European Project for web-assisted Environmental Education
  freeyourriver Background information Didactical guidelines What do the teachers do?   B. Objectives
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B. Definition of the objectives

  • In relation to the students’ training:

Notional objectives – the knowledge of the local river:

The proposals for river management must (in a broad sense) be founded on scientific knowledge acquired by the students. . The students needn’t have a mastery of all the scientific concepts on the FyR platform and not all need to be broached but the team must be able to outline in simple terms the terms that must be mastered by each student group in relation with their chosen object of study.

Notional objectives – sustainable development

The work on the river will raise concepts related to sustainable development

The environment meets man’s individual and collective needs:L'environnement répond à des besoins individuels et collectifs de l'homme:
  • Habitat
  • Leisure, tourism
  • Jobs and economic activities: agriculture, breeding, industry. etc.
  • Culture
Various physical, chemical, and biological factors naturally transform the environment. To fulfill their needs, men develop and transform their environment. The consequences of such developments may be positive or negative depending on the aspects considered: resource management (improvement or overexploitation), suppressed or softened constraints, improvement of living conditions, emergence of new hazards, etc. They can be direct or indirect, reverisble or irreversible on the scale of several generations. Today’s developments should not limit the opportunities for future developments. Sustainable development requires a projection onto the future in diverse fields in order to identify the stakes and the risks.
  • Take into account the preservation of the environment at various levels (more or less depending on the epoch, the prevailing ideology, the current technology …)
  • Are rooted in history, use scientific knowledge and technical advances
  • Are conditionned by needs, objectives and values that differ according to the societal type
  • Follow defined decision-making procedures
  • Require the involvement and participation of the actors
  • Lead to conflict of interests and require arbitration (political democracy, citizenship)
Regulations evolve to enforce the principles and values of sustainable development while providing a framework. In return they are enriched by its concerns. Individual habits and behaviour interfere with collective choices. The choices of consumption/consumers on the one hand and industrial and commercial choices (marketing) on the other hand interact closely. They have direct and indirect impact on the environment. The consumer-citizen makes political, social and ethical choices. The upholding of individual and collective values conditions a reasoned management of the environment.

It may not be possible for the teaching team to acquire all the knowledge required for the study of the river before they involve the students. However the teachers must have a clear idea of a number of concepts that will be used by the students’ groups. A conceptual framework may facilitate both the understanding of what’s at stake locally and the different stages of the project, among which the inventory of individual and collective representations of the river is foremost. The framework must integrate the different dimensions of sustainable development:

  • Environmental aspects
  • Economic aspects
  • Social and cultural aspects

The global approach above mentioned makes it necessary, at least at the onset, that the different fields of analysis be given the same importance, the same study value. Coming second, the definition of priorities in relation with the local context will allow the students’groups to make choices and favour this or that aspect ( the development of a tourist area in a little-polluted region may favour economic aspects, like a consideration for access, parking etc..)

Objectives of methodology and behaviour:

  • Mastery of project-oriented methodology. The students have to be able to implement the various stages, following the staff team’s outlines rather than discourse theoretically on the methodology.
  • Students’ autonomy and functioning: the educational objectives of the various disciplines will be met through implementation of simple, concrete, or conceptual tools (calculation, photography, drawing, texts…) 
  • Respect for safety rules in the field.
Citizenship: As the project evolves the students will develop essential citizenship values around:
  • Respect for the others and the environment.
  • Participation, involvement in public life.
  • European dimension (languages and intercultural exposure)
  • Argumentation, choice...
They will also acquire the IT skills for and through the use of «Free your River» platform.
  • In relation to the project:
The members of the team will agree on the general objectives of the project. This allows implementation, possible reorientation, and evaluation to be easier.Priorities can be defined from the following list:
  • Local study;
  • Systemic approach: not only river protection is aimed at but also the integration of the different criteria linked with the diversity of river uses;
  • Involvement of several partners (pluralism of viewpoints);
  • Implementation of concrete actions;
  • Productions on FYR platform and in the school;
  • Communication with schools along the same river;
  • Communication with schools of the other participating countries;
  • Involvement of local political decision-makers;
  • Consultation and/or involvement of local populations.