Strengthen Relationships and Increase Friendship to Make Europe More Open – Improve Integration in France and Sweden Erasmus Project

Project Title

Strengthen Relationships and Increase Friendship to Make Europe More Open – Improve Integration in France and Sweden

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Integration of refugees

Project Summary

Both France and Sweden have many immigrants, but the two countries deal with immigration and integration in different ways. However, we both face problems with integration and segregation. The object of our project was to learn from each other, make our students more aware of the importance of good integration, thus preparing them for the future. We wanted our students to become aware of the benefits of having people with different backgrounds in society, in school and at the workplace, seeing as different people contribute with different strengths and a unique competence. By comparing how we do things differently in France and Sweden, we wanted them to become aware of what we already do that works and learn new ways from the other culture.

In order to do so, we planned four exchanges between France and Sweden. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 we were only able to carry out three of these trips. The first group of Swedish students travelled to Lyon, France, in the autumn 2018. In spring 2019, a group of French students travelled to Sweden, and in the autumn 2019 a new group of Swedish students travelled to France. The final group of French students were supposed to visit Sweden at the end of March, 2020. That trip was first postponed for September, 2020, but due to the continued severity of Covid-19 we had to cancel that trip all together.

In the first exchange, the focus was on seeing the everyday life of the other culture. The students lived in the home of another student, visited their lessons, and experienced typically French and Swedish activities and culture. In addition to that, we compared and contrasted the cultures in discussions. After presenting immigration through the times in France and Sweden, the French students presented a photo collage on the topic to the Swedish students. Both the presentations and the collage helped the students understand immigration better which showed in the discussions afterwards as well as in their evaluations.

In the second exchange, the focus was on working together and thus getting to know the different cultures. In France, we prepared and performed a poetry slam together. The theme of the poems was integration and living together. The poetry slam was performed in front of an audience at the end of the week. During this trip we were invited to the Major’s office to meet with the Major of Décine-Charpieu, the area in which the school is situated. The planned trip that didn’t take place also had a cultural activity planned for the whole week with a presentation at the end of the week. During both years of the project, the students wrote about the various aspects of the project in a joint blog.

At the end of each exchange we made evaluations to see what the students thought they had learned from it. Many students wrote that they had learned a lot about immigration and integration, that this project had opened their eyes and made them think more about their own culture and why they do what they do, and that this project has helped them understand how much we need integration and how much we get by doing so.

It is hard to predict the long-term benefits of a project like this, but all change starts with the individual. If we have managed to affect the thinking of more than 80 students the effects should be great. The fact that the two schools involved in this project have thought about, worked with, compared, and tried to come up with idéas on this topic, will undoubtedly affect the thinking of the schools for the future. We understand that this does not change over night, but we have taken the first steps towards change. Our idéas have also been spread in local newspapers and on local TV, in addition to the blog and the websites and social media of the two schools.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 61332 Eur

Project Coordinator

Ullvigymnasiet & Country: SE

Project Partners

• lycée Charlie Chaplin