Our three schools in Laulasmaa (Estonia), in Orimattila (Finland) and in Reinbek (Germany) are happy to receive funds of the European Erasmus+-programme. So we can start from August 2018 our two years’ Erasmus+ environmental project with our primary pupils. Three mutual visits are foreseen: 6-8 kids of every school visit every school.

But first we all get aware of the elements air, soil and water, always surrounding us. Then pupils find out more about the actual conditions of these elements and reflect how we all handle these basic essentials. During their researches the kids certainly will discover how sensitive these elements are with reference to pollution, and what kind of problems may occur for future generations.

At last our pupils will have got ideas for a sustainable handling of these essentials in future, discuss the possibilities with others and find out ways to strongly influence a sustained use of air, water and soil.

As our pupils are aged from 6-12, the tuition have to consider adequate methods for a vivid and effective working atmosphere and successful results. At the beginning all our pupils will learn about the water-circle, how the elements work together and how coalesce that circle is. After this common start our three schools work to different elements:

Finland deal with water,
Estonia examine soil, and
Germany will first treat with the air.

During the first period pupils will get aware of the importance of this special element, start experimental surveys of their actual conditions and follow the questions: Why is it important to have clear water, non-toxic soil and pure air?

Pupils will deepen their knowledge via excursions to i. e. waste-water treatment/ garbage-incineration plants, and visit local environmental and conservation organisations, as Greenpeace, WWF and others. The attendances of these different associations will lead our pupils to analyse their own treatment of resources and surely give ideas for potential approaches.

All helping information, working-material for one element (questionnaires, tic-papers, working-sheets, conclusions, testers, videos, etc.) and proposals how to treat with that element in future will be collected by each school in a box: Finland creates a water-box, Germany an air-box and Estonia a soil-box. These boxes will be exchanged during pupils’ visits, evaluated by the others and potentially filled with other matching items. At the end of our project these three boxes - one of each topic - will remain in each school for further use of subsequent pupils, kindergartens or neighboured schools. These subject modules facilitate teachers and pupils to work on the environmental topics and get sustainable solutions for a careful use of our elements.

Next to the subject modules (boxes) a role-play dealing with the project topic will gradually be created by Finnish pupils, performed in each school in English and all mother-tongues. Videos of these plays will be a long lasting impulse for subsequent pupils, local kindergartens and schools.

Durably installed into our school boards will be the contents of a pupil's declaration appealing for a careful use of our resources, prepared during pupils' visits.

In addition to these results we give our primary pupils the possibility to visit our partner schools, live in foreign families, get to know their daily routine and habits, and work together on the project topics. The guests will recognize the cultural similarities as well as the differences and have to use their knowledge of English. All this will increase their self-esteem and will help to avoid potential prejudices.

Working together as European partners on these cross-border topics we hope to establish a long-lasting awareness for nature and a broad sympathy for foreign cultures.