“Colours of Europe” – Migration and its cultural effects on Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

“Colours of Europe” – Migration and its cultural effects on Europe

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 Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

The project called “Colours of Europe – Migration and its cultural effects on Europe” was based on close cooperation between schools in Germany, Italy, Turkey, Ireland, Hungary, France and Portugal. All countries and schools face the challenge of migration as a daily circumstance and all schools have migrant pupils or pupils out of migrant families. Our project aimed at establishing intercultural dialogue and promote openness, mutual respect and understanding, combat ignorance, prejudice, racism and xenophobia in order to soothe and/or avoid conflicts in and outside our homeregions. Cooperation with local institutions and authorities had already started before the beginning of the project.
First pupils got into contact via emailing and presenting video clips they have filmed to present themselves/school/community. English was the common language.
From the very beginning a project website was created, continuously worked on and updated. A logo competition was held to challenge the pupils´ creativity and sense for competing (fairplay). An information board/corner on the Erasmus+ project was put up in the schoolhall.
Each partner school created its national flag with school items and filmed this creation. Then each school did research on the history of migration in its homeregion. Timelines on migration of the partner schools were put together on a huge poster which was printed and hung up in each school (also put on website; link: results). Pupils learned that migration is not a new phenomenon but has always existed and influenced our cultures over centuries. The status quo of migration in each school´s homeregion was examined, like types of migrants, reasons for migration, situation of migrants.
To transfer the results to the school community, the community was closer looked at. To find out whether schoolmates and teachers have a migration background, an online survey was done in each school. The partner schools compared their results of their surveies and pupils learned that migration varies according to the geographical position within Europe.
Certain aspects of the influence of migration were examined in the schools´ districts: architecture, food, music/the arts, fashion. Field trips were organized to actually see the influences in real. Pupils learned that not just in their homeregion migration has taken place and left is cultural traces but all across Europe.
Then the current legislation on migration within Europe and in the partner schools´ homeregions was examined. The protection of the borderlines was looked at and reflections made on current measures taken and different forms of initiatives compared. The situations of legal/illegal immigrants were examined, contacts to migrants and local authorities and institutions were established (challenging pupils´ own initiative). The Gymnasium Bad Aibling worked together with responsible authorities, NGOs and the 300 immigrants who were given shelter in the school´s gym at that time. Together with migrants the school organized a rock concert with musicians from migrant countries in the school hall, an art exhibition with a migrant artist and a debate with a representative of migrants/NGOs/authorities. At the last learning/teaching/training activity aspects of migration within Europe were discussed in international groupwork.
Recipes typical for the partner schools ´ countries but having actually migrant roots were collected in all the partner schools and put together in a booklet called “Tastes of Europe”. Pupils filmed the making of one traditional dish and put it on the common website.
To learn more about the partner schools´ native languages, typical communication phrases were collected and written down in a language glossary. The language glossary was put on the common website and native speakers saying the phrases were filmed so that the pronunciation of the phrases can be studied by pupils of the partner schools and other interested members of the school community and public.
At the last meeting of the partner schools an integrative music workshop took place. A final reception with representatives of neighbouring schools and politicians was given. A big celebration honouring our various roots with activities planned and carried out by international group work finalised the project work.
The partner schools decided to cooperate further and started an etwinning project called “Europe Radio” for 2017-2018.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 134766 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gymnasium Bad Aibling & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Liceo Giuseppe Mazzini
• Behcet Canbaz Anadolu Lisesi
• PROVENCE FORMATION
• Ballinrobe Community School
• Agrupamento de Escolas do Forte da Casa
• Kecskeméti Müszaki Szakképzö Iskola, Speciális Szakiskola és Kollégium