European Book Day Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Book Day

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Cooperation between educational institutions and business

Project Summary

Why did we prepare this application? Context/background
Reading is one of the fundamental educational pillars and books are valuable goods.
We want to promote reading books among the young generation and adults not so much addicted to books and reading.

Quoting the website EURead:
“In Europe, more than 73 million people are illiterate – an alarmingly large number. One in five 15-year-olds has poor reading skills and 12,8 % of EU students drop out of school, which will lead to a 30 % increase in low-skilled jobs by 2020 (source: EU High Level Group of Experts on Literacy, Final Report September 2012). In order to address this educational, social and economic challenge, it is vital to promote literacy in Europe and engage all age groups with reading.”
Every EU-member country organises a reading festival or a festival of books, but there is no such an event like a European Book Day.
The steps we will take: Reading aloud – reading alone – broadening one’s mind – better acess to education – higher qualification – better job – living a better life!

What are the objectives of the project?
The project will contribute to the introduction of books and reading in the learning process of children and young people and low educated adults. We will reach out to target groups that may not be very familiar with literature and emphasize the importance of reading.
Furthermore, we want to reach out to the EU citizens living in the partner countries who as well may not be regular readers and invite them to meet authors writing in their mother tongue.
We will attract more visitors of the national book events by adding a European dimension to the national activities promoting reading.
– We will promote literacy in Europe and engage all age groups with reading
– We will establish the European Book Day in the annual calendar of events in the partner countries
– We will start a new cooperation between education and business
– We will reach out to culturally disadvantaged young people
– We will offer EU citizens living abroad the opportunity to get in contact again with the literature and authors of their home country.

Participants
The project idea was born in Austria based on the success of the “Reading Aloud Day – Austria“. The organiser Echo medienhaus was looking for an experienced educational partner and found VHS Wien. Stiftung Lesen and EURead joined the project when they met at a conference in Brussels in September 2018. The coordinator asked his long-year educational partners from Romania and Sweden Media Partners and ABF and found a new one in Bonn. Media partners brougth in the Versus Association that established a nationwide reading promotion network in a very short period of time. ABF of Sweden is a nationwide operating adult education provider and it is co-organiser of the biggest book fair in Sweden in Göteborg.
We are happy to have EURead as the main dissemination partner – important for the European level.
The educational partners will create the module “European Book Day”, the book organisers will put into practice this module.

What range of activities will take place to reach our objectives?
The consortium will produce
– 1 curriculum for the module “European Book Day”, including lectures, workshops, European guest authors from the partner countries etc.
– 5 transnational project meetings: Kick-off, Evaluation of the module “European Book Day”, Evaluation and Adaption and the final conference including a look into the near future
– 4 events “European Book Day” as part of the national book days in the partner countries Sweden, Romania, Germany and Austria.

What are the methodological tools we will use in the project?
The educational partners will form an internal working group with their experts in writing curricula and innovative educational offers.
The cooperation between education and business in the project offers the opportunity for both sides to an extended exchange of experiences forming mixed work groups.
For the information about the national events, we will use the EURead network and the various existing cooperation with local media.

Which results do we want to achieve?
We will discuss and produce a curriculum for a teaching and learning module “European Book Day”
The consortium will prepare and organise four events “European Book Day” in the framework of the existing national book days or book fairs in the partner countries.
We will attract new visitors to these national book days; these additional visitors are
-culturally and socially disadvantaged young people
– EU citizens living in the partner countries interested in the literature of their home countries and
– the local public interested to hear and experience literature and authors from the partner countries.

What are the longer term benefits we expect from the project?
The long term benefit is the establishment of a European Book Day in every EU member state, hopefully, and the emphasis of reading as an important part of basic education

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 121775 Eur

Project Coordinator

DIE WIENER VOLKSHOCHSCHULEN GMBH & Country: AT

Project Partners

• CITY OF BONN
• ABF
• ASOCIATIA VERSUS
• Stiftung Lesen
• Media Partners SRL
• echo medienhaus ges.m.b.h.
• EURead VoG