September 2014
LIFE for environmental education
LIFE, the EU funding tool for the Environment
Since 1992, LIFE has contributed to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental policy and legislation by cofinancing pilot or demonstration projects with European added value. LIFE supports information and communication activities as key elements for knowledge sharing, and offers opportunities for environmental education and training. Projects have targeted schoolchildren, young people, teachers and/or families. They have also highlighted actions people can take in their everyday lives to save water and energy, prevent and reduce waste and help tackle biodiversity loss and climate change.
The “Slovenia WEEE campaign” project organised awareness-raising campaigns about waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in schools, municipalities, and on the Internet.
made an important contribution to improving environmental teaching and integrating environmental issues into school curricula in Sweden. It promoted a more balanced and practical view of the challenges and possible actions, developed training material and organised training for 29 000 teachers and other school staff.
Open days were held where participants could dispose of such waste, assess the relevant recycling processes in real time and learn about proper management of WEEE aſter its collection. The events were organised mainly in cooperation with local authorities, EEE producers, major retailers and public bodies responsible for WEEE management. More than 1 000 tonnes of waste were collected and subsequently recycled or disposed of correctly.
The project also reached municipal school administrations, teachers’ organisations and environmental interest groups, and set up a nationwide network of coordinators to support this work and to promote the issues beyond the project. The project contributed to 1 200 schools and pre-schools joining the Swedish Eco-Schools programme, which is run independently of the LIFE project by the beneficiary.
The school campaign proved to be very effective in collecting small WEEE (mobile phones, lights and batteries), which are usually improperly discarded as unsorted municipal waste.
The beneficiary estimates that nearly 350 000 schoolchildren were reached by the project’s actions and are now better informed and educated about issues related to EU environmental policy.
ST LIFE E BE
COM-U LIFE07 INF/S/000901
PROJECT NT
IRONME NV
Slovenia WEEE campaign LIFE06 ENV/D/000461
messages worked best with children aged 5-8 to encourage them to engage with simple environmental actions. The challenge is how to communicate the complex issues (such as saving energy, biodiversity or water scarcity) to children, when they are often too complicated for young people to understand.
One notable project action saw families take part in a voluntary scheme named Carbon budget, in which participants were asked to monitor and report their CO2 emissions in terms of energy consumption and mobility habits. This experiment lasted one whole year and was supported by a tutoring scheme, workshops and meetings.
Children need a greater understanding of important topics before they can be motivated to become more environmentally friendly. Most importantly, they need to be shown how their actions can positively impact their environment.
The project also developed an online educational kit for teachers which was promoted through seminars. Another awareness-raising tool was a travelling Clima Days exhibition, which visited the partner cities and was widely promoted through both national and local media.
The project set out to directly engage with the children through a medium they would enjoy and indirectly reach their parents and teachers. A cartoon series was created to teach the children that small actions can improve quality of life and the future of the planet. “My Friend Boo” is about a dog that uses a magic carousel to take his friends Lucy, Ben and Jaq on adventures to show them the consequences of pollution, water shortage and waste. The cartoon successfully brought the messages to millions of children, parents and teachers across the EU, and broadcasting deals were secured in 19 countries, in 17 languages.
IRONME NV
Eco-Animation LIFE07 INF/UK/000950
Photo: LIFE07 INF/IT/000487
The R.A.C.E.S. project aimed to set up a multimedia campaign using a range of communication tools to raise awareness amongst teachers and students, families and stakeholders in five cities.
PROJECT NT
The results of the project will also be used to promote the Green Flag environmental certification system. The project website is a popular means of spreading the message and contains the teaching and information materials produced by the project.
With the assistance of technical experts, the project produced didactic material for schoolchildren and local communities. Two of the project’s major achievements were a promotional vehicle (“E-Transformer”) and interactive terminals, used to inform the general public and schoolchildren how to properly handle the various kinds of electronic waste and how and where to dispose of it.
Eco-Animation wanted to find out which
ST LIFE E BE
COM-U
COMMUNITY AWARENESS ON CLIMATE CHANGE Photo: LIFE06 ENV/D/000461
A CARTOON TO ENCOURAGE ACTION Photo: LIFE10 INF/SI/000139
LEARNING TO SORT ELEC(TRON)IC WASTE Photo: LIFE07 INF/S/000901
ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING FOR TRAINERS
Aſter the Clima Days campaign, a set of public debates based on the Open Space method was held. Representatives of all the target groups took part, openly and frankly discussing the climate change strategy and the measures to be adopted locally.. Alongside this,a dissemination campaign was carried out through the press, radio and TV in Italy, and through the Europe Direct relays at European level. R.A.C.E.S. LIFE07 INF/IT/000487
Environment Visit the LIFE website: ec.europa.eu/life poster_education_aco.indd 1
19/09/14 12:35