Student group mobility in Florina

The last meeting of our project took place in Florina from 22/5/2023 to 26/5/2023.

The final LTTA activity of our project concentrated mainly on combining technology with sustainability. Our goal was to empower participants to create their technological artefacts and use innovative technologies in order to promote sustainability in everyday life. We mainly chose to design and implement workshops in the school (in our robotics and technology labs) and outdoor activities that made use of the products of the workshops promoting sustainability:

• A workshop for creating sustainable art (Kinetic Sculptures) using the Lego Robotics platform, followed by staging the final artefacts in a modern art museum.
• A workshop for creating smart devices that can help us guide while walking in a city or hiking in the mountains, using the Microbit platform, followed by a hike in the surrounding forest of our town where we also had tree-planting activities.
• A visit to a sustainable fashion exhibition in the Modern Art Museum of Florina which was the result of another Erasmus+ project we had this year.
• A game-based activity to explore Florina while walking using a smart application that our school developed. 
• A visit and guided tour of Prespes National Park alongside another local school that was also hosting students and teachers from abroad from another Erasmus+ project.
• A visit and guided tour of Artcuros Bear, Wolf, and Lynx sanctuaries and information centres.

The implemented activities are closely related to our school’s teaching methodologies. We organize robotics and technology workshops for all classes, and we also have an evening club for students from other schools in the area. We also plan many outdoor activities throughout the school year in cooperation with various local organizations (environmental, cultural, etc). 

Teachers and students from all schools of our partnership participated in the activities and meetings:

• 130 students and 12 teachers from the Experimental Elementary School of Florina, along with 10 families that were hosting the students from other countries.
• 4 students and 3 teachers from the CEIP Maximiliano Gil Melián
• 5 students and 2 teachers from the CEIP Ramón Laporta
• 4 students and 2 teachers from the Basic Education and Secondary Dr. Ângelo Augusto da Silva
• 4 students and 3 teachers from the  Istituto Comprensivo Statale Adele Zara
• 4 students and 2 teachers from the Tampereen yliopisto Normaalikoulu, yläkoulu

All visiting students (21) and teachers (12) participated in all the activities alongside students (130) and teachers (12) from our school and also the host families (40). Also, in some of our activities, we had other local participants from the Modern Art Museum of Florina (4), the Innovation Hub of Florina (2), the Hiking Club of Florina (4), the Prespes Protection Society (2) and from Arcturos (4). In total, about 230 people attended the activities.

During the last day and before the farewell ceremony, teachers had a meeting at the school, where various aspects of the project and cooperation were discussed among the partners, and a final assessment was made. Every partner presented the activities they had done so far, how many teachers and students were involved in them, the challenges they faced, and which activities they did not manage to complete. We also discussed what steps we had to take in order to successfully close the project.

Monday 22/05/2023 – Discover Florina activity

Our school developed an application for smartphones that helps people discover Florina while walking through the town and trying to achieve some goals, like taking pictures or videos in specific places. All teams met at the central square of Florina, and they formed four mixed groups. In each group, there was at least one person with a smartphone who had the app installed and guided the rest of the team through the tasks they had to achieve while getting to know Florina. While exploring Florina, each group was able to see on the digital map where the other teams were and which tasks they had completed. The final destination was the old zoo of the town that is now a public park, and it was common for all teams.

Tuesday 23/05/2023 – Prespes National Park

All teams visited the Prespes National Park, and they had a guided tour of Agios Germanos and the connection point of the two lakes. They also had the chance to walk to the island of Agios Achillios on the floating bridge and visit the Basilica. The promotion of environmentally-friendly development is a core principle for projects planned by the Society for the Protection of Prespa (SPP). Since its establishment, the SPP has promoted projects that place sustainable development and environmental protection on an equal footing.

Wednesday 24/05/2023 – Sustainable art

In the morning, visiting students and teachers were welcomed at the Experimental Primary School of Florina, where they participated in a robotics workshop, creating kinetic sculptures using the Lego platform and a workshop on local dances. Afterwards, they hiked on the surrounding hills until they reached the mountain cabin in Palaiochori, where they engaged in tree-planting activities.

In the afternoon, students and teachers visited the reFashion exhibition in the modern art museum of Florina, where they had the chance to work again on their kinetic sculptures and place them in the museum for other students to see.

Thursday 25/05/2023 – Arcturos

All teams visited the Artcuros Wolf and Lynx Center in Agrapidia and the Bear Center in Nymfaio. They were informed about the challenges that the interaction of these wild animals with human activities has, and how we can plan our cities, villages, and activities in a way that does not have an impact on their habitat.

Friday 26/05/2023

All teams gathered in the Experimental Primary School of Florina in the morning, where they had a smart devices workshop using the Microbit platform. Afterwards, they had the chance to attend the exhibition of student works during the entire project and the farewell ceremony, where the progress of the entire project was shown.

Results

All participants benefited from the implemented activities. Students worked in mixed groups during the workshops, the exhibitions, and the outdoor activities, and they managed to create and present their technological artefacts in a specific context (museum, hike, explore in the city, etc.). This procedure helped them acquire not only technological skills but also communication, design, and teamwork skills, as well as boosting their creativity and self-confidence. Teachers had the chance to observe different methodologies and discuss with their colleagues on design and implementation of such activities. People from the local organizations that worked with us also benefited from the interaction with visiting teachers and students. They actively participated in the design of the activities with us and gained experience that will be useful for future collaborations in the context of Erasmus+ projects. Host families, even though they were not actively involved in the activities (this is something that we would like to change in future projects), benefited from the hosting procedure by establishing new relationships with other families abroad and understanding the differences and similarities of other cultures that share our common European cultural heritage.