TeachSUS

Key facts

Project title: TeachSUS (Teaching and Educating for Sustainability)

Website: www.teachsus.eu

Programme: Erasmus+ programme – Strategic Partnership

Project number: 2018-1-RO01-KA204-049253

Project duration: 1 December 2018 – 30 November 2020

Results

Online course:

• Teaching and Educating for Sustainability Manager

Partners

• Universitatea de vest din Timisoara (Romania)

• DENKSTATT ROMANIA SRL, Timișoara (Romania)

• Universitatea "Politehnica" din Timișoara (Romania)

• BICERO Ltd, Fram (Slovenia)

• Legjobb Vagyok Tehetsegmentoralo Kozhasznu, Budapest (Hungary)

• Fundaçao da Juventude, Porto (Portugal)

General objectives

The general objective of the project is to create a common new non-formal education structure for sustainability to enable institutions and organisations involved in education and adult training/professional development from all over Europe to plan learning experiences. These experiences will empower students/beneficiaries to develop and evaluate alternative visions of a sustainable future. They will also be empowered to work creatively with major stakeholders from the economic sector in order to assure the practical link between education for sustainability and real economy/community needs.

Special objectives

1. A new learning methodology for sustainability, developed through cooperation and exchange of practice between teachers, trainers and staff responsible for support services at different educational levels, in a way that suits the majority for the market's needs, made available as an open digital resource.

2. Creation of a new course, and accompanying learning materials and tools for adult learners, that will bring more insights for those who teach sustainability or related concepts through their education series, available in the partners' language and in English for broad dissemination. Over 60 students to be trained online during the project period.

3. Creation of a flexible digital resource that will add value to any training methods used in universities or high schools which should integrate sustainability topics.

4. Increased capacity of project partners to address education for sustainability, through a 'train-the-trainer' common session, with 20 beneficiaries.

5. A network of three Excellence Sustainability Centres created in Romania, Hungary and Portugal, where coaching methods and tools for adult learners will be brought into a suitable place for delivery of non-formal education by experts from private companies to coach/tutor other trainers from other institutions/organisations.

6. More than 15000 people informed using broad dissemination of project vision/objectives and future results at a local, national and European level via different media (online, conferences, interviews, social media, events etc.).

7. More than 20 company representatives involved in the first Sustainability Excellence Centre workshop / country.

Project outcomes

Sustainability Excellence Centres in Romania, Hungary and Portugal will gather together higher-education institutions, private companies, NGOs and consultancy companies. The Sustainability Excellence Centres will create an interesting structure to sustain collaboration between stakeholders from various domains on sustainability.

Each centre will provide information, guidance, coaching and counselling activities made with trainers and tutors coming from private company areas and NGOs. The Sustainability Centres will organise Living Lab events on sustainability issues and presentations of new technologies and green businesses examples. The Sustainability Excellence Centres will also gather private companies, universities and NGOs to sustain a hub where youth trainers will be encouraged to learn.

The new ITC online learning platform will assure improved accessibility for learners and trainers to a new training structure and methodology, which they can adopt into their teaching series (no matter which curricula they teach), making it possible to integrate sustainability aspects into other themes such as economics, geography, geology, chemistry and more.

TeachSUS - Project-based learning guide will advise those who want to connect their learning with real life and develop twenty-first-century abilities in their students, such as project-based learning, service learning and other interactive and integrative teaching strategies and tools. These offer an approach to a curriculum through sustainable development issues.

Targets

1. Adults (teachers, trainers, mentors) from institutions and organisations involved in education, and who work in adult/professional/youth training, need a wider perspective about education as a whole, to understand both the simplicity and complexity of sustainability. Teachers need new approaches in transferring know-how and developing attitudes towards environmental and social topics.

2. Students from universities who aim to become teachers, and HR resource specialists/managers, need new methodologies and tools to help them become future efficient professionals in education and HR/management professions.

3. NGO employees.