Europe`s Future? It’s us! Encouraging and Uniting Pupils to Help Overcoming Racism, Intolerance and national Aggression. Erasmus Project

Project Title

Europe`s Future? It’s us! Encouraging and Uniting Pupils to Help Overcoming Racism, Intolerance and national Aggression.

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Integration of refugees; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

The overall aim of the project EUPHORIA was to encourage our students as European citizens to raise their voices for the EU and to demonstrate the EU’s unique opportunity to experience solidarity with each other and with refugees who carry Europe as a ray of hope on the horizon.
The pupils were to develop their own vision of the future for Europe, which overcomes discrimination and racism.
The 16-18 year old students attend upper secondary schools with an economic focus (Germany), a language focus (Italy) and a science and humanity focus (Portugal).
In addition to project management, each school had a team of committed teachers who were and still are deeply convinced of the need for a strong Europe based on solidarity.
The pupils involved in the project, as well as the participating colleagues, received a questionnaire at the start of the project, in which they formulated their expectations.
Each of the 4 project meetings focussed on a different aspect which required the students to work on a specific challenge the host country faces.

Mobility C1: You`re welcome! Europe – a harbour for refuge
The Italian school had prepared a Human Rights Exhibition and a debate about “IUS SOLI”. A visit to St. Egidio Community was organized to meet some refugees coming from Africa. Students of all countries wrote a Declaration of Commitment which was presented and read out in four languages during a public meeting that was attended by local politicians, representatives of the associations who help migrants and refugees and representatives from the Municipality who gave their contribution of experience and ideas . Students’ parents, teachers and principals from other schools took part in the event, too.

C2: You`re part of us! Europe – an integrative society
In preparation of the meeting German students produced a series of presentations on the issue of populist tendencies in politics. A panel discussion was attended by an MEP, a local politician and a representative of the region’s refugee services. A large audience of students was involved.
The Portuguese partners informed about the migration history of their country. The Italian delegation presented in a self-written play the emigration from Italy in search of work in the 60s of the 20th century.
In addition, the Italian, Portuguese and German project participants held talks with young refugees, who at that time attended the vocational school in Geldern, to find out more about everyday problems of refugees in Germany.

C3: We are one!

The programme in Portugal included working sessions and visits to relevant historical sites in the region. To specifically deal with the leitmotiv of our mobility, the Future of the EU, the students prepared presentations as a warm-up for the conference as well as a short theatre play.
Portuguese MPs from the three largest political parties presented their points of view and debated them among each other and with the audience. The debate was intense and the students’ participation was vibrant.
The book “The Carnaxide Mobility from A to Z” was created as a common result of this meeting, based on inquiries to the participating students and teachers.

C4: We are the future! Europe – a visionary idea.
In the run-up to the final meeting in Germany, which was to summarize the insights gained, the pupils of each school dealt with their visions of the EU’s central values for the future. In order to spread this task very widely among the students, the German school held a project day on the topic.
During the meeting an EU value sculpture was to be created and presented to the school community and the local public.
Due to the corona- crisis the meeting had to be cancelled.

C5: Teachers only mobility
In the teachers-only mobility the activities were focused above all on the assessment of the project through a SWOT analysis, the partners’ contributions to the final report. Furthermore we concentrated on the planning of activities for mobility 3 in Portugal and mobility 4 in Germany. Plans were made how to involve all three schools in the design of the final product: the sculpture of EU- values.
The Italian school presented an exhibition “Wake Europe and take action” for Erasmus Day 2019.

Between mobilities all schools worked on the mobility priorities in order to deepen them.Thus numerous products related to the different focusses, such as exhibitions, QR-code rallyes, Declaration of Commitment, filmed interviews with various partners, were produced.
The school communities and the local public were continuously informed about project activities on the school homepages.
Although it was planned to create a project website, this turned out to be difficult and not really required as the homepages of the schools, that can be easily accessed by external parties, present or link information and results of the project. In agreement the partners decided not to create a project website.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 70669 Eur

Project Coordinator

Berufskolleg Geldern des Kreises Kleve & Country: DE

Project Partners

• ISTITUTO D’ISTRUZIONE SECONDARIA DI II GRADO “MATILDE SERAO”
• Agrupamento de Escolas de Carnaxide