Refugees Erasmus Project

Project Title

Refugees

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 school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Migrants’ issues; Integration of refugees

Project Summary

We had decided to implement this project,because we saw the need to familiarize our Nations with the refugees and vice versa.EU states have decided to take in a large number of refugees in their lives.The goal is to gradually integrate them into our communities.We faced big displays of sympathy or antipathy addressed to the people entering Europe.We dealt with the issue of EU,which, as it seems, is not yet ready to accept them in its life,even if it is only for a period of several years.It concerns people that have nothing in common with Europe,they have no information about the rules and interpersonal relations,they are in a bad psychological state and so their arrival cannot avoid confusion,conflicts and problems.We analyzed problems associated with their integration into the EU community and we discussed and examined proposals and temporary solutions and pointed out the perspective and point of view of our pupils,from the background of different countries and approaches.We pointed out the differences in the perception of the world,as such,the different ways in which different EU countries look at people that enter Europe,how they perceive the cultural differences and whether they are able to cope with their arrival in a human way or not.The coordinator of the project was responsible for the communication between partners,for meetings’ preparation,for the organization of the whole project.The school participated in the organization of the whole project,provided its partners with all the necessary information,and was sure that the appropriate space was available,so that the work on all the set tasks was carried out and this way the intended goals could be achieved.At the beginning of the project,noone had information about what the refugee wave practically meant.Of course,we had some experience with the migration of people that is very common in Europe,but none of us had ever met the influx of millions in our lives.Many pupils were involved in the project mainly because of their need to learn new information and understand the situation.Teachers wanted the young people to know the truth about why refugees appeared,who they are,where they were going where they wanted to go.The first project meeting was in Iceland.Icelanders,as the only country,have expressed an interest in hosting more refugees than their quota would expect them to.We had discussions with the Red Cross,psychologists,doctors,non-profit organizations,but also personal contact with Syrian children from the school.All the new information began to open our eyes.We realized that the majority of Central Europeans are xenophobic,mainly because they have no personal experience with large-scale migration.During all our meetings,we mainly met people working with refugees;sometimes the information and the stories we witnessed were very shocking for us.We slowly began to form a more real picture of the problem.Over the duration of the three years,we had to change our minds on a number of things,we had to adapt many of our outputs to the real conditions and possibilities.The most significant impact on all involved in the project was1.getting to know the real problems of the refugee crisis,2.understanding refugees,3.getting to know new people,4. the importance of the work of the International Red Cross, non-profit organizations, the Greek Maritime Service, etc.,5.the knowledge of other school systems and the system for including migrant children in the education system;6.experience working in an international team and taking responsibility for the thing that we create,7.knowledge of other cultures of society, religion,8.use of foreign languages.By working on the project, we have managed to eradicate traces of xenophobia, racism and fear of the unknown within ourselves. It was a great pleasure to observe pupils and students slowly changing their minds about refugees and their problems, when they started to investigate the problematic on their own, without the interference of the media.Thanks to the exhibition at the Dum U Zlateho prstenu,we were able to present this transition and reach thousands of Czech and foreign visitors of the museum.We are convinced that the experience gained by all participants opened up their horizons and their human arms. The new point of view and the more mature and responsible approach to information, the investigation of objective facts and critical approach after collecting the material, have already positively influenced their character and understanding of the world.Some of our students are considering continuing at university with Global studies,Arabic studies,languages and cultural studies in order to approach different European policies from an objective point of view and maybe become ambassadors of the situation based on facts evaluated by themselves.It will certainly be a great benefit for everyone in their future, when they will have the means to understanding social,economic,cultural and social changes.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 153223,22 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gymnazium, Praha 4, Na Vitezne plani1160 & Country: CZ

Project Partners

• LATVIJAS KULTURAS AKADEMIJAS AGENTURA LATVIJAS KULTURAS AKADEMIJAS LATVIJAS KULTURAS KOLEDZA
• TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET DRESDEN
• Daily Junior High School of Petra of Lesvos
• I.I.S.S. GIOVANNI CABOTO
• Geniko lykeio Kryoneriou
• Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurlands