Eurotopia: Collaborative Learning in a world with disappearing borders Erasmus Project

Project Title

Eurotopia: Collaborative Learning in a world with disappearing borders

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 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Creativity and culture; Research and innovation

Project Summary

“Eurotopia: Collaborative learning in a world with disappearing borders” is a project organised by the Stedelijke Scholengemeenschap Nijmegen, in cooperation with five other schools from Hungary, Spain, Poland and Turkey.

After many years of working together within a large scale cultural exchange project, these schools decided to band together, to combat a designated problem. This project addresses a need we as organisations have had for years; to help our students improve their research and investigative skills. In higher grades and higher education this problem was designated. Students have not had a lot of experience in the first three years of education regarding research. Furthermore, we have noticed for a long time that the impact within an intensive program like we did in earlier years speeds up the learning process for all parties involved. This is very evident in the many products, evaluations and opinions that came forth after and during these exchanges.

This high-impact project was completed with Erasmus-funding during the last three years, and was evaluated and adjusted annually.
The project was built upon one-on-one partnering of students from the SSgN and a foreign student of one of the partner schools

We decided to continue with our regular exchange programme as a basis, but to have it strive towards a goal that is very important to all of our organisations: to motivate students, to combat dropping out, and first and foremost; give our students the necessary skills to excel in further education and in future jobs. This project will start in the first year of education, with extensive preparation in the second year, and a physical exchange in the third year.
Together with our partners we studied our school’s policy plan, and the lifelong learning objectives set by the European Union. After a process we came up with five key areas to be addressed in our program:

-Beta-Excellence
-Cultural competences
-Internationalisation and European dimension
-Sports and talent
-Social studies

For all these key areas, our schools created assignments and research objectives. Our students went abroad, visited each other’s environments, and together they have worked and found out the valid knowledge they will need to create products.
Many products have flowed forth from this program. Tangible and intangible. Presentations have been made, a portfolio by each student, research reports, and many other products that have been made available for dessimination.
We had the help of many of teachers, nationally and internationally, to help create, design and work together to create the project materials. These materials have been checked by all participants, and implemented in the program.

During the physical exchange in the third year, there was a program in the Netherlands and abroad that gave the students the oppurtunity to see and experience workshops and showcases of all five key areas. They have worked together to research and investigate questions set, inside and outside of school. We organised a lot of activities that give the students a chance to see, experience and participate in events that have directly to do with these areas.

We had a number of student participants of over 200 per year, with as many students from the other countries as well. Apart from students, staff and parents were also actively involved. Parents as hosts of our students and foreign students, and staff had an imperative role as well. The staff has been responsible for guiding a group of students, showing and explaining the assignments they had to do, check materials and evaluate and grade. Apart from these three very important groups, this project also reached a lot of other people, like local government, business, and of course our school policy.

Another special feature within our project is the ambassador program, in which students (and parents) have taken on the role of frontrunner within this program. An elite group of students who evaluated, created and debatde about all things relevant in Europe and the program. These students have applied for this special position by an official procedure in which they wrote a letter of motivation and were interviewed about their ambitions. These students took part in two transnational gatherings in each project year in which they worked together intensively.

We can absolutely say we created a great program which contains all the opportunities for over a thousand European pupils to learn, work together, and to grow as people. Ultimately, we are convinced this program made sure that our collective organisations benefitted from this greatly.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 443000 Eur

Project Coordinator

Stedelijke Scholengemeenschap Nijmegen & Country: NL

Project Partners

• Erünal Sosyal Bilimler Lisesi
• Budapest IX. Kerületi Szent- Györgyi Albert Általános Iskola és Gimnázium
• IES SANTA ENGRACIA
• BGSZC Budai Középiskolája
• Gimnazjum im. Wladyslawa Kowala we Wlodowicach