The main goal of the project was to enhance the quality of early years environmental education in order to develop children’s interest in and connection to nature and to achieve high quality learning outcomes that support basic core curriculum and lifelong learning skills. Teaching about nature is an excellent opportunity to develop a set of children's skills and competences important for achieving better effects of learning in different fields of education and then for the wellbeing of individuals and more sustainable future of communities. And yet nature education is often under appreciated and its potential ignored in national curricula at primary and early year levels. Many educators suffer from a lack of dedicated materials and examples of engaging activities for such children. This project was based on experiences of the already operating international educational project Spring Alive that also involves the 6 BirdLife Partners (ornithological ngos) engaged in this project. The transnational dimension of the project is very important, bringing the best examples of how nature based education can deliver profound and lasting learning outcomes to countries and regions where the potential has not been realized. The international cooperation also provides a basis for future international networking. The practical knowledge and competence of pre-school and primary school teachers was enhanced by providing them with training and resources. Resources are also available to educators running informal education through making the supporting materials widely accessible. The training provided an opportunity for exchanging teachers' experiences from their work at a transnational level. Academic educationalists and trainers were engaged to ensure the highest quality of the created resources.The project was addressed to teachers from rural areas and small towns to develop theirs skills and to enable them to access the most current knowledge, teaching practices and resources. 60 teachers from preschools and primary schools participated in the training. Over 342 teachers took part in national training events. At least 2360 teachers from primary schools and pre-schools as well informal educators from European countries will download the materials after the delivery of the demonstration lessons and free access to the uploaded resources online this and upcoming year. Main activities undertaken during the project's duration:The activities of 1st half of the project timeline were focussed on: research on the most important obstacles and challenges in area of environmental education in primary and pre-school education; determining the innovative teaching methods and content of resources to overcome these obstacles; developing a set of engaging and effective teaching materials (O2, O3). During the 2nd half of the project, activities were focused on: continuing and finalizing the work on the teaching resources; adapting them to the partners national requirements (=language / curricula); organizing international workshop for teachers; disseminating the materials during multiplier events together with, mostly online, promotion. Teaching materials (O2, O3, O4), including the mobile application helping children to learn issues related to nature in an interactive way, were ready to use and presented at the workshop for teachers in July 2018 Ireland/Maynooth University. As a result of the project we delivered the following intellectual outputs: materials for pre- and primary schools, mobile app and a video tutorial. The project provided teachers of preschools and primary schools across six countries with innovative, relevant teaching resources. Moreover supported and trained them to deliver an effective nature themed programme of learning.The project also grealty improved the communication and cooperation of the project partners from Poland, Spain, Ireland, Slovakia, Czechia and Macedonia as well as their interaction with the educational systems in their countries. All the intellectual project outputs are available for teachers and educators not only on the partners' website but also on the Spring Alive national websites. They will continue to be used by teachers from countries where Spring Alive operates as each year they will be encouraged to use them. They will also continue to be available on the BL Partnership extranet for use of the BL Partners and teachers they work with. Project partners continue to maintain contact with interested teachers to further develop their teaching curricula. The results and impact are greater than expected. We have successfully shared the information through all our channels. The greatest impact are groups of teachers who have became advocates for our materials. A long-term benefit was achieved by creating a network of teachers at European level and at national level. Thus the project effects will be multiplied during next years after the lifetime of the project long term results.

<< Background >>Many changes are occurring worldwide in the context of climate change, socio-economic cycles, and the new era of modern technologies. The most challenging of them are coping with a changing environment, widespread pollution, and its unprecedented human impact. Therefore, several international strategies have been initiated to identify and address these issues and find solutions to solve or mitigate them, e.g. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and recently enacted European Green Deal, which aims at sustainable economy and restoration of biodiversity, amongst many other objectives. To reach those targets we need more responsible and environmentally educated young people to acknowledge the urgent need to switch to a sustainable lifestyle, pursue STEM careers and build a new green economy. Evidently, education is an essential part of that inclusive transition, and science teachers alliances are strong advocates for a greener and more sustainable future, and key actors to encourage students, their peers, families, and local communities to take initiative in environmentally friendly projects to lessen the burden of human impact and find better ways for a cleaner and more resource-efficient economy. To restore biodiversity and cut pollution it is of utmost importance that young generations value their environment in terms of its natural diversity, have the ability to identify species, and thus, are aware of the consequences of human activity and possible solutions to maintain the integrity of ecosystems and the potential of their services.Therefore, considering the above-mentioned aspects, this project aims to empower teachers and their associations.All partners have identified 3 major needs:1) offer a better support system for STEM subject educators and facilitate transnational collaboration on organizational and school levels;2) make STEM subjects more attractive and interesting to learn and spark students interest in the European Green Deal goals, and tackling climate change in a broader sense;3) have engaging teaching and learning materials for outdoor green biology activities, which enable the fostering of many competencies simultaneously: digital, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills of students and teachers alike. As well as acquiring and deepening the skills of ICT use for students and teachers in inquiry-based learning of STEM subjects.All these needs are common to any association of STEM teachers, therefore they could be met in collaboration in more effective and innovative ways, and also, put into a broader context of European natural diversity and transnational ecological issues. As the main target groups of the project are biology teachers (not only those united in associations), students, and potential learners in non-formal education in nature centers, then all activities will be organized to maximize their impact and offer tangible results which could be easily modified and adjusted to the specific needs of the stakeholders.The acronym BEST stands for “Biology Educators Shaping Tomorrow” and it combines the essential ideas and objectives of the project: to equip teachers organizations with better tools to support the development of STEM teachers professional skills, and to co-create green biology lesson plans which help to diversify outdoor teaching, learning techniques and methodologies by multinational collaboration teams. We strongly believe that the European dimension is a crucial part of an innovative, inclusive, and more engaging learning and teaching experience, which has a profound impact on STEM education and contributes extensively to the EU biodiversity strategy 2030.<< Objectives >>Transnationally carried out projects are often characterized by a multitude of tangible and intangible results and have a much greater impact than usually anticipated. Project BEST initiated by science teachers associations of five European countries has three well-defined objectives:1) to build the capacity of professional teachers’ organizations in partner countries, in order to provide better value for its members and improving teachers personal, subject related and pedagogical competencies;2) in collaboration with other European science teachers co-create practical, innovative, and adaptable learning/teaching material in the field of green biology to diversify national curricula. As well as, promote STEM subjects, reinforce connectedness to the local natural environment and apply ICT to make learning/teaching more engaging and present a variety of teaching methodologies and techniques in an outdoor setting;3) introduce and strengthen the European dimension and the prospects for future collaboration of European science teachers.Additionally, partners will raise their awareness of European cultural and natural diversity; improve their multilingual and intercultural understanding. Also, they will disseminate project ideas and results at local, regional, and national levels, by individual contacts, among colleagues at schools, and written articles, using social media, websites, and newspapers to maximize their impact and reach more target groups. Finally, to improve the visibility of science teachers associations as key actors in European Green Deal plan implementation, young generations inclusion by environmental education, and encouraging other teachers associations to initiate similar partnerships for the mutual benefit of all partner countries.<< Implementation >>There are several activities planned. First, all partners will introduce different aspects of their organizations (management, communication, activities, members inclusion, presence of European dimension, etc). Based on that, comparative analyses of partner associations will be performed by matrix analyses and SWOT analyses to identify and subsequently evaluate common and individual best practices and strengths; also obstacles and issues impeding host organization development in terms of providing better value for its members and contributing to the promotion of STEM education in schools, and the broader audience. Most of it will be presented and discussed during learning, teaching, and training activities, however, extensive preparatory work should be done by board members (3 from each partner organization) before the LTTs to guarantee constructive and fruitful collaboration in a context of organizational development, and make it mutually beneficial and valuable for all participants.Second, to co-create green biology lesson plans all partners will come up with 2–3 outdoor lesson plan ideas, which will be piloted during LTTs by all partners in the local environment using ICT and species recognition apps. In cooperation with active teachers from each association (at least 5 teachers per country will be involved in LTTs) the most promising material will be selected and edited to improve its relevance and adaptability. Afterward, those 2 plans will be introduced to the students in each partner country in at least 20 schools. Lesson plans piloting, feedback, refinement, and adaptation to the local learning environment, national curricula, and individual needs of students and teachers are of utmost importance to create a universal, scalable, easy to use, and free to access innovative and engaging learning tool. All these activities implemented between LTTs will be monitored and supervised by responsible persons assigned by partner associations.Third, the host country will introduce their natural biodiversity, and cultural and linguistic heritage to enhance participants' sense of European unity and common values, as well as improve communication and collaboration skills in multinational teams. Activities (e.g. school visits, joint field trips, team building, and teamwork activities) will be organized to encourage proactive socializing, boost teachers' English language skills, and seek and find potential partners for future collaboration in the Erasmus+ framework.Apart from monitoring and assessing activities during LTTs, and between them, a communication plan will follow to report on the progress of the project implementation stages for all members of the organizations. Additionally, increase the visibility of professional STEM organizations and reach a broader audience on social media and other media channels to promote project objectives and results.<< Results >>Project participants have an overview of how EU STEM teachers' professional associations are formed, function, and what value they provide for their members. Comparative study of partner organizations (e.g. strengths and best practices, along with identifying and addressing obstacles that slow down organization development) contributes enormously to the empowering of organizations to build capacity for change and to achieve greater effectiveness in the context of members inclusion, communication, management, and visibility.Partners have got an insight into the educational system and STEM education in different EU countries; have started mapping common problems and challenges of the subject, learning process, and school education in general, and discussed strategies to avoid (if possible) and mitigate them. In the process of mutual partnership, participants have co-created pedagogical material for engaging the study of green biology in innovative and smart ways involving novel digital solutions and apps (e.g. Looking for Cowslips, Garden Birds Diary, which contributes to the European Breeding Bird Atlas, The Baltic Sea projects activities, Lichens Bioblitz, etc) combined with outdoor activities. Key elements of those practical lesson plans have been piloted during the project implementation phase in schools, which helped to get instant feedback to improve and adjust plans according to the local learning environment and needs of students and teachers. Students' involvement at the very early steps of lesson plans is crucial to the final success and compatibility of the materials with the national curriculum, to offer an attractive and valuable outdoor learning experience. Multilingual, unique, and easily adjustable collections of lesson plans are ready-made for public use for school teachers and nature educators in non-formal education.Future collaboration initiatives with at least one partner from the current project are laid out to broaden the scope of teachers' understanding, mapping, and tackling of universal challenges across Europe in the context of STEM education and European Green Deal objectives. Many of the members of associations have found potential partners and ideas for future Erasmus+ school projects for students’ and teachers’ exchanges in the field of environmental education and STEM subjects promotion.All partnership organizations have incorporated the European dimension into their activities: shared common values, promoted principles and interest of European Education Area, and have contributed to the European Green Deal objectives by strengthening participants' professional competencies and creating an international and collaborative network of biology teachers. Partners have raised their awareness of European cultural and natural diversity, improved their multilingual and intercultural understanding.Partners have disseminated the project’s context, objectives, and results at local, regional, and national levels, by individual contacts, among colleagues at schools, and written articles, using social media, websites; newspapers to maximize impact and reach more target groups, and encouraging other teachers associations to have similar partnerships.