invites everyone to re-examine their relationship with nature from a life-centred perspective.
By actively engaging citizens, civil society groups, and organizations, the program can be tailored to the specific needs and concerns of the community, increasing the quality and relevance of the educational experience for school communities.
Our initiative is designed to engage stakeholders at various levels, including local, regional, national, and European, in a collaborative and inclusive manner that combines the private sector, public sector, civil society, and academia, with the ultimate goal of involving school communities, around the primary goal of creating an outdoor classroom for each school, through respective curricular adaptations.
At the local level, we aim to involve community members, including the private sector and civil society, in the design and implementation of the program through consultations and workshops where their input on the program's goals and activities is valued. We believe that connecting local stakeholders with the school communities favours the societal and economic understanding of climate change. We support teachers in facilitating this process, ensuring that they are empowered and motivated to achieve curricular goals and work hand-in-hand with the school and community to create a shared "outdoor classroom" that has meaning for everyone involved.
At the regional and national level, we aim to involve regional and national organizations, businesses, and institutions, with a focus on collaborating with organizations that are already working on environmental or sustainability issues in the region or country, to transfer their expertise into the school setting.
At a European level, we aim to connect schools and foster meaningful exchanges by creating an app/online exchange program that allows school communities from different European countries to share their experiences and best practices, and by leveraging and building networks with existing European networks and resources in outdoor education, such as the European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning (EOE), and universities specializing in outdoor education and cooperation, such as our partners at Linköping University in Sweden and Paris8 University (Letters of Cooperation attached).
The "Cooler Schools, Schooler Planet" initiative is based on an interdisciplinary approach, which is the foundation of outdoor education by definition. The core disciplines involved in the design and implementation phase include:
Education: outdoor education is the most suitable methodology for this initiative as it supports teaching and learning through hands-on, experiential activities. Teachers are also supported and empowered to adopt a dynamic curriculum that meets national standards while addressing environmental issues.
Environmental science: we integrate the latest research and understanding of environmental issues, including climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable practices, into our curriculum and activities.
Landscape architecture: we collaborate with experts to design and plan outdoor spaces, including school grounds, to ensure that the outdoor classrooms are functional, accessible, and promote a deep connection with nature.
Urban planning: we consider how the initiative can be integrated into the wider community, and how to connect school grounds with local parks and green spaces, particularly for the rural schools participating in the initiative.
Community engagement: we work with local community representatives to gather input and ensure that the initiative is inclusive and responsive to the needs of all members.
During the design and implementation phase, representatives from these different fields will work together in a cooperative and interdisciplinary manner. This will result in the creation of an eco-centred curriculum (much different compared to a learner-centred one), which will convey a feeling and an experience of being part of nature even during school time and change the perspective on how we see nature, let alone how we see the curriculum and experience school. Our initiative addresses complex issues related to climate change and environmental education from a new angle, empowering school communities to bring about change.
Our initiative stands out for its innovative approach to addressing climate change and global warming through outdoor education on a very practical day-to-day school life scale. By promoting a new multi-disciplinary curriculum that creates an outdoor classroom at each school, this initiative brings together knowledge and expertise from education, environmental science, and sustainability to co-create a dynamic curriculum.
One of the key innovations is the focus on outdoor education as a means to reconnect students with nature and promote a deeper understanding of the natural world. This is a departure from traditional classroom-based education, which tends to focus on indoor, disciplinary, and unengaging learning without any use of students' senses and may contribute to a disconnection between humans and nature. Throughout our thorough investigations in many European school settings we already can observe as education leaders, this disconnection between our students and their surroundings, even in the simplest format of their daily school snacks- the majority of students does not know where their food comes from any more. An outdoor classroom can partly involve a school garden to allow such connections to happen again, in an experiential approach (demonstrative documents).
Another innovative aspect is the emphasis on the experiential and dynamic nature of the curriculum. Rather than a static approach to teaching, the curriculum is designed to be responsive to current environmental problems and encourages students to actively engage with their surroundings through hands-on activities and projects. The initiative empowers teachers to take ownership of the outdoor education experience by allowing them to design their own school grounds and incorporate outdoor learning into the curriculum. This not only improves the educational experience for students but also helps ensure the sustainability of the initiative by creating a sense of ongoing support for teachers.
Our "Cooler Schools, Schooler Planet" initiative is designed to be a fully replicable project that aims to revolutionize the approach to education in Europe by placing a strong emphasis on hands-on, outdoor learning experiences while still maintaining very high academic results. This is a 100% transferable approach as it is a methodology which is meant to help students develop a deeper understanding and connection to nature, raise awareness and inspire action on climate change and energy-related issues. We dream of transmitting the energy of encouragement to every member of school communities in Europe, namely that they -each one of them- are important, all students and teachers, in the process of tackling climate change and bringing about the change we want for the future. We are confident that we can achieve this on a larger scale across schools in Europe, thanks to our thorough design of a replicable and transferred methodology: part of the core of know-how steps remains the same for every school setting implementation, and part of it is totally flexible to be co-created by the school community and the local, regional, national and European-wide stakeholders as mentioned previously.
One of the strengths of this initiative is that it does not require extensive equipment, but instead focuses on creating an outdoor classroom for each school through a well-designed curriculum. The curriculum is designed to empower teachers to take their students outdoors and still achieve national curricular goals with a focus on addressing climate change and energy-related problems. The curriculum is highly replicable and adaptable to different contexts and can be adapted to suit the specific needs of schools in different countries.
What makes this initiative unique yet replicable is its focus on place responsiveness, allowing it to have a larger impact than other similar educational initiatives thanks to parallel ongoing processes of bottom-up creativity and top-down support.
We are committed to promoting sustainable outdoor education as a means of addressing climate change and global warming. It is important to note that outdoor education is not just a content area, but a methodology that addresses the five central questions of every educational curriculum: why, what, how, when, and where.
Our approach includes the following steps:
-Developing expertise in curriculum adaptation methodologies that prioritize outdoor environmental education and hands-on experiences with nature.
-Creating a variety of outdoor classroom designs for schools to implement on their grounds.
-Revising educational materials and activities to be more dynamic, experiential, and suitable for creating and maintaining an outdoor classroom setting.
-Empowering teachers to take their students outside throughout the creation and implementation of the outdoor classroom.
-Encouraging community involvement in the design and maintenance of school grounds through the creation of an online platform and app that connects school communities, enabling them to exchange best practices in real-time.
-Continuously evaluating and refining the curriculum and approach to ensure it effectively addresses climate change and promotes sustainable practices, by incorporating feedback from school communities in real-time. A user-friendly app will be provided to facilitate communication between the school communities.
-Replicating and adapting the methodology for use in schools in different countries and contexts, with the goal of getting more school communities involved by demonstrating the benefits of outdoor learning experiences.
-Our goal is to revolutionize the approach to education in Europe by setting a beautiful and inspirational example(empowers people to believe in their importance), emphasizing nature-based learning experiences that achieve high academic results, promote healthy lifestyles, and inspire action on climate change. This project is designed to be 100% replicable.
The initiative addresses global challenges that are generic, such as the need of reconnecting with nature and understanding climate change as well as school-related global challenges, such as the so-called teachers' crisis (demotivated teachers), unengaging, monodimensional human-centred curricula, and pupils' lack of sensorial experiences. We address each one by providing local solutions through the methodology provision of a step-by-step creation of their own outdoor classrooms. We empower school communities to become the agents of change we believe they can be, and take action immediately in their own way, rather than "prepare" for an unknown future. The initiative aligns with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG3 (Good Health and Well Being), SDG4 (Quality Education), SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
We aim to train teachers to take their students outdoors and still achieve national curricular goals, from the phase of designing their outdoor classes, their creation, alternative activities in their day-to-day life, to ways of maintenance. In an era where many teachers have lost motivation, the outdoor classroom setting provides an exciting and meaningful new approach to qualitative teaching. This approach has been shown to enhance students' understanding of environmental problems, as well as their health, ability to be more creative problem-solvers and feel a sense of connection to nature. Our outdoor classrooms do not exclude the use of technology; on the contrary, we will create an app that will assist in linking school communities around Europe in the most exciting way.
It goes without saying that this way we address the challenge of static curricula in a rapidly changing world by providing an innovative approach to teaching and learning. Finally, the initiative connects citizens, local businesses, organizations, and schools to elicit local solutions as a doable and must-be collective effort.
"Cooler Schools, Schooler Planet" aims to tackle the global challenge of climate change by encouraging school communities to create their own outdoor classrooms as local solutions through a sustainable and inclusive curriculum approach.
We have already made progress in the implementation of the initiative by piloting over 30 smaller-scale projects in various regions of different European countries. Our aim is to empower teachers to bring their students outside while still meeting the national curricular goals. To achieve this, we have created teacher-friendly materials and activities that can be easily run by teachers, as well as online and on-site workshops and seminars. A PDF with 15 pilot projects is attached to demonstrate the maturity level of our initiative, which includes our conclusions and lessons learned from our methodology development in various settings and for several different school communities with distinct characteristics. We should pay particular attention to the necessary revision and redesign of educational material taught in schools to incorporate an experiential, outdoor-based approach. Our research shows that we have already achieved numerous positive results, such as increased engagement and interest in lessons, higher concentration, reduced stress levels, and better connections between students and nature.
Our development plan for the next few years includes expanding the initiative to more schools throughout Europe, engaging more organizations with schools, and continuously evaluating and improving the curriculum and methodology, as well as expanding the repertoire of outdoor activities. This initiative offers benefits not only for direct beneficiaries (students and teachers) but also for the wider community by raising awareness and promoting engagement in environmental issues. Additionally, the initiative allows parents, families, and friends of those directly involved to participate and offer support during all phases of the project.
As part of our initiative, we propose the creation of outdoor classrooms for each school in Europe with the goal of contributing to the development of new competencies in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability. There is no doubt that our proposal aligns with the European Commission's outline of the competencies, including embodying sustainability values, embracing complexity in sustainability, acting for sustainability, and envisioning sustainable futures. By providing learners and educators with hands-on, interdisciplinary, and locally relevant education and training experiences, they will be able to acquire these competencies in a meaningful and impactful way. Most important, they will be equipped to be using these tools in their day-to-day school life, as agents of change. Through this initiative, school communities will have access to a variety of opportunities to learn about the climate crisis and sustainability, without any need to visit any external to them environments. Rather, the process of creating their own outdoor classroom will bring members of the local community in their school grounds. We hope that our proposal can mobilize national and EU funds to invest in green and sustainable equipment, resources, and infrastructure to support this education and learning.
Moreover, teachers will receive support in developing their knowledge and skills to teach about sustainability and the green transition, and they will have access to supportive learning environments that facilitate hands-on, interdisciplinary, and locally relevant teaching and learning experiences.
The central focus of our initiative is on whole-school sustainability, interdisciplinary learning, and student engagement. We believe this approach can help learners and educators to acquire the competencies outlined in the European competence framework on sustainability, while also contributing to the creation of a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient society.
