Menu
In 2015, the United Nations formulated the 17 SDGs, as the world’s strategic plan to create a better world focusing on “people, planet and prosperity”.
It is a plan that will engage all stakeholders – from European and international institutions as well as governments on national, regional and local level, to private stakeholders and NGOs, and further on to grassroot associations and individual citizens – to work together to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality and protect the planet against the climate changes.
The SDGs have been adopted by 193 nations, among these all the EU member states (MS), and as a common European response to the SDG, the European Commission (EC) has developed and is implementing, together with the MS, a range of different strategies, plans and programmes that support the implementation of the SDG.
It is a clear and strategic desire from the EC to engage the European citizens more in the European Integration Project (EIP) and the implementation of the SDG, but in order to create this engagement it is important that both the SDG, the EIP and the European strategies and plans that support the implementation of the SDG, become “each citizens property or agenda”, which is not the case today.
If they can become more engaged and act as ambassadors, a cascade reaction is possible to be created from children to parents, and further on into the working place and the society. Only in that way the EU will be able to create the sustainable changes we want for our society. So, the PLACES project is basically motivated by the missing engagement within the European population to engage actively in the creation of a sustainable society
PLACES is not aiming to offer fixed curricula, schedules, and roadmaps for teachers, but to inspire journeys that will be unique for every teacher and group of pupils, with the shared goal to engage children and young people through feelings of empowerment and enabling them to become part of a change. A small change that may fuel bigger ones, through cascade engagement from pupils to parents and further on to the society.
PLACES is created to support the implementation of the SDGs in a European context, close to the European citizens.
The project uses SDG 3; “Good Health and Well Being”, SDG 4 “Quality Education” and SDG 10 “Reduced Inequalities” as subject matter to show how playful learning and the use of storytelling, can create participative and inclusive education. The objective is to promote engagement and active participation among children and young people towards the SDGs and the European Integration Project, so that more Europeans contribution to the implementation of the SDGs, and the sustainable development of our European society.
The aim of the conceptual paper is to create a shared understanding among the project partners, and other stakeholders, of the project’s main theoretical concept, models and framework, as well as linking its key approaches in a meaningful way to the objectives of the project.
You can find the Conceptual Paper here.
The aim of the European Baseline Report is to ensure that we “do not invent the wheel” and that the innovation and development phase of the PLACES project builds on already existing knowledge and concrete needs expressed by teachers and pupils from the 6 participating countries.
The European Baseline Report therefore comprises; 1) a mapping exercise of already existing knowledge and material that are relevant to the PLACES project, 2) a policy analysis so that we know into which context the PLACES material has to “speak into”, 3) a teacher needs analysis and 4) an interview analysis among pupils focusing on their appreciation of the school and its teaching.
You can find the European Baseline Report here.
life, and together with the dialogue they will have with their teachers and peers, the pupils will better understand the SDGs and realise how they can engage, in their everyday lives, to the implementation of the SDGs.
PLACES will develop 2 springboard stories within each of the 3 SDGs that the project works with, as well as 2 springboard stories that deals with the European Integration Project. The first draft of the springboard stories will be ready in spring 2024, and they will be available in all project languages (DK, FR, IT, GR and ENG). Until spring 2025, they will be tested and adapted, to be ready for use in the school year 2025 – 2026.
4 different concepts and approaches will be applied in the PLACES project to develop the Didactic Learning Design, which are all known to have a significant effect on pupils’ motivation and engagement. These are;
The stories will be used as “springboards” for pupils to reflect on their own lives and gain experience of storytelling by creating stories themselves – together with others. By using playful activities, storytelling and active participation from the pupils, teachers will be able to increase the pupils’ curiosity, creative thinking, and their willingness to engage in the society.
The first draft of the didactic learning design will be ready in spring 2024. It will be tested together with teachers and pupils until spring 2025, and in the beginning of the school year 2025 – 2026, the final and tested version will be ready from this website.
To support the teachers’ use of the springboard stories and the didactic learning design, a set of teacher guidelines will be developed. These guidelines consist of a theoretical and practical oriented introduction to the 4 concepts and approaches, as well as proposals on how teachers can apply the PLACES material in their teaching. The teacher guidelines will assist teachers in understanding the cause and effect between traditional teaching and a more modern teaching approach that PLACES proposes by using storytelling, inclusive teaching and playful activities.
The first draft of the teacher guidelines will be ready in spring 2024. They will be tested together with teachers and pupils until spring 2025, and in the beginning of the school year 2025 – 2026, the final draft will be ready from this website.
Based on the practical testing, together with teachers and pupils from spring 2024 to spring 2025, a set of political and practical recommendations and good practices stories will be developed. These will be available as inspirational material for schools and school authorities to learn from other schools and teachers that have participated in PLACES.The recommendations and good practice stories will be presented as testimonials as well as easily accessible “tips and tricks” and “dos and don’ts” on a political level for school authorities and practical level for school managers and teachers.
The recommendations and good practice stories will be accessible from this website in the beginning of the school year 2025 – 2026.