Program Overview:
The US Embassy in Paris and the Smithsonian’s Office of International Relations and Smithsonian Science Education Center have developed a unique program, France in Focus, that invites students and educators to connect across the globe and focus on issues of sustainability. The 2021-2022 virtual exchange engaged 850 students and their educators from the U.S., France, and French overseas regions. The France in Focus project leverages community research guides from the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project, and engages students in virtual exchange on the eTwinning platform provided by Erasmus+.
The 2022-2023 program is designed for students to engage with the guide entitled Biodiversity! How do we balance the needs of people with the needs of other living things?
Program Goals:
- Students engage in activities from the Biodiversity! guide to explore their role in biodiversity and sustainability in their own communities.
- Students engage with peers internationally through the eTwinning platform to understand global-local interconnection and share knowledge about their experiences and their communities’ solutions.
- Students converse with international experts in the field.
- Students are equipped with the skills and knowledge to move toward a capstone project, focused on biodiversity in their own community.
Please see the FAQ below. If you have additional questions about the program, please reach out to Katherine Pedersen Blanchard at BlanchardKP@si.edu or Alexa Mogck at Mogck@si.edu.