research EN | Insidee

Notes on methodology

Summary of Main Recommendations

Summary of answers

Skills and knowledge needed by educators, features of the e-learning course

Contents and features of the learning materials for young persons with mental disabilities

Contents and features of the app for eco-ambassadors and other supporting materials

Annexes

General characteristics of the interviewees

General remarks

Advice for IO2 – Blended courses for trainers

Advice for IO3 – Learning materials for final users

Advice for IO4 – Tool to become an “Eco-Ambassador”

How would you define ecological citizenship?

How would you define environmental citizenship?

What is, in your perception, the level of ecological awareness in your country? And in your region?

Are you aware of courses on ecological citizenship carried out in your country? And in your region? If yes, what are their main features and how do you judge their quality and impact?

In order to design a course on ecological citizenship aimed at young people, what are the main topics the educator should be aware of?

Which core skills are particularly relevant to carry out educational activities aimed at young mentally disabled persons?

Which educational approaches/methodologies would you recommend?

Considering that we are going to design a blended e-learning course for educators, what should the in-person part of the training focus on?

What are the most important issues that the learning materials for young people with mental disabilities should cover?

The learning material will focus on “concrete things”: eco-gestures to develop in everyone’s life, like cooking, washing, gardening, shopping etc. What would you add to this list?

Focusing on printed materials, what would you recommend about graphics, layout and characteristics of the texts?

Focusing on web-based materials, what would you recommend about graphics, layout and characteristics of the texts?

The app should be as accessible as possible. What would you recommend about: interface requirements, contents, characteristics of the texts and graphical features.

One of the aims of the app is help understand (quality and quantity) the impact of one’s activities and consumption on the environment. What is in your opinion the simplest way to achieve that?

Project INSIDEE (INclusion through SustaInable Development and European Eco-citizenship) aims to provide young people with intellectual disabilities with lnowledge and skills needed to become active and responsible European eco-citizen.

People with intellectual disabilities have the same needs as people without disabilities when information and understanding of their environment, discovery of nature, origin of their food, etc, are concerned. They need, as people without disabilities, to better control their consumption and to measure the impacts of their way of lives on the environment. They also have the same rights, the same duties and the same responsibilities in a perspective of sustainable development and European eco-citizenship.

However, young people with disabilities are often excluded from environmental concerns and sustainable development issues because of a lack of educational material and practical tools to support them.

INSIDEE tries to overcome those deficiencies through activities aimed to both youth workers and people with intellectual disabilities.

Through non-formal education, the organization of training activities and creation of adapted tools, a group of 15 youth workers will develop the competence to support young people in their organization in performing eco-actions and reflecting on their power to change things as citizens. Involved young people will also be able to become active role-models as “Eco-Ambassadors” in their social or professional environment.

In order to reach this goal, the project will develop four products.

1) Research on contents and features of educational activities and materials. It should highlight which features educational materials and tools should possess in order to effectively promote inclusion of intellectually disabled persons around ecological issues, supporting them in the role of eco-ambassadors.

2) A Blended Course for Trainers that should provide educators with knowledge and skills needed to design and carry out educational programs on ecological citizenship for persons with mental disabilities.

3) Learning materials for young people with intellectual disabilities, focusing on everyday eco-gestures that will be used to raise awareness on ecological issues and how citizens can act taking into consideration the impact of their actions on the environment.

4) An application for tablet and smartphones that will help young intellectually disabled persons become active “eco-ambassadors” or “environmental educators”. The tool will help them spread the knowledge they acquire on environmental issues within their immediate environment (colleagues, family, friends).

According to the application form, Intellectual Output 1 should help design contents and features of educational material created in the project: IO2 (Blended courses for trainers), IO3 (Learning materials for final users) and IO4 (Tool to become an “Eco-Ambassador”).

More specifically, it should provide information about:

knowledge and skills that the training course IO2 should cover, so to allow learners (educators for young people with mental disabilities) to design and carry out educational activities in the field of ecological citizenship;
the best way to deliver the IO2 training (with the constraint that at least part of it be Internet based);
contents of the IO3 learning materials for young people with mental disabilities; and their
structure and features (characteristics of the the texts, graphic identity, layout), so that they are easily accessible and usable by the target group;
structure and features of the IO4 App that will assist young people with disabilities in their role of “Eco-Ambassadors”: contents, interface, etc;

Part of the contents and some clues about features of the materials and tools are already included in the application form. However, this report should provide the basis to create a comprehensive list and let partner design in detail IO2, IO3 and IO4.

Research was carried out through interviews/conversations with expert informants, i. e. people who, because of their job, or their role in the social context, are presumably able to provide important information.

It is important to stress that the research is “qualitative”, not “quantitative”. It aimed at collecting opinions, hints, suggestions, provided by people that were chosen because they were supposed to know very well – better than the members of the project team, or from different points of view – the issues that the project deals with. The process can be thought as a temporary enlargement of the project team. We basically asked other people to help us, sharing with us their ideas on the issues.

This is also the reason why, in the interviews, open ended questions were mostly used. The interview was not meant to be a succession of questions to which the interviewee would answer yes or no, or choosing among a list of possible answers. Rather, it was a conversation that followed a predefined path which included the questions and the topics listed in the “Guide to the Interview” (Annex I). If the informant, during the discussion of one topic, wandered introducing other topics, still relating to the main subject, the deviation was welcomed: it provided ideas that weren’t considered at the beginning that added multiple facets to the original vision of the issues. Later, the interviewer would redirect the discussion to the path mapped by the Guide.

After the interview, the interviewer wrote a report containing the answers to the questions and all the interesting things, properly organized, that the interviewee suggested. Recording the interviews was not required. Each partner summarized the answers in a “country report” (Annex II).

Consents were signed before starting the interview, using Insidee Consent Form and Participation Agreement (Annex III).

The group of interviewees is quite diverse, representing a range of different roles in a variety of private and public bodies. The majority is in some way involved in organization working directly with persons with disabilities for their education, social inclusion and/or job placement, as manager, social workers or social educators. Some work in NGOs or other organizations dealing with environmental issues. A few work in the public sector a a civil servants or politicians.

In general, some of them have a very extensive experience in dealing with persons with intellectual disabilities. Others are quite expert in environmental issues. A limited number of the interviewees possesses experience in both fields.

Experience in the field of ecological citizenship differs from country to country: it appears to be wider in Bulgaria, good in Spain, dealt with in generic and occasional terms in France and Latvia, limited to waste sorting and recycling in Italy. Of course, this appraisal is limited to the experts included in the research and does not extend to the countries they live in.

Interviewees are distributed as role and country as in the following table:

The meaning of certain terms or locutions is obscure to many interviewee. Creation of a small glossary of frequently used words or phrases is advisable.
Ecological awareness is increasing everywhere However, education in “ecological citizenship” is needed in general, not limited to people with disabilities.
It is difficult to put ecological awareness in action. Support activities for people with or without disabilities are needed.
Educational activities in “ecological citizenship” are not prevalent, not widely and effectively advertised and almost never specifically designed for person with disabilities.

Educators should be aware of both global and local dimensions of environmental and ecological issues.
Educators should be able to speak in positive terms, stressing the good that everybody can do, and avoid stressing bad behaviors and errors, which would ultimately make people feel guilty and discouraged.
Educators should have knowledge of the following general topics: concept of ecological footprint; eco-system and conservation of bio-diversity at global and local level; climate change; ecological/environmental rights and duties of citizens; respect for nature: relations between economy and ecology; ecology in action (how to develop daily ecological habits and development of active ecology through ecological micro-projects); sustainable urban development and ecological mobility; living in harmony with nature; consumerism; circular economics.
Topics particularly suitable for educational activities aimed at people with disabilities are: healthy eating; recycling; separate collection of waste; water, water management; air pollution; energy saving strategies.
Educators should develop relational skills, communication techniques, knowledge of different types of disability, ability to empower, ability to listen with patience and to recognize non-verbal signs, ability to organize visits, field trips and experiments.
Training of educators should improve their flexibility and adaptability
Suggested educational approaches to use with young persons with disabilities is “learning by doing”.

Persons with intellectual disability have the same rights and responsibilities as others, and are in principle able to understand even abstract topics, with some limitations and using appropriate approaches.
Educational materials should focus on gestures that stimulates reflection leading to a better understanding of environmental issues.
Suggested topics are: recycling, reusing, daily actions/gestures, waste management, ecological rights and duties, transportation, food, clothing, conservation of resources, optimization of heating.
Suggested daily actions/gestures are: walking, using transportation means, cleaning:, waste disposal, recycling/reusing, water consumption, digital consumption, clothing, purchasing.
Contents should be offered with different levels of complexity or as templates that could be adapted to the diverse levels of capacity of users.
Text should be kept to a minimum, using short sentences, there should be plenty of realistic images and colors not too bright, using large fonts and spacing.
Web based materials should be accessible, with abundance of audio and video and interactivity.

The app should feature a social “attitude”, i.e. functions that make interactivity with other people possible, for example for exchanging good practices or make comparisons.
The gaming dimension should be emphasized.
Interface should be simple, colorful and playful and should take into account the different levels of capability possessed by the users.
The contents should focus on the same topics and issues listed previously, including everyday eco-gestures.
To give users an idea of the environmental impact of their actions, the app should use a suggestive approach rather than a strictly quantitative one.

The concept is not understood in a clear and unambiguous manner. Many interviewees associate “ecological citizenship” to awareness of the personal footprint that people have on the planet based on their behavior. Others offer a variety of interpretations: a global answer to environmental crises, a broad vision of environmental problems, a “sustainable” vision of social and environmental issues, awareness of impelling disaster and being active in raising it.

That suggests that using the “ecological citizenship” concept must be done on the basis of a clear definition. Unfortunately, academic literature is of little help, as definitions provided are sometimes conflicting. Nonetheless, defining the meaning of the concept in the framework of the project appears to be essential.

The concept of “environmental citizenship” is not unambiguously understood either. Many interviewees consider it a “subset” of ecological citizenship, but some of them give the opposite interpretation. Some reaffirm the “active” connotation of ecological citizenship, others state an equivalence between the two concepts. The legal and political implications of “environmental citizenship” are only vaguely hinted to by a few interviewees. Again, there is a need to clarify the concept, which could lead to a the creation of a small glossary to add to the intellectual outputs of the project.

“[Eco-citizenship] starts with you, you can’t do for the community what you can’t do for yourself.” (French local politician)

Environmental/ecological awareness level appears to be quite diverse in the countries represented by partners. It is also diverse inside each country. It depends on the region and, inside each region, by factors as age (higher for young people, more exposed to educational processes and media) and occupation, just to mention a few.

One issue that often came up in the interviews is the difficulty to put awareness and knowledge in action. Media and schools contributed greatly to raise awareness and spread knowledge in the past few decades, but still many people have trouble figuring out how to act in order to “help the environment”; and sometimes they know how, but can’t, because they are too used to a way of living which is not compatible with environment-friendly behavior. Sometimes it looks as knowledge and awareness are yet to be “internalized” and become really part of most people cultural framework, so at the moment they remain theoretical.

Although awareness appears to be increasing everywhere, evidence suggests that there is a real need of education in “ecological citizenship” for the general public, not only for people with disabilities.

“We can no longer deny that there is awareness, people are aware. But there is a difference between knowing and doing something.” (French Head of educational department, zoological and botanical park)

“Fortunately I think every day we are making small steps in the right direction. But in Spain we still have a very basic environmental awareness; very low.” (Spanish public servant, Ministry of Agriculture)

“Very heterogeneous in the country. Some areas are more active, some other less. Generally speaking it’s quite difficult to translate awareness in daily gestures with people with mental disability” (Italian head of a day center)

Answering this question was not easy given the uncertain meaning given to “ecological citizenship” locution.

None of Italian informants is aware ofcourses on ecological citizenship. There is literature and there are educational opportunities on “sustainable citizenship”, “environmental education” and similar topics, but courses or other educational opportunities focusing on “ecological citizenship” are quite rare. In Spain the situation looks similar: there are some introductory courses, known mostly to people dealing with ecological issues, that try to raise awareness, but with little depth. Also, most of them focus more on abstract/political issues than on concrete actions that people can do to be active ecological citizens. They are more about environmental citizenship than on ecological citizenship (in the meaning given to this locutions by Dobson (2004)). In France there are several institutions offering educational activities on these topics, sometimes focusing not only on theory or awareness raising but also on practical issues, but they lack visibility. There is no impact study to measure their results, but the people involved gave favorable feedback. Some “educative acts” are seamlessly embodied in other activities, such as recycling of tennis ball in a tennis club, that may contribute to raise awareness and show practical contributions done by little acts, but their educational effectiveness has never been assessed.

Very few activities are aimed at an audience made up of people with intellectual disabilities and they are never the main target of projects.

In Latvia there are several NGOs that organize courses on ecology and environmental issues. However, the offer is probably not adequate and/or not advertised enough, as many experts don’t know about courses on this topics; although the meaning “ecological citizenship” is not so well defined according to them, so the offer may be partially available.

In Bulgaria several NGOs provide some sort of training, but there is no structured state policy/programmes. Educational activities seem to be not very well done, resulting in boring and not-motivating courses.

Overall, we might say that, according to what the informant reported, educational activities in “ecological citizenship” are not prevalent, not widely and effectively advertised and, as far as we can say from the interviews, almost never specifically designed for person with disabilities.

“It´s hard to judge the general quality of these courses. If you expect that those courses spread awareness, the quality is good and the content is relevant. If you expect that these training actually derive in an active ecological citizenship, I think they fall short.” (Spanish project manager)

Interviewees suggested a wide and diverse range of topics and gave useful hints on how to carry out educational activities in the field of ecological/environmental education.

Experts suggest that educators should be aware of both global and local dimensions of environmental and ecological issues, although they differ in the order of priority, i. e. whether to start locally and then set topics and issues in a wider, global context or vice versa. This is because training should always aim at getting active participation, and, for that, knowledge of the local dimension of issues is essential.

One expert proposes to base the course on the Sustainable Development Goals: (https://sdgs.un.org/es/goals), therefore including, from the ecology perspective, water management, waste, sustainable food, renewable energies and sustainable communities.

Another useful suggestion regards the general educational approach: it is important to pay attention to the way concepts, notions and suggestions are communicated to learners. It is important to speak in positive terms, stressing the positive impact that everybody can have, and avoid stressing bad behaviors and errors, which would ultimately make people feel guilty and discouraged. Also, it is important to provide final learners with concrete skills so that they can get involved on a daily basis and feel actively and positively involved in the preservation of the environment.

Regarding the specific topics the educators should be knowledgeable about, suggestions provided by the interviewees included both very general and specific ones.

General topics mentioned are:

the concept of ecological footprint and its implications. More in general, knowing what changes, and how, are caused to the environment as a consequence
economy and ecology of human activity;
eco-system and conservation of bio-diversity at global and local level;
climate change;
ecological/environmental rights and duties of citizens and how those translate into patterns of behavior for individuals. This relates more to environmental rather than ecological citizenship, according to Dobson’s definitions;
respect for nature (which is difficult to teach, but can be learned by repeatedly doing things that are good for the environment, until eventually they become habits);
relations between economy and ecology: what are the main primary resources and what kind of impact extraction and production have on them, and also: conjugation of preservation of the environment and natural resources, employment, economic development and economic growth;
ecology in action: how to develop daily ecological habits and development of active ecology through ecological micro-projects;
sustainable urban development and ecological mobility;
living in harmony with nature;
consumerism;
circular economics.

The knowledge of these topics results in a solid and comprehensive background which will be useful when dealing with narrower topics that can be more easily translated in educational activities aimed at interested citizens, whether with disabilities or not. The “narrower” topics are those about which it is easier to imagine, design and implement feasible educational activities that require a reasonable effort by the learners. A large number of topics falls in this class, such as (in order of number of mentions):

healthy eating;
recycling;
separate collection of waste;
water, water management;
air pollution;
energy saving strategies.

And also (mentioned just once):

environmentally friendly shopping;
healthy life styles (eating, drinking, smoking, physical activity, etc.) ;
how food is produced;
how to manage money and savings;
education to sexuality;
saving of resources, food;
wild life;
sustainable food;
renewable energies;
agriculture;
transports;
ecological awareness;
ecological behavior;
ecological beliefs.

“[Should be] focused on “What can I start to do from tomorrow” (Bulgarian manager, youth worker, trainer)

“I would base the course on the objectives of sustainable development, because they basically include everything.” (Spanish public servant at the Ministry of Agriculture)

Interviewees listed a number of skills and attitudes that can help reach the final aim, i. e. to lead learners with intellectual disabilities towards autonomy, with particular regard to eco-citizenship. This means let them develop their personal sensibility to ecological issues and the ability to act accordingly, avoiding to impose on them the educator’s personal beliefs and values, which is a serious risk when the learners are persons who are vulnerable and easy to influence. Some “skills”, however, looks more like prerequisites than competences that can be acquired at the end of a training course.

Training of educators can and should definitely improve relational skills, communication techniques, the knowledge of different types of disability, the ability to empower, the ability to listen with patience and to recognize non-verbal signs. Also an abundance of flexibility and adaptability is required, and specialized training can develop these qualities too. Other skills that can be learned and acquired in a training course include the ability to organize visits, field trips and experiments.

Besides that, in order to be successful in educating persons with intellectual disability to eco-citizenship, educators should be endowed of:

courage, imagination, dedication, needed to start challenging, long and sometimes disappointing educational journeys;
a real, sincere vocation to teaching;
empathy;
belief in what they teach so to act as role models too. Educators must have a personal sensitivity on the subject, so to be able to set an example;
ability to generate and foster emotions;
humility, i. e. accept the fact that in spite of the huge effort required, the result will be just a small contribution to the change needed to really improve the general society attitude towards environment.

“[The skills that the trainer must have are] humility: accepting the fact that it is not alone that we will succeed in changing the world; and patience: [people with mental disability] sometimes need a lot of time and repetitions to assimilate.” (French educator)

“Trainers need to be creative and flexible, adaptive to the groups and adaptive to each participant.” (Bulgarian manager, youth worker, trainer)

“They need to be an exemplary role-model and stand behind of what they teach. In order to do so, they need to be interested in the topic.” (Spanish social worker)

“The first skill is the relational one, which is the basis for any other competence. Having and open mind, because people with mental disabilities have the same rights and the same needs we have.(Italian president of social cooperative)

Most interviewees stress the importance of “learning by doing”. This is probably the best way to engage learners, keeping them focused and fostering collaborative learning. It is also a way to cope with the difficulties in abstracting that many persons with intellectual disabilities have. Centering the pedagogy on senses helps focusing and memorizing things. It also contributes to generating emotions, that also support acquiring notions and absorbing attitudes and difficult concepts.

Learning by doing can be coupled with auto-directed learning, i. e. learners will carry out their own concrete “micro-project” acting freely within guidelines. This is a means to improve not only learning, but also self-confidence and autonomy.

Several experts mentioned also the usefulness of games. It is easier to learn when it is done in an entertaining way. This also suggests that highly interactive methodologies that imply strong participation and cooperation are preferable because spending time doing something is usually more pleasant than just listening to presentations or lectures.

Distance learning for people with intellectual disabilities is generally considered not an option, with some exceptions (see next paragraph).

Contents of educational activities should focus on things that are part of the daily life of the student. It should be something that they can introduce in their daily life, so to experiment continuously with it.

Interviewees provided also some useful recommendations on how to carry out sessions. One interviewee of Steinerian background suggested that carrying out some sort of simple rituals at the beginning and at the end of meetings – which could amount, e. g., to simply stand in circle and tell each other what they did during the session – can help create a feeling of belonging and a sense of community while respecting each person’s individuality. It is also advisable to form small groups and keep the duration of each session to a maximum of half a day, ideally outside the usual “zone of life” of the learners. And a lot of patience is required. Everyone works on its own pace, which might differ considerably from person to person.

“It’s what you do that counts. We must avoid normalizing speeches. It has to be a way of living, transmitting values: because we recognize ourselves as human, by living as we do on the farm, we respect our land, we take root and we respect it.” (French director of medico-educational institute)

“We would recommend “learning by doing. (…)I would also use new technologies and gamification as very attractive, entertaining methodologies that usually provide good results.” (Spanish project Manager)

“For sure we should use empowerment techniques for single o groups … simulation and role play are always useful to test the competence” (Italian president of social cooperative)

“We mainly advocate the use of sensory and emotional perceptions. We put all the senses into it: even the taste, especially when working on food, we will show that there is a diversity in the perception of tastes in humans. […] Everything is based on what we feel at the level of sensory perceptions and what will be triggered at the emotional level. The sensation will generate an emotion.” (French head of educational department, zoological and botanical park)

According to the majority of the interviewees, the in-person component of the blended course should focus, possibly using role-playing and simulation sessions, on the improvement of communication skills and techniques for approaching and working with persons with disabilities.

In-person sessions could also beMain findings about O2 useful to introduce some of the more complex and important topics, such as basic concepts on sustainability, and discuss them comfortably.

Other possible uses of the in-person component are demonstrations of practical work.

One interesting remark provided by a French expert is that, contrary to popular belief, distance learning can be used also with people with intellectual disability: during COVID they showed a satisfactory ability to understand the screen and approached the video-meetings very naturally, without the “codes” or “taboos” of some “ordinary” people. We must not underestimate their ability to work digitally and things as e. g. a tutorial on sorting waste seem quite accessible, even more when put in form of games.

Therefore, one interesting topic to add to the list of those already mentioned, to be dealt with in-presence or online, could be: how to work online with intellectually disabled people on ecology and environmental issues.

As a preliminary remark, several interviewees pointed out that young persons with intellectual disability have to be considered as having the same rights and responsibilities as others, and able to understand everything, even abstract topics. Of course, some limitations do exist: learning will probably require more time, workload should be limited and distributed over longer time spans, educational material should be designed ad hoc to prevent or overcome specific difficulties. But, apart from cases of severe intellectual disability, the educational approach should be more or less the same as for persons without disabilities.

Issues to focus on when working with a specific group of learners should be chosen according to the location and the needs and desires expressed by the group. In fact, to keep people involved it is important that contents are of real interest. It is also important an interactive and engaging approach, with slow pace and many repetitions: people with intellectual disabilities like repetitions because they make them feel comfortable.

One thing to consider is that persons with mental disabilities often lack the “freedom” that people without disabilities give for granted: for example, they may live in facilities and have not the possibility to go to supermarkets and buy their food. This must be taken into account when selecting the specific set of eco-gestures that the particular group of learners will be able to put in practice.

Issues that the learning material s could focus on include:

recycling:
reuse;
daily actions/gestures, so learners can be autonomous in acting ecologically during the day;
waste management;
ecological rights and duties;
transport;
food;
clothing;
conservation of resources:
optimization of heating.

The materials could also be designed to be used in conjunction with field trips: for example, one interesting subject with possible outdoor experience is raising animal, industrially vs. naturally, to appreciate the differences.

Educational materials (and venues chosen for field trips) should be stimulating but void of excessive sensory stimulus, so to prevent difficulties or crisis. Also, they should be safe, easy to read and with pictograms, and include plenty of practical examples, especially things that can be observed or done ordinarily. For example, instead, of giving as example plastic garbage islands in the Oceans, they could point to local neglected places where plastic and other garbage accumulates.

One important remark is that the educational materials should focus on gestures that stimulates reflection leading to a better understanding of environmental issues. For example, having a shower conserving water and using natural products to protect the person’s own health is good for the planet but also for the person who takes the shower. On the other hand, not taking a shower is not environmentally friendly: it doesn’t help the well-being of people. This means that what is relevant and good for the environment and others is often good and relevant also for the person who perform the action. And what is bad for that person cannot be considered an exemplary gesture, even if, apparently, it contributes more to the health of the planet.

Among gestures, those related to consumption deserve a particular attention. Buying goods or services is a common and frequent gesture with profound implications: for example, where the goods come from, and what that means in terms of transportation and pollution; how they are produced, and related pollution and possible exploitation of people and natural resources; how the goods can be disposed of, and whether they can be recycled or naturally degrade or remain in the environment forever; how much to consume, the impact of over-consumption on environment, and the role of advertising in shaping our perceived needs and purchasing patterns.

A non-exhaustive list of possible gestures to be taken into consideration include:

walks: without throwing paper on the ground, or cigarette butts;
transportation: deciding whether to go on foot, by bycicle, by car or public transport;
cleaning: choosing which cleaners (toxic or natural) to use;
waste disposal: paying attention to properly sorting waste;
recycling: how to reuse reusable things before throwing them away;
water: how to limit consumption of water in everyday gestures such as washing oneself or dishes or the house;
freetime/hobbies/sports: buying lots of things we like doesn’t necessarily turns out in more enjoyment of one’s passions;
digital consumption – over-consumption of devices, consumption of energy, hardware- friendly[1] software and internet-based[2] services;
clothing – buying eco-friendly products;
purchasing – examine one’s motivations and real needs before buying something.

In general it is important to notice that the list does not include anything specifically thought for persons with mental disabilities; on the other hand, some of the actions listed might not be included in their sphere of autonomy, meaning that e. g. people living in facilities may have no opportunity to choose what to eat or how to go form here to there; but then again, they will still have the possibility to voice their opinions and preferences.

Contents may be the same as for persons without mental disabilities, but the way to present them in printed (and web) media cannot be the same.

A multilevel treatment of the material seems to be necessary; or templates that can be easily adapted to the diverse levels of capacity that groups educators work with usually present.

As general tips, experts suggest that text should be kept to a minimum, with short and clear sentences. There should be plenty of images and colors: colors should not be too bright and images should be realistic, as evocative or childish graphics could be misleading or unpleasant or simply hard to understand. Materials should not contain too much information. Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication techniques could be an option to help people with severe impairment.

As people with intellectual disabilities may have troubles with their eyesight, fonts should be very readable and big, and spacing large.

A good idea could be creating learning material to be used in conjunction with concrete objects, Objects that can be seen, touched, manipulated and/or smelled stimulates the senses, which are mediators for sensations and emotions and, ultimately, learning.

On expert raised an interesting question with serious educational implications: “printing” materials, using paper and inks, is it an eco-friendly gesture, really?

“The letters – big sized, only few sentences/paragraphs on page. More pictures than texts. The pictures include basic objects, without a plenty of detailed surrounding objects. (Bulgarian graphic designer, youth worker and trainer of disabled people)

“I think it would interesting that the didactical guidelines and materials take into account the different levels. Because usually when we want to work on a topic, we download information at a certain level and then we have to adapt it.” (Spanish social worker)

“I think it depends to the ability of the target group. It should be simple, easy to read, maybe colorful and catchy. … it is better to stay basic and adaptable” (Italian president of social cooperative)

The suggestions made for the printed material stand for web-based material too, according to the majority of experts. They also recommend to pay strong attention to accessibility and to extensively use multimedia and hypertext features (links, gadgets, etc.). Also use of audio and video is highly recommended as a tool for overcoming functional illiteracy.

Some experts mentioned the importance of interactivity that can be used, e. g. in quizzes and games. However, interactivity can lead to complicated interfaces, that should be avoided. A good idea is to submit the pages developed to a group of persons with intellectual disabilities, including a diverse set of impairments, for testing, so to actively involve the target group in the development process.

“Interactive modules, as attractive as possible; it’s important that the learning materials should provoke positive emotions and provoke thinking on the topics/actions.” (Bulgarian manager, youth worker, trainer)

“Games. Games usually are very useful. We always look for games that are related to the topics we work. Even people that usually don´t use technology at home, if it is intuitive, they learn it quickly.” (Spanish social worker)

“… extremely simple and very catchy paying attention to the pictures that should be explicit and not evocative. A strong attention to the accessibility” (Italian president of social cooperative)

One feature of the app recommended by some experts is a social “attitude”: the app should include functions that make interactivity with other people possible, for example through games playable in teams. This could help the group have fun focusing on a relevant topic, which could become familiar and appealing without apparent effort. This way, that topic could remain at the center of the participants interest for a longer time and that would greatly facilitate learning.

Even if not interactive, the gaming dimension should be emphasized. The app should be in the first place fun and entertaining to be used extensively and not only when required or at least suggested by the educators. It must give people the desire to open it before trying to send messages and give information.

Interface should be simple, colorful and playful and, again, should take into account the possibly very different levels of capability possessed by the user group.

The contents should focus on the same topics and issues listed previously, including everyday eco-gestures. This could be presented as processes, listing the series of actions/steps needed to carry them out, so that the app could be used as a real-time guide.

Also images of objects needed to effectively carry out these Eco-Gestures could be included.

Other suggestions are:

including something like a diary. People fill in their consumption of water, for example, and the app works like a tracker. This could also work like a game where different people behaviors are compared, paying attention not to raise the level of competition too much.
including existing tools that can help generate or increase love for nature, such as apps dedicated to recognition of flowers, trees and other plants or bird noise / singing.

Anyway, a series of components with different levels of complexity would be highly appreciated.

“The app should be focused on “What can I start to do from tomorrow”, to see results every week/month. Intuitive interface, easy to use and navigate.” (Bulgarian manager, youth worker, trainer)

“…an Eco-Gesture can be summed up in a process of different activities. So you can propose an Eco-Gesture with its different steps to actually carry out this Eco-Gesture and the student would have to choose the right steps and the right order.” (Spanish project manager)

“… easy to play and very catchy, using bright colours, buttons, icons, maybe with short videos or emoticons … it should be able to rise the attention of the young people. I suggest a large use of visual language.” (Italian president of a social cooperative)

The concept of carbon footprint is probably too abstract to be useful, not only for persons with intellectual disabilities but also for a large part of people without disabilities. Besides, ecological footprint calculation can get quite negative as all the daily activities are negative for the environment. It is necessary to provide concrete, tangible ways to give a quantitative idea of the impact of everyday actions on the environment. This quantification should aim at being suggestive more than precise. For example, how many bottles of water are equivalent to leaving the water running while brushing your teeth? Or taking a shower compared to having a bath? How many liters of oil we use to bring to our table locally produced food instead of the same food – maybe cheaper and/or more/less healthy – imported from another country? How long does it takes before products decompose in nature? This could be represented in graphics on a time scale axis.

Ir could be interesting to keep track in a sort of diary of actions performed by users and show whether their behavior is improving or not form the environment point of view. Also, a social component could be included, comparing behaviors inside the group and promoting the exchange of good practices.

Social sector manager and workers

Local politicians and civil servants

Managers/workers of Environmental Organizations

Teachers, trainers, educators specializing in ecological issues and/or working with person with disabilities

Guide to the interview
Consent Form and Participation Agreement
National reports

[1]Operating systems and software that provide more or less the same services but are compatible with older hardware and do not require continuous upgrading of devices.

[2]Both services less hungry of resources and providers who pay attention to energy consumption and management.