Teacher skills

We hope that the Planet Friendly School projects will help teachers to develop some vaulable new skills. Here are a few examples:

Digital CPD and learning for teachers

‘Planet Friendly Schools’ aims to provide innovative and high-quality tools to help the Continuing Professional Development of educators so that they can develop and demonstrate best practice in their teaching. We have developed a number of best practice examples demonstrating how climate change and environmental projects can be developed and embedded into the school curriculum. The project will support schools in extending their farm experiences by developing free to access resources for use by schools. These resources will explore a range of subjects from food and farming enterprise learning, through to how the farm can be an ideal venue for educators and their pupils to use digital technology to record their experiences, as well as exploring food culture and investigating environmental and social issues.

Educators/teachers/training professionals in formal/informal education

The e-learning portal Planet-friendly Schools will support a professionalisation of teachers and educators in gaining familiarity with the practicalities and technicalities of delivering real-life learning opportunities in schools in the topics of sustainable food, environmental protection and climate-change mitigation.

Teachers will become familiar with how these topics can link with the school curriculum, the different subjects and types of schools. This will enable them to relate the practical projects and activities directly to the curricula and to integrate it. By using the the resources they will be better equipped to meet the needs of the learners and engage them in an inspiring and practical way.

Educators will use new and innovative ways, e.g. best practice examples from other countries and different types of media. The project output will enable teachers to integrate and better serve new target groups, such as disadvantaged learners and intergenerational learning. The project outputs will also enable educators from various EU countries to see best practice examples from other countries and see how to use digital tools in teaching about food culture.

Teaching profession candidates, vocational colleges and universities

It is expected that the project will encourage teaching profession candidates to become interested in the potential to use food and environment as a basis for teaching and cultural integration, and become confident enough to start inspiring new projects in the school, thus improving their qualifications in general. The project outputs will also enable teaching candidates from various EU countries to see best practice examples from other countries and see how to use digital tools in teaching about food culture.

Education for Sustainable Development

Planet Friendly School projects enable all aspects of Education for Sustainable Development to be addressed. This includes the economical, ecological, social and cultural issues that will have an effect on our future. By developing ongoing farm link projects in the school, the complex nature of sustainable development will become more evident and understandable for pupils and teachers.

Community links

The project will create new tools on topics that are of interest to those in the community around the school who seek to make a difference. These may be parents who are engaged and active in a 'friends of the school' capacity, or members of the community who are keen to volunteer on climate- change projects. The project will offer best practice examples and tips to inspire them, and equip them with tools that they can effectively employ in the school and local area.