A territory between revolution(s) and evolution(s) Erasmus Project

Project Title

A territory between revolution(s) and evolution(s)

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: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Cooperation between educational institutions and business; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy

Project Summary

Both institutions sharing an experience of educational exchange and partnership have been willing to expand and strengthen their collaboration throughout this project. Building on these experiences, they have sparked a reflexion on shared cross-border culture and have got more involved in their territories. A total number of 99 students (learning Italian or part of the Esabac class in Seconde , Première and Terminale in France/ learning French in the Esabac class in Terza in Italy), 35 teachers and local institutions and structures (associations, local radios, local producers and local companies) have taken part in this project. The common thread has been to develop the knowledge of the partner’s culture by learning its languages. The project has been based upon four main axis: building knowledge on the energetic, economic, agricultural, environmental and cultural resources of the territory ; studying how the resource management has evolved over time and its impact on the environment, economy and daily life of the inhabitants (mobility, food, jobs, consumption, touristic activities) ; discovering existing initiatives aimed at limiting or removing negative consequences to build a sustainable future ; taking into account current societal changes in order to add value to the future territory. The project has been carried out in two phases. The first two exchanges have focused on the first two axis. In order to handle the great number of participants more efficienty, students were split into groups to study a topic of their choice. They discovered their partner’s territory through the analysis of photos, maps, charts, testimonies highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the territory’s resources in the past and today in terms of geography, energy, economy, agriculture and culture ; meetings and interviews by representatives of territorial communities, associations, entrepreneurs and users), in-situ visits, researching information to understand the evolution of resources and of their past and present techniques of exploitation. At the end of each exchange, each group made a synthesis on the activities they participated in ( videos, magazines with Madmagz, slide show) ; made a presentation to all the participants in the language of the host country. The third exchange (French students in Italy) was the occasion to develop the third axis of the project. The organisation into thematic groups was maintained and students were able to take part in in-situ visits , meetings and workshops organised by the territory’s agents or structures.At the end of this third exchange, each group made a synthesis on the activities they participated in ( videos, magazines with Madmagz, slide show) ; made a presentation to all participants in the host language. The fourth exchange (Italian students in France) was cancelled due to the Covid-19 crisis. The two partners jointly decided that the French students should carry out some activities that had been planned and should share their experiences on the Etwinning platform. Consequently, the French students, who were split into groups according to their choice of topic made some in-situ visits ; met and interviewed some agents of the territory (local entrepreneurs, local producers, representatives for local food networks) ; made some videos of their visits and interviews ; posted their work on the Etwinning platform. Thanks to these productions, the Italian students were able to discover some initiatives on their partner’s territory aiming at developing a sustainable approach of the territory. To conclude this exchange « by proxy », a virtual exhibition was set up on the Artsteps website showing the posters made by the Italian students to introduce the different structures under study and those made by the French students to highlight the objectives of these structures. About the results and expected outcome, a synthesis of the collected information has enabled us to share the choices made by the partner territory ; the analysis and comparison of these choices has enabled us to highlight the specificity of each territory on its geographical, economic and cultural leval. It has also enabled us to shed light on common concerns regarding energy and the environment. The analysis of the collected materials and the critical assessment of the impact of these evolutions on the territory and its users today has enabled us to realize that the evolution of the territory following the trend of the fifties was no longer possible. A sustainable approach for developing the territory is dawning. The information collected during the second phase of the project have enabled us to discover how to add value to the territory of the future while taking into account social changes relating to mobility, the environment and sustainable consumption. The students have been involved in the planning of events and in their proceedings (exhibitions, conferences, radio talks, articles in magazines). They have made sure that their work be circulated to the territory’s agents, the users and the institutions at the local and regional scale. They have made all the documents. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the works made for the final exchange have only been broadcast via digital tools (links sent to our partners and students’ work posted on both schools’ websites). A better knowledge of both cross-border cultures and territories through all the activities carried out during the exchanges even if the last exchange was canceled due to Covid-19. An analysis of the choices made by the two cross-border territories to enhance open-mindedness and to get a mutual enrichment. The benefits are a better knowledge of the cultures and territories thanks to the exchanges ; it has also been the occasion to assert our belonging to Europe even more strongly ; the awakening of an individual and collective awareness regarding sustainability and sustainable behaviours ; raising our students’ awareness on getting involved as citizens in the years to come ; raising our students’ awareness on the choice of varied job opportunities ; laying the foundations of a European citizenship based upon shared activities and exchanges between peers ; strenghtening our students’ knowledge of the democratic process through meetings with representatives from diverse institutions. In the final step of the project, students were supposed to make some proposals to institutions to sensibilize them towards sustainability. Due to the Covid-19 crisis and remote teaching, this step was not carried out.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 55944,26 Eur

Project Coordinator

lycée Honoré Romane & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Liceo Classico G. F. Porporato