Project Ekopolis

The Basic information about the Ekopolis project

Official name:  Development of a methodical manual for an educational activity focused on the environmental education

Identification number of the project: CZ. 1.07/1.1.00/08.024

The goal of the project is to create an attractive board game which could be utilized in a variety of purposes regarding the general environmental education. Each student will play a role of a mayor who is developing his or her city and must balance the economical, social and environmental aspects while doing so. The project will also include a thorough methodical manual and worksheets designed to help the teachers, and also an internet platform enabling the students to fulfill the additional tasks connected to their actual surroundings.

Who is the project designed for?

It is, above all, designed for the students and teachers ranging from the 4^th to 9^th grades of the basic schools (including mixed classes) and for the students attending parallel grades at junior high schools. This activity can also be employed in the first year of senior high schools.

Why to work with Ekopolis in your school?

Environmental education is not always easily incorporated into the curriculum and taught in a comprehensive and dynamic way. The Ekopolis project represents an attractive and effective aid which can not only improve the students' knowledge in the field, but also aims at changing their attitudes and values. Students will face a hypothetical situation in which they will have to make decisions independently and their success will depend on their ability to account for different features and interconnections of the relationship between human beings and the environment. The additional worksheets and projects will then enable them to apply the game situations to their particular surroundings.

What does the Ekopolis project concretely involve?

A sufficient number of game sets to be used in a classroom.

Thoroughly prepared materials for teachers to be used as a part of the environmental education (suggestions on how to incorporate the game into the lessons, suggestions for further projects connected to the game, web applications for further utilization of the game).

A financial aid for a project coordinator at school who should secure the organization of all the activities connected to the game.

The project is co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Czech Republic. It has been accepted and is running from the school year 2009/2010 to 2011/2012 at schools throughout the Czech Republic (with the exception of Prague where it is not possible to support the project). Thanks to the financial support of the structural funds of the EU, it is provided free of charge to all schools involved in the project.