LIFE & Environmental education

The EU LIFE Programme

The LIFE Programme is the EUs funding instrument for the environment. Since 1992 it has co-fnanced pilot and demonstra-
tion projects that contribute to the implementation and development of EU environment policy and legislation.
Of the 4 171 projects supported by LIFE to date, 207 have organised specifc educative activities and developed material for
environmental education, targeting schoolchildren, young people, teachers and/or families; many of them are Nature and
Biodiveristy projects. The launch of the LIFE Information and Communication strand in 2007 has increased opportunities for
awareness-raising campaigns and knowledge-sharing projects. Many of these have developed interesting and creative tools
of pedagogic interest, in addition to targeting the wider public.
Projects have highlighted actions people can take in their everyday lives to save water and energy, prevent and reduce
waste and help tackle biodiversity loss and climate change.
Two of the most successful projects are profled below, followed by a list of 14 other notable projects.
For further details about LIFE projects on this topic, visit: ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/ using environmental education
as a Keyword; fnd tools and interesting documents in the Read More section, or by searching with pedagogical tools within the e-library:
ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/.
Environment
Title: COM-U - Communicating environmental
actions to children and youth
Project number: LIFE07 INF/S/000901
Contact: Ingela BERGGREN
Email: ingela.berggren@hsr.se
Website: www.hsr.se
Title: Eco-Animation - A cutting edge cartoon to
raise awareness on climate change and sustainable
use of natural resources among European children
Project number: LIFE07 INF/UK/000950
Contact: Luigi PETITO
Email: luigi@bs-europa.eu
Website: www.animate-eu.com/eco
COM-U
COM-U made an important contribution to improving teaching in Sweden
about environmental issues and EU environmental policy. It promoted a
more balanced and practical view of the challenges and possible actions
to be taken to address them, focusing on how to integrate environmental
issues into school curricula. It developed training material and organised
training for 29 000 teachers and other school staf.
The project also reached more than 600 stakeholders (mainly compris-
ing municipal school administrations, teachers organisations and environ-
mental interest groups) and set up a nationwide network of coordinators
to support this work and to promote the issues beyond the project.
The project contributed to 1 200 schools and pre-schools joining the
Swedish Eco-Schools programme, which is run independently of the LIFE
project by the benefciary.
The results of the project have been made available to a large number of
stakeholders and will also be used to promote the Green Flag environmen-
tal certifcation system. The project website is also a popular means of
spreading the message and contains the teaching and information materi-
als produced by the project.
The benefciary estimates that nearly 350 000 schoolchildren were reached
by the projects actions and are now better informed and educated about
issues related to EU environmental policy. It is hoped that this increased
knowledge and awareness will lead to long-term environmental benefts.
Eco-Animation
The Eco-Animation project aimed to produce a cartoon to encourage Eu-
ropean children aged 5-8 to engage with simple environmental actions. It
wanted to fnd out which messages worked best with this target group, di-
rectly engage with them through a medium they would enjoy and indirectly
reach their parents and teachers. The innovative edutainment format of the
cartoon would teach the children that small actions can improve quality of
life and the future of the planet.
The right kind of communication is crucial to the success of this idea. Chil-
dren need a greater understanding of important topics, such as where their
energy comes from, why species are in danger of extinction and why water
is scarce, before they can be motivated to become more environmentally
friendly. Most importantly they need to be shown how their actions can have
a positive efect on the environment and what advantages this will have
for them.
The challenge is how to communicate the complex but pressing issues to
children, when they are ofen too complicated and just too gigantic for young
people to identify with, or to understand.
My Friend Boo is about a magic dog who uses a magic carousel to take his
friends Lucy, Ben and Jaq on adventures to show them the consequences
of pollution, water shortage and waste. The cartoon successfully brought
the messages to millions of children, parents and teachers across the EU.
At the end of the project broadcasting deals were secured in 19 countries,
in 17 languages.
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European Union, 2014
Visit the LIFE website:
ec.europa.eu/life
R.A.C.E.S
Raising Awareness on Climate change and Energy
Savings for teachers, families and stakeholders
Coordinator: Municipality of Firenze, Direzione
Ambiente
www.liferaces.eu LIFE07 INF/IT/000487
CHANGING THE CHANGE
LIFE+campaign Changing the change. The Galician
agriculture and forest sector facing climate change
Coordinator: Unions Agrarias - UPA
www.unionsagrarias.org/
life+cambiarocambio/ LIFE07 INF/E/000852
CCCRP
Climate Change Community Response Portal
Coordinator: Ilmatieteen laitos
www.fmi./cccrp LIFE07 INF/FIN/000152
RENEW
Regional Environmental Networks for Energy & Water
Coordinator: Energy Saving Trust Limited
LIFE07 INF/UK/000932
LINDA
Limitation to the negative interactions between dolphins
and human activities
Coordinator: WWF France
www.lifelinda.org/accueil/ LIFE03 NAT/F/000104
WATLIFE Bratislava
Enhancement of Public Awareness of the Importance
of Water for Life, its Protection and Sustainable Use in
Accordance with the Water Framework Directive
Coordinator: Vyskumn stav vodnho hospodrstva /
Water Research Institute
www.vodajezivot.sk/ LIFE08 INF/SK/000243
SELECTIVE LIST PROJECTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Thalassa
Thalassa Campaign: Learn, Act, Protect/Awareness,
Educational and Participation Campaign for Marine
Mammals in Greece
Coordinator: MOm/Hellenic Society for the Study & Pro-
tection of the Monk Seal
www.thalassa-project.gr LIFE09 INF/GR/000320
URBANBEES
Urban bee biodiversity action plans
Coordinator: Institut National de la Recherche Agrono-
mique
www.urbanbees.eu LIFE08 NAT/F/000478
Netze des Lebens
Biotope networks - networks of life: promoting a forest
corridor system with a European perspective
Coordinator: Bund fr Umwelt und Naturschutz
Deutschland e.V. (BUND)
LIFE08 INF/D/000032
www.bund.net/
biotopvernetzung
BIRD MIGRATION AND TRAPPING
Changing cultural attitudes to Trapping in order to faci-
litate implementation of the Birds Directive in Malta
Coordinator: BirdLife Malta
EWWR
European Week of Waste Reduction
Coordinator: Agence for lEnvironnement et de la
Matrise de lEnergie
www.ewwr.eu LIFE07 INF/F/000185
Slovenia WEEE campaign
Raising awareness of the importance of environmen-
tally sound management of WEEE among identified
target groups in Slovenia
Coordinator: ZEOS, ravnanje z elektrino in elektronsko
opremo, d.o.o.
LIFE10 INF/SI/000139
WASTEPrevKit
Waste Prevention Kit for enterprises, education and
households
Coordinator: Helsinki Metropolitan Authority YTVl
LIFE05 ENV/FIN/000539
NATURE
WATER / ENERGY
www.birdlifemalta.org/ LIFE07 INF/MT/000554
UP&FORWARD COMS
Urban Participation and Focus on Reusing Waste and
Recycling Development of Communications
Coordinator: Greater Manchester Waste Disposal
Authority
LIFE11 ENV/UK/000389
www.recycleforgreaterman-
chester.com/upandforward
WASTE
CLIMATE CHANGE
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/
Organisations/International/
www.hsy./en/ksu/back-
ground/Pages/default.aspx
www.birdlifemalta.org/
trapping/life_project/about_
the_project/#.VAmuUbEYRAo
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