SNAC School Networks Alert Citizens protection

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The SNAC project promotes open education and innovation in schools and their communities, supports the development of key competences for students who are developing projects and activities serving their communities, and presents innovative whole-school approaches that support teachers’ professional development through collaboration, networking and exchange of good practices.

Europe’s capacity to innovate will decline in the long run if young people’s interest for studies in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) continues to decrease, as a number of studies have indicated in recent years. Since this interest is fostered and developed among young people during their primary and secondary education, radical changes, and innovative practices and methodologies are needed in order to reverse these trends and attitudes.

The partners of the SNAC project believe that schools should be incubators of exploration and invention that promote the concept of Open Schooling. An open school that effectively introduces innovations in science education is an engaging environment. Progressively it brings families, community groups, local businesses, international experts, universities and other stakeholders into an “Open School” culture. An Open School culture imports external ideas that challenge internal views and beliefs and, in turn, exports its students – and their assets – to the community it serves.

Natural disasters and, more specifically, earthquakes cause great concern among citizens, especially in the South Eastern Mediterranean basin, which has the highest seismic rate in Europe. However, in these countries there is little knowledge on earthquake disaster prevention and mitigation. In recent years, education about the phenomenon of earthquakes has entered classrooms in primary and secondary education across the globe. School networks have been developed to study earthquakes and to exchange information and teaching methods related to earthquakes.

The SNAC project, which is built on the concept of Open Schooling, aims at:

  • transforming schools in the South Eastern Mediterranean basin to local hubs of education, innovation and information about earthquakes and disaster prevention, connecting them with local authorities, local civilian protection agencies, local businesses, research and science centres and other local stakeholders in the process;
  • engaging students in real-life projects that propose innovative solutions adapted to the local conditions by employing problem-solving skills, handling and studying situations, and participating in meaningful and motivating science inquiry activities on earthquake disaster prevention and mitigation.

The objective is on one hand to increase children’s and students’ interest in science and how it affects everyday life and on the other to stimulate teachers’ motivation about innovative teaching methods, subjects and practices that are meant to enrich and renew the science curriculum. The SNAC project also provides more opportunities for cooperation and collaboration among schools across different areas and countries and facilitates networking among various stakeholders in both formal and informal education.

 

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