The impact of climate change can’t be understated. According to the EU’s latest scientific research, the world’s climate has been experiencing unprecedented changes such as higher temperatures, intensified weather and changes to rainfall patterns, oceans and winds all over the world . These changes have resulted in huge financial burden for the EU, a negative impact on food production and - worst of all - loss of life due to extreme weather events.

In order to combat these negative impacts of the planet, the EU leaders agreed in 2019 that the EU should achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This will involved drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and the European Council has adopted the European Climate Law which proposes a framework for the actions required by member states in order to achieve this ).

While the proposals within the framework are mainly targeted towards companies and organisations within the EU, it is important to also consider our actions as individuals. Small habits, such as buying second hand, repairing items rather than purchasing new ones, composting food waste and familiarising ourselves with local recycling rules can have big benefits. These behaviour changes can be referred to as circular behaviours and can help us move towards a circular economy.

Adoption of circular habits is important, but equally crucial is passing on these behaviours to the next generation.

That’s where the ACCESS project comes in.

With the main target group being elementary school level educators, the project’s goal is to help elementary school level educators integrate the teaching of circular behaviours and sustainability into their school curricula.

The ACCESS project is comprised of a team of 6 different organisations from across Europe. These organisations range from non-profits and SMEs to associations and schools, each bringing with them their unique experience and expertise. The partners are the following: