"The context for our project was built from the word 'SANKOFA' ,which, in the Twi language of Ghana translates as ""Go back and get it"". It is a common symbolic concept, to represent the need to reflect on the past to build a successful future. It symbolizes taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress through the benevolent use of knowledge. Since the beginning of human history, stories have been used to transfer knowledge and wisdom, a way of enabling people and societies to learn from the past and from each other. The overall aim of SANKOFA project was to develop resources that would support teachers to build new and improved competences for teaching the complex issues inherent in a globalised world. Project objectives were to:- Promote the use of storytelling by teachers in partner countries, in order to improve children's literacy and oracy skills;- Embed the use of storytelling as an approach for improving children's competences in critical thinking, and their sense of self-efficacy, related to their role as citizens in an interconnected world;- Enhance children's ICT skills through digital techniques;- Enable transnational transfer of knowledge and skills, between teachers and children;- Better equip teachers to support children to improve their intercultural competences for sustainable development.In this project we explored, elaborated, trialled and shared 'Digital Storytelling' as an innovative classroom methodology for enabling children to critically engage with some of the complex issues inherent in a globalised world. The project recognised the need for children and young people (CYP) to have:Digital literacy skills and competencesGlobal competences: developing appropriate pedagogical skills and resources to help prepare children for life and work in a complex globalized world (including increased mobility and integration of ICT). Own-language literacy: increase in reading, writing and oracy skillsThe context for our project was shaped during delivery, due to the Covid pandemic and the shift in all partner countries to online learning for all pupils at various points of the past 12 months. The growth in the use of digital technologies by teachers and pupils has further demonstrated how core these key skills are to education. The pandemic has also demonstrated how globally interdependent we are.Through the 4 project partners, we worked with 40 teachers and 831 children and young people. Teachers and pupils engaged in a series of training and focus group sessions, where the methodology and learning guide provided support for the delivery of the project in the classroom. Teachers and pupils’ experiences helped to shape and inform the toolkit of tried and tested activitiesThe CYP were supported by the teachers and project partners to develop their digital stories based on the project’s overall themes, which link to the SDGs: migration, identity and refugees; biodiversity and ecosystems; responsible consumption; water; active global citizenship; and gender equality.We achieved our goals of producing three intellectual outputs: learning guide, toolkit and website; we feel our Intellectual Outputs exceed initial expectations: both our toolkit and learning guide are high quality publications, with additional content than originally planned. Our website provides additional resources, beyond the intellectual outputs that establishes it as a sustainable resource for teachers long-term. All of our outputs are freely accessible and teachers who have used them to date have been impressed with how useful and supportive they are.All partners have developed new projects or enhanced existing work to include storytelling and digital methodologies as they raise awareness of global issues in the teachers and young people with whom they work. While Covid presented many challenges, it also offered opportunities and added value outcomes- including enhanced resources and outputs."

Place based learning (PBL) is 'about a deep connection with people and place through emotions and knowledge... It is concerned with the interconnecting systems of environmental protection, community development and social justice- the very essence of sustainability.' (Cooper 2016)PLACE: Paths to Learning: Active Community Exploration is an innovative, transnational project that brings together 4 Place Based Learning (PBL) strands into a collaborative project whose super-ordinate goal is to improve the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people (CYP).PLACE will involve project partners and participants working collaboratively to develop a series of resources (learning guide, toolkit and online community hub) that weave the strands together into a coherent, holistic approach; We will deliver training in our PLACE approach and methodologies- face to face and through webinars; support teachers to develop and embed practice through focus groups and practical support; conduct evaluation and research to evidence impact. Our inter-connected themes include emotional health and wellbeing, environmental and community sustainability. We will focus on the ‘5 ways to wellbeing’ (New Economics Foundation report (2008)) of connect, be active, keep learning, give to others and pay attention. Children and young people will be empowered and through increased agency, will be local community change agents, able to think and act on global, inter-connected issues. This project has been developed to reflect current and ongoing global issues of local relevance, including – social effects of the covid-19 pandemic on people and communities, climate change and biodiversity loss, all of which have added more stress on the emotional health in young people. The project has also been prompted by a growing body of evidence on the importance of PBL and its impact on health and wellbeing, social action and community cohesion. “These practices [curiosity, multiple perspectives, focusing on micro-geographies of place] suggest ways in which ordinary places may be a catalyst for curiosity in ways that may benefit individual and collective forms of wellbeing.” Phillips, Evans, Muirhead. (2015) http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/94007/3/WRRO_94007.pdfOur overall aim is to develop a menu of tools and resources that will support teachers in utilising PLACE effectively as an approach to equipping and empowering children and young people as local and global change agents and becoming resilient and healthy global citizens. These will include:- Philosophy 4 Children (P4C) and Global Learning- Interpretation of Local Heritage and Questing -Therapeutic Approaches to Place - Community Activism / Service LearningTo achieve the project aim the following objectives have been developed:1. Promote knowledge of and skills in place based learning across all partner countries/ settings- including project partners and teachers2. Embed PBL methodologies and approaches to increase children and young people's Emotional Health and Wellbeing (EHWB) and skills in critical thinking and creativity, leadership, collaboration, communication, empathy and their understanding of community3. Engage teachers, children and young people in a range of activities and SDG linked themes that enable them to 'think global, act local'.4. Enable transnational transfer of knowledge and skills, between teachers and children.Our target participants will be teachers (24) in a wide selection of school settings, and their pupils (600) in 3 different countries. Wider dissemination will be to at least 600 more practitioners. The longer-term benefits of the project will be that schools are far better prepared - through deepened teacher competence and confidence - to equip their learners with the learning dispositions, capabilities and personal skills to navigate the complex issues which are inherent in a globalised world. These benefits will extend to wider school communities, building connections and social capital. This is especially important given the current and ongoing challenges to societal and inter-societal cohesion which is posed by dominant narratives around the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, migration and an uncertain economic future.

Biomimicry (i.e. nature inspired innovation) is becoming a major scientific and economic force today. Current revolutions in artificial intelligence (e.g., machine learning and neural networks), gene and immune therapy, material science, and much more are biomimetic. They are largely the result of biological research being applied to computer science, medicine, manufacturing, etc. In providing inspiration for scientific and economic development, Biomimicry draws on the principles nature uses to be sustainable and thus teaches us how to live in sustainable way on the planet. BioLearn project goal to introduce the concept of biomimicry into education and was one of first EU-coordinated efforts to integrate biomimicry and STE(A)M learning in European schools. Our aim was to inspire young people to view nature not only as a source of beauty, but also a source of learning for a sustainable future, for clever technological solutions achieving the twin aims of conserving the environment and sustaining human progress. Biomimicry can be used by STE(A)M education as a new topic and approach of them. Project partners are NGOs dealing mainly with environmental topics: •Magosfa Foundation (MA), Hungary (http://www.magosfa.hu/) – coordinator •Biomimicry NL (BNL), the Netherlands (www.biomimicrynl.org) – •The Center for Learning with Nature (LWN), U.S.A. (www.LearningWithNature.org) •CEA, Slovakia (http://www.cea.sk/ ) •SEVER, Czech Republic (http://sever.ekologickavychova.cz/ ) •Wild Awake (WA), United Kingdom (https://www.wild-awake.org/ ) Within the project 22 modules were elaborated by the partners in topic of biomimicry, altogether 311 pages in English language, available for all educators and teachers – see: https://biolearn.eu/universal-manual/ . The majority of the modules were adapted and translated into national languages; these can be found on the national pages of the website: https://biolearn.eu/ . •Czech: 20 modules – 269 pages•Dutch: 17 modules – 227 pages•Hungarian: 19 modules, introduction presentation, 2 experiments – 293 pages•Slovakian: 22 modules – 312 pages•English version for schools in the United Kingdom: 18 modules – 281 pagesA teaching framework and teacher training program was also elaborated: 38 pages long Teacher Training Guide was written by the partners and uploaded to the project website: https://biolearn.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BiolearnTeacherTraining_EU.pdf This material supports others to deliver biomimicry teacher trainings and provides background material for those teachers who want to know more about the biomimicry and its educational background. This material was also adapted and translated into national languages, see on the national pages. For reaching the project goals the following issues were implemented: •Implementing of 5 transnational project meetings – four in the partner countries and one online (because of the COVID situation).•Organising and implementing a study trip to the Netherlands for 29 participants in February, 2020.•Piloting most of our modules in pilot schools.•Organising teacher trainings for at least 30 teachers per country online or face to face (based on teacher training guide) in all European partner countries. •Organising national conferences for at least 30 participants in all European partner countries. •Evaluating the teaching material and teacher trainings. •Disseminating project results in national and international levels. Altogether the project activities reached about 700 adults (teachers, educators, stakeholders) and about 1800 students. Through the dissemination activities approx. 5000 adults and 1000 students were reached. The topic of biomimicry was completely new to many schools in the project. Indeed, for the Hungarian, Czech and Slovak partners this was a new approach to learning. Only the Netherlands had significant previous biomimicry experience. As a result of the project, all partners now have a significantly improved capacity to understand and deliver biomimicry education with schools. This is a critical step in ‘building the base of the pyramid’ upon which others can learn.As the partners became competent in biomimicry, this was transferred to schools, teachers and students. Initially this was through the piloting of modules and later in the project through teacher training and multiplier events. Evaluation with pilot schools shows that an impact has been made, especially in opening the minds of teachers and students to the opportunities a biomimicry approach to STE(A)M learning offers. More work will be needed to embed this further, but the foundations have been laid and all partners are continuing to deliver biomimicry education. This is perhaps the biggest impact of the project, that after three years of funding the work continues and will grow.

The project contributed to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG´s) through service learning (learning for the place, developing cooperation at the local level…).The aim of the project was to support selected team leaders (internal mentors), program development and creation of methodologies. In this project, educators together planned, observed and reflected on, developed their experience with active teaching methods in the field of Sustaianble Development Education (SDE) and their skills for leading and mentoring colleagues.Our primary aims were:1) Develop and disseminate a methodology for: - how to adapt ESD methodologies to the needs of individual educational institutions. - how to effectively develop competencies for education in the field of sustainable development through collegial support.2) Training Team Leaders - Developing skills for collegial support and mentoring in education for sustainable development.3) Contribute to the implementation of sustainable development goals with a new methodology for educators in European countries.At the beginning of the project, a course was held for consultants from partner countries (6 participants), who deepened their skills in mentoring and collegial support. Thanks to the course, they became consultants - external mentors for 6 participating educational institutions (2 in each country) and guided them through the process of implementing Sustainable Development Education (SDE) into their teaching through mentoring. There was a need to respond to the covid-19 pandemic and individual training proved effective. Based on their experience, a methodology for consultants was created as one of the outputs of the project.There were also 2 courses for educators (one with personal participation and one online), where they acquired basic information and skills for working with SDE programs and mentor competencies. Internal mentors from 6 educational institutions then created teams of 2-4 educators who implemented the SDE program through mentoring and collegial support - joint planning, implementation and reflection. During this process, they were supported by a consultant. Based on this work and experience, a methodology was created for internal mentors in the field of SDE and promotional video as further outputs of the project. In connection with the changes due to the covid pandemic, three more originally unplanned outputs related to the topic were created (conference proceedings, online tips for educators and consultants, adapted material for Austrian educators).The outputs of the project were disseminated through 3 conferences (two online and one in person) among universities, other educators, consultants, etc. Their content included debates, lectures, workshops on how to effectively develop the competencies of educators to work with SDE programs.The evaluation of the project (in the form of a questionnaire) shows the benefits of the project at several levels. On the one hand, it is a shift in the behavior of the participants themselves (from the point of view of sustainability), and on the other hand, in the area of ​​skills development. Furthermore, the team leaders also emphasize the enthusiasm and activation of the participants when working on the project. Respondents note that, thanks to their involvement in the project, their teams are able to cooperate well in carrying out project tasks, which has also helped to improve communication, unity and further functioning of teams in the future. According to the answers, the project was motivating for the participants and helped them achieve challenging goals. The international context of the project is also perceived and appreciated. It is obvious that the project had the intended results, especially in the area of ​​motivating participants to make greater use of collegial support, to implement projects and in the area of ​​participants' ability to implement and manage projects.During the project, a larger number of members of local communities were also involved in various ways, thus laying the foundations for future active cooperation of educational institutions and communities or strengthening this cooperation.

"Before project start there was not existing offer of the systematic education in the fields crucial for sustainable development of rural areas for target groups from rural areas (local producers, suppliers of the connected services, multipliers/disseminators of information, consumers) - at least in the partner countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia). In the frame of the project there were therefore designed, piloted and developed three types of educational modules plus handbook , which covers the description of the educational modules, study materials, practical tips, experience of organizers and participants and outputs from evaluation. The handbook respects the national and local specifics and differences but at the same time it is developed in such a way that it can be transfered and used for implementation of similar training courses in other regions and other countries. Each of the three partners created one type of module and tested it in practice, then shared the experience with other partners and they implemented two other modules, feed back on them and helped to improve them. In this way there were implemented 9 educational courses (3 in each country, one with the topic Regional/Local Production/Local products, Environmentally sound products, second one with the topic Environmentally sound agriculture, care for landscape, organic agricultural products, and the third one with the topic Environmentally sound tourism (visitor and information centers, (nature) guides, lodging facilities). Each module included 5 one day workshops at ""home"" region, two e-learning lessons and 5-day study tour to the partner countries. By implementation of the project there was supported international dimension of education. There was trained 180 participants in 9 different courses (3 topics in 3 countries). The target group of the course were local producers, farmers, suppliers of services - such as bed and breakfast providers , restaurants, tourist guides, staff of tourist information centers and visitor centers, educators, employees of public administration. The output of the project is description of 3 types of educational modules and handbook, which includes curriculum of modules, reflecting also national and local specifics, syllaby of the seminars and workshops, study materials, experience of partners from organization of modules and experience of participants and evaluation report (evaluating the shifts of knowledge of participants and quality of the educational process). Created educational modules were distributed through conferences/workshops for adult educators and trainers which were visited also by foreign lecturers and participants.The handbook is available for free download from pages of all the partners (in national language and in English). By implementation of the project there were supported the principles of sustainable development in practice, were improved services, supported agriculture, handicrafts, increased prestige of the education and raised awareness about sustainable development among public."