Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School is currently taking part in a two-year Comenius project entitled Harmony for Earth, for Life, for People (Help) together with nine schools in Romania, Turkey, Poland, Portugal, France, Spain, Italy and Slovenia.

The project’s main aim is to promote environmental conservation and appreciation, as part of a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

Angele Pulis, the school’s assistant head and project co-ordinator, and Samuel Stellini, Systems of Knowledge teacher and the project’s IT co-ordinator, together with students Luke Cucciardi and John Charles Fenech recently took part in the fifth project meeting in Mont de Marsan, France, hosted by Lycée des metiers Robert Wlerick.

During the meeting, the students visited the Oyster Museum at Bassin d’Arcachon, where they learned about the process of oyster farming. They also visited the sand dunes of Pyla to understand the effects of the weather on the shaping of the physical environment and the detrimental effects of climate change on the area.

The project meeting also included a workshop on alcohol and drug addiction, and another on global warming. In addition to the generic and common aspects of these themes, the partner schools also discussed the particular contexts of each partner country. The outcomes of the workshops included posters and charts, which were later displayed in the schools’ corridors.

The students and teachers also visited Landes forest, which was devastated in 2009 by a storm named Klaus, to learn about the intensive reforestation project currently under way, as well as to plant some pine trees.

The project is supported by the EU through funding from the Comenius Multilateral Action under the Lifelong Learning Programme. The Maltese participants’ attendance to the meeting was co-financed by APS Bank.