<< Objectives >>By implementing this project, we want to build teachers’ competences to organize formal and non-formal learning for children aged 7 to 10, in order to build their competences for detecting and resolving important issues of today – ecological issues and physical activity shortage, and to actively achieve important learning goals along the way.<< Implementation >>We will implement ecological activities aiming to deal with some global problems locally (separating waste, recycling, making compost from kitchen waste, organizing volunteer cleaning-up actions, etc.). Also, we will implement various modalities of physical activity in order to fulfil HEPA recommendations for daily volume of physical activity.<< Results >>Teachers included in the project will acquire practical knowledge to plan, organize, realize, and evaluate formal and non-formal learning activities with children aged 7 to 10 regarding ecology and physical activity. As a guide for building the same competences among other teachers a project booklet will be provided. Children will acquire practical knowledge to monitor its own daily physical activity, in order to fulfil HEPA recommendations, and also will gain “green skills”.

The major stimulus to launch the project „It´s time to help” (ITTH) was the idea of international cooperation among European schools involved in Eco-School Programme. All these schools have realized the methodology concept of “Seven Steps of Eco-School”; however, each eco-school under the conditions of their country and their climate regions. The ITTH project joins the pupils at the age of 11 to 16 together with their teachers from the Czech Republic, Latvia, Germany, Finland, Malta and Portugal and it enables not only to establish and develop friendship among the pupils and the teachers and increase their interest in culture, traditions and environment of the countries, but also to compare their previous work in the field of ecology, share their experience and ideas and also look for effective treatment of selected topics, such as water, energy, waste, bio-diversity, economical consumer and school environment from different points of view. The aims of the ITTH project are to facilitate interconnection of formal and informal learning and involve in the project work excellent and active pupils together with the pupils who face educational difficulties, cultural differences or economic and social obstacles. The project involves about one thousand of the pupils and teachers. The project work is divided into three main parts: preparation, realisation and finalization. Within the preparation of the project each school prepares the websites, the project logo, communicates with a local/regional eco-centre and deputies, organises the regular school-team meetings, does their school analyses on the fixed eco-topics and informs the public about the scheduled events and activities. During the project realisation the host school organises the meeting and the partner school take part in the meeting where they work in a team, participate in/observe lessons, attend workshops, compare prepared analyses, suggest the solution to eco-problems of the partner schools, exchange their experience and ideas, gather materials for booklets and evaluate actual work. The project idea and output dissemination is done regularly before and after each meeting. Within the finalization both the pupils and the teachers evaluate the project websites, cooperation and communication among the partners. They evaluate each-partner-school´s outputs and results, school performance of tasks and plan further cooperation and project outcomes and results dissemination. To propagate the project itself, six project banners, a project book and some promotional materials are created. Furthermore six booklets focused on different project topics where the eco-problems are described together with the schools analyses and their solutions, worksheets together with the methodology instructions for further use in schools/eco-centres, CDs with project description, its outcomes, results and worksheets with instructions are created for free using by anybody who is interested in eco-questions. The ITTH project contributes to cross-curricular education and thus enables the pupils to develop talent, knowledge, skills and competences in different spheres. The teachers thanks to the cooperation with their foreign partners have a considerable opportunity to share experience, teaching ideas and procedures. Through the ITTH project the pupils and the teachers, as well, become aware of their own responsibility for the environment. The ITTH project leads the pupils, teachers and public to realize that sustainable growth is the only way how to save the Earth for future generations. The project motivates them for further active participation in everyday life and foreign language learning and also extends their area of competences and thus contributes to their further career orientation.

The initial stimulus to launch the project “It´s Time to Care” (ITTC) was successful cooperation among 6 European Eco-schools in “It´s Time to Help” (ITTH). ITTC deepened and extended ITTH´s outputs and results and we used gained knowledge, skills and data to achieve continuity in environmental learning and teaching in partner schools. ITTC joined more than 1500 students (11-16 years old), teachers from Eco-schools in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Finland, Latvia, Malta and Portugal, former students, future teachers and their tutors, experts from secondary/tertiary educational levels, Eco-organisations, national parks, Eco/Science centres and town representatives and entrepreneurs. It used methodology of international Eco-School Programme in 7 steps (analysis,plan,monitoring,evaluation,informing,involving and dissemination) in line with European 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. All partner schools intertwined the ideas of SDGs into school curricula. ITTC supported it and offered ways and means in practical way. ITTC dealt with problems defined in ITTH. We focused on deeper analyses of ITTC topics and possible answers and solutions to proven conditions in partner schools´ environments. All partners worked on: sustainable water, sustainable power sources, sustainable towns, sustainable society, climate changes and sustainable use of land. ITTC objectives followed SDGs (more cooperation, think more about other people and respect the environment).ITTC´s aims were to intertwine theory and practice in education and encourage teaching of Science and Technology, i.e. develop working skills, support collaborative learning/teaching to increase motivation for lifelong learning and prevent the risk of early school leaving, improve communicative and ICT competences and language learning strategies.For teachers, ITTC offered development and improvement of their professional skills and qualifications to increase the effectiveness of teaching or to gain competences to start follow-up activities aiming at long-lasting sustainability of ITTC and further schools/local communities development. Each school ran websites, cooperated with Eco-organisations, deputies, experts from secondary/tertiary spheres and praxis, organised school-team meetings, did analyses on topics and informed about the events and ITTC activities.The host school organised the meeting (but Malta, due to Covid 19 it was canceled), where all participants worked in a team, took part in ordinary school life, attended workshops, presented data, suggested solutions to problems, exchanged experience, gathered materials for results and evaluated actual work. There were lectures on developing teachers´ professional competences such as constructivist teaching methods, methods of leading students to develop a conceptual framework and problem solving skills and also their future professional life.The evaluation and dissemination were done regularly before and after meetings. All partners took part in webinars and organized events for the public/school community. 6 ITTC´s banners, 6 photo-banners,ITTC website, school websites, eTwinning and info-corners were created. 6 e-Methodologies,6 e-Manuals, 6 e-Video-libraries were compiled. The Interactive map of Europe and digital storage device “Help, Care … and Live Sustainably” were completed. Extra Short-term joint staff training event was held. It focused on practicality, teaching skills and competences of teachers connected with Developmental Continuum in Environmental Education and support of follow-up activities aimed at long-term sustainability of the project ITTC contributed to polytechnic and cross-curricular education in schools. It enabled students to develop talent, knowledge, skills and competences and be active.Teachers shared experience, teaching ideas and procedures. ITTC led all participants that sustainable growth is the only way how to save the Earth for future generations. STEAM concept was the integral part of ITTC. Cooperation among primary, secondary and tertiary/higher education was mutually contributory. Our students had a chance to verify their preconceptions and obtained adequate evidence of scientific phenomena through practical research education and measurements. Students-future teachers tried teaching/learning methods in practice under supervision of their tutors who analysed students-future teachers´ work, evaluated whether theory was in accordance with practice and at the same time verified if methods and methodology of preparing students-future teachers for future job were effective and efficient.Cooperation with enterprisers enabled students to realize that knowledge and skills gained from school would never be enough. Research and development is not going to stop so students have to be prepared for their lifelong learning.It offers chance to gather stimuli from real life, focus on future professional development and motivate for further active participation in everyday life.