ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATIONAL LARP

In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, the need for a well-crafted strategy has never been more critical. At GreenEdularp, our commitment to innovative and impactful education drives us to continually refine our approach. Here’s why a good strategy is essential for the success of educational projects like ours.

1. Clear Vision and Objectives

A good strategy begins with a clear vision and well-defined objectives. For GreenEdularp, our goal is to combine immersive learning with environmental education. A strategic approach ensures that every activity, lesson, and resource aligns with this vision, providing a cohesive and focused educational experience.

2. Adaptability and Flexibility

The educational environment is dynamic, often requiring swift adaptations to new challenges or opportunities. A solid strategy provides a framework that is flexible enough to accommodate changes while maintaining the integrity and objectives of the project. This adaptability is crucial for responding to feedback, integrating new technologies, and staying relevant.

3. Long-Term Sustainability

A strategic approach ensures the long-term sustainability of educational projects. By planning for future growth and potential challenges, we can create a roadmap that guides the project beyond its initial implementation. This foresight helps us to not only achieve immediate goals but also build a foundation for lasting impact.

Conclusion

With GreenEdularp, we believe that a good strategy is the cornerstone of successful educational initiatives. It provides direction, ensures efficient use of resources, fosters collaboration, and allows for adaptability. Most importantly, it enables us to measure our success and plan for a sustainable future. As we continue to develop and refine our projects, our strategic approach remains our guiding force, driving us towards a greener, more informed world.

Together, we can create a brighter, more sustainable future for the next generation.

In the first trimester of 2024, piloting activities taking place in the 43rd primary school of Thessaloniki, Greece, have been completed with excitement. Stimmuli for Social Change, has been invited to the school in different phases of the programme. Stimmuli has offered an informal presentation of the programme to interested teachers of the school. Mrs. Konstantina Mistakidou, one of the schools’ teachers who had participated in the GEL teacher’s training programme in Poland, ran the pilot implementation within her class of 6th grade (11-12 years old students). 

Since the beginning the project was embraced by the students with excitement, anticipation but also with wonder from some of the students. The programme has been taking place for a period of 2 months, and with 22 students taking part in it. The scenario created and played by students, was related to many different topics of the national curriculum, with its main topic being social and environmental aspects. The game play has as background an island, while the 4 different group of roles consists of the native people of the island, the native animals, the native oceanic fauna, and finally a group of “outsiders” who arrive in the island after their vacation ship got a problem nearby. 

The students had a previous experience with LARPing, which led to quick preparations and deeper understanding of the methodology, and leaving more time for engagement, game-play and fun. 

World building phase 

4. Support Sustainable Practices

Adopting sustainable practices in our daily lives can significantly reduce our environmental footprint. This includes reducing waste, recycling, conserving water, and choosing sustainable products. Supporting businesses that prioritize environmental and social responsibility also drives market demand towards more ethical practices.

5. Foster Inclusive Communities

Building inclusive communities where diversity is celebrated and everyone feels valued can drive social change. Promoting equality and combating discrimination in all forms—be it based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status—creates a more just and harmonious society.

6. Innovate and Create Solutions

Innovation drives progress. By developing new technologies, processes, and ideas that address global challenges, we can create sustainable solutions. Entrepreneurs, scientists, and creative thinkers all play a crucial role in inventing ways to improve lives and protect our planet.

7. Lead by Example

Leading by example in our personal and professional lives can inspire others to follow suit. Practicing what we preach, showing empathy, and maintaining integrity in our actions can motivate those around us to adopt similar values and behaviors.

Conclusion

Changing the world requires a collective effort where each individual’s actions contribute to a larger movement. By educating ourselves, advocating for policy changes, volunteering, supporting sustainable practices, fostering inclusive communities, innovating solutions, and leading by example, we can all play a part in creating a better future. Remember, even the smallest actions can ripple out to create profound impacts. Together, we can make a difference.

AeliaPath Empowers Drama Theater Teachers through GreenEdularp Methodology Training. AeliaPath recently conducted a specialised training session for drama theatre teachers, aiming to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to incorporate the innovative GreenEdularp methodology into their teachings.   

Green Edularp has been included as a Good Practice, in the digital booklet of the EU Education for Climate Day, with inspiring green education initiatives. 

This year’s issue for the Day is focusing on the theme ”Boosting Green Competences for a Sustainable Future.” The aim is to explore climate education issues, showcase green education solutions, and inspire innovative implementation actions.

In the booklet, along with our project, you can find more inspiring green educational projects, that have been taking place all over Europe. 

Changing the world might seem like a daunting task, but it begins with small, intentional actions that collectively create significant impact. Here are some key ways we can all contribute to making the world a better place:

1. Educate and Raise Awareness

Knowledge is power. By educating ourselves and others about global issues such as climate change, social justice, and poverty, we can raise awareness and inspire action. Schools, communities, and online platforms are excellent avenues for spreading knowledge and fostering a culture of awareness and responsibility.

2. Advocate for Policy Changes

Individual actions are important, but systemic change is crucial for long-term impact. Advocacy involves pushing for policies that address pressing issues. This can be done through voting, participating in campaigns, or engaging in dialogue with policymakers to support legislation that promotes sustainability, equality, and human rights.

3. Volunteer and Get Involved

Volunteering your time and skills to causes you care about can make a significant difference. Whether it’s cleaning up local parks, helping at food banks, or mentoring disadvantaged youth, every bit of effort contributes to the greater good. Community involvement fosters solidarity and demonstrates the power of collective action.

Look for information in the next post.

In the end of November 2023 Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation had a seminar/discussion evening of the project together with partners and experts who have participated in the different edularp project where discussion about how the topic of educational role-plays could and should be moved forward.

We met people from different sectors (from ministry of education, universities, environmental NGOs, local schools and educators from nature education) and we had an Open Table Discussion that aimed to discover possibilities for a collaborative effort to explore and integrate EduLARPing into the national educational landscape. The main idea is that there is a need to do more training and seminars and create more open source scenarios and create more syllabus specific games like games understanding  the optics etc.

 In the spring of 2023, 10 schools participated in the project ”Global educational role-playing as a supporter of formal and non-formal learning in the topics of global and climate justice” led by the Peipsi Cooperation Center. The research revealed that role plays are used quite often in the subject lessons. There were more of those who use the pig method in their studies at least once a year, a total of 63%. 37% of respondents had not used it at all. It was also surprising that almost a quarter of the respondents used the role play more often than 5 times. Among them there were respondents who also mentioned that about ten times or even 15-20 times a year. Role plays would be needed in all levels of school. From the survey, it was found that a little more is needed for students from the second grade. The topics for which role play scenarios are needed are primarily related to the environment, history, humanities, multiculturalism, nature studies and many social topics. “GreenEduLarp, co-founded by the European Union, Erasmus+ Cooperation partnerships in school education.”