GEM – Green Education in Media

We applied to the project because of the need of the partner organisations to integrate sustainability into media design and production curricula - both because of institutional requirements and rising demand by students. We also wanted to bridge the gap between digitized media worlds and real environmental challenges faced across Europe, aiming to empower media students to create content with sustainability in mind. GEM's interdisciplinary approach and its timely focus on sustainable media practices make it vital for fostering self-reflective professionals. The project addressed the need for integrating sustainability into education for five key groups: Students seeking climate-conscious curricula, teachers updating project-based learning to reflect contemporary realities, university managers implementing sustainability goals in curricula, scientists wanting to broaden outreach beyond academic jargon, and the overall push for internationally coordinated environmental action. The project also facilitated exchanges of good practices and collaborative development of teaching resources, enriching educational programs with innovative methods and practical solutions.

By creating environmental awareness in media education GEM seeks to make a lasting contribution to a sustainable future. We seek to empower students with the competencies needed to make an impact in their future jobs and in society. GEM aims to embrace nature as a source of learning, fostering dialogue and creative collaboration between media creators, sustainability experts and climate scientists, empowering students and teachers to become green changemakers in their institutions by devising artistic solutions to a sustainable future and integrating sustainability themes into regular curricula.

The project’s activities comprised good practice research, engagement formats with sustainability experts, creation of tools for students, and design and implementation of blended transnational learning activities. Accompanied by curriculum building and diverse dissemination channels, the activities led to a comprehensive portfolio of concepts, courses and recommendation for integrating sustainability into media design and production curricula. In exploratory activities the project sought to widen our understanding of how nature can become a place of learning, as well as how nature and virtual learning spaces could be connected. This also incorporated early ideation and co-creation with students. Then the consortium focused on the process of film and media production itself, reflecting on how it can become more sustainable in project-based learning. It also featured an extensive 15-part lecture series with external experts from the industry and other branches of academia. In three large transnational blended workshops the approaches were tested, following an adapted “design sprint” approach. In parallel, good practice research was conducted and the insights were used to create curriculum concepts for project sustainability.

Students and teachers from 8 universities and one sustainability institute participated in three intensive one-week workshops, with preparatory online courses on sustainable design and interdisciplinary teamwork. Participants experimented with digital storytelling inspired by nature and presented their work in natural settings. Teaching materials, course concepts, and evaluations were published on the GEM website alongside videos and transcripts of the 15-part "green screen international" lecture series. The consortium created a prototypical virtual space in Open Simulator to capture the natural learning environment for reflection and future courses. To support sustainability in student productions, the project documented best practices and developed tools through student co-creation, ensuring outputs were innovative and practically relevant. Insights from teaching sustainability were formalised into curriculum design recommendations, illustrated with examples already integrated by consortium members. Project results reached broader academic and industry audiences at high-profile events including the Berlinale and Krakow Film Festival.