The second EduFire Toolkit pilot test took place on the 22, 23 and 25 February at the Institut Taradell, Barcelona, Spain. It was organised by the Pau Costa Foundation and delivered to 4º ESO students (15 and 16 years old) with the help of Biology and Geology teacher Ceci Carmona.
Besides testing the teaching resources developed by EduFire Toolkit, this pilot test sought to connect students with their territory while learning about wildfires and land management by following a project-based learning approach.
“Students applied what they were learning into making different products, making their learning tangible, and therefore satisfying. This can have a significant impact on young people and their relationship with the environment”, explains pilot test Co-coordinator Helena Ballart (Pau Costa Foundation).
“We also wanted students to make connections between different subjects: geography, maths, earth science, arts, etc.”, adds Co-coordinator Carla Vilarasau (Pau Costa Foundation).
Actors representing several realms of risk and forest management participated in the pilot test, allowing students to get to know first-hand different aspects relevant to these fields. Firefighters (Catalan Fire and Rescue Service), shepherds (Fire Flocks project), forest engineers (Pau Costa Foundation) and the local Urban Planning and Environment councillor shared their knowledge and experiences with the students.
“By talking directly to the local actors who came to the school, students got the whole picture and realised that everything we had been talking about for three days makes sense and is important”, says Carla.
“Many students found it very enriching. A range of possibilities opened to them by, for example, knowing other realities and jobs”, states Helena.
Over three days, among other things, students built a 3D model of their municipality, Taradell, where they applied what they were learning to represent the land management strategies they thought were most appropriate to locally reduce the risk of wildfire. They also produced two podcasts and collaborated on a news story for El 9 TV, for which they interviewed some of the local actors who participated in the pilot test.
“They worked in a fun and interactive way doing the interviews and involving some of the participating actors, which enriched the whole experience”, points out Carla.
The 3D model of Taradell will be displayed at the exhibition “Edavant les Atxes”, starting on the 8 February at the cultural centre Can Costa. Visitors will also be able to listen to the podcasts and watch the news clip at the exhibition.
Students were not the only ones who learned from this experience.
“It was very good for us to see how feasible some of our activities are in a real context, and how they can be applied. It will also help us tune some things up”, considers Helena.
“Thanks to the activities proposed by EduFire Toolkit, it has become clear to the students that climate change is acting in the current fires, making them much larger and with so much energy above extinction capacity. On a personal level, I have learned as much or more than the students”, states Ceci.
After the pilot test at Institut Taradell, it will be the University of Lisbon´s turn to run the third pilot test, and, during the remaining nine months of the project, the consortium will refine the teaching resources. These will be freely available for secondary teachers from October 2024 on this website.
