Small Towns In Europe: Sharing Innovative Practices Erasmus Project

Project Title

Small Towns In Europe: Sharing Innovative Practices

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 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

Small Towns in Europe: Sharing Innovative Practices was a project which took its origin from the previous partnerships of 9 European schools mostly located in small towns in the northern, central and southern parts of Europe.
Profile:
Gymnasium Schaerding (AUSTRIA)provides a specifically comprehensive education in the field of computing science. Foreign languages are taught troughout the different curricula.
RSG Broklede (THE NETHERLANDS)provides areas of specific expertises with digital competence, bilingual education and a focus on cultural activities.
Botikazar BHi (SPAIN) offers training for future citizens, cooperates with more than 20 different high schools across Europe and has taken part in the European program since the beginning.
Elisabeth Langgässer Gymnasium (GERMANY) is multilingual and offers education for independent and responsibel citizens, preparing the students for the requirements of multimedia world and conflict management.
Hoyanger Upper Secondaryy School (NORWAY) offers both general academic and vocational studies.
Gymnasieskolan Knuth Hahn (SWEDEN) offers a wide socio-economic range to a great number of immigrants from different countries.
Frederiksborg Gymnasium (DENMARK)has a strong international profile and has had several exchanges with Europe and India.
Rolando da Piazzola (ITALY) offers the students class exchanges, international project work and language studies abroad.
Liceum Ogolnoksztalcaceim Jana Pawla II (POLAND) deals with students whose parents live or work in other EU-countries and prepares them for EU conform living.

By doing project work together, we found out that entrepreneurship in schools is little encouraged in the traditional curricula. Besides, We felt a need to consolidate a strong and permanent link between school and the world of work in order to transfer innovative competences that may increase students‘ confidence on their educational and training success and reduce, therefore, the risk of school failure.
Being carried out transnationally, the project provided wide and exhaustive information and planning on future studies and careers outside the metropolitan regions and established links between schools and the work sector. Students and teachers were able to observe educational and working systems in north, central and south Europe. As a result, they were able to achieve a better understanding of new industrial, business innovation, social entrepreneurship, educational opportunities as well as classroom culture in their own and other countries.
All school staffs will receive benefits from the project. In terms of teaching, entrepreneurship and exchanges of innovative best practices are needed for staff involved in education to improve their professional competences and enhance the quality of their teaching in a new designed innovative school system.
Throughout the 3-year project, more than 200 students and 80 teachers were actively involved in the training sessions organised by the 9 partners. But the impact will be higher and we reckon to have involved more than 2500 students aged 16 -18 attending the final years of the upper secondary school in the project work. They took part in the preparatory meetings, they contacted sustainable and innovate companies in their territories and participated in the workshops and conferences organised during the training sessions. They visited fairs and events where they got in touch with the job market and its innovative practices.
The training sessions organised in each of the 9 partner schools dealt with different topics which are gradual steps to bring current issues into the school and enhance the quality of our educational systems.
The topics were : Attracting business, The Media, Ghettoes, Local Tourism, Active Citizenship, Volunteering, Sustainability, Working in Europe and, finally, Why do I go to school? All planned training activities included visits to local companies that make use of sustainable and innovative practices; school workshops and conferences where the different educational systems were presented; group work where students and teachers reflected on the received training and prepared reporting materials (videos, interviews, questionnaires) to be used in the final products and for dissemination.
A final publication (printed and digital) was produced containing reports on all activities, presentations of the visited companies and a deep insight into the different educational systems.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 270219 Eur

Project Coordinator

BG/BRG/BORG Schärding & Country: AT

Project Partners

• RSG Broklede
• IES Botikazar/ Botikazar BHI
• Frederiksborg Gymnasium og HF
• Elisabeth-Langgässer-Gymnasium
• Høyanger vidaregåande skule
• III Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Jana Pawla II w Elblagu
• IIS Rolando da Piazzola