Project Code: 2024-1-EL01-KA210-SCH-000250200
Small Steps, Big Resilience: How Creativity Supports Emotional Recovery in Times of Climate Crisis
At ComMedi, we believe that when young minds are met with trauma—whether from wildfires, floods, or earthquakes—they deserve more than just emergency drills and textbook lessons. They need stories, colors, and empathy. The Erasmus+ KA210-SCH project Small Steps, Big Resilience was born out of this belief. It is a transnational initiative uniting four schools from Greece, Latvia, and Bulgaria with ComMedi, a creative social enterprise, around one urgent mission: to help children aged 4–8 face eco-anxiety and recover emotionally from natural disasters through the power of visual storytelling and environmental education.
Triggered by the recurring environmental emergencies in our region of Thessaly—an earthquake in 2021, wildfires in 2022, and devastating floods in 2023—our team at ComMedi began working closely with local schools to develop new, child-friendly tools that could support emotional resilience. Through this project, our creative team collaborates with educators, climate experts, and psychologists to design engaging graphic guides and educational booklets that help children understand natural hazards while also learning how to manage fear, stay safe, and feel hopeful.
ComMedi’s role in the partnership goes beyond content creation. We lead the Teacher Training Workshop in Greece, where we equip educators with strategies and creative methods to use these tools in their classrooms. The materials are not only beautifully illustrated—they are also rooted in science and pedagogy. Each guide tells a simple, emotionally sensitive story about events like floods or earthquakes and offers practical, visual advice tailored to a child’s world. Accompanied by games, activities, and family engagement tasks, the materials help children and their school communities build emotional and environmental literacy together.
Our philosophy in Small Steps, Big Resilience is clear: children learn best when their hearts are engaged. And in a world facing rapid climate shifts, emotional learning is not an extra—it is essential. Through our collaboration with schools in Bulgaria and Latvia, we are also collecting and comparing regional experiences with climate-induced events to ensure the project reflects real-life diversity while promoting shared European values of solidarity, inclusion, and sustainability.
The project culminates in a cross-country dissemination effort, including national events and a final public presentation in Latvia. ComMedi coordinates the production of both printed and digital versions of the guides, which will be made openly available for wider use in European classrooms and training settings.
Small Steps, Big Resilience is not just a school project. It is a creative response to a climate emergency. It is a reminder that art, when combined with education and empathy, can be a powerful ally in helping our youngest citizens face the future with courage, care, and creativity.
