Ellinogermaniki Agogi is a school community pioneering in educational innovation, which has played a central role in the European open schooling movement in recent years, as the coordinator of the OSOS project.
For the purposes of the SALL pilot in school year 2020-2021, the high school of Ellinogermaniki Agogi decided to develop a living lab project as part of the Citizenship Education course in the second term of the 1st class of high school , building on the previous work of the same students on food waste, but also encouraging them to explore other areas of the food system theme. In order to link the activity with the curriculum, such areas proposed to students included sustainable development, health education, consumer education, and volunteering.
During the SALL pilot, the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic did not allow the school living lab project to develop adequately so that it could involve societal actors to the wished and planned extent. However, many students did consult their parents on the topics they were working on, while some of the student groups managed to get in touch with specific societal actors that provided them with concrete information and ideas to advance their projects. For example:
- A group of students contacted the head of the marketing department of a company to find out how they could promote public awareness about food waste.
- A second team was assisted by IT experts to build a website on which they would regularly upload information and action on food waste.
- A third group consulted with a volunteer from the Red Cross who advised them while they were designing a volunteer action that could take place at the school with the aim of collecting food and other items for people who need them.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pilot living lab school project reached only a preliminary stage. The experience for the implementation in the difficult conditions of the lockdown helped the school to carefully plan for a full living lab project in the next school year. In the following school year, the school is planning to continue with new living lab school projects on the theme of the food system, but also other themes, in connection with the Citizenship Education curriculum as well as the entrepreneurship afternoon club.
In addition, two or three groups of students who participated in the pilot have expressed their interest to continue their actions in the following year. More specifically, students wish to continue their work on the website informing on food waste and the voluntary action for collecting food leftovers at school, with the hope to inspire the younger students to further develop these ideas.
CONTACT
Pavlos Koulouris
National coordinator, Ellinogermaniki Agogi
Mail
School website