Measures to promote environmental education
In the context of the implementation of the resolution of the Council and the Ministers of Education meeting within the Council (88/C 177/03) and the conclusions of the Council on the development of environmental education (92/C 151/02), the Commission plans to grant financial support for measures in this sector. The total amount available is of the order of ECU 1,000,000. The aims of the proposed measures are to: - Help promote environmental education in order that it may become an integral and essential part of every European citizen's upbringing; - Strengthen environmental education at all levels of the educational system; - Promote awareness of environmental problems at Community as well as local level; - Strengthen the European dimension in education. In order to be eligible for selection, the projects should: - Have a good cost-effectiveness ratio; - Generate a lasting multiplier effect on a European scale; - Demonstrate an effective and balanced degree of cooperation between the various partners at the levels of: . Project design; . Project implementation; . Financial participation; - Have a direct transfrontier impact on a European scale (involving participation by at least two EU Member States); - Facilitate the lasting integration of environmental studies in the educational context; - Promote the transfer and exploitation of innovative experiments on a European scale. In accordance with the conclusions of the Council and the Ministers of Education meeting within the Council on 1 June 1992 on the development of environmental education (92/C 151/02), priority will be given to measures promoting programmes of cooperation and exchange geared to the lasting integration of environmental education in the following sectors: - Initial and in-service training of teachers (general, technical and vocational education), including the organization of teacher-training teams; - Design, testing and evaluation of educational materials; - Networking of educational structures (resource centres, etc.) in the field of environmental education; - Educational innovations in an interdisciplinary and evaluative context; - Complementarity with other Community initiatives (SOCRATES, etc.). The following are not eligible: - Actions limited to a single Member State; - Educational exchange visits and school trips; - Investment projects or projects involving plant and equipment; - Public awareness and information campaigns; - Activities already in progress; - Initiatives involving vocational training for adults or university-level training courses other than those mentioned above. As a general rule, financial support for the projects selected may not be less than 20% or more than 50% of the actual costs incurred in carrying out the projects. In practice, such support should range from ECU 20,000 to ECU 100,000. Applications for funding must be sent to: European Commission Directorate-General for the Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection "Environment and Education" 200 rue de la Loi B-1049 Brussels