Better Before Erasmus Project

Project Title

Better Before

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: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

The project called “Better Before” is a collaboration between 6 different schools from 6 different countries and the main coordinator of this project, the CNA (Centre national de l’Audiovisuel), a cultural institution in Luxembourg.
The CNA as a cultural institution, seeks to communicate and disseminate new reading grids of the contemporary artistic field, in order to improve the sensitivity of a young audience. In this project, schools seek to overcome the limits of direct learning in relation to social and historical topics, by introducing more holistic and integrated learning techniques. The diversity of situations leads to a synthetic analysis that could call into question the effects of European integration. Aiming to reinforce the socio-cognitive dimension of learning, by introducing the artistic approach in the social and political environment of the students.
Nowadays, students do not feel very concerned about their learning material, they have no relation to it as it seems very theoretical and abstract to them as a part of their degree program. For this reason, we chose as partners to participate in this project schools, which are located in regions characterized by controversial current themes (Brexit, Greek Crisis, Consequences of Cold War,…) and with a weight of historical context. At a time, when the different historical-political contexts of the regions from which the students come, could provoke reactions of rejections and closure, an endogenous learning based on the artistic approach, should lean to an awareness of the values and achievements of the European construct.
The methodology developed by the CNA is based on a very simple and basic starting point. All partners have specific and well-defined tasks to do before they will meet. These tasks are accomplished by the individual and then synthesized within the groups. The meetings between the young people is then part of the artistic project of Mikhail Karikis, the video/sound artist who is aiming to release the emotion between the collective, to question issues of political, historical and economic power.
This experiential learning should lead students to realize the multidimensionality of the situations by allowing them to participate and share their approach and their reasoning in the development of an artistic project. In this process, the students who over-expose themselves to environments atypical from their usual habits, tend to develop understanding of new words or situations and apply new meanings to the existing ones. They will start to develop a critical mind, expand and broaden their knowledge in a political/historical sense and get to know how to use this, to better understand their environment. The project, which is a transnational European project, should promote common European values, foster social integration, enhance inter-cultural understanding and a sense of belonging to a community. These impacts have also as a common aim, to prevent violent radicalization of young people.
A cross-cutting approach between culture and education, should result in a new innovative teaching method, allowing an individualized pedagogy, which is more synthetic and takes into account a personal development. This method is probably more adapted to today’s world, as it gives young people during their maturity more confidence and the ability to deal with the complexity of the world.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 219962 Eur

Project Coordinator

Centre national de l’audiovisuel & Country: LU

Project Partners

• Big Education Trust
• I.E.S. ALHAKEN II
• Werner-Heisenberg-Gymnasium Riesa
• Lycée Robert-Schuman
• 6th GENIKO LYKEIO LARISSAS
• Vilniaus Vasilijaus Kacialovo gimnazija