Detailed description (English): We are involved in the Erasmus+ project “Designing with Lego: The Eco-Cities of Tomorrow”. It aims to support sustainable living by providing teachers with the necessary knowledge and tools to foster young peoples’ understanding of sustainable mobility, natural systems, urban landscapes and ecological city planning. Young students will learn about ecological city planning by using LEGO® bricks. Landscape architect and city planner Ian McHarg (1920 – 2001), for whom environment came first in his work, inspired this project. His concept (Design with Nature, 1969) forms the basis for the tool development.
In the course of the project we will produce the following resources:
- A Curriculum for teachers (for students aged 6-14) based on the Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities (UN SDG 11), focusing on building ecological cities.
- The Teacher and Educational Staff Manual is an integrated set of training materials, including interactive, experimential and participatory activities/lessons. Teachers and educators learn how to bring the topics ecological planning, urban ecology and sustainable cities and communities closer to young people.
- The partnership creates an E-Learning Portal where all produced contents will be easily accessible in the partner languages and English. The portal allows us to provide our materials as Open Educational Resources (OER) to everyone interested in our project.
Target group(s): School children from the age of 6 to 14 and their teachers / educational staff.
Objectives: Our handbook aims to provide information on ecological urban planning for educational staff teaching learners from the age of 6 to 14. The material will train critical thinking by reflecting on current urban building practices and get to know tools to develop young people's understanding of natural systems, urban landscapes and ecological city planning. The teaching resources aim to enhance young people's knowledge withing the field of sustainable cities and supports young people in developing social, civic and environmental stewardship.
Partner: FO-Aarhus, Denmark
Lousada Municipality, Portugal
SYNTHESIS - Center for Research and Education, Cyprus
ECO LOGIC, North Macedonia