I came, I saw… I bike ! Erasmus Project

Project Title

I came, I saw… I bike !

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 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Environment and climate change; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The project entitled “Veni, vidi … Bici!” took place during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years and considered the participation of the four partner institutions: La Salle College in Annecy-Pringy (France), in the role of coordinating institution; Scuola Statale of Primo Grado Dante Alighieri in Caserta (Italy), 2nd Gymnasio Alexandroupolis (Greece) and Liceul Tehnologic Baia de Fier (Romania) as partner institutions.

The project was aimed especially at young people between the ages of 11 and 15, who are following the first stage of secondary education. However, in order to broaden the target group of the project and to promote a positive attitude among a larger number of people, awareness-raising activities were also conducted with pupils from primary schools in partner institutions, as well as with their families.

In an international context where the safeguarding of the planet and environmental education become increasingly important issues, the project has set itself the essential objective of raising awareness among students, their families, school staff and local communities to the soft and ecological mobility, especially in connection with the use of the bicycle, no longer regarded as a simple object of leisure, but as a real means of daily transport for the young people.

The initial observation being the traffic jams that occurred every day around the school units, especially at the beginning and end of the day, the project tried to suggest to the students effective and durable alternatives to the car, by providing both the keys for safe driving (learning the rules of the good cyclist, practical application of the standards of good conduct, maintenance activities and repair of a bicycle) and promoting knowledge of already existing structures (e.g.: cycle paths) or requesting for new ones (creation of pedibus, velobus etc.).
The work on the soft mobility, moreover, was an opportunity to allow the pupils to better know their territory from the historical, artistic and natural point of view, as well as to compare the reality in different European countries, by observing the different possible answers to the same environmental theme. The project is part of the logic of an exchange of good practices between the partners, with important spin-offs from the pedagogical, cultural and social points of view: the comparison between school systems, the implementation of shared works and the work meetings between delegations during the weeks dedicated to training and learning activities have made it possible to achieve openness to the world within partner institutions, to develop an awareness of responsible eco-citizens among students and to install innovative pedagogical practices in the service of the acquisition of transversal skills.

The project “Veni, vidi … Bici!” consisted of two transnational coordination meetings (in France and Greece) as well as four weeks of mixed pupil-teacher mobility, one in each partner country. A total of 168 people (32 teachers, 136 students) participated in international training and learning activities, receiving a certificate of participation and an “Europass mobility” certifying the skills acquired. Each mobility has tried to decline the theme of awareness of soft mobility according to local or national specificities, by allowing young people to discover the different territories and to think about practices useful for protecting the environment and reducing pollution. These experiences have also had considerable impact on the mastery of modern languages, whether it is French (official language of the project), English (language of international communication) or the other languages of the countries concerned, which have been the subject of a first discovery by students and adults.

The partnership project was an opportunity to open the partner school units to the local reality and seek synergies with local development stakeholders (local elected officials, institutions, associations, companies): with them we have intensified contacts and inaugurated a dialogue that will continue in the coming years, with the aim of providing concrete and tailored answers to the problem of travel to the school units.
“Veni, vidi … Bici!” has been intensely communicated to the general public, like the official channels of the institutions (institutional sites and ENT, social networks etc.), on the media (press, TV or local radios) and, in more detail, on the official website of the project (www.erasmusvenividibici.com), which made it possible to present all the achievements and actions carried out by the teams and illustrate, step by step, the highlights of the peak moments during the partnership.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 111035 Eur

Project Coordinator

OGEC LA SALLE PRINGY & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Liceul Tehnologic Baia de Fier
• scuola secondaria di 1° grado Dante Alighieri Caserta
• 2o GYMNASIO ALEXANDROUPOLIS