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Version: European Schools

Hong Kong-EU School e-Learning Project

Green Living and Sustainability in the Community
12 J AN U AR Y 2 0 15

PROJECT OUTLINE
The pilot e-project will connect school classes in Hong Kong and school classes from
different European cities with the topic of Green living and sustainability in the
community. This project is conducted in English and is free of charge. Students of the
selected schools will:
Familiarize themselves with Hong Kong and European initiatives on green living
and sustainability
Evaluate their own communities in terms of sustainability
Collaborate with each other and with Hong Kong students on environmental
projects and actions
Present their green living community project to an international audience
Compete to be the EUs Best Sustainability Ambassadors

PROJECT PARTNERS
The project is supported by:
The European Union Academic Programme, Hong Kong
The European Studies Programme Hong Kong Baptist University
The Institute of English Studies, Leuphana University, Lneburg, Germany
The Consulates - General of participating countries in Hong Kong (TBC)
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (Brussels and Berlin)

THEMES
The participants will learn about and work on the following topics:
What is sustainability?
How does the EU support sustainable living?
How does your own city/government support sustainable living?
What can you do to support sustainable living in your community?
ACTIVITIES
The project will provide a variety of audio-visual and reading resources in English
language relating to the above themes on BLACKBOARD, which is an online learning
management system. Students will be able to share and exchange their ideas on the
platform using discussion forums and blogs.
QUESTIONS
1. How will it work exactly?
The project will have three phases:
I. Gathering Knowledge: Learning about sustainability
Teachers and students will use the resources on BLACKBOARD to understand the
concept of sustainability and sustainable living. They will be introduced to best practices
from European cities and Hong Kong on sustainable and green living. Teachers will
guide and help students to complete the tasks in this phase. Student will also establish
their first contact with students in Hong Kong by creating personal blogs.
II. Research Task: How green is my community?
Tasks:
Each group of students will choose one of the four topics on the BLACKBOARD
platform and organize themselves in working units to learn more about the
challenges to sustainable living in their own communities.
They will conduct small research tasks such as:
Answering simple questions through discussions on forums
Reading comprehensions
News & articles summaries
Short pieces of writing allowing them to explore their independent ideas
Reflection and observation of the habits of neighbours, friends and family

Teachers role during these tasks:

Teachers will play an advisory role in helping and making sure students work to the
schedule and submit tasks according to the times set out in the programme
Should guide students discussions especially in first 10 minutes of each session
They will not need to know the individual topics in advance and in-depth as we have
created content that will carefully guide the students forwards throughout the tasks
Should coordinate with the EUAP team if there are any issues/questions/feedback
III. Independent Project: Towards sustainable living in the community
The planning stage:
Students will gather their findings and knowledge from the previous two weeks to
obtain ideas and initiatives that they can discuss for this project. Teachers will use
a set of guiding questions to assist students in narrowing down and deciding on
their topic.
Next, students need to communicate and organise with teammates in Hong Kong,
and agree on a common task area which they can engage in.
Students need to make a proposal, set up goals/targets, a working timetable and
divide roles, which they should place in a document and upload onto Blackboard.
The implementation stage:
Students will observe habits/patterns of sustainability in their community and take
action in attempt to bring change to behaviour. They will submit an interim report.
The evaluation stage:
Students will assess the successes, limitations and results of their own project at
three levels: the individual, the community and the city
Make comparisons of findings with Hong Kong teammates
Consider whether they could implement ideas on a wider and higher level, and
further propose the way forward of their project
Analyse what lessons can be learnt and what improvements can be made, based
on evaluation of their own city and findings from their Hong Kong teammates
Documentation & presentation:
Students will document their project in the form of a blog and put their multimedia
presentation onto BlackBoard, as well as (co-)presenting it at the final stage.
Students will have a few weeks to finalise and submit their project, while teachers
are expected to continue supporting students during this time.

Awards and results:

The most successful project in terms of idea and implementation will be awarded
as the Best Sustainability Ambassadors. It will also be published onto our website
and displayed in exhibition(s). All participants will get a certificate.
If 5 or more EU schools commit to this project, we will invite the most
successful project team (maximum 2 students + 1 teacher) to fly to Hong
Kong for a 1-week stay in May or June 2015. We will cover airline tickets and
accommodation costs, and the team will have an opportunity to visit green
facilities in Hong Kong and their partner school during this time.
The aim of this e-project is to establish long-term partnerships between European
and Hong Kong schools, which can lead to further future collaborations.
2. How long will the project last?
We will send you a video recording of the first training workshop we have held on
Thursday 18 December 2014.
The three phases of the project will be completed in 8 weeks of the spring term from
mid-Feb* / Early March to May 2015. (*due to Chinese New Year holiday)
Phase I: 3 weeks
Phase II: 2 weeks
Phase III: 3 weeks
The Best Sustainability Ambassadors will be announced in May.
3. What will we do for you (teachers)?
Prepare the learning materials
Provide you with all the help and support you need BEFORE and DURING all
phases of the programme, in order to facilitate the smooth running of the tasks
Hold video-recorded workshop(s) for teachers on using the materials and
resources on the BLACKBOARD platform
Provide suggested assessment methods if you decide to integrate the project in
your assessment for the subject
Read and reply to your feedback at least weekly
Continuously monitor and support the BLACKBOARD platform, answering any
questions or difficulties experienced by participating teachers and/or students

BLACKBOARD PREVIEW:

4. What do you need to do?

Find a group of 4-8 students per school (we expect a total of around 3-4 schools
from each side) and 1 Teacher-Mentor per group: 1 European school group will
be paired up with 1 Hong Kong school group. Each school group will then be
divided into smaller working units of ideally 2-3 European and 2-3 Hong Kong, for
the purpose of simultaneous projects and online coordination.
Prepare one session of 90 minutes every week for 8 weeks (allocation of working
hours is flexible). We will provide suggested teaching plans within the 90 minutes.
As we aim for teachers to learn alongside with students, we do not expect
teachers to prepare each session in length. In the 2nd phase of the programme,
teachers will play a role in helping students address the writing and reflections in
the research tasks; while in the 3rd phase teachers may wish to coach students
research work towards the project.

Mentor students and guide them through the online materials

Prepare computers/ iPads with internet connection for each participating students
Little prior knowledge will be needed for teachers to carry out the project. During
the class, teachers will be facilitating discussion and guiding students through the
tasks, with materials and guidelines provided by us
Send us a short weekly feedback of the class for us to keep track of progress
5. Who can participate in Europe?
14-18 years old school/college students
Students with sufficient English proficiency (who will be able to express
themselves in conversation, writing, and understand main ideas of complex text)
Students who are interested in the topics, open-minded, creative, self-motivated
and willing to take up challenges
6. What can the students gain?
Self-directed learning; learning at their own pace through self-regulated learning
Communication skills, intercultural experiences, collaborative learning and coconstruction of knowledge by interacting with Hong Kong students
All-rounded understanding, higher order of thinking, practical knowledge and
heightened awareness on sustainability issues
Experience in developing independent and innovative ideas
Knowledge and in-depth understanding on sustainability of their own community
Global vision through looking at the example of the Asian big city, Hong Kong
Better English language skills
Observation and reflective skills through research in the community
Technical skills of using online tools for learning
7. What are the ideal subjects to integrate this project into?
Geography and/or Environmental Studies (high relevance)
Integrated Humanities / Social Studies / Life and Society
Biology / Physics / Chemistry
English