Welcome to the Environmental Projects website. On this site you will find information and photographs about the linked environmental projects that have been carried out between two schools, one in France, Jeanne D'Arc and one in England, Marden High. The project has been sponsored by Akzo Nobel's Corporate Social Responsibility Scheme and facilitated by Newcastle University's Dove Marine Laboratory.

One of the aims of the project has been to raise the student's awareness of the plants and animals that are found in habitats close to their homes. The French students studied a large freshwater pond in Roinville near Paris, whilst the English students investigated a smaller pond and stream in Northumberland. Both schools have also investigated the rocky shore at Cullercoats Bay and viewed marine organisms through microscopes at The Dove Marine Laboratory. The results of what was found at each site can be viewed on the website.

Another important aim of the project was for the students to build friendships with young people from different cultures and backgrounds. The two groups of young people had spoken to each other via a video conference in June 2006 and they met each other face to face when the students from the College Jeanne D'Arc visited England in October 2006. They visited Marden High School, exchanged ideas about the projects, made friends, and visited several heritage sites in the Northeast.

Citizenship, the philosophy that we should all act as responsible members of society, has an established place in the national curriculum in England and France. This project aimed to promote it as an underlining theme running through the study. Students were asked what they thought about the habitats that they had explored and invited to suggest ways in which each area could be managed sustainably. Akzo Nobel and Newcastle University staff took part in a “Courtroom Debate” with the students. This involved the pupils playing the roles of court officials prosecuting members of the public, such as industrialists, farmers, car drivers and others (represented by adults) who may be causing environmental damage to the sites.