Special Hearts for a Beautiful Earth

One of the priorities of the institutions involved in the project is the green initiative. The project was primarily addressed to students with special needs, with disabilities, who unfortunately make an additional effort to understand the major changes in contemporary society, the climate changes. Starting from the need to help these children to adapt, to help them to acquire a proactive behavior towards the environment, to help them understand that only by acting they can also contribute to saving the planet, from the need for the valorization of these children, we created this project, a project for "special hearts". The project also addressed the need for understanding the causality of climate change and the acquisition of methods of prevention and action against the degradation of the planet by the other educational actors involved in the project, teachers and parents. Trying to look from a positive perspective, we live in a society that does not understand the importance of recycling and protecting the environment. but which shows potential in acquiring proactive behaviors. Our role as educators is to shape these personalities in the direction of transforming this Planet into a more beautiful place.

Through this project we want to make a change, we want them to develop key competencies, basic skills, we want the participants in this project to acquire capacities and resources for adaptation and integration, to form skills for action in various situations, to acquire proactive behaviors in relation to the environment, we want our actions to count in the community out of concern for the environment. We also want to improve the communication skills of the participants, to develop the psycho-emotional side of the special children involved in the project, to create people involved in the community, who care. We also set out to acquire knowledge related to the way in which we can recycle, reuse, reduce, to create art objects from recyclable materials, to create a piece in which environmental issues are highlighted, to set up a vertical garden with an impact for the school community. The well-being of the trainees is another priority of the institutions involved in the project.

The "Special Hearts for a Beautiful Earth" project was structured on six activities. Three of the activities were transnational activities, hosted by each institution involved in the project. In these activities, specialists in the field of special education participated. Problems related to the environment were addressed, courses were held by specialists. Also, the project teams from the three institutions discussed about the stages of the project, the proposed objectives and the way in which these objectives will be achieved, about the progress of the activities, the possible difficulties that may arise, about the responsibilities of each institution, about the ways in which we will communicate during the project, about how we will publicize the project, about how we will disseminate the information. The other three activities were local activities, organized at the level of each institution. The activities involved students, teachers and students. They received information about recycling, about how important recycling is for our planet, about how we can recycle, reuse, reduce the amount of waste. They collect waste. They create art-crafts. We create a play with the students. And in the end we arranged a vertical garden.

Concretely - all participants in this project became more aware of the environment, more aware of the negative consequences of socially inappropriate behaviors, learned how to recycle properly, how to reduce the amount of waste and how to reuse some objects, learned to create objects from recyclable materials. Participating students together with the coordinating teachers created a play with the aim of sensitizing the community. And in the end, the students together with the teachers and parents arranged a Vertical Garden in all three institutions involved in the project with the aim of reducing the effects of pollution and creating a sense of well-being. Implicitly, the participants developed their communication skills, practical skills, social skills and proactive behaviors. Through their involvement in greening activities, they have contributed to the well-being of the local community.The students with special needs felt valued through their involvement in greening activities, creating objects, through their involvement in the play and through their involvement in the practical activities of setting up the Vertical Garden. Thus, the motivation for learning increased and the possibility of school dropout decreased considerably.