Challenges to democracy in Norway and Germany – past, present and future Erasmus Project

Project Title

Challenges to democracy in Norway and Germany – past, present and future

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 : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning

Project Summary

Modern democracy has faced many challenges throughout its development but has formed the foundation for government in Europe. Young students in Germany and Norway today know these institutions well, but do they take them for granted? Democracy has come under attack several times over the last 100 years, especially in Norway and Germany, and in the last ten years, we have seen an increase in these threats to democracy. The intention of this project is to work on these threats transnationally, in a year of several anniversaries for German democracy. 100 years since the signing of the Weimar constitution, 70 years since the partition of Germany, and 30 years, after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The project involves 25 students from Nannestad VGS in Nannestad, Norway and 25 students from Goethe Gymnasium from Weimar, Germany. The project builds on previous partnerships enjoyed by both schools for over 4 years. Together they will work through eTwinning to consider and discuss different threats to democracy in recent history in each of their countries. Including the 2011 terrorist attacks on Utøya, and the NSU trials in Germany. The students will visit each other’s countries to encourage transnational learning, where they are invited into classrooms and to democratic institutions to work on the project. This method is used to encourage comprehensive language learning, as the students are selected from language classes at both schools, but to focus on an important topic to promote intercultural learning. By working closely on the project, we aim to establish lifelong relationships that encourage our students to become European citizens. The project result is a democracy exhibition that will be showed at both schools, and a panel debate hosted by Goethe Gymnasium. Based on these experiences the students are also able to share their experiences with other subjects back in their own schools and are able to expand their horizons on transnational issues.

At the conclusion of the project we share the exhibition through eTwinning, and the Erasmus+ website, as well as at the schools themselves. The results are also shared on the schools’ websites and presented to new students at the school to build interest and to involve the students in future projects. The experiences from running the project can then be shared at school and at the local teacher partnerships to promote international cooperation.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 31168 Eur

Project Coordinator

Nannestad videregående skole & Country: NO

Project Partners

• Staatliches Gymnasium “Johann Wolfgang v. Goethe” Weimar, Jugend debattiert Schule