The Challenge of Being Happy in a European Society Erasmus Project

Project Title

The Challenge of Being Happy in a European Society

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: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

Today, democratic European societies face various challenges. Therefore the aim of our project is to raise our students’ awareness of the general foundations of a future democratic European society offering quality of life and enabling everyone to grow happiness.
There are four European schools that cooperate: a Croatian elementary school, a German and Swedish secondary school as well as a Portuguese comprehensive school. The project addresses students aged 14-16.

In a first step, our students will define the term happiness and assess individual sources of the latter.
Then, our students will create and carry out surveys to involve different generations and different social groups into our findings about individual sources of happiness and quality of life.
They will then analyse and abstrahize the findings in order to single out factors that allow us to universally grow happiness and improve quality of life, especially focusing on aspects that can be linked to democracy and thus to a future democratic, European society.
In a last step, they will outline practical guidelines and messages that help themselves and others to grow happiness in such a society.

Each mobility will involve individual actions creating happiness making it easier for the students to experience being an active part of society that is able to change something. We will call these actions “Actions for Happiness”.
To be more concrete, here’s a possible idea for an “Action for Happiness” during the first mobility. Before the first mobility, our students will assess individual sources of happiness in their national teams. They will compare their findings on Twin Space and agree on one “Action for Happiness” which they will plan and carry out during the first mobility. The aim of this “Action for Happiness” is to make other teenagers their age happy. They can for example plan, organise and carry out a compliment day at school.
Involving those “Actions for Happiness” into the mobilities, we will raise awareness of the fact that individual happiness is closely intertwined with being an active citizen of a society, that is civicly engaged, takes over responsibility and is aware of the chances and possibilities a European democratic society can offer. Thus, our students will acquire and develop basic skills and key competences of civic engagement and responsible citizenship in a democratic, European society.
However, being part of a European society also involves the promotion of tolerance as well as the fact that the individuals are able to gain enriching intercultural experience. That’s why our project will also enable the students to improve their intercultural skills. They will objectively become aware of their culture and compare it to the other participants’ cultures. This will foster tolerance. The fact that the students will host and will be hosted will intensify this experience.

Each mobility as well as the time to prepare mobilities will involve the creation of one product that will summarize the individual findings in a creative way, for example an international poetic photo exhibition, a common documentary, drama performance etc.
The final dissemination products will be a touring exhibition including the most important findings of the previous mobilities and a text mural as a constant reminder. There will be advertisement banners as means to share the most important practical guidelines to grow happiness and improve quality in life, being presented by omnichannel.

The results of each mobility will be shared on our project’s website and on TwinSpace. During the dissemination ceremonies, they will also be shared on school and community level. Students, parents and local media f.ex. newspapers and local radio stations, will be invited to the individual dissemination ceremonies. The final dissimination products will be pieces of work that will summarize the most important findings, can be shared in each participants’ country and will remind us of the practical guidelines to grow happiness and to improve quality of life. The reminders will include QR codes that provide links to TwinSpace and our project’s website. The practical guidelines will be shared on international school and community level e.g via social media and/or omnichannel. The reminders will be installed on the four school grounds. The inauguration ceremonies will be on schools’ and local level, too.

The topics of happiness and quality of life as well as gaining intercultural experience will always be of wide interest and thus the participants will give oral reports and apply their newly acquired skills in different classes at the participants’ schools. They will also function as intercultural mediators supporting additional intercultural projects.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 103105 Eur

Project Coordinator

Maria-von-Linden-Gymnasium & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Agrupamento de Escolas de Castro Verde
• Karolinska gymnasiet
• Osnovna skola “Duro Ester” Koprivnica