Intercultural Creativity Unlimited Erasmus Project

Project Title

Intercultural Creativity Unlimited

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

I C U – Intercultural Creativity Unlimited

The title of this European project refers to its twofold aims: Firstly, the project aims at providing the students with the opportunity to express themselves and their own cultures creatively in a European frame. This will also be beneficial for the teachers regarding their methodical approaches. Secondly, this project is meant to make the participants, students as well as teachers, aware of various European cultures – their differences as well as their similarities – , develop their understanding of each other and finally help them to consciously see the others: I C U = I see you.

In times of increasingly self-centred national attitudes and tendencies to focus on one’s own country’s interests, we feel the need to encourage young people to be more open-minded towards the Euopean ideas and ideals. Meeting in person and working together will enable students to discover common grounds and common European values thus keeping them alive. So tribute will be paid to the European founding fathers, their ideas and ideals.

In order to prepare students for a successful career, European schools’ curricula often neglect creativity, but working this way offers chances not only with regard to hard skills, but also for the students’ personal development.
As a prerequisite it is necessary also for teachers to reflect and develop their methodical approaches into a more creative direction. The whole school community will therefore profit from this important process of implementing new methods.

The common objectives of the six participating European schools from Austria, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Romania and Serbia are:
– supporting individual students in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences like action competence, intercultural competence, communication and social skills. They will gain these competences by working together in order to produce a common performance that deals with the different cultures and includes theatre, dance and music.
– increasing knowledge and fostering intercultural understanding by examining and comparing different cultural aspects such as youth culture, family life, literature and history
– developing new teaching skills by mutual exchange and inspiration while working together
– increasing the level of digital competence by continuously working with eTwinning, various apps and applying filming techniques
– improving language skills by constantly using English during the whole project

As all participating schools are on different levels of experience with regard to European projects, ICT and working creatively, all schools will benefit by complementing each other, especially since all schools are open to new ideas.

Our planned activities to meet the above mentioned objectives are:
– a teacher training providing us with the necessary tools to work successfully on eTwinning and with apps as well as with filming equipment and techniques
– four project meetings during which the students will work together on the above mentioned topics by innovative teaching methods enabling the students to live up to their creative potential
– regular workshops (theatre, dance, music) at home between the project meetings to prepare those meetings
– a constant exchange of ideas and interim results on eTwinning
– a final project meeting at which all the results are combined in a final show presented live on stage, which will be filmed

The most important concrete product of the project will be the creative output documented in the film of the final show.

Further important results are:
– development of the schools’ programmes, lessons and extracurricular activities towards a more creative and European dimension
– teachers’ widened horizons and their enlarged methodical teaching repertoire which they are encouraged to spread among their colleagues
– students’ improved creative and personal skills including language and ICT
– increased intercultural understanding enabling students to reflect on stereotypes and prejudice
– deepened awareness of the value of a united Europe

Potential longer-term benefits will be:
– a more intercultural and creative focus within the participating school communities
– more innovative teaching methods in lessons
– having coped with the challenges of the project like performing on stage and staying with host families abroad, individual students will have developed self-confidence
– students will be educated to European citizens who value and spread European ideas and ideals

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 189290 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gymnasium Oedeme & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Gimnazija Takovski ustanak
• Homerion – 2nd Senior High School of Nea Smyrni
• Colegiul National “Mihai Eminescu”
• Escola Básica e Secundária de Machico
• BG/BRG Feldkirch