How a European project inspires environmental awareness and collaboration at a school in Ceuta

Interview conducted by Panodyssey for Green Tales with Antonio Merino Collantes

_{Students in Ceuta gathered around the Green Tales project: creativity, sharing, and collective learning}

How is Green Tales changing the way students perceive and approach environmental issues?

This school year, the school has encouraged the use of recycled materials across all activities, and the Green Tales project has further strengthened this commitment.

The spaceship we are building as part of the project is made of nearly 70% recycled materials. In addition, all the paper used in our Green Tales activities is FSC-certified, ensuring responsible forest management.

^{Creative workshop with recycled paper characters}

Can you share some highlights or notable achievements with Green Tales in your classroom?

Here’s what some participants said:

“We worked with two fifth-grade groups, and tomorrow it will be with two sixth-grade groups. The result was incredible: huge participation, an impressive level of attentiveness, and a very beautiful final outcome.”

“If you’re not very comfortable with the digital side, you can focus more on the artistic side… and vice versa.”

“The students loved it! They want to try it again at home. They can even do it with their own phone, their parents’ phone, or simply with their bodies: Stop Motion means moving slowly. It can be done with drawings, cut-outs, or body movements.”

Having Violeta as a visiting artist is a real privilege. Everything she brings helps the school grow and progress, both artistically and digitally. The students in particular benefit from her work, discovering a wide range of creative techniques and tools that enrich their personal development.

How do students and teachers collaborate differently thanks to Green Tales?

Green Tales has strengthened the connection between environmental education, visual arts, and creativity. Both students and teachers stepped into the role of ‘learners’ to discover stop motion techniques. This shared posture brings teachers and students closer together, softening their relationship and fostering empathy.

_{Students discover stop motion techniques to bring their creations to life.}

The project also offered workshops in storytelling and audiovisual production, two different yet complementary approaches, alongside activities related to environmental sciences. This combination opened new pathways for collaboration, where teachers and students work together across disciplinary boundaries to create rich, multidimensional learning experiences.

By anchoring these initiatives in the local context, the surrounding environment becomes a silent co-teacher, encouraging exploration and shared discoveries about the ecosystem around the school.

_{When visual arts meet music: students bring their drawings to life with sound}

Creative storytelling activities have become a cornerstone of collaboration, with students and teachers co-creating narratives focused on environmental themes. This process strengthens environmental awareness, shared creativity, and mutual learning.

The integration of digital media production has further transformed these collaborative practices: students and teachers now create and share environmental content together using engaging and innovative digital tools.

_{Students collaborating on the creation of a stop motion animation.}

The intercultural exchanges facilitated by Green Tales have expanded collaboration beyond the classroom walls. Students and teachers from different countries now work hand in hand, enriching discussions, broadening perspectives, and fostering a sense of global citizenship. This international dimension provides a deeper, more shared understanding of global environmental challenges.

By emphasizing participatory learning cultures, the project has shifted the focus from finished products to the learning process itself. This approach encourages continuous dialogue and collective problem-solving, making the school experience more dynamic and responsive. By valuing everyone’s contributions, Green Tales has created a collaborative environment where creativity, critical thinking, and environmental engagement flourish together.

What impact do you see on students’ sense of European identity and cultural awareness thanks to Green Tales?

Green Tales encourages students to share traditional stories, myths, and folklore with peers from other countries. This process allows them to explore both common themes and cultural differences, fostering empathy and openness to other perspectives. The project thus celebrates diversity and highlights the richness of ways of life across Europe.

In a multicultural region like Ceuta, Green Tales helps bridge social divides by giving all students, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, a voice within a shared European project. This inclusion strengthens their sense of belonging to Europe and fosters a collective sense of responsibility. By collaborating with their European peers on shared goals around the environment and storytelling, students gain a concrete understanding of the values that unite them: sustainability, cooperation, and respect for human rights.

_{Creative workshop with recycled paper characters for Green Tales}

“Green Tales has played a key role in developing our school’s digital and entrepreneurial skills.” — Jantonio Merino Collantes

To explore more articles on this project, head over to the Creative Room Green Tales.

Curious to learn more about this European project? Check out the official Green Tales website.

To read more articles on this topic, visit the Education & Training category on Panodyssey.