Blooming Schools
We’re proud to share that Blooming Schools received the prestigious European Innovative Teaching Award, an initiative of the European Commission and part of the European Education Area.
The award celebrates outstanding teaching and learning practices, shining a light on the benefits of European cooperation in education through transnational projects. Blooming Schools was one of the successful Erasmus+ initiatives recognized for its innovation and impact.
Blooming Schools was an EU-funded project implemented in four European countries: Greece, Portugal, Malta, and Romania. The project brought a fresh perspective to environmental education by introducing wildlife gardens into schools where they previously didn’t exist.
These gardens weren’t just about plants—they became spaces for hands-on learning, where students could explore sustainability, biodiversity, and care for the environment in a real and meaningful way.
We worked with educators, children, and local communities to design and grow these outdoor classrooms. By creating natural spaces in schoolyards, we promoted integrated learning, encouraged curiosity, and nurtured a sense of responsibility for the world around us.
The project’s objective was to improve biodiversity and to give young people in secondary schools the tools, competences, and skills needed to become environmental change-makers, raise awareness, and take action with a sense of responsibility.
To achieve this, we built a strong partnership between schools, environmental NGOs, and a youth organisation.
The project partners
Blooming Schools was led by BirdLife Malta, in partnership with Friends of the Earth Malta, St Nicholas College Dingli Secondary, Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA, BirdLife Portugal), Agrupamento de Escolas de Portela e Moscavide in Portugal, Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS, BirdLife Greece), and Station Europe in Romania.
Here is a series of actions and resources that the partners worked on together during the project:
Creating wildlife gardens in schools, accompanied by a step-by-step manual that everyone can use to improve green spaces in their communities
“A garden for wildlife is one that is created with the aim of attracting and supporting native wildlife in all forms. In schools, wildlife gardens are good places for students to connect with nature, actively engaging with nature during lessons, or passively just simply enjoying time in the garden.”
Check out this video about the process of creating a wildlife gardens and the schools’ involvement.
A series of activities in secondary schools connected with the Sustainable Development Goals and using a STEAM approach
You can get started by assessing your schools grounds using these surveys!
Online module for teachers
If you want to learn how to observe nature and create your own nature-based lessons, you can take this 90-minute online course. It will teach you how to use nature as a medium for delivering curriculum without harming the environment. This course is ideal for primary teachers, but secondary teachers can also benefit from it to become more comfortable with incorporating nature into their teaching.
Strategy to engage students with ENGOs
We wanted to provide continuous opportunities for young people interested in nature, who were looking to volunteer their time with environmental NGOs. We aimed to strengthen our strategy for engaging students in secondary and post-secondary schools, encouraging them to join our Falko youth group from an early stage.
Vlogging academy for sustainability
Check out what our young participants created during the youth exchange in Romania under the guidance of Station Europe in a fun, informative and interactive way.
You can also watch all the videos made by youth and some tips about wildlife gardens and nature here.