GREENFUL - the social value behind a story of alternating learning in ERASMUS

I'm going to tell you about a green Erasmus project that went beyond alternative learning for students to benefitting an entire community and increasing environmental awareness.

Last September, I developed a work-based learning project about environmental sustainability with my Irish partner, the North West Academy of English in Derry. The project guided 25 students in the investigation of important environmental issues from a green economy to recycling, water pollution, biodiversity and fast fashion.

The students also evaluated the level of concern of the local community regarding environmental protection, compared measures taken by individuals to safeguard the environment to those taken by the public authorities, and highlighted similarities and differences between the Italian and Northern Irish systems.

This work was integrated into a documentary in English, something between a social documentary and a scientific one. The documentary ends by highlighting eco-sustainable behaviours and the fact that educating youth is the necessary starting point to achieve change.

This is the societal value behind the students' alternative learning, which went beyond VET and digital skills to envisioning a green Europe, and hence their pride in being “Erasmus Green Ambassadors”.