Social Europe 2020: Combating Social Exclusion and Poverty in the European Union Erasmus Project

Project Title

Social Europe 2020: Combating Social Exclusion and Poverty in the European Union

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Social dialogue; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

The project Social Europe 2020: Combating Social Exclusion and Poverty in the European Union (EU) has taken as a starting point the goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth regarding the fight against social exclusion and poverty. The European Commission (EC) aims to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 20 million by 2020. In order to reach this goal, the EC launched in 2010 the European Platform Against Poverty and Social Exclusion as one of seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 Strategy. One of the key actions of this platform, which will remain active until 2020, is to work in partnership with civil society to support more effectively the implementation of social policy reforms.

Public schools across Europe are hosting pupils from socially and economically diverse backgrounds and can be seen as key actors in promoting social cohesion and equality and combating social exclusion in their communities. Within this context, six European schools launched in 2017 an Erasmus+ project dealing with the fight against social exclusion and poverty in their own countries: the Institut Lacetània in Manresa (Spain) acting as the coordinating school, the Kaufmännische Schule in Göppingen (Germany), the 3rd General Lyceum of Kavala (Greece), the Liceo Scientifico Morgagni of Rome (Italy), the Lubelskie Centrum Kształcenia Zawodowego i Ustawicznego im. Krzysztofa Kamila Baczyńskiego in Lublin (Poland), and the Zealand Business College in Næstved (Denmark). The teachers involved in this project have extensive experience in projects related to economic and social issues. All the partners have been cooperating for several years now and a significant number of European projects have been successfully carried out in the last 10 years.

In this project, our schools have promoted teaching activities and active debates in our communities in order to raise awareness of this topic. Being aligned with the Europe 2020 strategy, this project has also helped our school communities understand social exclusion and poverty and get involved in the fight against this problem by launching an open dialogue with policy makers, social agents, and people who have experienced poverty. It is true that social exclusion and poverty differ from country to country, especially from North to South. Nevertheless, students have dealt with this topic no only from a national and regional viewpoint, but also taking into account the social situation in other European countries in order to draw similarities, differences, and suggestions on how to overcome social exclusion and poverty.

Students between 16 and 19 years of age have participated in this project. Each stage of the project consisted of a working phase using eTwinning and other online resources, and a transnational meeting in which the results were exchanged and evaluated. Our dissemination activities took place both inside and outside our schools, especially during the transnational meetings. As for the results of the project, the partnership has produced a number of comparative researches on how the participating countries legislate against social exclusion and poverty, giving special attention to the translation of the EU recommendations and directives into national law and practices, i.e., how the participating countries are developing their national policies according to the EU directives and goals. Special attention has been given to the role played in each country by policy makers, economic and social actors. The outcomes of the research reflect the feasibility of the EU 2020 goals and measures for the EU, focusing on different situations and particular circumstances at both national and transnational level.

As for the most significant impacts of the project, students have been able to develop methodical competences and improve their language skills, critical and creative thinking skills, interpersonal skills, and practical skills by acquiring research and decision-making techniques. Teachers participating in the project has also developed specific competences necessary for the successful implementation of transnational projects and the integration of transferable skills into students’ daily activity. Moreover, the introduction of the Europe 2020 targets into the school program has been an enrichment for our schools. Finally, one of the most significant impacts of this project has been the close collaboration between the schools involved in the partnership and significant social bodies and key persons in our local and regional communities dealing with issues of poverty and social exclusion. We expect, therefore, our analysis and researches to be helpful for these institutions and people, as they will be able to perceive the strengths and weaknesses of their initiatives and measures to reach the EU goals.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 83400 Eur

Project Coordinator

Institut Lacetània & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Liceo Scientifico Morgagni
• 3rd General Lyceum of Kavala
• Zealand Business College
• Lubelskie Centrum Ksztalcenia Zawodowego i Ustawicznego im. Krzysztofa Kamila Baczynskiego
• Kaufmännische Schule Göppingen