D5.3 Report on the identified interventions and actions

D5.3 Report on the identified interventions and actions Funding scheme EU-H2020-Grean Deal, H2020-LC-GD-2020-3 Project ECF4CLIM, European Competence Framework for a Low Carbon Economy and Sustainability through Education Project number 101036505 Project Coordinator CIEMAT, Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas Start Date of the Project 01.10.2021 Duration of project 48 months Contributing WP WP5 Tasks 5.1: Behavioural Interventions (individual /organisational) to modify practices, routines, habits, and social norms concerning climate change and sustainability in education 5.2: Structural/Environmental Interventions (energy, water, green procurement, green spaces, transport, indoor air quality, waste) Dissemination Level Public Due date 2025 June 30th Submission date 2025 July 30th Responsible partner University of Seville (USE) Contributing organisations CIEMAT, IST, JYU, UAB, MedaResearch, QUE Authors: Israel Marqués, José Antonio Becerra, Ricardo Chacartegui, Niina Mykrä, Anna Lethonen, Carmen Lago, Silvia German, Marta Almeida, Josep Espluga, Marian Constantin, Tiago Faria, Joanna Lage, Ana Prades, Yolanda Lechón; Carles Vañó, Emmanouilidi Sofia, Stratis Antonis, Chintiadou Anastasia, Zografou Chara and Malavazos Spiros Version 1.0 The project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101036505 Ref. Ares(2025)6212656 - 30/07/2025 Page 2 of 79 WHO WE ARE The ECF consortium consists of ten partners. The project is coordinated by Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas-CIEMAT. Name Country Logo Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas – CIEMAT ES Instituto Superior Técnico. University of Lisbon. IST PT Universidad de Sevilla USE ES University of Jyväskylä JYU FI Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona UAB ES Meda Research Ltd MedaResearch RO Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade ISQ PT Trebag Szellemi Tulajdon Es Projektmenedzser Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag TREBAG HU Entilia Entilia PT Que Technologies Kefalaiouchiki Etaireia QUE GR Page 3 of 79 ABOUT THE PROJECT Through a multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary and participatory process, ECF4CLIM develops, tests and validates a European Competence Framework (ECF) for transformational change, which will empower the educational community to take action against climate change and towards sustainable development. Applying a novel hybrid participatory approach, rooted in participatory action research and citizen science, ECF4CLIM co-designs the ECF in selected schools and universities, by: 1) elaborating an initial ECF, supported by crowdsourcing of ideas and analysis of existing ECFs; 2) establishing the baseline of individual and collective competences, as well as environmental performance indicators; 3) implementing practical, replicable and context adapted technical, behavioural, and organisational interventions that foster the acquisition of competences; 4) evaluating the ability of the interventions to strengthen sustainability competences and environmental performance; and 5) validating the ECF. The proposed ECF is unique in that it encompasses the interacting STEM-related, digital and social competences, and systematically explores individual, organisational and institutional factors that enable or constrain the desired change. The novel hybrid participatory approach provides the broad educational community with: an ECF adaptable to a range of settings; new ways of collaboration between public, private and third-sector bodies; and innovative organisational models of engagement and action for sustainability (Sustainability Competence Teams and Committees). To encourage learning-by-doing, several novel tools will be co-designed with and made available to citizens, including a digital platform for crowdsourcing, IoT solutions for realtime monitoring of selected parameters, and a digital learning space. Participation of various SMEs in the consortium maximises the broad adoption and applicability of the ECF for the required transformational change towards sustainability. Page 4 of 79 LEGAL NOTICE The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the CINEA nor the European Commission is responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be translated, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. The quotation of those designations in whatever way does not imply the conclusion that the use of those designations is legal without the consent of the owner of the trademark. Page 5 of 79 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 2. AIMS 8 3. CONTEXT AND METHOD 9 3.1 Context 9 3.2 Intervention Selection Criteria 10 3.3 Method for reporting evidence on the selected interventions 10 4. OUTLINE OF THE SELECTED INTERVENTIONS 12 5. IDENTIFIED INTERVENTIONS 21 6. CONCLUSIONS 78 7. ANNEX: TEMPLATE FOR REPORTING ON SELECTED INTERVENTIONS 79 Page 6 of 79 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Deliverable 5.3 falls within Work Package 5 (WP5) of the project, which is dedicated to interventions. It directly addresses the tasks within WP5: Task 5.1, focusing on "Behavioural Interventions (individual/organisational) to modify practices, routines, habits, and social norms concerning climate change and sustainability in education," and Task 5.2, dealing with "Structural/Environmental Interventions (energy, water, green procurement, green spaces, transport, indoor air quality, waste)." The University of Seville (USE) is the responsible partner for this deliverable, with contributions from other project organizations including CIEMAT, IST, JYU, UAB, Meda Research and QUE. It presents a selection of targeted interventions implemented at 13 schools and universities from four EU countries (our Demonstration Sites) to foster sustainability competences. These interventions were co-designed, co-implemented and co-evaluated through our innovative hybrid participatory process, involving Sustainability Competence Teams (SCTs) and Committees (SCCs) along three school terms. Each intervention is also linked to the various dimensions of the ECF4CLIM Roadmap, as detailed in D3.3. More precisely, D5.3 presents the 22 interventions that were selected as showcases by our demonstration sites in close collaboration with the research team. The criteria for selecting the interventions are:  Impact on the educational community  Replicability  Wide coverage of the 4 dimensions in the ECF4CLIM roadmap ngagement, Connections, Change, Action)  Wide coverage of the 3 spheres in the ECF4CLIM Analytical Framework (individual, collective and technical-material competences) CAll of them have already been implemented and evaluated at our demonstration sites with the support of a variety of methods and tools. The selected interventions address a wide variety of sustainability related topcis, ranging from energy consumption, water, food, installation of solar panels and water sensors, second-hand clothing markets, or better canteen food through vegetarian options or the sale of surplus food. Also, community gardens and green spaces were created with the participation of students, and university courses and modules dedicated to ecological transition and climate justice were launched. Regarding waste management, weekly flag systems were used and there were competitions between classes to encourage recycling, combining gamification with environmental awareness. Other interventions were specifically focus on awareness campaigns, escape room games, and the use of digital tools, like WhatsApp groups, to reinforce communication. Educational talks and campaigns tackled themes such as fast fashion, cycling, plant-based diets, and nature-based activities, often supported by student-created materials and school-managed social media accounts. New curricular units were introduced as well to strengthen interdisciplinary learning, while dedicated teaching materials and cross-cutting Page 7 of 79 learning spaces were designed to explore sustainability from diverse academic angles. Finally, hands-on educational visits enabled students to connect with local environmental issues, reinforcing their sense of responsibility through direct experience outside the classroom. As outlined in D5.2, monitoring these interventions involved various methods and tools, such as the Sustainability Competence Team and Committee meetings, the intervention templates, and a monthly reporting procedure. This reflective, iterative and systematic follow-up approach enabled a deeper understanding of the practicalities of the different interventions, including their goals, tasks, milestones, outputs as well as the associated challenges and opportunities. This report aims to provide other educational communities with a set of practical experiences to help them develop their own sustainability competences This practical guide demonstrates how to replicate some of the flagship interventions of the ECF4CLIM project. Page 8 of 79 2. AIMS The purpose of this document is to generate a practical guide that can be useful for replicating the sustainability interventions developed by the ECF4CLIM project in other educational centres. The educational communities of the demonstration sites involved in the project engaged in a participatory process through iterative discussion meetings, where all educational community had the opportunity to analyse, propose, and identify areas for improvement even during the implementation of interventions. The participatory-deliberative methodology relies on the Sustainability Competence Teams and Committees (SCTs and SCCs) meetings. A a total of six SCT and SCC meetings, in which the educational community had the opportunity, to monitor and further understand the relationships between the interventions and ECF4CLIM Roadmap. A thorough information-gathering process was carried out during this period to obtain clear evidence of the development and improvement of the intended sustainability competences through each intervention. Through the document, an explanation on how the participatory process has accompanied the interventions from their design to their final evaluation (from co-design in SCT/SCC2, through monitoring in SCT/SCC3 and 4, to evaluation in SCT/SCC 5 and 6) is presented. Following, a general overview of the interventions’ tipology selected is presented. Finally, this report provides a more in-depth analysis of the highlighted interventions, based on a standardised structure. It outlines the scope, aims and relevant difficulties that arose during implementation, and how sustainable competences were developed through these interventions. Page 9 of 79 3. CONTEXT AND METHOD 3.1 Context Following the co-design of sustainability interventions in SCT2 and SCC2, the demonstration sites began planning and implementing the agreed interventions. This process often resulted in design changes or adjustments to objectives, based on experience gained during implementation. The 'learning by doing' approach often necessitated adapting the interventions to the institution's capabilities, with the ultimate goal of improving and developing sustainability competencies. The comprehensive, participatory process was integral to the ECF4CLIM project and guided the interventions from their initial design in SCT/SCC2 through to monitoring in SCT/SCC3 and 4 and finally their evaluation in SCT/SCC5 and 6. This adaptation process had a significant impact on the educational community and, consequently, on the effectiveness of the interventions. SCT2 SCC2 •Co-design •Defining, selecting and planning contextual interventions to promote sustainability competences at each DS SCT3 SCC3 •Engagement: •What are the conceptions of sustainability? •What has helped to combat the challenges and what has not worked out as planned? •How to further improve the intervention? SCT4 SCC4 •Connections •How the interventions and their aims are interconnected and connected to different environmental challenges and different stakeholders? SCT5 SCC5 •Change & Action •Why did the intervention (not) reach its objectives? •Why and how did the intervention produce unanticipated outcomes? •Did the intervention(s) operate as expected? •How would you improve the intervention(s) if you were to start again? SCT6 SCC6 •Evaluating ECF4CLIM as a whole •What have been the main contributions of ECF4CLIM as a whole? •The outcomes and the proces of ECF4CLIM •Which obstacles has the project faced, and how to overcome them? •How could ECF4CLIM be improved, if it were to start again? CO-DESIGN MONITORING EVALUATING Page 16 of 79 FN-DS02-IN02: Aimed to improve the sustainability and quality of canteen’s food, specially enhancing vegetarian. Also, measuring the amount of Biowaste and include the possibility to buy the leftover food from kitchen at the end of the day were actions that fostered positive sustainable actitudes.  Analysis of the selected interventions not focused on an specific environmental area These interventions directly focus on developing educational materials and resources through talks, visits, new educational programmes (PT-DS03-IN01; INTERVENTION WITH SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS -MODULE), new teaching materials (Facilitate transversal learning spaces; Development of educational materials for sustainability), etc.,  Educational projects:  PT-DS03-IN06: Through this intervention an specific space was designed to be a hub for sharing sustainability-related information, organising activities, or fostering interdisciplinarity collaboration.  FN-DS01-IN02:. Discussions, WhatsApp groups for the recycling market, escape room games and organising visits to a school pioneering sustainability education for teachers were all activities that helped to integrate sustainability into the culture of the whole school.FN-DS02-IN06: The intervention included the creation of a sustainability team, development of different activities such as awareness raising campaigns, visits, and excursions. The team was accompanied by a time, place, and resources structure.  Educational talks  FN-DS01-IN03: Four campaigns were created to raise awareness of sustainability and encourage students to get involved, including informational slides, an awareness campaign about fast fashion, promoting cycling, encouraging vegetarianism and organising outdoor activities. This included training on how to raise awareness, as well as supporting the dissemination of information through the creation of an Instagram account to manage sustainable competitions.. Page 17 of 79  FN-DS03-IN01: Through this intervention, seminars and workshops were conducted, teaching materials were created, and a new sustainability curriculum was developed, identifying several improvements to the previous curricula.  New subjects/courses:  PT-DS03-IN01: This new curricular unit is focused on the climate crisis and fair transition, integrating scientific, ethical, political, and practical perspectives. The intervention addresses the need to empower critically understanding of climate challenges, fostering habilities to imagine, debate, and co-create systemic solutions. This new course aims to build both knowledge and action-oriented competences.  FN-DS03-IN02: A new 15 ECTs study module centered to strength students’ multidisciplinarity understanding of sustainability-related challenges and solutions. This intervention develops competences on tecnhnological innovation, societal governance, and cultural behaviours.  Teaching materials:  SP-DS03-IN07: This intervention developed training courses on the ecosocial crisis, designed on a transversal teaching space. This new space allows for dealing with issues related to sustainability, from a social science perspective, and activities to collect and analyse data from the campus, to be debated and interpreted in accordance with the contents of the course.  RM-DS04-IN02: A course “Sustainable Development in a Technological Society”, was developed from this intervention. It consists in eight modules reviewed with students and teachers during the hybrid participatory approach. This pilot course steps towards integrating environmental and social responsibility into higher education through these new teaching documentation generated.  Educational visits (PT-DS01-IN02): This intervention aimed to raise students concienceness and awarenes, fostering environmental responsibility through hands-on activities outside the classroom.  Analysis of the selected interventions vs the Roadmap In the intervention co-design process, sustainability compentece teams and committees reflected on the areas of the roadmap to which each intervention would contribute (information available in D.5.1). From the outset, it was clear that the steps in the roadmap were interwoven, as noted in D.3.3. As the figure below shows, from the design stage onwards, all demonstration sites indicated that the interventions designed would relate to Page 18 of 79 several or all of the steps.  Analysis of the selected interventions vs Resources needed Regarding resources needed (human resource, Time, Cost) the selected interventions are distributed as shown in figure below: Where in therms of resources:  ( ) means that the intervention need less than 5 people per day, ( ) interventions requires between five and ten people per day, and in ( ) interventions, more than 10 people per day are needed. Page 19 of 79  In ( ) interventions the time need to execution is less than one week, ( ) interventions needs between one and four weeks, and interventions with ( ) needs more than one month to finalise.  () means costs lower than 100€, ( ) costs between 100€ and 1000€, and () requires costs exceeding 1000€. On the one hand, it can be seen that the implementation period for the selected interventions has never been less than one week and, in 90% of cases, is usually longer than one month. On the other hand, the number of people required depends on the intervention in question, but in all cases, a minimum of five people per day has been required (with varying levels of dedication depending on the type of intervention) throughout the development and implementation process. Finally, in relation to the cost of the interventions, there is a varied distribution, which changes depending on the resources available at the center and mainly on the intervention to be carried out (it does not cost the same to take a group on a visit to the river, as in PT-DS01IN02, as it does to design and build a new photovoltaic installation, as in RM-DS01-IN01). These prices range from less than €100 to more than €1,000. Most of the noteworthy interventions have incurred high costs, either due to the need to invest in facilities or as a result of the high demand for human resources and time.  Relevant difficulties arose during implementation: During the planning phase, several difficulties that could hinder the proper implementation of the interventions were anticipated. Furthermore, the process of learning by doing involves unforeseen events emerging, which, when approached correctly, provide useful information for the future replication of the interventions. After analysing the selected interventions, the most relevant difficulties encountered are listed below:  Motivation and commitment ⚠ Maintaining the motivation of students, teachers, and coordinators over time, especially in interventions where immediate results are not obtained, has been a challenge. ⚠ Initially, in some interventions, student motivation was achieved by offering rewards, but it has since been difficult to maintain motivation by raising environmental awareness. ⚠ Commitment is easily achieved in small groups, but it is not usually easy to extend this commitment to larger groups or to the entire educational community. ⚠ New volunteer courses tend to attract students who are already motivated and aware of the issues.  Logistics, coordination, time management and work overload ⚠ Resistance to change, overloading the routine with more obligations than necessary, has also been a problem. ⚠ The school day is already usually saturated with activities. Visits or other types of activities have usually required time outside of school hours, posing a problem in family logistics and responsibility management (in the case of levels below university). Page 20 of 79 ⚠ Communication with external agents and parents for planning has been complicated, hindering the smooth preparation of events. ⚠ Coordination between departments at universities has also been a challenge, due to the usual workload and lack of time.  Lack of resources: ⚠ Mainly the lack of availability of staff, students, teachers, and other agents who have participated in the interventions has been a problem that has hindered the progress of the interventions, extending them over time. ⚠ Shortage of spaces for activities or facilities. This has been both a problem and an opportunity, given that some interventions have been dedicated to creating new spaces that allow the development of different activities related to sustainability. ⚠ Long-term continuity. This concern arose during the implementation and evaluation meetings of the interventions, as maintaining the momentum of the initiatives over time is not an easy task, especially if there is staff turnover (particularly teachers), in addition to the arrival of new students each year, which gives teachers the feeling that they have to start from scratch to cultivate sustainable awareness. On the other hand, planning efforts are required for maintenance tasks and to designate specific people to be responsible for these tasks in the long term for the survival of the new spaces and facilities. ⚠ Curricular integration. Creating new curricula or modifying existing ones is a challenge that requires a great deal of time and people to develop study plans that adequately integrate sustainability into the educational requirements of each region without overburdening teaching. ⚠ Technical resources. Many interventions (especially those focused on implementing new facilities) have required knowledge that may not be available to the personnel dedicated to their execution, requiring the collaboration of universities or external companies.  Expectations. This is a fundamental element in achieving greater impact. ⚠ It is necessary to raise awareness that small actions are necessary to achieve significant change. ⚠ It is difficult to assess whether interventions produce long-term behavioral change, especially when it is not possible to follow up with the same group of students over several years. Page 21 of 79 5. IDENTIFIED INTERVENTIONS This section lists the interventions selected based on the criteria described previously. For each intervention an Intervention Summary Sheet is provided. They will also be available on the ECF4CLIM website and as a resource for guiding school improvements within Sustainability Intevention Tool The selected interventions were the following: Spain SITE 1: SP-DS01. IES ITACA Intervention identifier Name/short description SP-DS01-IN01 Revegetation. Measuring the impact of shading projected by trees SP-DS01-IN09 Waste recicling Table 1.- List of proposed/selected measures SP-DS01. SITE 2: SP-DS02. CEIP MOZART Intervention identifier Name/short description SP-DS02-IN03 Second hand T-shirt market SP-DS02-IN07 Planting trees in the school Table 2.- List of proposed/selected measures SP-DS02. SITE 3 DS-SP03. UNIVERSITAT AUTÒNOMA DE BARCELONA Intervention identifier Name/short description SP-DS03-IN06 Improve the waste system management at Faculty level. SP-DS03-IN07 Facilitate transversal learning spaces. Table 3.- List of proposed/selected measures SP-DS03. Portugal SITE 4: PT-DS01. EB BOBADELA Intervention identifier Name/short description PT-DS01-IN02 Taking care of a river section PT-DS01-IN09 Competition to promote an efficient waste separation Table 4.- List of proposed/selected measures PT-DS01. SITE 5: PT-DS02. EB CAMARATE Page 22 of 79 Intervention identifier Name/short description PT-DS02-IN03 Reactivate the school's biological garden. PT-DS02-IN10 Competition to promote an efficient waste separation Table 5.- List of proposed/selected measures PT-DS02. SITE 6: PT-DS03. INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TÉCNICO Intervention identifier Name/short description PT-DS03-IN01 Climate Crisis and Fair Transition PT-DS03-IN07 Communication and community involvement Table 6.- List of proposed/selected measures PT-DS03. Romania SITE 7: RM-DS01. SCHOOL NICOLAE BALCESCU Intervention identifier Name/short description RM-DS01-IN01 Intervention 13 (Solar panels) Installation of solar panels for electricity(Solar panels) Installation of solar panels for electricity Table 7.- List of proposed/selected measures RM-DS01. SITE 8: RM-DS02. SERCAIA SCHOOL Intervention identifier Name/short description RM-DS02-IN01 (Solar panels) Installation of solar panels for electricity production Table 8.- List of proposed/selected measures RM-DS02. SITE 9: RM-DS03. IULIA ZAMFIRESCU HIGH SCHOOL Intervention identifier Name/short description RM-DS03-IN01 (Water Sensors) Infrastructure improvement - water sensors at the sanitary facilities Table 9.- List of proposed/selected measures RM-DS03. SITE 10: RM-DS04. UNIVERSITY OF PITESTI Page 23 of 79 Intervention identifier Name/short description RM-DS04-IN02 Development of educational materials for sustainability Table 10.- List of proposed/selected measures RM-DS04. Finland SITE 11: FN-DS01. JUHANNUSKYLÄ KOULU Intervention identifier Name/short description FN-DS01-IN02 Fostering positive attitudes within the teachers and whole school personnel towards sustainability education FN-DS01-IN03 Attitude: Engaging students and the whole school through awareness raising and positive behaviour campaign Table 11.- List of proposed/selected measures FN-DS01. SITE 12: FN-DS02. SAMKE UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL Intervention identifier Name/short description FN-DS02-IN02 FOOD FN-DS02-IN06 ENGAGEMENT OF STUDENTS: ESTABLISHING A STUDENT TEAM Table 12.- List of proposed/selected measures FN-DS02. SITE 13: FN-DS03. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ Intervention identifier Name/short description FN-DS03-IN01 DISCUSSIONS AND COACHING ON SUSTAINABILITY AND CURRICULA DEVELOPMENT WITH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FN-DS03-IN02 INTERVENTION WITH SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS -MODULE Table 13.- List of proposed/selected measures FN-DS03. Some of these selected interventions participated in a video competition held during the last General Assembly meeting in Tampere (Finland). The following table shows the links to the videos of the participants interventioins: Intervention identifier Link to video FN-DS01-IN03 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWou33XI07Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0aCSNuLVQM SP-DS02-IN03 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjqX9k2QOFo&t=3s RM-DS01-IN01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHaLCdpl9zU RM-DS02-IN01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q57FkwuAA0E FN-DS02-IN06 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-vr2ziXusw RM-DS03-IN01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgoByWjMgNM&t=1s Page 24 of 79 SP-DS01-IN08 SP-DS01-IN01 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BO0x4BixRp4v616jNJJpkjSL9WF9_DW/view FN-DS03-IN01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpyT_9YmL-4 RM-DS04-IN02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6kXXwEevww Table 14.- Videos presented of some of the selected interventions. These videos particularly reflect the positive impact that the development of the interventions has had at the demonstration sites, where some of the participants have been able to explain what the interventions consist of and how they have been implemented. In the next pages the summary sheet corresponding to each of the selected intervention are shown. Page 25 of 79 Intervention 1: Revegetation. Measuring the impact of shading projected by trees Relevant difficulties  The possibility of finding areas where the planted trees do not grow properly, due to a lack of care during the first year, or possible bad practices of the company during the replanting of the species.  Difficulties in finding a company ready to carry out the planting process by conducting a training session with the students.  Find a moment during the school year to pause your usual activities for a day and carry out this revegetation session. This session can be held in the afternoon so as not to interfere with classes, but it requires extra organisation, parental authorisation to return to school in the afternoon, which can be a logistical problem for many families. Individual Competences Collective Competences Technical-material Competences  To understand the influence of good shade management on reducing school cooling demand.  Identify the most effective trees in generating shade and their strategic location.  Develops students' skills in environmental impact measurement, data analysis, and understanding the role of trees in reducing heat and energy demand.  Development of knowledge about tree selection factors, combining environmental, technical and economic aspects.  The intervention exceeded expectations by not only enhancing students' understanding of the importance of urban trees but also by encouraging their active participation in creating and maintaining green spaces. This has fostered a stronger environmental awareness and sense of school ownership.  Create a regular reporting system for sustainable shade management on campus.  Establish guidelines for tree maintenance and pruning based on their impact on shade.  Technically, the project requires access to tools for monitoring (such as temperature sensors) and scientific information about tree species best suited to local climate conditions.  If possible, support from experts in bioclimatic architecture and urban design is an asset to integrating these elements into the built environment, maximising shading and cooling benefits.  Quantify the potential energy savings by minimising the need for cooling.  To improve thermal comfort on campus, contributing to a more sustainable and pleasant learning environment. Resources Human Time Costs Although initially design for measuring the impact of shading projected by trees, the intervention progress to a more general revegetation and green area topic. The intervention included measuring the impact of the shade cast by trees on a school facade that can be an important aspect, especially in locations with a warm climate. To priorities sustainability and energy efficiency, understanding the impact of surrounding vegetation on the building's energy demand is a crucial aspect of responsible resource management. At the same time it presents an opportunity for revegetation on the schoolyard. This increase of shade can reduce the need for cooling, saving economic resources and reducing the school's carbon footprint. For revegetation purpose, the intervention included an analysis of the green areas in the schoolyard and its evolution, and a planting action where the children learnt about the benefits of plants and how to plant and care for a tree. SP-DS01-IN01 REVEGETATION. MEASURING THE IMPACT OF SHADING PROJECTED BY TREES Secondary and High school As a result of this intervention, the research team responsible for supporting its implementation was able to publish a research article, showing the process followed and the effects of the intervention, measuring parameters such as the normalised difference vegetation index. https://digibug.ugr.es/handle/10481/101964 Page 32 of 79 Intervention 4 Planting trees in the school Relevant difficulties It is crucial to prepare the land before planting in order to ensure the success of the activity. In our case, the city council cooperated by sending its gardeners to the school to help dig the holes; without their assistance, the activity would not have been possible. It was the school leadership who dug the holes for planting. The limited space available for planting posed a challenge to the efficient organisation of the planting areas, which caused some difficulties during the activity. Students had expected to plant in an urban garden, so they were surprised when the planting took place on school grounds instead. Additionally, many students did not expect to be directly involved in the planting, resulting in an unexpected yet positive interaction with nature. A lack of curiosity, responsibility and motivation among some students could hinder the effectiveness of the intervention. Without sustained interest and commitment, tree planting efforts could become shortterm actions rather than impactful, lasting solutions. Furthermore, inadequate explanations from teachers and distractions affecting student performance emphasised the importance of clear communication and structured activities. Resources Human Time Costs This intervention consisted of a planting session in the schoolyard, where the children learnt about the benefits of plants and how to plant and care for a tree. Working in groups of five or six with an adult supervisor, the children carried out tasks such as digging the planting hole, removing the plant from its pot, placing the plant in the hole and filling it with soil, and watering. This intervention took place over two sessions. The first session involved tree planting and included a workshop on planting procedures and the environmental benefits of native vegetation. The second session involved a visit to the ARBA greenhouse, where there were workshops on greenhouse and plant nursery work, identifying plant species (including medicinal plants and their healing properties), and composting organic matter from vegetation for use as fertiliser. Around 70 fourth-grade primary school students, three teachers and two CIEMAT researchers attended both sessions. SP-DS02-IN07 PART A: PLANTING TREES IN THE SCHOOL PART B: VISIT TO THE NATIVE PLANT GREENHOUSE OF ARBA / TRES CANTOS (ASSOCIATION FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE NATIVE FOREST) Primary school Objectives: Individual competences: Learning to plant and care for various trees and bushes, fostering positive attitudes toward plant maintenance, and understanding vegetation's environmental significance. Collective competences: Promoting cultural awareness of plants' roles in carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation, oxygen production, biodiversity enhancement, soil conservation, and erosion prevention through participatory learning. Environmental performance: Plantations aimed at improving microclimate regulation and sustainability within schools and urban areas. Page 33 of 79 Individual Competences Collective Competences Technical-Material Competences  Knowledge and skills on how to plant vegetation (trees and brushes)  Positive attitudes toward vegetation.  Increased knowledge and awareness of the relevant environmental role of vegetation  Effective logistics and organisation, and valuable long-term collaboration with ARBA.  Good organisation and clear instructions from the school management contribute to students' motivation and participation.  Inspirational leadership (headmaster's active engagement)  Participatory learning experience  Measuring concrete CO2 uptakes  The plantations help regulate the microclimate, increase biodiversity and improve soil conditions at school and in the city.  Estimated carbon sequestration: 95 kg CO2/year. Additional information: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lATkp_xMOzNjxP_6WQX81PRK1GkcV__m?usp=sharing  List of average carbon capture per year by plant species  Educational materials on how to carry out planting at school by children  Educational material explaining the environmental benefits of vegetation. https://arba-s.org/ https://www.arba-trescantos.org/ Sustainability competences in place in the intervention Engagement  Students gained important environmental knowledge and developed a sense of responsibility for caring for the plants.  Students felt reassured and motivated knowing that their involvement directly contributed to the benefit of the environment, in particular by reducing around 80kg of CO₂ emissions.  The knowledge that their efforts were having a tangible impact on the environment further enhanced the students' motivation and sense of purpose during the intervention.  The fun and engaging nature of the planting activities helped to maintain a high level of student interest and participation.  Good organisation and clear instructions from the school management contribute to students' motivation and participation. Page 34 of 79 Connections  Understanding the roles of trees and vegetation in the carbon cycle  Students became aware of the various environmental benefits of vegetation: biodiversity improvement, soil conservation, and microclimate regulation. Change  Knowledge about possible ways to reduce environmental impacts, both at the local and the global level.  The engagement of three different school levels in the intervention and the preparation of the video for the ECF4CLIM Best Intervention Award (BIA) helped to generate a collective vision on ways to achieve transformational changes. Action  The students learnt about the importance of vegetation and developed strategies for looking after their family's plants at home.  The motivating presence of the school headmaster significantly influenced the positive outcome.  The necessary materials were gathered efficiently, enabling even the most restless students to engage and concentrate.  Measures taken by the school leadership, including the introduction of an irrigation system, effective information dissemination and growth incentives, proved to be essential for the sustainable success of the intervention. Page 35 of 79 Intervention 5 Improve the waste system management at Faculty level Resources Human Time Costs Relevant difficulties  The purchase of the new waste bins (it was a long and complex bureaucratic process)  Getting the Faculty and the technicians to agree on the best time to make the change.  Recruiting student volunteers to monitor the waste (in two rounds, before and after the change). However, the main difficulty has been involving the faculty in the process, as it has not been possible to convince them to attend the deliberative meetings on the topic. Not only that, but many of the faculty members still do not sort waste for recycling (which is why some action is planned in the future to force them to do so). These were foreseeable difficulties, but they have not prevented the intervention, which has been very successful from the perspective of the students and the Faculty. The objective of this activity has been to monitor the evolution of waste generated in the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, in order to make its volume and typologies visible, with the aim of generating a reflection on the environmental impacts of the Faculty and on how to manage them. It was also intended to contribute to the replacement of the current waste garbage cans by selective collection points, more in line with current legislation and trends, as well as to provoke a debate on the issue of waste. Pilot program for selective waste collection at the faculty to identify challenges and improvements in the collection and sorting process, while encouraging students, teachers, and staff to adopt sustainable habits. SP-DS03-IN06 IMPROVE THE WASTE SYSTEM MANAGEMENT AT FACULTY LEVEL University Page 36 of 79 Individual Competences Collective Competences Technical-material Competences According to the evidence collected (SCT3, 4, 5, and 6, and the respective brief surveys and observation protocols), individual competences have been strengthened in the following ways: Students report having greater knowledge of what waste separation and recycling entail. On the one hand, the group of student volunteers who separated and weighed waste during the monitoring activity we organised were able to learn about and directly experience the type of waste generated at the Faculty, as well as the process of its management by the cleaning company. On the other hand, the rest of the students who participated in the waste discussions were able to learn and reflect on the different responsibilities of companies and users, as well as on the importance of reducing the amount of things we use. They also reflected on how difficult it is to do so. Furthermore, the intervention has helped change the habits of students and teachers, who, following the changes in the waste management system, are forced to travel to selective collection points and consider where to dispose of each piece of waste (something that is not always easy, as some items can be confused). The intervention has involved replacing numerous undifferentiated wastebaskets with a few selective collection points (there is one per floor, with a container for each type of waste). This has led to the implementation of new internal regulations, since garbage disposal requires new guidelines, which all students and faculty must follow. The data collected shows that the majority of students already follow the new rules, while a significant portion of the faculty has not yet adopted them. Furthermore, it should be noted that, although the system change was funded with resources from the ECF4CLIM project, after observing its operation, the University has decided to replicate the model in other Faculties. Thus, the pilot test carried out at the Faculty will serve to modify waste management throughout the university. Finally, it is important to highlight that the various workshops held with students to discuss the evolution of waste and its management have provided a very interesting participatory and deliberative space, which has served to involve students and, ultimately, has been key to the rectorate taking the intervention seriously (and deciding to replicate it in other faculties). This intervention involved replacing the Faculty's wastebaskets with new containers suitable for selective collection. The new containers were installed at the request of students, designed in conjunction with university technicians, and funded through the ECF4CLIM project. In addition, scales were used to weigh the waste during the monitoring process. Sustainability competences in place in the intervention To involve students in this activity, a call was made among those enrolled in the training course (Ecosocial Crisis Cycle) to see who wanted to participate. We managed to get 6 students to sign up in the first round and 8 in the second. Furthermore, the results were discussed in two forums: first, in the aforementioned training cycle, with the remaining enrolled students (56); and second, within SCT5 and 6, with the students who were part of these SCTs. However, it was practically impossible to involve teachers in this intervention. It was only possible to discuss its development and results with the teachers participating in SCT5 and 6. It is observed that this type of intervention can be very interesting for groups of students concerned about sustainability, while it is not so easy to involve teachers, who have different rhythms and agendas and seem to prefer not to mingle with the students. Engagement The intervention allowed students to reflect on the waste cycle. Normally, they only see the waste in the bin, which magically disappears the next day. Participating in waste monitoring allowed them to map the path waste takes Page 37 of 79 Connections through the different stages, until its final disposal (learning about the companies involved, recycling criteria, the responsibilities of the different actors, etc.). The students discovered that most of the Faculty's waste came from vending machines, which prompted a reflection on the university's shortcomings when contracting these vending services (products with less packaging could be required). The question of "change" has been ambivalent. On the one hand, participants promoted a change in the Faculty's waste management system. Furthermore, they were able to compare the environmental, economic, and social impacts before and after the change (and observed the savings generated). However, on the other hand, in the discussions held, students were made aware of the difficulties in reducing waste volume, as it is something over which users have little influence, as it depends on the industrial and commercial design of a business environment and a global market. This observation has led to a certain disenchantment among students, who perceive that they have little ability to influence the commercial decisions behind waste generation. Change The intervention has promoted actions and behaviours among the Faculty (especially students, and to a lesser extent, faculty). The implementation of a new waste management system has forced people to change their waste disposal behaviour. Furthermore, the students who participated in the monitoring activities, both before and after the change in model, have learned to work in groups. Under the professor's instructions, they have organised themselves to carry out the task of separating and weighing waste for three weeks in each round. Action Page 38 of 79 Intervention 6 Facilitate transversal learning spaces Resources Human Time Costs The intervention consists of a training course on the ecosocial crisis, designed as a transversal teaching space, open to students from all backgrounds, and also to teachers, which allows for dealing with issues related to sustainability from a social science perspective, and which also allows for various activities to collect and analyse environmental data from the campus, to be debated and interpreted in accordance with the contents of the course. The training cycle consisted of five lectures, five workshops, and a final discussion session. The topics were: a) Ecological crisis, environmental justice, and ecofeminism; b) Future scenarios for the ecosocial transition; c) The sustainability of the agri-food system; d) Global extractivism and climate migration; e) The sustainability of ewaste. The lectures were given by specialists in the respective topics (some from the university and others from outside). After each lecture, a workshop on the same topic was held with data from the campus. SP-DS03-IN07 FACILITATE TRANSVERSAL LEARNING SPACES University Relevant difficulties: There were no particular difficulties with this intervention, beyond the work involved in organizing it (requesting permission from the university, securing two credits for students, advertising the series on campus, contacting speakers and agreeing on dates, moderating debates, coordinating workshops and parallel activities, summarizing the debates on the series' website, keeping track of students attending each session, issuing attendance certificates, etc.). Otherwise, we have had significant support from various university services (rector's office, faculty dean's office, Autonomous Solidarity Foundation, sustainability office, etc.). Page 39 of 79 Individual Competences Collective Competences Technical-material Competences In this case, the students themselves responded (through the brief survey given at the end of the activity) that they had learned much knowledge that they considered useful. Ultimately, this was one of the objectives of this intervention: to provide information, data, and theories to interpret the ecosocial crisis from a constructive perspective. In addition to knowledge, as the intervention included several voluntary group activities, the students also learned certain skills (calculating with the collected data, preparing presentations, organising collectively, performing group work, etc.). This intervention, which consisted of a training cycle aimed at students from across the campus, served to introduce teaching on sustainability and climate change (from an eco-social crisis perspective) at the university. It has been repeated twice and is expected to continue in the future with the support of the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology. Furthermore, the Rector's Office is designing a future crosscurricular course on sustainability and climate change, which will be offered to students across all degrees, and this intervention served as a pilot test for how to organise it. In terms of collective competencies, this intervention, in addition to a series of lectures, provided students with a participatory space in which to deliberate and participate in data collection on campus sustainability. This participatory space is unprecedented and should be taken into account. In this case, no new equipment or infrastructure was installed to improve sustainability. The only thing worth noting in this regard is that one of the groups of student volunteers participating in the cycle analysed data from air pollution sensors (PM2.5) that we distributed throughout the campus. The sensors were loaned to us by CIEMAT and were returned to them after the activity. Sustainability competences in place in the intervention The training cycle was open to students and faculty. In the case of students, we persuaded the university to award 2 ECTS credits to those who completed the full cycle. This was very helpful in convincing students to sign up (more than 50 signed up for each cycle, of which between 30 and 40 actively participated). As for faculty, it was more difficult to involve them, although we managed to have a few professors at each conference, who actively participated in the discussions. Faculty engagement seems to be more difficult because they do not feel challenged, tend to consider these topics unfamiliar to them, and rarely have time to participate. The few who attended did so because they were specifically invited. Engagement Since this is a series on sustainability and climate change designed from a social science perspective, it has been very useful for all types of students. According to the brief survey we conducted, science and engineering students found it very interesting because it opened their interpretive field by making them aware of the social and political consequences of technological and market decisions. Furthermore, for humanities and social sciences students, the training series was also interesting in connecting their theories and concepts with environmental issues. Ultimately, the intervention helped students understand how seemingly separate things are part of a single system. Connections The course has not generated immediate changes. At most, it has helped some people imagine other future scenarios (in terms of ecological modernization, degrowth, etc.), and thus reduce certain attitudes of fatalism and passivity. It also seems to have served to reduce some eco-anxiety among the students. The participatory and deliberative design of the workshops and activities has helped achieve this. Change The training cycle has not led to any concrete actions, either individual or collective. However, it has allowed for the establishment of a nascent network of students and professors interested in sustainability issues, which could be used in the future to demand further action from the rector's office. However, this has not yet materialised. Action Page 40 of 79 Intervention 7 Taking care of a river section Relevant difficulties  Difficulty in coordinating schedules and ensuring continuity over time.  Some students lack motivation or interest.  Teachers’ involvement is inconsistent, affecting class participation.  Logistical challenges: excessive number of students per session, activities under the sun without enough structure.  Lack of school-wide awareness and communication. Disconnection between what happens at school and habits at home. Individual Competences Collective Competences Technical-material Competences  Environmental awareness and responsibility.  Skills in scientific observation and fieldwork.  Emotional connection to nature and sense of initiative.  Cooperation among students from different classes.  Peer-to-peer learning and communication.  Collective planning and shared responsibility.  Application of scientific methods (e.g., water analysis).  Use of topographic and mapping tools.  Basic environmental engineering and clean-up practices. Resources Human Time Costs A school-wide initiative where 8thgrade students take care of a designated section of the Trancão River. Activities include environmental clean-ups, water analysis, topographic surveys, and artistic representations of the river surroundings. It is part of the “Escola Azul” programme and aims to foster environmental responsibility and awareness among students through hands-on activities outside the classroom. PT-DS01-IN02 TAKING CARE OF A RIVER SECTION Primary and secondary school NATURE OF THE INTERVENTION: involving individual action and requiring collective action. OBJECTIVES: Allow students to have experience and insight in the field of how they can contribute to the preservation of a resource as important as water. Increase awareness in the school community about water protection and preservation. Promote sustainable practices. Page 41 of 79 Sustainability competences in place in the intervention Engagement The intervention encourages students to connect emotionally with their local environment and to take responsibility for its conservation. Student engagement is crucial, as their motivation determines the success of activities. Teachers' involvement varies; some are highly engaged, while others show limited interest, which affects student participation. The intervention also opens space for stronger collaboration with families and external entities, such as the municipality and river management bodies. Connections The intervention promotes connections between environmental education and citizenship, linking school activities with real-world ecological issues. It fosters interdisciplinary learning (science, geography, civic education) and enhances collaboration among students from different classes. It also creates a connection between the school and the surrounding community, particularly within the scope of the Blue School program. Change Students developed a deeper sense of environmental responsibility and awareness. Many began to reflect on the impact of their actions. The intervention triggered behavioural shifts in some, especially those directly involved. However, the change was limited by the lack of broader engagement and recurring organisational issues. A shift in school culture was initiated, but sustained effort is required. Action Students conducted environmental clean-up actions, water sampling, analysis, mapping, and artistic representations of a river section. These actions are planned to be repeated regularly. However, execution has been hampered by logistical challenges and insufficient structuring. Future actions should include better planning, smaller groups, and more frequent activities. Page 48 of 79 Intervention 11 Climate Crisis and Fair Transition Relevant difficulties  Need for continuous updating: the fast-evolving nature of the climate crisis requires constant revision of content and pedagogical approaches.  Voluntary nature of the course: as the unit is optional, it may only reach a self-selected group of students already interested in climate issues, limiting its broader transformative potential.  Measuring long-term impact: It may be challenging to assess whether the course leads to sustained behavioural or civic action beyond the classroom.  Integration into broader curriculum: the course might remain a niche offer unless further institutional alignment promotes more widespread inclusion of climate transition themes. Individual Competences Collective Competences Technical-material Competences  Critical understanding of the climate crisis through systemic, scientific and ethical lenses.  Reflective autonomy in engaging with complexity and recognising the intersectionality of climate and social justice.  Agency and responsibility to act as informed citizens and professionals in the face of climate emergencies.  Deliberation and co-creation: students engage in collective reflection, discussion and solutionbuilding.  Solidarity and fairness: exploration of the just transition fosters shared ethical positioning.  Institutional and community awareness: understanding the roles of different actors (government, industry, academia, civil society) in addressing the crisis.  Climate science literacy and knowledge of sustainability tools and indicators.  Ability to analyse policy, emissions data, and transition strategies.  Practical skills in scenario planning, systems thinking, and participatory methodologies. Resources Human Time Costs Creation of a curricular unit focused on the climate crisis and fair transition, integrating scientific, ethical, political, and practical perspectives. The intervention addresses the need to empower university students to critically understand climate challenges, while fostering their ability to imagine, debate, and co-create systemic solutions. It adopts participatory, interdisciplinary methods, encouraging collective reflection and civic engagement. The unit aims to build both knowledge and action-oriented competences, positioning students as active agents of the climate transition. PT-DS03-IN01 CLIMATE CRISIS AND FAIR TRANSITION Higher education Page 49 of 79 Sustainability competences in place in the intervention Engagement The curricular unit engaged students deeply through participatory methods, critical discussion, and personal reflection. The open-ended, systemic nature of the topic encouraged students to connect academic content with their values and experiences. The engagement was supported by interdisciplinary teaching and real-world problem-solving. Connections The intervention connected scientific, political, ethical, and economic dimensions of the climate crisis, breaking disciplinary silos. It linked classroom learning with external debates on energy, inequality, climate justice, and governance. It also connected the university context with the global climate agenda, and encouraged students to see their role beyond the academic environment — as future professionals, citizens, and community members. Change The intervention is expected to foster changes in students’ mindsets, emotional awareness, and sense of agency. Through exposure to systemic and participatory approaches, students may begin to see themselves not only as learners but as future professionals and citizens capable of contributing to the climate transition. It is anticipated that this unit will encourage students to engage more critically with their academic paths and their roles in society. Instructors may also begin to shift their pedagogical approach, incorporating more interdisciplinary and reflective elements into their teaching. Action The course is designed to promote transformative action, both in students’ thinking and in their capacity to develop climate-related solutions. Through scenario-building, group work, roleplay, and practical projects, students are expected to explore real-world challenges and co-create potential responses. Although implementation is not guaranteed, the intervention aims to prepare students to initiate or contribute to sustainability transitions in academic, professional, and civic contexts. Page 50 of 79 Intervention 12 Communication and community involvement Relevant difficulties  Risk of institutional delay or lack of priority for approving and funding the space.  Engagement may remain limited to a small core group, reducing wider impact.  Long-term maintenance and programming of the space are still undefined.  Sustainability communication efforts risk becoming fragmented without coordination.  Need to maintain student involvement over time, considering academic turnover. Individual Competences Collective Competences Technical-material Competences Students, staff, and researchers developed values and motivation toward sustainability. The project fosters critical thinking, systems thinking, and personal responsibility through co-creation and discussion of sustainable campus infrastructure. It also helps participants become more confident in communicating about sustainability and reflecting on their role in shaping institutional practices. The collaborative design process brought together diverse actors, promoting teamwork, participatory learning, and shared decision-making. This collective approach aimed to create a sense of belonging and co-ownership of the space, strengthening community engagement and enabling long-term sustainability of the intervention. Participants applied practical skills such as space planning, architectural design, and sustainable material selection. Communication skills were also key— participants worked on strategies for visual and digital engagement (e.g., signage, QR codes, interactive screens). The intervention integrates physical and digital tools to enhance sustainability outreach on campus. Resources Human Time Costs The intervention aims to enhance the visibility and impact of sustainability actions at IST by creating a dedicated physical space for community engagement. The space will serve as a hub for sharing sustainability-related information, organizing activities, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. The project includes a participatory design phase, involving architecture students, staff, and researchers. The intervention is currently in the implementation phase, with a final plan developed and awaiting approval for construction. PT-DS03-IN07 COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Higher education Page 51 of 79 Sustainability competences in place in the intervention Engagement Engagement grew progressively throughout the co-creation process. Initially, participation was focused on a small group of highly motivated students and researchers. However, the participatory design sessions broadened interest and visibility within the IST community. Architecture students were especially engaged through coursework directly related to the intervention. A key challenge is maintaining long-term engagement, particularly from leadership and non-academic staff, and expanding awareness to the broader student population. Connections The intervention connects communication, sustainability, architecture, and institutional development. It also links curricular learning (especially in architecture and design) with real-world sustainability challenges. Although primarily internal to IST, the project has the potential to connect with external sustainability networks or public outreach in future stages . Change The intervention is expected to help shift how sustainability is communicated and perceived at IST. By creating a physical and symbolic space for sustainability it encourages the integration of environmental thinking into the institutional culture. It is anticipated that the space will empower students and staff to take initiative, host activities, and strengthen the visibility of ongoing sustainability efforts . Action The action involved the co-design of a physical space for sustainability communication. Architecture students developed project proposals, including technical drawings and sustainability features. A consolidated plan was submitted to the school board for implementation. Although construction has not started, the design phase engaged the academic community and generated a shared vision for the space. The next steps include approval, funding, and execution. Page 52 of 79 Intervention 13 (Solar panels) Installation of solar panels for electricity Relevant difficulties The solar panel project at Drăgășani School faced no major issues, but key recommendations emerged for future implementations: • Technical Expertise – Professionals should assess roof integrity, panel positioning, and provide necessary documentation. . • Project Planning – Clear contracts outlining roles, timelines, and quality standards are vital. Schools often need help from local authorities or inspectorates due to limited technical capacity. • Educational Value – Watching installation alone is insufficient; tailored teaching materials on solar energy should be integrated into interdisciplinary lessons. • Funding – Despite the modest €5,000 cost, funds must be secured in advance via municipal support or project grants• Data Use – Monitoring data from the panels should be accessible and actively used in classes to deepen students’ understanding of sustainability. Engagement Connections Change Action Engagement was achieved through collective reflection and participation in sustainability. The transition from solar thermal to PVs demonstrated adaptability and commitment. Educational posters and curriculum integration ensured the whole school community could The intervention connected technology, learning, and community involvement. Students saw firsthand how renewable energy use connects to broader themes such as climate change, energy policy, and responsible consumption. Collaboration between Initial plans for thermal panels had to be reconsidered due to realworld constraints such as seasonal use patterns. This led to a more suitable PV solution. Students and staff were encouraged to see the links between energy use, technology, and climate Concrete action was central to the intervention. Beyond the technical installation, the project included active involvement of the school community, implementation of educational materials, real-time monitoring of energy use, and public communication efforts. Resources Human Time Costs The intervention involved installing solar panels on the school’s roof to generate electricity. Initially, solar thermal panels were proposed to provide hot water for the school canteen and reduce gas consumption. However, due to technical limitations—such as the lack of hot water demand during the long summer break and the need for antifreeze protection in winter—the plan was revised. The shift from solar thermal to photovoltaic panels provided greater flexibility. An interface was installed to connect the school’s electrical network to the public grid, enabling the school to obtain prosumer status. This was achieved by preparing the necessary technical documentation, securing approvals, and coordinating with the electricity provider. To monitor electricity consumption and production, a smartphone application was installed. Additionally, an educational component was integrated into the project. Large posters were displayed throughout the school, visible to students, staff, parents, and visitors, illustrating the intervention and its outcomes. RM-DS01-IN01 (SOLAR PANELS IN URBAN AREA) INSTALLATION OF SOLAR PANELS FOR GREEN ELECTRICITY Lower secondary school The ECF4CLIM team developed dedicated educational materials on solar energy—covering both heat and electricity generation—and energy conservation in the context of climate change. These materials were discussed with students and teachers, with feedback incorporated into updated versions. The finalized resources serve as foundational documents for teachers to design interdisciplinary sustainability lessons. Finally, communication and dissemination activities were carried out to encourage replication of the initiative in other schools and households. Page 53 of 79 reflect on and internalize sustainability values. The development of personal responsibility and environmentally conscious behaviors among individuals is a testament to strong engagement with sustainability principles. teachers, local authorities, and technical experts strengthened ties across sectors, showing how interdisciplinary and crosssectoral cooperation is essential for impactful sustainability efforts. change. The educational component emphasized these interconnections, helping participants understand how local decisions and infrastructure choices relate to global environmental challenges. These activities exemplified how individuals and collectives can “walk the talk.” The result was not just reduced carbon emissions but also strengthened technical, cognitive, and collaborative competences within the school. https://ecf4clim.eu/materials-from-demonstration-sites/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHaLCdpl9zU Analytical Framework Individual Competences The solar panel intervention played a significant role in developing important individual competences among participants, including practical skills, critical thinking, communication, initiative, and environmental responsibility. These outcomes contribute to nurturing more informed, proactive, and reflective individuals who are better equipped to address sustainability challenges in their personal and professional lives.  Increased Environmental Awareness - Participants became more conscious of their daily action impacts. They developed a greater sense of personal responsibility and began to reflect more critically on their choices, particularly in terms of resource use and sustainability.  Development of Practical and Technical Skills - The intervention provided hands-on opportunities to understand the principles of solar energy and renewable technologies fostering new technical competencies.  Enhanced Critical Thinking - Activities encouraged reflection, analysis, and questioning, leading to noticeable improvement in critical thinking, especially concerning ecological issues.  Improved Communication Skills - Participants gained confidence in expressing their ideas more clearly during group discussions. The experience helped them develop the ability to articulate viewpoints.  Personal Initiative and Responsibility - Many participants began taking the initiative in their daily lives, choosing environmentally friendly behaviours such as walking instead of driving or actively promoting sustainability in their routines. This reflects a growing sense of agency and proactive engagement.  Curiosity and Motivation to Learn - Exposure to real-world applications of renewable energy stimulated curiosity and encouraged further learning about sustainability topics. Page 54 of 79 Collective Competences The solar panel intervention proved to be an effective context for fostering collective competences such as teamwork, shared leadership, collaborative problem-solving, and joint environmental responsibility. These competences are essential not only for the success of sustainability initiatives, but also for the broader development of active, engaged, and cooperative citizens.  Teamwork and Collaboration - Participants developed the ability to work effectively in teams, recognising the value of each member's contributions. They successfully organised themselves around common objectives, demonstrated shared responsibility, and supported one another in achieving collective goals.  Shared Decision-Making - The intervention encouraged the practice of democratic and inclusive decisionmaking. Teams planned activities collectively, discussed options respectfully, and reached consensus on actions, reinforcing a participatory culture.  Role Distribution and Responsibility Sharing - Individuals took on diverse roles within group activities, showing flexibility and a willingness to support the team in various ways. The recognition that every role is important contributed to a more cohesive and functional team dynamic.  Collective Problem-Solving and Creativity - Groups engaged in collaborative problem-solving, combining their ideas to address challenges. This approach enhanced their ability to generate creative, group-based solutions rather than relying on individual efforts.  Ecological Awareness through Collective Action - Participants connected environmental learning with group behaviour, reinforcing the idea that small, collective actions—such as advocating for sustainability or promoting recycling—can contribute to broader ecological goals. This fostered a sense of shared responsibility for environmental stewardship. Technical-material Competences Beyond the installation of a renewable energy system, the project provided a tangible learning environment that helped participants understand environmental principles, sustainable infrastructure, and everyday eco-responsible behaviour. Participants developed a stronger understanding of sustainable infrastructure, improved their capacity to analyse environmental data, and adopted more responsible behaviours toward energy and resource use.  Understanding of Renewable Energy and Sustainability Concepts - Participants developed a clearer understanding of the distinction between renewables and non-renewables and how solar energy reduces carbon emissions.  Monitoring and Interpreting Environmental Data - Students learned to read and interpret energy consumption and production data, enhancing their ability to engage with real-world environmental metrics. This competency supports evidence-based thinking and decision-making in sustainability practices.  Energy and Resource Conservation Practices - Through active participation, students adopted more mindful behaviours in conserving water, saving energy, and minimising waste in their daily routines.  Connection Between Local Actions and Global Impact - Participants gained a deeper understanding of how individual and local efforts—like energy conservation or waste reduction—contribute to broader environmental goals. They recognised the link between everyday actions and global issues such as climate change.  Improvement of the Physical School Environment - The school community engaged in activities that led to a cleaner, more eco-conscious environment. These included better recycling practices, reduction of waste, and small-scale improvements that enhanced the school’s overall ecological footprint. Page 55 of 79 Intervention 14 (Solar panels) Installation of solar panels for electricity production Relevant difficulties The solar panel project at Șercaia School was successful, but offered valuable lessons for other rural schools: Funding: Despite the modest €5,000 cost, securing funds was challenging. Rural schools rely on local authorities or external grants. Early planning and well-prepared applications are crucial. Technical Needs: Expertise was needed to assess the roof, orient the panels, and manage permits—tasks beyond school staff, requiring specialists. Project Management: Clear contracts outlining responsibilities, timelines, and quality standards are essential. External support from inspectorates or local experts is highly recommended. Educational Use: Real learning requires more than observing installation. Locally relevant teaching materials should integrate solar energy into subjects like science and geography. Monitoring Data: Solar system data is a powerful teaching tool. In rural areas, making it accessible—via posters or displays—can enhance student interest in energy and sustainability. Engagement Connections Change Action Switching from a thermal system to PVs showed that the school is open to new, cleaner technologies—even in a rural area with fewer resources. The intervention showed how rural communities can manage the real-life challenges of putting sustainability into practice. The school adjusted its plans to fit local conditions—like The solar project at Șercaia School gave students and teachers a clear picture of what a cleaner, more selfreliant future could look like. Using real-time energy monitoring, they could The project at Șercaia School turned ideas into real action. The school installed solar panels, became a prosumer, and used monitoring tools to track energy use—showing a Resources Human Time Costs The PV panel installation was planned and carried out, similar to the intervention (RM-DS01-IN01) at Nicolae Bălcescu School in Dragășani. However, this took place in a rural setting, which differs significantly from urban areas in Romania, especially in terms of community knowledge and attitudes. As in Dragășani, solar thermal panels were initially proposed to provide hot water, but technical issues—like limited summer use and antifreeze needs in winter—led to a shift toward photovoltaic panels, offering better flexibility and year-round use. Similarly to Dragasani, an interface was installed to connect the school’s electrical system to the public grid, and prosumer status was obtained by submitting technical documentation, securing the necessary approvals, and coordinating with the electricity provider. A smartphone application was implemented to track electricity consumption and production at the school level. To facilitate the understanding on the solar energy and to communicate the results of the intervention large posters were produced and displayed throughout the school. The targeted audience consists of students, staff, parents, and visitors. Additionally, the ECF4CLIM team developed educational materials focused on solar energy and energy conservation in the context of climate change. RM-DS02-IN01 (SOLAR PANELS IN RURAL AREA) INSTALLATION OF SOLAR PANELS FOR GREEN ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION Lower secondary school A common material was produced for Dragasani and Sercaia schools by integrating the feedback received from the discussions with the students and teachers. The material is uploaded in the ECF4CLIM web-site (https://ecf4clim.eu/materials-fromdemonstration-sites/). The finalized educational materials now serve as a foundational resource for teachers to develop interdisciplinary lessons on sustainability. Communication and dissemination activities were also conducted to promote the replication of this intervention in other schools. Page 56 of 79 Teachers, students, and staff took part in activities, displays, and lessons that made them think more about their impact on nature. These experiences encouraged real conversations, both in school and at home, about how to protect the environment. The project helped the school become a local example of how rural communities can take action for a greener future. dealing with seasonal changes, limited resources, and maintenance needs— which led to practical and lasting solar energy solutions. Students and staff explored how different systems are connected, such as energy use, climate, and natural resources. Through hands-on activities and tracking energy data, they saw how local choices can have wider effects. actually see the benefits of switching to solar power. The project inspired new lessons that combined different subjects and encouraged students to imagine how renewable energy could become a normal part of life—even in a rural setting. These activities helped students see that they can make a difference and be part of building a more sustainable community. strong commitment to sustainability. At the same time, students started making greener choices in their daily lives and worked together to solve problems. They also helped spread the word through school activities and campaigns, showing that even small rural schools can lead by example and inspire others to do the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q57FkwuAA0E https://ecf4clim.eu/materials-from-demonstration-sites/ Analytical Framework Individual Competences The implementation of the solar panel intervention at Șercaia School went beyond technical improvements, becoming a meaningful learning experience that helped shape important individual competences among participants, including responsibility, critical thinking, communication, initiative, and practical skill-building. These outcomes not only benefit the participants personally but also contribute to creating a more sustainable and informed future generation.  Personal Responsibility and Environmental Awareness – In a community shaped by tradition, the intervention introduced new perspectives on sustainability. Despite limited initial knowledge, students showed strong motivation to learn about solar energy, quickly developing relevant competences. Practical Skills – The rural context enabled hands-on learning. Students connected solar concepts to farming, home energy use, and local infrastructure, making skills directly applicable.  Critical Thinking – Students gained the ability to reflect on local challenges like wood heating and limited infrastructure, considering how renewable energy could address them.  Communication Skills – The project gave students a chance to express their views on environmental issues, boosting confidence in school and community dialogue.  Proactive Behavior – Students began practicing and promoting sustainable habits at home, showing the school's role in spreading change.  Problem-Solving Confidence – Limited resources encouraged creative thinking. The project has built students’ resilience and adaptability—key for rural sustainability. Page 57 of 79 Collective Competences The solar panel intervention at Șercaia School, in a rural setting, became a strong platform for building collective competences through shared experiences and teamwork. As a central part of community life, the school used the project to strengthen social and organizational skills like collaboration, shared decision-making, inclusive communication, and joint problem-solving—key to rural resilience and sustainability.  Teamwork and Cooperation – Students and staff worked together naturally in group settings, with the project adding new layers of coordination and goal-setting.  Shared Planning – Participatory planning methods enhanced informal decision-making traditions, promoting ownership and shared leadership.  Inclusive Communication – Structured dialogue encouraged participation from all voices, improving mutual respect and community unity.  Problem-Solving – Facing limited resources, participants used local knowledge to co-create practical, context-aware solutions.  Environmental Goals – The focus on sustainability felt tangible, aligning with everyday rural life through actions like home energy saving and awareness-raising.  Role Flexibility and Peer Support – Students took on various roles, with peer learning enhancing skills and creating a supportive, empowering environment. Technical-material Competences The solar panel intervention at Șercaia School, located in a rural area, provided a highly relevant and accessible context for developing environmental and technical-material competences among students and staff. In a setting where hands-on, practical engagement often plays a central role in learning, the project not only involved the installation of solar panels but also created opportunities for deepening understanding of sustainability principles in ways that resonated with local realities. These competences—ranging from technical understanding to resource awareness and environmental stewardship—helped nurture a more ecologically conscious school culture and empowered participants to become active contributors to rural sustainability.  Understanding Renewable Energy – Students gained practical knowledge of solar panel function, linking it to local issues like wood use and low energy efficiency. The intervention filled a key knowledge gap, showing how solar energy reduces both school and community carbon footprints.  Energy Awareness – In a setting where resources are manually managed, students adopted conservation habits like turning off lights or using daylight—often sharing these practices at home.  Data Literacy – Working with solar data helped students grasp real-time energy use. Despite varying digital skills, hands-on tasks like meter reading built foundational environmental monitoring skills.  Pollution Awareness – The project deepened students' connection to nature through activities like waste sorting and local clean-ups, turning abstract pollution issues into concrete, visible concerns.  Sustainable Habits – The rural context supported daily sustainable practices. Students reduced plastic use, reused materials, and cared for school green spaces, modeling environmental responsibility in their community. Page 64 of 79 Intervention 17 Fostering positive attitudes within the teachers and whole school personnel towards sustainability education Analytical Framework Individual Competences Headmaster: raising and prioritising, and allocating resources for sustainability education and teachers' sustainability teams. Teachers' understanding of sustainability and sustainability education, considering students' interests, skills of an Inclusive and dialogical, participatory approach, effective organisation, positive and inclusive leading of teachers' and students' teams, communication, managing time and prioritisation of sustainability education. Making initiatives and collaboration. Collective Competences Inclusive and dialogical, participatory approach, effective, positive and inclusive leading of teachers' and students' teams. Allocation of resources. Shared leadership in sustainability education. Established team meetings for teachers and students. Priorisation and emphasis on sustainability education in the municipality’s strategies. Positive attitude and awareness of how sustainability is integral in the school culture. Technical-material Competences The old school building will be renovated soon, no sense in improving, e.g. recycling system or other technical issues in the school. Technical constraints: Not enough space, e.g. vegetarian food options in the school restaurant's "main tables" or ineffective communication screens at school. Resources Human Time Costs AIMS: Fostering positive attitudes and engagement within the teachers towards sustainability education. Talking about and actions for sustainability would increase. Sustainability would become as visible and integrated in whole school culture. Establishing continuous teachers' and students' teams both at primary and secondary school. Sustainability become as lenses for critical reflection, if our practices are sustainable and meaningful or not. ACTS: Facilitating discussions about roles and links of different subjects to sustainability education. Fasilitating value discussions, organising vegetarian cooking evening for teachers. Organising a recycling market Whats App group for teachers, integrating sustainability teams' issues in every staff meeting, choosing sustainability as the theme for inquirybased/phenomenon-based learning week for three years, organising a testing of sustainability education escape room game for teachers, organising a school visit in a pioneer sustainability education school for group of teachers and a well known pioneer teacher (from the school the visited ) came for a visit and talked to all the teachers. FN-DS01-IN02 FOSTERING POSITIVE ATTITUDES WITHIN THE TEACHERS AND WHOLE SCHOOL PERSONNEL TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION Primary and lower secondary school = comprehensive school Relevant difficulties: Multiple tasks and duties in teachers' work, sustainability considered as an extra, if not considered and integrated as a core goal of education. Sharing responsibilities and expertise. Enough time for planning and collaboration. Sustainability issues need to raised continuously within the school community. Often social problems, security issues require so much attention and become prioritised that sustainability issues are not considered equally important and do not gain attention. Thus the understanding how promoting students' agency also in ecological sustainability campaigns can improve students' general engagement and wellbeing, and thus social benefits and security, too. Page 65 of 79 Sustainability competences in place in the intervention Engagement Connections Change Action Positive attitudes and motivation among teachers - without it, nothing will succeed was regarded as the main goal by headmasters at the beginning of the ECF4CLIM projects. Making visible the efforts already made for sustainability. Ongoing discussions are needed. The management team should include someone interested and raising the issues of sustainability. Restricted time resources constrain teachers' possibilities of organising extra activities. Listening and meeting inspiring visitors, learning from other schools' practices. Working together, being a part of a bigger project and network of people acting for sustainability, empowers compared to acting alone. Municipal strategies for sustainability education and carbon neutrality, general attitudes to promote sustainability education matter. Teachers need to find meaningful connections and possibilities to integrate sustainability education into their teaching. During the last campaign days, sustainability issues have been raised more by the teachers and discussed in the lessons. Understanding how acts for sustainability and fostering students' agency can improve social wellbeing and atmosphere can improve engagement (this was raised in the school visit and by the visiting teacher). This inspired the teachers very much! The aim was to promote collective will-formation towards sustainability education. Interventions: Continuous and resilient talks enabled by leaders, active teachers and visitors about the importance and relevance of sustainability. Talk about sustainable acts during the lessons. Also, individuals' initiatives for collective action and individuals' acts matter. Active teachers' enthousiasm and engagement have been the key, finding meaningful rolfor teachers to participatees, having realistic goals to succeed, considering the rhythm of the school year, teachers' resources, and teachers' working loads. Scheduling a yearly calender. Integrating sustainability education in basic work and schedule, not being an extra. Receicing support from ECF4CLIM, being part of a bigger movement. Page 66 of 79 Intervention 18 Attitude: Engaging students and the whole school through awareness raising and positive behaviour campaign Relevant difficulties Hectic school life, lack of time for extra activities, planning interesting meetings for students, not too much talk, but concrete action, and integrating activities that improve social relations within the students’ teams. Communication issues, how to inform about the campaigns. Analytical Framework Individual Competences Understanding of the relevance of sustainability (systems thinking), motivation and knowledge about how to act for sustainability. Critical awareness of current practices and lifestyles' unsustainability. Communication, positive approach, considering students' interests and life-worlds (awareness of motivation profiles). Practical organising skills, making initiatives, collaboration and creative thinking. Resources Human Time Costs Engaging and promoting positive attitudes among the whole school community for promoting sustainability were brought up as one of the key issues in SCTs and SCCs. Different acts, 4 campaigns were organised to make sustainability visible and to activate students in acts for sustainability. The 1st campaign "sustainability Christmass calendar" included info slides motivating people for sustainability actions in 2023. This intervention failed in visibility due to technical issues. This was further developed to a 5 week campaign competition in spring 2024 to boost small, but meaningful acts for sustainability like raising awareness about fast fashion, promoting biking, favoring vegetarian food and activities in nature. The campaign was co-created and designed together with lower secondary school students and researchers. The students were familiarised with different motivation profiles and they designed communication slides during a whole day meeting. The students were responsible of sharing the information, creating an Instagram-account for the competition and evaluation the results of the competition. The campaign designed by lower secondary school students was launched also in primary school, where classes were competing with each other. This 5 week campaign failed in lower secondary school due to poor communication and technical problems in Instagram. However, in pimary school it went better in those classes where teachers were actively involved and encouraged their students to participate. The problem of this campaign was timing: campaign was realised during the most hectic weeks in the end of the school year, when all the extra activities take place. Perhaps if the teachers had been more engaged in planning this problematic timing would have been better considered. New campaigns were planned for the autumn term 2024 and realised during the school term 2024-2025, crical consumerism, recycled toys market for primary school and immaterial gifts campaign for lower secondary before Christmass and big Earth Hour 2025 campaign for the whole school and this campaign challenge spread to other 2 schools. In these last campaigns teachers were more involved and designed the campaigns with the students. FN-DS01-IN03 FOSTERING POSITIVE ATTITUDES WITHIN THE TEACHERS AND WHOLE SCHOOL PERSONNEL TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION Primary and lower secondary school = comprehensive school weeks in the end of the school year, when all the extra activities take place. Perhaps if the teachers had been more engaged in planning this problematic timing would have been better considered. New campaigns were planned for the autumn term 2024 and realised during the school term 20242025, crical consumerism, recycled toys market for primary school and immaterial gifts campaign for lower secondary before Christmass and big Earth Hour 2025 campaign for the whole school and this campaign challenge spread to other 2 schools. In these last campaigns teachers were more involved and designed the campaigns with the students. Page 67 of 79 Collective Competences Scheduling skills, integrating campaign days in the school's calender, organisation of events that make sustainability visible in school life. Finding time for planning meetings. Participatory culture in the planning and organisation of events and campaigns. Positive attitudes and enough people are interested. Technical-material Competences Technical communication tools (which made the first campaigns fail). How to use technical (screens and apps) for communication Sustainability competences in place in the intervention Engagement Connections It would have been important to focus better on communication within the whole school, with teachers, those persons who are responsible for the screen communication. If teachers had been more involved, maybe the timing would have been considered better. Connecting campaigns better in the school yearly rhythm - a yearly calender was created in the last spring of ECF4CLIM. Engagement was the main focus of the interventions. The Students of the team created info sheets for communication, learned to consider different motivation profiles/interests of students, and they were also encouraged to use humour in advertising. Interesting activities, skipping boring lessons when participating in these activities, helped to engage students. For the last years' campaigns, social aspects, students' interests were very well considered, and the Earth Hour also addressed the social challenge of creating alternative social activities rather than just using your mobiles during the breaks. CHALLENGES: Students do not want to skip their lessons. Students have many interests. They are not interested, youth culture, by e.g. TikTok or YouTube do not encourage or motivate students to sustainability. Continuous reflection was the way to overcome the challenges. Change The aim was to make sustainability visible and interesting for students to engage them in sustainability actions. The ECF4CLIM team and teachers facilitated reflections on students' lifeworlds and motivation profiles to help the student team invent appealing campaigns and events. The last Earth Hour campaign was really a success, with a great atmosphere of joy and creativity and planned well with students. The social aspect was well considered. Action Trying out, not giving up, organising various campaigns several times during 1,5 years. Challenges: timing, other competing events and issues at school, changing teachers/personnel. Enabler: scheduling events better. Yearly calender for planning campaigns. Page 68 of 79 Intervention 19 FOOD Imagen Relevant difficulties Hectic school life, lack of time for extra activities, planning interesting meetings for students, not too much talk, but concrete action, and integrating activities that improve social relations within the students' teams. Communication issues, how to inform about the campaigns. Analytical Framework Individual Competences  The collaboration and argumentation skills of all the people involved  Systems understanding: what really matters, being able to understand all the connected and interfering issues.  Skills for choosing sustainable nutrition and food  Understanding the meaning of vegetarian food  Skills of cooking by restaurant and food service company members  Realising the personal amount of leftover food with the bio scale Resources Human Time Costs This intervention aimed to improve the sustainability and quality of food served at the school canteen. The students and teachers had found especially the quality of vegetarian food poor, which led to students not choosing the vegetarian option, and an unnecessarily large amount of biowaste. They wanted to decrease the amount of leftover food, decrease the environmental impact of the food, and foster positive attitudes towards (more sustainable) vegetarian food, especially among students.  Zero biowaste days for the whole schoolinfo slides from the student team on info screens  Query about food  Meetings with students, teachers, municipality administration, and food service company  Measuring the amount of Biowaste from the school: acquiring a password from the recycling company for getting the statistics about the changes in amount (kg) during the project  Experiment on taking trays away from the lunches, because washing the trays uses lots of water and energy every day. During the experiment, it was noted, that with such a big school and many students in the canteen same time, the trays are very important.  The new practice: the students and teachers and other staff can buy leftover food from kitchen at the end of the day, so it won´t go to biowaste o The purchase of the biowaste scale https://biovaaka.fi/en/ o A tasting day for student team to comment on new vegetarian dishes, organised by the lunch service company FN-DS02-IN02 FOOD Samke upper secondary (= Sammon keskuslukio =Sampo central upper secondary)  Zero biowaste days for the whole schoolinfo slides from the student team on info screens  Query about food  Meetings with students, teachers, municipality administration, and food service company  Measuring the amount of Biowaste from the school: acquiring a password from the recycling company for getting the statistics about the changes in amount (kg) during the project  Experiment on taking trays away from the lunches, because washing the trays uses lots of water and energy every day. During the experiment, it was noted, that with such a big school and many students in the canteen same time, the trays are very important.  The new practice: the students and teachers and other staff can buy leftover food from kitchen at the end of the day, so it won´t go to biowaste  The purchase of the biowaste scale https://biovaaka.fi/en/  A tasting day for student team to comment on new vegetarian dishes, organised by the lunch service company Page 69 of 79 Collective Competences  Finding time and space for meetings  Structures for cooperation with the lunch service company, the principals, teachers and students  Affecting the norms of the whole municipality by negotiating with the common lunch service company  Trying to have an impact on increasing the resources for sustainable nutrition and food  Collective understanding of the amount of leftover food on different days and with different dishes  New practice: You can buy leftover food from the kitchen at the end of the day  Background: existing strategy of the lunch service company  Background: existing sustainability strategy of the municipality, stating increasing the vegetarian food as a goal Technicalmaterial Competences  Possibilities for information: a big screen in the canteen  Biowaste scale to measure the amount of wasted food, individual feedback and figures from the statistics on different days Sustainability competences in place in the intervention Engagement Connections Change Action  The quality of food served at school is important for students and their well-being, so they had the motivation to engage in sustainability efforts concerning lunch.  The CO2 emissions of food served at schools are a relevant and remarkable issue in municipality CO2 calculations, and the municipality is engaged in decreasing the emissions from the food served at schools.  The engagement of the municipality with quality food shows when the lunch service company is obliged to consider students' feedback.  The engagement of students to think about the sustainability of food is poor on average: the atmosphere in a school devoted to sports has other priorities, like having enough calories and the right share of nutrients in the food.  Most of the issues related to school food are not controlled by the school or its own canteen personnel, as production and decisions are centralised.  The poor national budget and the budget of the municipality are connected to the quality of food, because lunches are free for students, which comes under the legislation of Finland. The hope was that the quality of school food would slightly improve, the feedback system from students to the lunch service company would improve, and people would learn how they could influence and collaborate for a more sustainable food system at school. The student and teacher teams tried different innovative ways to make the lunch system more sustainable. The meetings (including SCTs and SCCs) to consider the possibilities and plan action were crucial in promoting the activities.  Meetings of the students' team and the teachers' team have been crucial in taking action, and the positive, resilient attitudes of the team members. When people regard this as important, they prioritise the collaboration, and time is easier to find. Limited time resources of students and teachers have been an obstacle.  The purchase of the biowaste scale wouldn´t be possible without the ECF4CLIM project. It has an annual cost, and there is a preliminary desicion that the school will pay the scale even in the future, without the help of any project. Page 70 of 79 Intervention 20 ENGAGEMENT OF STUDENTS: ESTABLISHING A STUDENT TEAM Relevant difficulties During the three years of ECF4CLIM, searching for time for the meetings has been discussed; thus, lack of time is the key difficulty, very tight schedules, and no breaks during the day for extra activities (structural challenges). Different solutions and timings were tried out, and finally, solutions were found. Sports-oriented students are not generally interested in sustainability. Lack of time to activate students during lessons, students used to having a passive role, mainly following instructions/ doing things teachers tell them to do in lessons at school. The solution was to consider students' interests carefully, students' gaining credits and diploma (might be beneficial for searching jobs) according to their participation and collaborating among students and teachers in common regular meetings. Resources Human Time Costs AIMS: to foster visibility of sustainability and climate action at school and establishing a culture and structures for students' participation. Thus, to foster collective awareness and positive attitudes about sustainability and climate action, therefore, it also aims to foster individual competences. Establish a student sustainability team for Samke high school through participatory approach. Raise students' awareness about the possibilities to participate and act in a sustainable way. Organising different activities with students like improving schools' practices towards more sustainable, awareness raising campaigns, visits and excursions. Creating a structure of time, place and resources for the team. Improving the whole school practices to become more sustainable. Short meetings organised almost every week. During the year 2022-2023 the focus was on mapping the issues the students regarded as important. Improving the quality of school food and recycling were considered as the main issue. During the year 2023-2024 new recycling and collecting bottles systems were established and also campaign days related to decreasing the bio waste at the school restaurant. Also critical consumerism days were organised. Both years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 students visited primary schools to tell about problems of fast fashion. 2025 spring a panel discussion of green careers organised. Evaluation day in May 2025 results: (1) yearly calendar for sustainability activities, (2) establishing the schedule and credits for students to participate, (3) teachers and students will have meetings together as students' perspectives and ideas are very important to consider. FN-DS02-IN06 ENGAGEMENT OF STUDENTS: ESTABLISHING A STUDENT SUSTAINABILITY ACTION GROUP Upper secondary Facebook post by ECF4CLIM Finland: Sustainability experts are needed in many fields! What do you have to offer the world? This is one of the questions asked, for example, in job interviews at Colliers Finland Oy, as shared by Jussi From from Colliers Finland Oy yesterday during the Green Career Path panel discussion organized by students and teachers of Sammon keskuslukio. Representatives from six different companies and also the city were present. They shared how their work contributes significantly to reducing climate emissions. For example, VR (the Finnish railway company) has managed to reduce emissions by 10% simply by improving train drivers’ driving habits—when there is the will, there is a way. Attitude makes all the difference! Page 71 of 79 Individual Competences Collective Competences Technical-material Competences Engaging students in sustainability, raising interest and activating collaboration, courage of acting differently than mainstream students, making initiatives, dialogue, listening, understanding different motivation profiles/ways of thinking, understanding of sustainability issues and possible solutions. Teachers: participatory skills, collaboration and openness to work with students as equal participants, being interested in and widening perspectives to students' lifeworlds, cultivating a positive atmosphere, acting as a positive role model, analysis and use of e.g. bio-waste data. Making surveys to gain an understanding of students' attitudes. Managing time: Scheduling meetings, creating a team, communication, and planning together. Resources for monetary compensation for leading teachers. Participatory approach. Yearly calender with a strategic plan on how to recruit students, including campaign days and excursions. A credit system for students participating. Effective and positive communication. Supportive and effective leadership and allocation of resources for sustainability. Developing a school culture that aims to consider sustainability in all its activities. Big screen in the school restaurant for communication, new recycling bins, bio waste scale Sustainability competences in place in the intervention Engagement Main focus: how to engage students in a sustainability team and generally, raising interest and motivation to act. Creating a sustainable culture of practices in the whole school to engage students. Enablers: Inviting the friends of those mapped as interested in environmental issues with them to the meetings, listening to and considering students' wishes and perspectives. The students also get easy study credits out of participating in the team, organising interesting events and excursions related to the students' interests and wishes. Telling about the option to influence positively also through the possibility to participate in the ECF4CLIM research project. Students and teachers started to plan and work together. Engaging all the students through surveys, with a video on the sustainability efforts of the school. Designing a yearly calendar to engage students in sustainability throughout the school year. See also connections (how to engage students through awareness of connections to sustainability) Connections Connecting sustainability to students' life worlds: consumerism, clothing, future careers, sports and the sustainability issues raised by them: recycling and food. Collaboration among teachers (also students are interested) between Tampere municipality and the high school of the areaparticipants of the meetings were collective/centralised timings of the schedules (to enable cross-studying between schools) have been decided. Challenges: General attitudes and social identities questioning the importance and relevance of sustainability among especially boys. Collaboration with the centralised food and maintenance company is challenging and complicated due to the structure. Change Aimed change: to promote teachers' skills to engage and motivate students, or organise studentcentred activities. Moreover, it is a collective change of the structure of the students' schedule - find a good time for student team activities. Reflecting these issues together with teachers and headmaster, and students, by finding out and sharing experiences on how these issues have been organised in other high schools or trying to lobby the curriculum work on how this kind of student-centred and participatory activities could be part of the curricula. Learning about and reflection on different motivation profiles and focusing on and considering students' interests. Action Students' team's responsible teacher conducted evaluative discussions with each participating students, this has best fostered his understanding. Continuous reflective discussions with ECF4CLIM researchers with headmaster and teachers during evaluation days. Page 72 of 79 Intervention 21 DISCUSSIONS AND COACHING ON SUSTAINABILITY AND CURRICULA DEVELOPMENT WITH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS Relevant difficulties The main obstacle to incorporating sustainability into studies appeared to be limited resources. Curriculum development was carried out alongside other responsibilities. Even teachers designing courses within the faculty lacked the resources for collaborative planning. Finding time to cooperate with the ECF4CLIM team was nearly impossible. The administration’s mandate to include sustainability in every student’s studies was left to the responsibility of individual teachers who were planning the courses. After the reform, this responsibility still relies on teachers’ own initiative, as the curriculum statements are so general that they can be interpreted in various ways. Also, it was hard to organise meetings with students, because they do not have time for extra work either, even if they were motivated or engaged in sustainability issues. Universities are nowadays very busy places with lots of different kinds of demands. The main goal of this intervention was to promote sustainability in the university's curriculum reform process from 2021 to 2024, in other words, promote collective sustainability competences in the University of Jyväskylä. The aim was for sustainability to become visible, connected, and prioritised. FN-DS03-IN01 DISCUSSIONS AND COACHING ON SUSTAINABILITY AND CURRICULA DEVELOPMENT WITH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS University With the ECF4CLIM project, we organised happenings, meetings, and discussions: 1) The ECF4CLIM project, Student Union, Student's Sustainability forum and sustainability officers of the university organized 24.1.2023 a seminar and a panel discussion on sustainability and curricula. Students were in a crucial role in organizing the seminar. They contacted faculties and asked representatives of curriculum planning to join the panel discussion and seminar. All faculties joined. They also advertised the seminar to students. Students also hosted the whole seminar and had a speech for participants. People from university administration joined the planning of the seminar. ECF4CLIM researchers facilitated the whole process and took part in informing, analysing and reporting about the seminar to the university. In addition to the seminar, during the intervention, the ECF4CLIM project created materials for curriculum development in sustainability, provided information on sustainability in curriculum reform, and held several other events for various faculties. 2) The ECF4CLIM researchers organised workshops and discussions with the Faculty of Education and Psychology, Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, and several vstudent groups from Surent union. The goal was to coach students and teachers in the promotion of sustainability competences, based on the initial ECF4CLIM Roadmap, and sharing ideas on how to take part in the curriculum reform process. within the university. Target groups of the evenyts were the staff, teachers, and students of the university. 3) The ECF4CLIM researchers created materials for curriculum development about sustainability competences. The materials were shared on curriculum planning platform for all university personnel. 4) Implementation of the new curricula started autumn of 2024. In autumn 2024, after the impelentation of the new curricula started, the ECF4CLIM team from JYU asked a student group of various disciplines from the Students' Union to assess their own new curriculum. They identified several sustainability contents, and improvements from the previous curricula. Resources Human Time Costs Page 73 of 79 Engagement The students organising the seminar were deeply engaged and motivated to promote sustainability. The seminar offered them a framework to send their message to all the faculty and the designers of the curriculum. The representatives of all the faculties joined the panel discussion. The meaning of the events, webinars and materials created in this intervention was to ease the curriculum designers' work in implementing sustainability contents in their curricula. The aim of the whole intervention was that all the faculties would engage in the sustainability contents in planning the curricula. The ECF4CLIM project tried to engage people in coming to events by offering some coffee, too. Connections The intervention was connected to the curriculum reform of the university, so the framing of the intervention came outside the ECF4CLIM project. During the intervention, we found out that each faculty has the interests of their own interests, and sustainability is not at the core of curriculum design, but for example, division of resources, like how many hours are allocated to each course. Some disciplines have special demands for the contents of education connected to legislation (e.g. teacher education and psychology education), the curriculum frame is full, and it is hard to include courses focused on sustainability. The ECF4CLIM project had no close connection to the faculties (we researchers come from the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, which does not have directly students or linked degree courses), so it was hard to become part of their development process. The ECF4CLIM team was considered an outsider. Change At the beginning of the ECF4CLIM project, students expressed concern that studies at JYU do not sufficiently incorporate sustainability perspectives. They noted that at the university level, everything seems to start from scratch, and the teaching does not acknowledge the sustainability competence they have already developed in primary and secondary education. They emphasised the need to integrate sustainability competence into their disciplinary studies to deepen their understanding. The risk, both then and now after the reform, is that new sustainability content remains superficial, preventing meaningful change and the development of students’ comprehensive, multidisciplinary sustainability competence. The students seemed to be more ready for the change towards sustainability, while teachers with established teaching habits and contents. Actions The students were deeply engaged in organising the seminar, which turned out to be the most successful part of the intervention. The main obstacle was the lack of time among both students and teachers (see the question below), which made cooperation between the ECF4CLIM team and other stakeholders difficult. This also contributed to the ultimate goal—more sustainable curricula—being less ambitious than originally planned.