EcoPodcasts EcoPodcasts: Student podcasts on eco conscious and sustainable living. Erasmus+, KEY ACTION 2: cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices ; strategic partnerships in the field of education, training and youth
The EcoPodcasts project aims to introduce a holistic educational approach that will support schools and teachers to promote environmental education by combining innovative pedagogical methods (project-based learning and experiential learning, design thinking) with the extensive use of new media and technology. In particular, by harnessing the power of broadcasting and podcasting, the project will:
– deliver an innovative school-based radio and podcasting programme that will guide students on an exciting journey of how to discuss, reflect and advocate for issues related to the environment and climate change. Following a design thinking approach, students from the partner countries will be empowered to become change makers and investigate environmental issues.
– develop a holistic and flexible teacher training programme and provide a bank of practical resources that will improve teachers’ skills in teaching environmental education, increase their confidence in using innovative methodologies and digital tools such as radio and podcasts.
– develop the EcoPodcasts web platform and application to become a transnational reference point and a vast repository in terms of learning resources and best practices of school radio and podcasting as attractive tools to actively engage children with climate change. We also aspire to foster the first pan-European online community of teachers, students and schools using school radio and podcasting to promote a sustainable everyday life.
HISTORY AND INNOVATION IN PLOVDIV
In April 2022 a team of three students from ELS ‘Geo Milev’, together with our school principal, an English teacher, an IT teacher and an art teacher were warmly welcomed by their partners from Foreign Language Highschool ‘Ivan Vazov’ in Plovdiv. The meeting was part of the national programme „Innovation in Action“ and gathered partners from Burgas, Knizhovnik and Plovdiv. The programme is focused on innovative schools, which make a change through the introduction of innovative practices that solve organizational and content problems in the educational process.
This approach in education provides an opportunity to build modern schools in which students can improve their educational outcomes, their motivation to learn, their participation in school life and to develop their creative thinking, different competencies and emotional intelligence through innovative educational processes, teaching methods, school leadership, new learning strategies, etc.
The team of teachers from English Language School ‘Geo Milev’ – Burgas seized the occasion to present the Erasmus + projects it is involved in to specialists in various fields and emphasize the importance of project work in terms of innovative teaching and exchange of good practices.
The presented projects under Erasmus + were: DYLEng (DOUBLE (Y)OUR LESSONS IN ENGLISH), ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING ADVENTURES IN MINECRAFT and EcoPodcasts: Student podcasts on eco conscious and sustainable living, coordinated by the school. The students participating in the meeting managed to bring a different perspective of project-based learning approach, together with raising environmental awareness and relate them to innovative teaching practices.
Project Based Learning and EcoPodcasts: Student podcasts on eco conscious and sustainable living
On 13th May, 2022, a training of teachers from AEG „Geo Milev“, Burgas was held in Primorsko , Bulgaria. The topic of the training was „Project-based Learning“.
During the training all of the participants were presented the project under the Erasmus + EcoPodcasts program: Student podcasts on eco conscious and sustainable living, as well as the goals and content of the project and the ways it can positively impact project-based learning in the classroom. In the first theoretical part, all colleagues from the English Language School „Geo Milev“, Burgas, watched a presentation on the benefits of project-based training. Then the team of EcoPodcasts started a discussion and provided suggestions for good environmental practices as an opportunity for project-based learning in the classroom and spreading the importance of sustainable living and eco conscious living among students. Teachers of biology, chemistry and geography presented their ideas for creating eco-podcasts among their students, and all teams presented interdisciplinary links concerning the project objectives and other subjects.
Visit to the European Parliament in Brussels and EcoPodcasts Initiative
In May 2022 students from English Language School „Geo Milev“, Burgas, accompanied by the school principal Mrs. Zhaklin Mutafyan-Neycheva and the deputy principal Mrs. Krassimira Miteva visited the European Parliament in Brussels, where the last meeting of the project „From Eurodivison to Eurovision“ under the Erasmus + Key Activity 2: Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices took place.
During their visit in Brussels, the Bulgarian team managed to introduce to their partners from Finland, Spain, Poland and Italy another project under the Erasmus + EcoPodcasts programme: Student podcasts on eco conscious and sustainable living, of which the high school in Burgas is the main coordinator.
The participants in the mobility, as well as their teachers, were impressed by the enthusiasm of the students from Bulgaria and the ideas for good ecological practices presented there and shared that they would try to implement them in their schools.
In the European Parliament in Brussels, the participants from Bulgaria first attended an exciting meeting-discussion with the Finnish MEP – Sirpa Pietikainen and then they met Mrs. Eva Maidel – MEP from Bulgaria and President of the International European Movement (IEM). In the conversation, not only did the students share their vision of the image of modern Europe and presented their proposals and ways to address immigration, but they also touched on issues related to the benefits of Erasmus + and talked about the other project they are participating in – EcoPodcasts: Student podcasts on eco conscious and sustainable living. They expressed their opinion on the importance of spreading awareness of environmentally friendly living as a part of the European values.
Mrs. Maidel was impressed by the achievements of the students from English Language School „Geo Milev“, Burgas, and welcomed the extracurricular project activities they take part in. They thanked for the warm welcome and her support for quality education, which builds on key competencies and is one of the priorities of her work.
