The 2 year project began in 2007 with a meeting in Poland. The partners intend to exchange good practices and methods of using the environment in creative ways to help develop learners.
The UK partner, Pathways Inspirational Development Ltd hosted a project meeting in May 2008 in the countryside on the border of England and Wales. The event was held in Newton (Wales), Bishop Castle (England) and Sarn (Wales).
The following meeting was held in Vibo Valentia (Italy) in October 2008.
Partners met again in Famalicão (Portugal) in March 2009. The last general meeting was held in Hannut (Belgium) in May 2009. The partners inaugurated the project exhibition shown in the French speaking Community premises of the local library hall.
For samples of best practices follow the ZEBRA link.
Their workshop activities are conceived jointly in order to combine the various aspects: informative (transmission of content), imaginative (emotional intelligence) and methodological (organisation).They allow knowledge to increase and to develop confidence related to physical and intellectual abilities in spite of the insuficient possiblities participants have at their disposal.
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Partners experience outdoor activities that they may use with their own learners:
One of the activities is called the 'journey wood stick' whereby the learners go on a journey with a stick and fix on it what they see on their way and would like to remember the journey by. At the end of the journey they share what they have experienced by showing their wood stick to the rest of the group.
EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES:
Activities undertaken in the framework of the general project meetings:
- presentation of each organisation (staff members, situation, objectives, activities, etc.).
- examination and discussion of proposals and future actions.- agenda structuring.
- setting up of a common information and discussion forum.- visits of environmental contexts linked to the project ( historical, cultural, geographical, ecological).
- demonstration of successful workshop activities ( nature and sounds; nature and sense of smell).
- workshops aimed at developing creativity.- presentation and discussion of activities implemented locally.
Project activities and results implemented locally within each organisation:
- " Trees" produced with recycled material; photo exhibition on the theme of environment and sustainable development ( species in danger of extinction, cases of pollution, recycling methods); creation of web pages linked to the organisation's web site illustrating the plant (or tree) of the month (Portugal).
- Establishing discussion groups sensitising their participants (inmates and penitentiary authorities) to environmental issues; creation of a green space within the prison premises developed and taken care of by the inmates; exploration of the theme (plants, trees, flowers) using various props: objects, pictures, novels, etc. (Italy).
- Survey through questionnaires with charted inventory results for three groups of blind or partially sighted people(Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw) aimed at understanding their preoccupations and difficulties related to environmental issues but also at promoting environmental awareness. Statistical data showing relations between blind persons and nature: contact, places, activities, etc. (Poland)
- Workshops for activating knowledge, stimulating sensory and behavioural responses of learners within the institutional structures centred on environmental themes with the use of visual, tactile (kinaesthetic), listening and olfactory aids produced jointly with the participants and staff taking their desiderata into consideration (Belgium).
- Training staff within the framework of activities (visits and workshops) aimed at promoting the idea of sculpting natural elements. The members of Border Poets envisage the creation of natural spaces stimulating memory and reflection. Support for a community project (Cheshire) focused on the concept of belonging. (United Kingdom).
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Le projet dans son ensemble a été inscrit au cœur de l’environnement en aménageant des temps de travail sur le terrain, permettant la « mise au vert » et le ressourcement des apprenants et des formateurs. Il a déplacé ainsi le lieu de la formation et a bouleversé la démarche habituelle des réunions.
Toutes les réunions de projet ont été agrémentées par des visites de sites en relation avec l’environnement donnant lieu à un foisonnement d’idées et de représentations imaginatives les plus inattendues. Cette approche a permis d’explorer de nombreuses facettes de la dimension européenne : traditions et coutumes, croyances religieuses liées à la nature ; exploitation économique et commerciale des ressources naturelles ; sites naturels historiques ; emblèmes et symboles floraux nationaux ; etc.
Les ateliers ont été conçus de manière créative et attractive en utilisant des supports et méthodes stimulants pour les publics cibles, faisant appel à leurs facultés intellectuelles, aux sens et émotions.
En Belgique, les supports pédagogiques visuels utilisés dans le cadre des cercles d’expression créative évoquent à l’aide d’images, de photos, de dessins des situations, des événements, des personnages reliés aux différents thèmes environnementaux abordés. Dans certains ateliers des supports audio ont dû être utilisés pour illustrer les sons et bruits de la nature : le roucoulement d’un ramier, le vent dans les arbres, la descente d’un ruisseau, etc. De même, pour évoquer des odeurs et saveurs des parfums naturels de fruits, d’aromates, d’épices ont été présentés. Enfin des objets tels que plantes, fleurs, mousses ont été manipulés et tactilement explorer pour stimuler les sens kinesthésiques.
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