Why TREE?
TREE (Teaching Resources for Ecological Education) is an Erasmus+ KA220 Cooperation Partnership in School Education focused on strengthening environmental education in secondary schools.
Many teachers want to address sustainability, climate change, and responsible use of resources in their lessons, but often lack concrete, ready‑to‑use materials and practical training. TREE was created to respond to this gap.
The project supports teachers with practical tools, hands‑on activities, and accessible training, helping them bring environmental education into everyday school life in a meaningful and realistic way.
A Project Built by Schools, for Schools
TREE is implemented by a partnership of four secondary schools and one teacher training centre from five European countries: Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, and Spain.
All partners have experience in environmental education and international cooperation. Over a period of three years, we work together to:
- strengthen teachers’ skills in sustainability education
- share practical approaches that work in real classrooms
- support schools in adopting simple but effective green practices
- involve students through active, hands‑on learning
Each partner brings specific expertise, which makes the project both balanced and grounded in everyday school reality.
What Will We Do?
TREE includes four international teacher training events, each focused on a core environmental topic:
- Water
- Energy Efficiency
- Biodiversity and Hydroponics
- Gardening and Composting
Each training is hosted by a partner school and combines workshops, experiments, and classroom activities. The focus is always on what teachers can realistically replicate with their students once they return to school.
Project Results – Toolkits
For each topic, the partnership develops a TREE Toolkit.
The toolkits are practical guides for teachers and schools and include:
- step‑by‑step activities
- interdisciplinary lesson ideas
- guidance for involving students
- suggestions for adapting activities to different contexts
They are designed to be clear, flexible, and easy to use, even for schools with limited resources. All toolkits will be freely available and translated into the partner languages.
Project Results – Online Courses
To reach teachers beyond the partner schools, TREE also develops four online courses, each lasting 8 hours and covering the same four topics.
The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) include:
- presentations and videos
- simple explanations of key concepts
- classroom activities and teaching ideas
They are free and self‑paced, allowing teachers across Europe to learn at their own rhythm and continue using the materials after the project ends. All materials and certificates of completion will also be available for free in all partners’ languages.
Impact
TREE aims to create change that lasts beyond the project itself.
For teachers
- more confidence in teaching environmental topics
- access to practical, tested materials
- opportunities to exchange ideas with colleagues from other countries
For schools
- greater awareness of sustainability at the school level
- small but concrete improvements in everyday practices
- long‑term use of TREE materials in teaching and staff training
For students
- stronger understanding of environmental issues
- practical green skills
- a more active role in sustainability‑related activities
In short, by supporting teachers, engaging students, and sharing concrete tools, we will contribute to a more practical and realistic approach to environmental education in European schools. The TREE project results will reach thousands of European teachers through strategic dissemination and exploitation campaigns, and toolkits and MOOCs will continue to be used after the project ends.