Abstract:

Climate change affects all regions of the world and can affect our health, our ability to grow food, our livelihoods, our security and various activities. Its effects include torrential rains and other extreme weather events, which are now becoming more frequent. It is heavy rainfall that can trigger flash floods, such as the common type of river flooding in built-up areas, which is why they are among the world's deadliest and most damaging natural disasters. This can lead to widespread flooding and a reduction in water quality, but also to a reduction in the availability of water resources.
The Faculty of Civil Engineering of TUKE has responded to the demands of practice, focusing on the need for experts in the field of the impact of climate change on the environment. The area of flood prevention forms an integral part of studies at the faculty and is also included in research activities.
In response to the current situation, the PROFF - Protection against flash floods project was developed within the Erasmus+ programme. The project has been accepted and currently six partners from four countries are working on it. The partners represent universities, vocational schools and educational organisations. The project coordinator is the Technical University of Kosice (TUKE).
The main idea of the project is to develop a series of workshops for Vocational Education and Training (VET) students on the topic of natural disasters due to climate change, with a particular focus on protection against flash floods. To support the implementation of the project, the partners will organise various activities to increase the capacity of VET teachers to apply the STEAM methodology and the use of digital tools (augmented reality) in their classrooms.
The project promotes awareness-raising on the environment and climate change and will develop VET teachers' and students' competences in understanding the implications of climate change on natural disasters. Through project activities, students and teachers will understand the impact of their activities on climate change and discover ways to protect themselves from natural disasters (including prevention). In this way, they become real agents of change. During the implementation of the project, training seminars will be organised, one on teacher education and training and one for students. The joint seminars will help them to develop their sustainability competences and thus be able to promote environmental sustainability approaches in their organisations.

Keywords:

Project, climate change, VET students.