Our cities: A project involving role play, urban planning and political imagination for an active European citizenship Erasmus Project

Project Title

Our cities: A project involving role play, urban planning and political imagination for an active European citizenship

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy

Project Summary

The project “Our Cities, urban planning and citizenship for children” is about the design, implementation and dissemination of an innovative educational programme for schools. It is aimed to children between nine to 11 years old and involves four primary schools in Athens, Rome, Barcelona and Paris coordinated by ‘Explorations’, a nonprofit organization, specializing in the development and implementation of innovative educational activities. A fifth multi-cultural and multi-lingual state primary school, hosting many refugee and migrant children in downtown Athens will be a very important associated partner.
The theme of the project is about the city, which is an environment that children can easily observe, visualize and represent. The topics that will be elaborated include architecture of houses and public buildings, urban planning, private and public space, transport, recycling, energy, social organization, access to public goods, handling of crises and conflicts, civic rights, decision making. Special attention will be paid to issues related to the inclusion of refugees, immigrants, minorities into city planning and functions. The project will combine educational practices of S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture, Mathematics) with educational objectives that empower conscious participation in community’s issues and citizenship.
Description of activities:
Pupils of partner schools will use their ideas, imagination, language and practical skills and will be actively engaged in a wide range of activities. Observation survey, experiential role plays, workshops, trips, a board game, an on line game (‘Our virtual cities’), an ICT based game for playing in the city (‘Our augmented cities’) and a documentary film will be carried out during a period of 3 years.

The concrete objectives are:
• to cultivate and practice children’s communication skills and enable them to assume a problem-solving attitude,
• to develop ICT skills and use the flipped-classroom,
• to promote the strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies,
• to promote the idea of an active European citizenship,
• to strengthen social, civic and intercultural competences and dialogue, democratic values and fundamental rights,
• to familiarize with our common European cultural heritage and civic values, as well as with the variety of linguistic environments of the other partners.

The methodology to be used in carrying out the project is going to be collaborative, active and participative based on communication and sharing experiences. Physical mobility of participants will be combined with virtual mobility in the context of the project. Children’s creativity, guided by their teachers, will be the basis for the development of activities and outputs. A playful approach will therefore be followed in all stages of development of the project. Research will always start from physical observation and exploration of real cities, during specially organized visits. Transfer to the selected platforms and digital environments will follow. Use of information and communication technologies (virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D printing etc.) will be fully adapted to serve educational needs.

The implementation of the project will lead to the production and finalisation of the previously mentioned Intellectual Outputs, as well as to a comprehensive pedagogical guide, including open educational resources on selected subjects related to the educational programme. The project is designed with a view to facilitating its reiteration in different environments, by different schools, teachers, children, that did not participate in the original implementation.

The project intends to have an impact on the educational community, to promote innovation in teaching, to improve cooperation between teachers, to strengthen interdisciplinary approaches in the curriculum, to foster social inclusion. Through the use of ICT the partner schools will establish lasting ties between them and with other European schools and will also share experiences and collaborate in the future.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 166762,5 Eur

Project Coordinator

EXEREVNISEIS & Country: EL

Project Partners

• ECOLE ALSACIENNE
• HILL SCHOOL
• istituto comprensivo nettuno 1°
• Escola Sant Gervasi SCCL