As the technology develops and the world gets smaller, young people suffer from loneliness, spending their time on the computer, ignoring the life around them. This is a project aimed to remove diversities within cultures across Europe. The traditional songs, dances and games are an excellent way to preserve and promote the European culture, traditions and wisdom.This project is for about 300 students between 12-17 years old who are eager to take part in an adventure of culture and folklore. Its goal is to find similarities and differences between eating habits, national and religious ceremonies. Our activities will accomplish self-confidence, our trust, sympathy and tolerance. We encourage pupils to use English in an enjoyable way. Before joining the project the education needs by SWOT analysis were identified and the standard of living is not satisfactory enough. Pupils’ families have little incomes and they have not material conditions to travel abroad. They are not encouraged to develop their knowledge on a real cultural and artistic side at a European level.The interest of cultural activities is generally low. As for the teachers, most of them are very well qualified in their domains, but they have not developed language skills and ICT competences at European level. The needs and objectives were identified during meetings with parents and teachers in all partner schools. Our objectives are: to explain the role of folklore by seminars, slide shows, exhibitions, to provide pupils’ opportunity to work with partners, to form willingness to learn English language. Our international meetings being exhanges of pupils as well as teachers will lead to a better acquaintance of partners’ educational systems in seminars or workshops, the discovery of partners’ countries culture, language, traditions by traveling, visiting, direct presentations and contact with school staff, a wider students' and teachers’ integration in European education community, a larger teachers’ competences development, applying strategies, methods learnt from partners. We will organize yearly conferences in each school to promote the project and its program. First each partner school will realize in PPT or video presentations of their school, town and country. During the meetings, each school coordinator will share a few words about their national educational systems with the others. In each school a logo contest will be organized, voting on each school’s proposals during the 1st mobility and an Erasmus+ project corners will be arranged. After each of mobility, the participant pupils will write their impressions and send them to their partners. These impressions and the project articles from mass-media will be put in project’s portfolio as a monitoring instrument. The videos and photos of our workshops and seminars will be results and examples of good practices. The reports of each activity as well as the Progress Report and the Final Report, sent to the National Agency will be good results. For a better communication between partners we created a Google Group. The handcraft or art works exhibitions and bulletin boards are results with a multidisciplinary and trans-disciplinary character, promoting the impact of our activities and the Erasmus+ program. The tests prepared to select our school teams will enrich each coordinator’s portfolio. Many final products (booklets, albums, encyclopedia) will be included in our schools’ curriculum. By an active, collaborative learning and teaching of cultural themes we can apply the best methodologies. We share experiences, ideas and involve participants in decisions, promote pupils’ innovation and creativity like activity diaries, observation sheets, workshops reports etc. Through diagrams, we will prove the involvement in the project activities of our local education authorities. By games, folk dances and songs, the pupils have the chance to show how proud they are of their folk costumes, of their Little March amulets for spring coming. They will learn more about the significance of colors or geometric figures on their folk costumes, the characteristic folk dolls or toys in the partner countries by the workshops or seminars in which they involve. They will also get familiar with legends, cuisines of partner schools and get knowledge of natural medicine of our grandparents.The pupils who are not able to host will not be excluded from the group going for mobility. This final products of this project will be: an album of superstitions and folk wisdom, a multimedia presentation of drawings exhibitions related to the ”Legends and Fairy Tales Evening”, a project magazine and a diary with pupils impressions of each mobility, a DVD of traditional dances during each mobility, a DVD of teaching-learning dances during each mobility, an encyclopedia of health, a set of our grandmothers' recipes, and a set of legends (DVD and as a book) in English from all partner countries, a recipes book and this project website.

Global consumption of fossil fuels increases due to developing technology, increasing population. Greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere lead to global warming. Energy is life essence and we need to understand that we will face a big environment crisis unless we change the unconscious exploitation of our natural resources. The project aim was to explain pupils the importance of using green energy and create awareness in schools, to become sustainable and conscious individuals of future. Our project objectives were: 1) to develop linguistic competences for 300 pupils in six participant schools; 2) to promote the national identity, values and traditions, tolerance, cultural and social differences; 3) to increase interest for pupils’ scientific and cultural; 4) to develop IT competences and communication skills in English in our educational systems; 5) to sensible adult’s care for renewable energy sources; 6) to develop cooperating skills and the collaboration with European schools; 7) to encourage kids with special needs, parents left abroad and low incomes in their families to involve in projects. To the 300 pupils, aged 7-18, from our primary, gymnasium and high schools, we added 100 pupils with economical and learning difficulties to the number of participants, together around 60-70 teachers. The main activities developed by us were: 1) cooperation and collaboration via e-mail, Skype, postcards, letters, Facebook, Google Group, talks during our project meetings, using English as working and communication language; 2) organization of video conferences using socialization platforms as Skype and Facebook to fix each mobility’s details; 3) development of learning activities in schools, locations used for workshops, seminars, exhibitions, with environmental themes, cultural topics about our traditions, involving tasks of other curricular areas (Art, Languages, Geography, History) and using modern techniques, as portfolios, activity diaries, map minding, brainstorming, learning through outdoor activities and research; 4) pupils and teachers’ search for and use helpful websites, correspondence e-mails, educational platforms, on-line dictionaries, tools as Word, JPG, Print Screen, Excel, Power Point, Paint, Slideshare or Photoshop to get information, to create materials that were posted on our website; 5) organization of seminars and workshops during the three transnational meetings and the four mobility activities, where teachers and pupils involved learned about other educational systems and cultures, improve language skills; 6) development of social and cultural activities during our meetings; 7) organization of a project logo contest, of producing material results about the influence of weather and seasons on their environment; 8) development of a working schedule to organize presentations of schools, towns, countries; 9) gathering of information in activities to create, at the project end, a guide of good practices. To ensure the project success, we used methods like: establishing objectives and desired impact, activities and their schedule, organizing partners’ responsibilities, the project publicity through conferences, local meetings with teachers, mass-media, achieving the management of time and budget, by time sheets, budgeting each activity, reports, monitoring and evaluating the activities’ quality by reports, portfolios, activity diaries, direct and indirect feedback, organizing meetings (seminars, workshops, exhibitions), disseminating activities by mass-media, methodological meetings, project materials distributed to other teachers and sustainability by maintaining the project corners, our project website visibility and workbooks published in future due to this experience. Our project results (conferences’ reports, project website, photos, videos, drawings, maps, essays, calendar, DVDs, brochures, poem booklet, portfolios, lessons’ scenarios) contributed in this respect. The project had impact on pupils by a stronger awareness of sciences in life long learning, developed linguistic skills, awareness of cultural diversity, raised intercultural understanding, through avoiding prejudices and stereotyping, a better interest and motivation to study on cross-curricular topics like global warming, improved IT and social skills for problem solving, critical thinking, team working, group dynamics, work ethic, responsibility, improved creativity skills, sense of acceptation and self-confidence, for kids with special educational needs, increased capability of being employable, improved social positive attitudes. It had impact on teachers by improved teaching knowledge and quality of teaching practice, an opening to European culture and organizations, improved IT and linguistic skills for next activities and on institutions, by improved rate of early leaving pupils and absenteeism, raised school profile, better community image, increased rate of pupils’ attendance to high school, improved education process.

"Values in Education: Teens in Action!"" (VETA) is a two year project in which schools from eight countries of the European Union( Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) who had established a professional connection over the Internet or/and through previous personal contact, are involved.About 250 students from Years 9, 11 and 12 and 25 teachers have taken part in this challenging project working together to reach the same goals: to improve the students’ level of English as a lingua franca within the EU, to foster positive democratic values to prepare them for an active citizenship in their adult life whithin a common Europe, to increase the students' skills and level of competence in ICT, and Visual Literacy, and to promote cooperative work.Since our project aims at students between 15 and 18, a very critical age, we have considered it would be highly relevant and positive to work on twelve macro topics connected with values, these being: consumerism, poverty and solidarity, Internet safety, gender quality, interculturality, European citizenship, road safety, tolerance and respect, human rights, violence and hate, health and addictions and environmental issues. We have reached the project’s aims by means of watching, subtitling and discussing short films and movies based on these values, and above all by creating, both locally and internationally, student-produced short movies, documentaries or PSA .Therefore, we have provided students with the chance to express their own views and to be heard, and at the same time they have improved their foreign languages skills and competences in ICT and Visual Literacy, thus becoming the central elements of the teaching- learning process.As one of the key aims of the project is to foster cooperation amongst students and teachers, our methodology has been active, cooperative as opposed to competitive, and agreed through general consensus. Students have been encouraged to improve their social and autonomy competences by cooperating in transnational teams. Furthermore, teaching guides have been collaboratively designed to foster the reutilization of the audio-visual outputs in worldwide classes.Regarding the activities, in order to guarantee coordination, three general transnational meetings, plus a bilateral one in Germany for the two countries involved in the Long-term-study-mobility of pupils, have been held: the first one in Spain, and the other two in Norway and in Sweden, with the objective of planning the agenda, discussing key issues and monitoring and assessing the activities. We have developed eight local activities in which students have been be asked to accomplish specific tasks on eight of the mentioned values. Finally there have been two short term exchange of students per year, in Spain and Bulgaria in 2015,and in Finland and Lithuania in 2016, to work together and create internationally team –produced outputs on the four remaining values.Not only the students participating in this project have benefited from it, but also the teaching staff from the participating institutions, the whole educational communities of the partner schools, Local Communities and other European teachers, students and educational communities in general.Through the production of VETA DVD, we intend to transcend the scope of our schools and share our products and results not only locally but worldwide through the Internet, thus fostering the usage of English as a Lingua Franca, together with Spanish and German, raising awareness on EU values and promoting youngsters active citizenship and participation.We expect this project to have a pervading impact on our schools and local communities. Its expected outputs have been devised to be sustainable open access resources, which will remain accessible on the Internet, and which may be easily exploited by other schools and educational associations and institutions all over the world."

"<< Background >>Project ""Back To The Wild: Non-Traditional Educational Methods in Primary Education"" aims to strengthen the link between children and wildlife by integrating non-traditional methods based on the principles of experiential learning and outdoor pedagogy into traditional formal education curricula. This will help to develop ecological thinking, including not only a narrow understanding of recycling or responsible consumption, but also a holistic picture of the ecosystem, enriching the formal reality of education, encouraging children to explore and learn about their surroundings. Various sources state that experiential learning allows the student to learn 70 percent more than in the traditional teaching / learning system (Vaicekauskiene, 2019; Pahakaran, 2017 and other). Experiential learning encompasses all three dimensions of teaching/learning: cognitive, effective (emotional) and social (behavioral). These are the prerequisites for the success of teaching/learning which provides an opportunity to learn about the non-formal learning experiences of students. In many ways, this experience is more useful and interesting than the formally acquired one. Within the thematic framework of the project it is planned to use the principles of outdoor pedagogy and experiential learning, which allows the learner to approach an animal and its natural surroundings. Applying the principles of experiential teaching/learning and outdoor pedagogy, each participant in the teaching/learning process not only reflects his/her personal experience and thus creates his/her individual knowledge that is relevant and meaningful to him/her, but also promotes better self-awareness. For the learner, learning becomes meaningful, more enjoyable and at the same time, self-generated knowledge tends to gain more value. In addition, outdoor learning has a positive effect on students’ health (Pagels et al. 2014), also it fosters independent and creative learning, a healthy body and mind, and a socially active and responsible personality (Becker, 2017). Different authors emphasize that outdoor pedagogy should be adapted and integrated into formal education curricula and education policies (Fisher, 2001; Barker. 2002; Waite, 2010; Becker, 2020).<< Objectives >>The project aims to strengthen children’s connection with wildlife (flora and fauna) and develop holistic ecological thinking, emotional intelligence, strengthening empathy and social skills by applying the principles of outdoor pedagogy and experiential learning.To reach this aim, these objectives are outlined: 1. To prepare methodological material for educators, in which the presented methods and tools would emphasize the importance of fauna and flora in our ecosystem, would help to develop holistic ecological thinking, empathy, social skills and work as prevention of cruelty against animals (Output 1).2. To prepare a programme of 12 lesson plans (3 lessons for each grade, i.e. 1 lesson for different seasons during the school year) based on the principles of outdoor pedagogy and experiential teaching/learning for primary school students in the forest flora and fauna thematic field (Output 2).3. To create an interactive Virtual Nature Notebook as an educational tool which will include special tasks with instructions and information for pupils to be carried out in the family as well as at the school to stimulate co-education outdoors (Output 3).<< Implementation >>It is planned to organize:- 3 Transnational project meetings throughout the project, all to be organized at key moments (begin or end-stage of certain activities) in Lithuania, Finland and Latvia.;- 1 Teacher training activity in Lithuania and 1 Pupil learning activity in Latvia.- 3 Intellectual output development led by enterprise Learning in Nature LTD (O1), Vytautas Magnus University (O2; O3) and co-leading by Lithuanian and Latvian schools (primary education).- 1 Multiplier event. It is planned to organize a virtual conference on outdoor pedagogy and experiential learning in order to disseminate project outcomes and outputs internationally.In addition, a set of project management activities, dissemination and reporting activities is planned throughout the project implementation stage as well as after the end of EU funding.<< Results >>BTW project will provide best combination of non-traditional educational methods and tools, activities, and solutions in order to engage children in natural sciences, by stimulating curiosity, an understanding of the living nature, a desire to explore and protect. This is done through a creation of 3 intellectual outputs:1) A systemized methodology for teaching in outdoor conditions (O1) which provides teachers with access to the best strategies and description of activities, methods and tools. The university researchers together with primary school teacher’s practitioners will create a set of lesson plans (12 in total; O2). It will be a detailed set of lessons plans for specific thematics with carefully selected methods, exercises, and tips. This output will be done after O1 is created, because the final version of lesson plans with activities, tools, tasks and tips collected should be designed together with the teachers and experts directly working with flora and fauna and its protection.3). An interactive Notebook (O3) as a tool which will include special tasks for pupils to be carried out in the family and at the school to stimulate co-education outdoors will be prepared. This tool could be used by pupils in the created lessons as well as it could be used by ordinary users while being in natural fauna habitation. This outcome will be directly linked to the previous ones, that is, the content will be created in relation to methodology and linked to the lesson plans (part of the tasks could be done at school and some during free time from lessons together with parents or guardians."

<< Objectives >>FightClimateChange! is a cooperation partnership aimed at promoting good environmental behaviors in schools.The project objectives will be:- supporting the adoption of sustainable behaviors towards nature and climate change in younger generation;- developing new teaching material on the topic of tackling climate change;- develop students's critical thinking on the matter of climate change and environment preservation;- raise awareness on the importance to fight climate change.<< Implementation >>The activities that will be implemented are:-project management activities to secure the achievement of the objectives;-research on the state of the art on the best methodologies used in the participating countries on Environmental education;-structure a new educational path (new method) on enriched by experiments, exercises and activities aimed at raise awareness on the importance of sustainable behaviors;-translate the new methodology into a platform form dissemination and exploitation.<< Results >>The expected results will be:- a new methodology to be implemented in primary and middle schools on environmental education;- a digital platform where the new method will be translated ready to be exploited by the educational European school community.