Understanding RIVERS and the project scenario.
For centuries, people have depended on rivers for many things. Rivers have provided waterways for shipping, convenient construction sites for cities, and fertile land for farming. Such extensive use of rivers has contributed to their pollution. River pollution has come from directly dumping garbage and sewage, disposal of toxic wastes from factories, and agricultural runoff containing fertilizers and pesticides. The project starts from the current environmental pollution and global warming focusing its attention on the impacts of human activity on the river basin.Furthermore, it provides the necessity to introduce skills and knowledge about this issue at school speaking also about the environment, pollution, and climate change. They represent worldwide issues, and many students leave school without extensive knowledge about these problems. Moreover, Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development calls on us to develop holistic and integrated responses to the many social, economic and environmental challenges (ED/GEMR/MRT/2019/C/2), and the challenge of river basin pollution is significant. Several reports (EEA Report 2019) show critical situations; 62% of river districts are contaminated because they pass where places have high population density. This situation needs new management models by the GIS system, and “RIVERS” represents within this scenario the solution to debate into the school and its community these problems.
The PROJECT and its OBJECTIVES
In order to sustain these needs, the project aims to the implementation of students/teachers’ competencies developing multicriterial-interdisciplinary skills and active citizenship oriented to protect and manage from the bottom our natural resources, designing new policies applying ICT/GIS systems. Our target group includes 400 students (aged 15-18 years) and 50 teachers who have low skills in these matters. Our project will teach how to design bottom-up strategies to mitigate these impacts in line with Agenda 2030 thanks to the collaboration of private/public actors. The basin will be studied taking into consideration six values: HISTORICAL/INSTITUTIONAL HYDROGEOLOGICAL, LANDSCAPE, RECREATIONAL, FLORA and FAUNISTIC values. The main result will be a research/dossier made on a real basin where students and teachers will apply their ideas to mitigate these impacts. It is an exercise which gives us an active role in the territory servicing the public utility. Other aims are: 1) the implementation of external partnerships; 2) the implementation of collaborative learning and critical thinking; 3) the development of communication skills in a foreign language; 4) the development of active European citizenship.
METHODOLOGIES AND MANAGEMENT
RIVERS will be developed by Cooperative Learning and Learning by doing methodology. Moreover, the project will be carried out using teamwork, workshops, roleplay, visits, and case studies. The management of the project consists of monitoring, evaluating, reporting and archiving, financial and accounting activities, as well as informative, promotional and advertising activities for its dissemination. The partnership will be employed in TPMs for teachers and project work for students.
ACTIVITIES WE PLAN: A) a GIS laboratory in each school partner, where students, teachers, and experts develop the dossier; B) Online meetings by Twin Space; C) eBook, Logo, 6 Dossier, Movie and 2 RIVERS’ Fairs; D) Online Magazines to promote the project; E) Tours/Trails, Posters, eTwinning/Twin-Space, Website, Social (FB-Instagram- Youtube), and participation to UN World-International Days; F) Submission of dossiers to the local municipality.
RESULTS AND IMPACT FOR STUDENTS: we have the development of their capacities-increased sense of initiative towards natural resources; to improve their language and digital skills; the development of students’ personalities through engaging the soft skills into project activities; for more favourable attitude in taking initiative and risks; a better understanding and recognition of European competences and qualifications.
RESULTS AND IMPACT FOR TEACHERS/SCHOOL STAFF: the increase of professional development opportunities, motivation and satisfaction in daily jobs; the development of pedagogical, planning and project management competences; the improvement of the image through the promotion of the school at the European level; the diminishing of the students’ school failure and the increment of their motivation and relationships.
RESULT AND IMPACT FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY: The study bottom-up strategies to reduce the river pollution rate, increase the quality of education at the local level, and more interaction between the community and school programmes. As concerns the benefit in the long term we have effects between school offers and the demands of jobs thanks to the implementation of skills and competence.
The project includes the participation of six schools at the European level: Gymnasium UI 1 from Slovakia, Colegiul Energetic from Romania, Institut Montgrì from Spain, Agrupamento de Escolas Gil Paes from Portugal, and the 1st Lyceum of Ierapetra from Greece. The project coordinator is Salvo Venturella, a staff member and Erasmus+ project manager of ISS Mario Rutelli in Palermo.
RIVERS AS A RESOURCE
Modern people have found many ways to enjoy rivers. Motorboats, water-skiing, and personal watercraft have joined canoes and sailboats as ways to play on moving waters. Kayaks and rafts speed vacationers down whitewater rapids. Excursion boats ferry tourists up and down rivers like the Rhine with stop-offs at interesting towns, castles, and vineyards. Niagara Falls is also a popular destination for excursion boats. Fishing has already been mentioned. Waterfalls and cascades are the favourite subjects of photographers. Many people, however, visit rivers merely for the purpose of enjoying the sights and sounds they find there. Wildlife often stays close to rivers, using them both for drinking water and for finding food. Tall, cool forests wind alongside rivers, and exotic flowers grow close to their edges where their roots can always be damp. A visit to a stream can be a refreshing and rewarding experience. Private environmental organizations and their volunteers are monitoring streams all across the country, keeping an eye on their health. Children in school often spend time studying streams because it is a good way to learn about and get involved in local ecological issues. College students, graduates, and professors study streams in order to advance our knowledge about them. Federal and state governments, as well as tribal governments, employ biologists to study rivers in their jurisdictions. River water as a surface water source is applicable for various uses. The availability of river water strongly depends on the needs of the local system. It is especially available in riparian regions with a regular runoff throughout the year. Proper management and regulation of water extraction is important to protect the ecosystem and avoid user conflicts. Rivers looks at these considerations to move the awareness of our students into these problems and find possible solutions.