LIMES Borders and Bridges: Challenging European division Erasmus Project

Project Title

LIMES Borders and Bridges: Challenging European division

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: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

“Limes” used the concept of borders that unite and divide as a magnifying glass to help our groups of 15-18 year old students from Budapest, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Rome and Stuttgart investigate and compare current dividing lines within their societies and in politics on the local, national and the EU level. The main objective of LIMES was to raise the students´ awareness for harmful trends. All project activities encouraged them to work together and devise ways to bridge these divides.

In the first project year the students created a European photo gallery on borders accompanied by a gallery guide. It can be visited online at https://agorainternational.wordpress.com/2018/06/07/limes-gallery-has-opened/. The experience of organising such a gallery together as well as the product – photos of borders touching upon a broad variety of fascinating issues accompanies by short texts – established bridges to the partners’ countries, their social system, their history and their current problems.

In the second year a different creative approach to the topic of borders on the EU level was used. All partners created two simulation game scenarios by combining, adapting and fitting social science modules to our European needs. In their roles as teachers, students and political decision makers the students experienced borders as conflict between partners demanding negotiation and compromise and our different national perspectives were of vital importance in the simulation of political processes.

The final and concluding project step ventured into the unknown by addressing the border between past and future. All partners used creative writing scenarios to extrapolate from past and current trends they had discovered throughout our project work and speculated how they will contribute to the shaping of Europe in the future. The resulting science fiction compilation can be found online at https://agorainternational.wordpress.com/2019/09/03/what-kind-of-future-awaits-us-50-years-from-now/.

Limes helped students to empathize with the partners and other European nations by encouraging them to see beyond purely individual or national interests and sharing the experience of working together as Europeans towards common goals.

LIMES:
– implemented peer-to-peer-learning “events” in our schools’ curricula
– allowed students to experience how each country’s history and social structure shapes its perception of Europe in a European partnership
– fostered the students’ entrepreneurship in organizing a gallery, publishing a compendium of sifi stories, organising venues and inviting feedback.
– increased their skills in public speaking events like TED talks or political speeches
– explored the potential of games and creative approaches in student-centred and student-guided transnational teaching
– encouraged students and teachers to cross the border between school and “real” life to find visitors for the photo gallery and readers as well as an audience for readings of the creative writing results.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 97185 Eur

Project Coordinator

Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium Stuttgart-Sillenbuch & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Budapest V. kerületi Eötvös József Gimnázium
• N. Zahles Skole
• Liceul tehnologic Mircea Vulcanescu
• LICEO STATALE FARNESINA