Mustafa Istemihan Talay Boarding Secondary School

Presentation of the Turkish School

Secondary School no. 17 Gdynia

Presentation of the Polish School

Grunnskóli Snæfellsbæjar

Presentation of the Icelandic school

Olaine Secondary school nº. 2

Presentation of the Latvian school

Gug Skole

Presentation od the Danish National Park

Europaschule Langerwehe

Presentation of the German School

Escola EBI/JI José Carlos da Maia

Presentation of the Portuguese school

Gymnasio A Agiou Theodorou Paphos

Presentation of the Cypriot school.

Gaelscoil Faithleann

Presentation of the Irish school.

Colegio San Augustín

Presentation of the Spanish school.

Colleges des Alberes

Presentation of the French School.

MOTIVATION

The motivation for the project has arisen from the location of each of the schools as they are all near a National Park or a Nature Reserve. These Parks and Reserves are often the life blood of the local communities.  The people rely on them for jobs, recreation, and economics and in some cases for food. 

The different school communities are linked in many ways with The National Parks and Nature Reserves, many of the school parents, wider family circles and management work directly in the Parks / Reserves or with services that rely on the Parks or in tourism that is dependent on the National Parks / Reserves.

The schools wish to learn more about their National Parks and Nature Reserves. They wish to study ways that they can maintain these Parks / Reserves for future generations. They want to instil a sense of pride in their students in the special elements of their parks. They also want to learn about other similar Parks / Reserves in other countries, share their own knowledge with the schools in these countries and to learn from the schools as to how they work with their Park / Reserve authorities for the Education of their students.

The idea of a European project on National Parks and Nature Reserves has been a dream of The Irish School for many years. This proposed project was discussed with some of the schools applying for the project in June 2011 and the Irish school hosted a preparatory meeting in October 2012 to prepare this application in conjunction with the partner schools. 

SUMMARY

We wish that by working with our project “Natural Wonders in Europe” we can show the value and contribution of National Parks and Nature Reserves in various ways.  These areas are treasures on our doorsteps. They shape our communities physically, environmentally, culturally and economically. They provide leisure facilities and work opportunities for people. It is imperative for pupils to learn the benefits of their local National Parks and Nature Reserves to their lives and this project will be a learning forum for them. We want to instil a sense of pride of our National parks and Nature Reserves in our pupils and school communities and to allow them to share this pride of place with our partners. We want the pupils to gain an awareness of their environment and what endangers their immediate environment. 

We want the pupils to learn and speak foreign languages, to understand and appreciate other cultures, to work together toward shared goals and examine their own values and learn to value diversity. We are also going to partake in the eTwinning platform to make the multilateral cooperation between the European schools increase  and promote the development of the pupils' ICT skills as a main tool for learning, communicating and working.