European Youth – Values, Identity, Culture Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Youth – Values, Identity, Culture

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

In recent times, Euroscepticism and a growing sense of nationalism have become new realities which we need to confront. Misinformation spreads like wildfire and leaves the European Union vulnerable at the face of a population which lacks knowledge and understanding of the true purpose of the EU. It is therefore vital to familiarise the younger generation with the advantages of such a union of nations, advantages which should not be taken for granted. Schools need to take responsibility and teach students the fundamental ideas and values of Europe, all the while promoting a sense of critical awareness and belonging. Before this is possible, one needs to ask a set of guiding questions:
How deeply is the idea of Europe / the EU ingrained in our students’ minds?
What ideas / values can we convey to them for their future?
To what extent do they consider themselves as Europeans?
The aims of the schools should be to raise awareness among students of the diverse cultures and values that surround them and identify them as “European”. This will allow them to gain substantial knowledge and understanding of the EU and simultaneously reflect critically on Europe’s history.
Every school will select four student participants, aged 15 to 18, regardless of their grades. They should have a certain level of English, be motivated, open-minded and interested in the EU and what it represents.
There will be four project meetings, laid out as workshops, on different topics. Meetings C1 (Netherlands) and C3 (Denmark) will be for teachers only, C2 (Austria) and C4 (Luxembourg) will be for both students and teachers.
C1 will focus on the theme of “Teaching Europe – a project-oriented approach” with the intention of comparing teaching approaches, sharing best practice examples and developing new didactical methods. The workshop will centre around its keynote address on “The importance of teaching European related topics in education towards the development of a European identity”.
C2 will circle around the definition of Europe and whether or not a European identity exists in the students’ minds. One aim during this part of the project will be to do a schoolbook analysis to see if they feature Euro-political content and, if so, how much significance is it given. The (re)construction of one’s own identity will also play a special role in the workshop, as will the role of the media and their influence on identity formation.
The Danish assembly (C3) will work on communicating our common European values. The teachers will plan a workshop entitled “Film & Media”. The aim here is for the students to make a three-generation short film based on different experiences of European history, culture and values, and what it was / is like to be a European. This will allow them to develop a sense of the historical development and reception of Europe in their country.
The C4 conference in Luxembourg will aim to answer the question of a common cultural European identity. We will first try and establish to what extent today’s students have a sense of cultural awareness. Then we will establish if they believe themselves to have a cultural identity. Finally, we intend to determine if the students are familiar with the concept of European values and, if so, how important these are to them. To do so, they will exchange ideas during a workshop entitled “European Cultural Products” in order to familiarize the students with the historical and cultural links between the various European countries. Finally, we will take a creative approach towards our fundamental European values. The students will be split up into five workshops, where they will focus on one particular value and express their ideas and vision on that subject in an artistic way.
The results we would like to achieve are as follows:
New and improved skills related to a European identity;
A better understanding of the European ideas;
A stronger identification with European values;
Material developed by students and teachers and made available to others, so that more people can benefit from this project;
Students who see themselves as European citizens;
Bilingual teaching and more wide-spread use of the CLIL method;
A sense of community as a school, a generation and a European.
All in all, the students will learn about fundamental European values and creatively engage in a hands-on approach in a variety of workshops. Not only will these activities convey essential knowledge, they will also develop a whole range of skills the students can benefit from.
The long-term results will take the shape of
schools adopting two weekly sessions on the topic of Europe and the EU;
motivating other schools to join the EPAS Programme;
publishing newsletters after each meeting to keep all project members up to date;
organising the main Europroject Network conference entitled “Education without Borders”, which will include a travelling photo exhibition to allow the people involved to present their findings.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 99910 Eur

Project Coordinator

LYCEE HUBERT CLEMENT ESCH & Country: LU

Project Partners

• Bagsværd Kostskole og Gymnasium
• Gymnázium bilingválne
• Strabrecht College
• Second Lyceum of Kalamaria
• Bundesrealgymnasium Wien 19