Stories, Tales and Customs to Raise Intercultural Awareness Erasmus Project

Project Title

Stories, Tales and Customs to Raise Intercultural Awareness

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Migrants’ issues

Project Summary

An ageing population; a migrant integration crisis; and a growing anti-Europe sentiment are unfortunately the reality in the majority of EU Member States. PAST-TIMES is a project that is consciously European in its focus and it will strive to enhance the awareness of the role played by European unity in the course of its training and oral history actions.

The PAST-TIMES project has been developed against the backdrop of these 3 specific issues; that are pertinent and relevant in Europe today:

1. Europe is getting old and the EU population will peak around 2035 and then begin to slowly decline. According to Eurostat, in current EU member countries the population cohort between the ages of 15 and 64 is expected to decline from 67 percent of the total population to 56 percent by 2060. Longevity is one of the biggest achievements of modern societies. In the last 20 years and Europeans are living longer than ever before and this pattern is expected to continue. By 2020, a quarter of Europeans will be over 60 years of age. In 2015 approximately 10.5 million EU citizens suffer from dementia. That number is expected to rise to 13.4 million by 2030 and to 18.7 by 2050. The average cost for care per dementia patient is €18,000 per annum. Research on ageing clearly highlights the benefits for older persons to be derived from ongoing engagement and interaction as active members of society especially in counteracting the threat of neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s.

2. The annual report of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance observed both a rise in anti-Semitism and continued discrimination against black persons, Roma, Travelers, historical ethnic minorities and LGBTI people. As a result of the ongoing migration crisis a growing anti-immigrant sentiment and islamophobia have taken hold in Europe. In some countries the refugee crisis sparked an outpouring of solidarity while in other countries restrictive border policies combined with a toxic rhetoric have created an openly hostile environment for refugees and migrants. Seizing on Euroscepticism and anti-immigration sentiment populist Right-wing parties have attracted voters from across the political spectrum in many countries. The EU idea that trade and economic integration would result in peace and prosperity, is a success story that has lasted for over six decades. This idea provided the fundament for a Europe built on democracy, freedom, trade and openness; a union that has managed to create a great deal of value and prosperity for its citizens. It can be argued that much of this is now forgotten or taken for granted

3. Throughout 2017, EU Member States continue to see a significant influx of migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, hoping to build a new life. Within the growing migrant population there is a significant cohort of disaffected young migrants, both male and female, who are being targeted by anti-establishment groups seeking to mobilize sub-sets of the migrant communities. While many of these young migrants lack the skills and competences necessary for their economic integration into their new host country there is also a significant ignorance of Europe; its culture and traditions; its values and beliefs; its peoples and their history.

As such, there is a real need for innovation where fostering the integration of host and migrant communities is concerned in all EU Member States and the PAST-TIMES project responds to the challenge of creating a fair and equitable society which is at the core of the EU 2020 strategy. This strategy places a significant emphasis on social cohesion and the deployment of innovative ICT tools for learning. Initiatives like PAST-TIMES represent an important attempt to develop innovative interventions to support social cohesion at national and European Level. The project will build on existing migrant integration measures and look at how harnessing the latest technologies to promote webquest learning can accelerate the migrant integration process. The proposed model is being developed and piloted in 8 very different EU Member States and this will help to ensure that the processes and outputs are robust and have considerable potential transferability to other countries.

Project Website

http://www.pasttimes.eu/fr/home/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 294827,8 Eur

Project Coordinator

E-SENIORS: INITIATION DES SENIORS AUX NTIC ASSOCIATION & Country: FR

Project Partners

• INNOVENTUM OY
• FUTURE IN PERSPECTIVE LIMITED
• MEDITER – RESEAU EURO-MEDITERRANEEN POUR LA COOPERATION A.I.S.B.I.
• OSRODEK SZKOLENIOWO-BADAWCZY INNEO
• JUGEND-& KULTURPROJEKT EV
• UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA
• AEVA – ASSOCIACAO PARA A EDUCACAO E VALORIZACAO DA REGIAO DE AVEIRO