<< Background >>The reason why we have requested this project is that we have detected that actions against climate change are not being implemented at the speed required by the urgency of the situation. We believe that one of the most urgent measures to be taken against climate change is waste reduction. Therefore, we think it is very important to instil in primary and secondary school children the idea of reusing waste to produce new things in a creative and attractive way (upcycling).With this project we want to support teachers, school leaders and other teaching professions with their professional development and provide them with the tools and resources they need to be able to understand the possibilities that upcycling has for multidisciplinary and project-based education and provide them with practical ideas on how to implement it in the classroom as part of the school curriculum. The partners identified common needs, which were further analysed during the preparation of the application. Based on the conclusions drawn, the partners have defined the needs and set priorities and objectives.The direct target group of the project is primary and secondary schools, school teachers and environmental associations. The identified needs we want to satisfy are: -Lack of interdisciplinary collaboration in schools. Subjects are usually taught separately, so pupils lack a holistic view, which means that they often do not see the practical application of what they study, and they lack motivation. -Lack of competences to foster initiative and entrepreneurship in different areas of education. -Lack of adapted materials for primary and secondary school teachers to motivate students' interest in STEM. The indirect target group of the project is primary and secondary students, families, city councils and municipalities, policymakers in the field of education and environment, partner organisations and stakeholders. The identified needs that we want to satisfy are: -Lack of knowledge about the true possibilities of upcycling, which many people confuse with recycling. -Lack of cooperation between schools, public and private companies. -Lack of awareness of individual responsibility to act against climate change. -Lack of awareness in society of the need for less waste in general to help tackle climate change and of the urgency that these measures require. Preventing products and materials from becoming waste for as long as possible and turning waste that cannot be avoided into a resource are key steps to achieve a greener, more circular economy. If we look at the waste hierarchy defined by EU Waste Framework Directive, we can see that prevention and re-use are the most preferred options. Introducing upcycling to school educators, we meet some priorities in the field of school education:-Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, by turning ideas into actions.-Cultural awareness and expression, as upcycling involves in some aspect knowing, understanding, appreciating and valuing the different cultural and artistic demonstrations. -Learning to learn, by motivating to learn in a non-formal and informal context.Upcycling helps to develop a range of other skills and abilities such as creativity, innovation and critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, respect for the environment. This way, the project supports teachers in delivering competency-based teaching.The advantages of cooperating with transnational partners to achieve the project objectives are to foster the creation of synergies between organisations able to disseminate and exploit the project results, to learn from each other, because the partners have different but complementary competences and experiences, and to create a network of actors active in the field of social inclusion at European level.<< Objectives >>The objectives we want to achieve with this project are to: -Raise schoolchildren's awareness of environmental challenges and climate change.-Develop innovative practices for pupils to become agents of change in using fewer resources, reducing waste use and offsetting carbon footprint emissions.-Develop the sustainability competences of schoolteachers, leaders, and staff -Promote interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative learning and the development of creativity.-Promote interdisciplinary teaching in cultural, environmental, economic, design and other contexts.-Increase sense of initiative and entrepreneurship of schoolchildren-Foster innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in different fields of education.The ultimate goal is to disseminate the results widely and to create a network of interested entities and stakeholders. This will be achieved through the implementation of the dissemination strategy and will be highlighted through the partners' dissemination records, but also on the project website, which will host all the material and resources developed throughout the project, as well as other events and media coverage. All partners will be involved from the beginning of the project in dissemination activities.The strategy of sustainability and exploitation of results is also very important to ensure that all products, materials and results developed within the project reach as many people as possible and that the project activities and practice have an impact on the target groups and decision-makers beyond the end of the project.Through multiplier events and other local awareness-raising actions, schools and NGOs will develop partnerships and seek public and private sponsors who can help them fund this initiative.<< Implementation >>The activities to be implemented throughout the project are: All activities that will lead to the development of the PROJECT RESULTSR1. Development of the conceptual background and the framework for the blended courseR1/A1 - Development of the framework (analysis and contrasting the experiences and good practices on national level) R1/A2 - Case study research R1/A3 - Elaboration of the framework of the blended course:R1/A4 - Peer evaluation and adjustments. Translation of the Methodology in partners’ language.R1/A5 - Design and development of the website and open educational resource in English and partner languages.R2. Blended course for educators about the importance of recycling/upcycling with practical ideas on how to implement this in and outside the classroom.R2/A1 - Development of the methodological framework for the implementation (steps, deadlines, etc.) and didactic grid.R2/A2 - Development of the contents of the Training MaterialsR2/A3 - Internal peer-evaluation of the Training Materials and adjustmentsR2/A4 - Fine-tuning of the training materials and adaptation into partners’ languages.R2/A5 - Piloting with educators on national levelR2/A6 - Finetuning of the materials in partner languages R3. Cycle of webinars: training webinars on creative process planning.R3/A1 - Development of the plan and programme of the webinars and their promotionR3/A2 - Organisation of national and international webinarsR3/A3 - Recording and edition of the videos promoting upcyclingR3/A4 - Development of the platform section for webinars and videosR4. Guide including recommendations on how to implement upcycling to educators and families.R4/A1 – Development of the guide including recommendations to educators and parents/families on how to implement upcycling with schoolchildrenR4/A2 - Peer-evaluation and fine-tuningR4/A3 - Adaptation of the guide in national languagesR4/A4 - Campaign on raising awareness on upcycling: short podcasts with experiences of schoolchildren Activities related to DISSEMINATION -Creation and maintenance of the website and the educational platform. -Creation and maintenance of the Facebook profile -Design and development of dissemination materials (newsletters, brochure...) -Publication of articles in mass media on local/regional/national/ international level-Publications on EU platforms to support dissemination activities, e.g. eTwinning and School Education Gateway platforms.-Regular contact with target groups and all entities interested in the project. -Multiplier events Activities related to QUALITY CONTROL -Establishment of the quality control committee -Monitoring of compliance with qualitative and quantitative indicators. -Establishment and follow-up of expectation and satisfaction surveys. Activities related to SUSTAINABILITY and EXPLOITATION OF RESULTS:-Elaboration of declarations of support and signature by the partner organisations-Maintenance of the website and the online platform for at least three years after the end of the project.<< Results >>The tangible results of the project will be:-A collection of at least 24 good practices about upcycling experiences targeting schoolchildren, in formal, informal, and non-formal education (R1)-16 case studies prepared and analysed by each partner (R1)-A blended course for educators about the importance of recycling/upcycling with practical ideas on how to implement this in the classroom in English and in partner languages (R2)-3 webinars in English organised collaboratively by all the partners (R3)-7 webinars in partners’ languages - 1 webinar per country (R3)-7 videos in English and partners’ language - 1 per country (R3)-7 podcasts developed and recorded by school children - 1 per country (R4)-Guide including recommendations on how to implement upcycling to educators and families in English and in partner languages (R4)-A website and an open educational platform in English and in partner languages -5 Transnational meetings-6 Multiplier events-56 educators will participate in the piloting and the blended course at the national level Other project results will be: -Exchange of ideas, good practices, methodology and pedagogical materials between professionals working in primary and secondary education and environmental organisations. -Improved skills of primary and secondary school teachers to give a multidisciplinary approach to teaching and integrate different subjects (STEAM).-Transfer of knowledge about different educational systems and perspectives. -Increased awareness of the benefits of upcycling to achieve a greener and circular economy and contribute to reducing the carbon footprint.-Raising awareness of the need for initiatives that help to combat climate change.-Encouraging innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in different areas of educationIn the medium and long term, the partners expect the project to help: -Primary and secondary school teachers will improve their knowledge and skills to offer multidisciplinary, more practical and relevant training to the needs of the society.-The educational offer of primary and secondary schools will be more motivating for students, who will be better prepared to face the challenges of the future society, especially those related to the environment. -Primary and secondary teachers will improve their professional skills and, thus, be able to improve the teaching methods used in their schools. -Cooperation and synergies between organisations active in the field of primary and secondary education and environmental organisations will be strengthened.More specifically, it is expected that during the implementation of the project and after its completion, primary and secondary school teachers, other staff of schools and environmental organisations will:-Strengthen their professional competences and become familiar with tools and techniques to motivate their students.-Improve their knowledge of accessibility and the adaptation of the learning materials to the needs of the students. -Be able to offer better and higher quality educational programmes and activities.In addition, primary and secondary school students and their families will:-Be more motivated to learn and engaged in lifelong learning.-Be more active and engaged citizens in their community.-Become more aware of the importance of reducing the carbon footprint and, thus, contributing to fight against the climate change.-Become more aware of the importance of individual actions to combat the climate change.-Learn about upcycling and be able to use waste to make new products in a creative way, which will help reduce their carbon footprint. -Become agents of change in the fight against climate change.