Becoming a European Blue School involves a dedicated journey where students and teachers collaborate to craft marine-related projects while fulfilling essential criteria. It's important to note that achieving this goal doesn't require grand projects or venturing beyond school grounds. In this section, we provide examples of schools that have earned the European Blue School Certificate through classroom-based efforts.
Be Ocean Wise
Scoala Gimnaziala Nr. 29 "Mihai Viteazul" Constanta, Romania
Agrupamento de Escolas Dr. Alberto Iria
The following text outlines how the project conducted by two schools connected via the eTwinning platform aligns with the specified criteria mandatory to become a European Blue School.
1. Develop a project with interlinked activities - The project proposes a range of interconnected activities:
- Identifying and researching various environmental problems, such as ocean literacy, ocean pollution, local issues, climate change, and biodiversity.
- Encouraging critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity among students.
- Organizing workshops, debates, and campaigns to address these issues.
- Creating various forms of artistic expression such as art exhibitions, short videos, drawings, and comic books.
- Developing students' awareness about ocean pollution and prompting them to take action.
These activities are interlinked by the common goal of raising awareness about environmental challenges and fostering students' skills and competencies.
2. Produce a clear output - The clear outputs of the project are diverse and include:
- A project's logo competition.
- Schools' presentations.
- Students' profiles on eTwinning (a platform for European schools to collaborate).
- Celebration of European Ocean Day.
- Organizing workshops, debates, and cleaning-up campaigns.
- Art and works exhibitions.
- Building a blog to share project progress.
- A photo challenge.
- Creation of short videos, drawings, and comic books.
Each of these outputs contributes to showcasing the project's objectives, the students' engagement, and the efforts made to address environmental issues.
3. Involve all students - The project explicitly mentions involving students by:
- Encouraging them to identify problems, conduct research, and engage in activities related to ocean literacy, pollution, climate change, and biodiversity.
- Showcasing students' profiles on eTwinning.
- Involving students in creating artwork, participating in campaigns, and producing videos, drawings, and comic books.
The project seeks to engage all students in various aspects of the initiative. Each student can contribute their expertise to different aspects of the project, ranging from planning, execution, and monitoring.
4. Collaborate with a local partner - Collaboration with the "Grigore Antipa" National Marine Research - Development Institute Constanţa, Romania. This institute brings scientific authority and expertise to the project.
5. Communicate project results - The project communicates results through:
- Displaying the project's logo.
- Presentations by schools.
- Students' profiles on eTwinning, which allows for sharing progress with partner schools.
- Celebrating European Ocean Day.
- Organizing workshops, debates, and campaigns, which likely involve communicating the project's findings.
- Art and works exhibitions.
- Building a blog to document and share project activities.
- Creating short videos, drawings, and comic books, which can be shared with a wider audience.
Carnival: Saving The Water On Our Planet
CC Sant Salvador, Artà, Spain
This project shows how an annual tradition of school carnival can become a project that meets the criteria of European Blue Schools.
1. Develop a project with interlinked activities - The project involves several interconnected activities:
- Selecting a topic related to water conservation for the annual carnival.
- Choosing subtopics by each of the 6 primary school classes, all related to the main theme of water conservation.
- Developing ideas for conserving the marine environment and improving it.
- Organizing a carnival with marine-themed costumes.
- Engaging local businesses to adopt a marine "image" during the carnival week and spreading the message of ocean protection.
All these activities are linked by the central theme of water conservation and ocean protection.
2. Produce a clear output - The clear output of the project is the carnival itself, where students showcase marine-themed costumes that reference the importance of saving water. Additionally, the involvement of local businesses adopting a marine "image" during the week serves as a tangible output that demonstrates community-wide engagement with the project's message.
3. Involve all students - The project involves all 6 classes/grades of the primary school, meaning all students are engaged. Each class chose a different subtopic related to water conservation, encouraging participation and engagement across the student body.
4. Collaborate with a local partner – City Council, local businesses, and stores are involved as partners. They adopt a marine "image" during the carnival week, which collaboratively spreads the message of ocean protection throughout the community.
5. Communicate project results - The results are communicated through:
- The carnival itself, where students and local businesses showcase their marine-themed approach.
- The creation of a series of explanatory videos on how to reduce water consumption
- The involvement of local stores and businesses adopting a marine "image" during the week, effectively spreading the message about ocean protection across the community.
World Ocean Day
Queen´s College, Palma, Spain
The following text highlights how one school day - World Ocean Day – can be dedicated to infusing ocean-related elements into classes throughout the day.
1. Develop a project with interlinked activities - The project encompasses a series of interconnected activities:
- Organizing a World Ocean Day event involving Year 7-9 students.
- Incorporating ocean-related themes into various subjects, such as English (writing poems), science (studying ocean food webs and plastic reduction solutions).
- Expanding the "wall of hope" with additional artwork.
- Hosting an exhibition to showcase the work produced.
These activities are interconnected by their common focus on ocean education, awareness, and engagement.
2. Produce a clear output - The clear outputs of the project are:
- A World Ocean Day event
- Integration of ocean-themed lessons and activities into the curriculum for Year 7-9 students.
- Artwork created by students, including poems, murals, and the addition of devil spine rays to the "wall of hope."
- An exhibition that showcases the students' work.
3. Involve all students – Incorporating ocean-related themes into various subjects on World Ocean Day ensured that all students were engaged in the event and related activities.
4. Collaborate with a local partner - The project collaborates with the Save the Med Foundation.
5. Communicate project results - The project results are communicated through:
- The exhibition held in school, showcasing the work produced by students.
- The news article published in the local paper, which helps spread the project's message beyond the school community and into the local area.
Re-Think Plastic Project
Istituto Marymount, Rome Italy
1. Develop a project with interlinked activities – The Re-think Plastics Challenge consists of a series of interlinked activities:
- The challenge guides students from grades K-12 through an inquiry experience that aligns with the existing curriculum.
- Creating action plans for local environments that involve collaboration, problem solving, and critical thinking.
- The project progresses through different phases (Pause and Notice, Explore Possibilities, Design with Optimism) that build upon each other to foster holistic learning and engagement.
2. Produce a clear output - The project provides a tangible outcome in the form of action plans for local environments (class, school, home, community) that address plastic waste and sustainability.
3. Involve all students - The challenge is designed for students in grades K-12, and the activities align with the current school’s curriculum ensuring that all students attending classes are involved.
4. Collaborate with a local partner - The project collaborated with TAG Take Action Global.
5. Communicate project results - the project results are communicated through the activities themselves and the final action plans created by the students. The students' work, insights, and action plans are shared within the school community and possibly even beyond as part of the collaborative and community-based nature of the project.