What do you think – what do we think? Overcome Borders, develop european community! Erasmus Project

Project Title

What do you think – what do we think? Overcome Borders, develop european community!

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: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Reaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makers

Project Summary

The European Union needs an active and vibrant European public sphere.
Only through a common public sphere citizens will see themselves as
citizens of the EU; a common public sphere can help people to look
beyond their own national horizons. A European identity would contribute
to the democratic legitimacy of the EU. After all, a strong Europe needs
citizens who also have a European identity. How can we arrive such a
public sphere?
Five schools from Germany, Finland, Poland, Hungary, and Italy have set
out to do so. About 100 upper school students* and about 20 teachers
from these countries went through a joint exchange programme, at the end
of which impulses for the establishment of a European public sphere were
generated.
The project had three interlinked levels of action. They ensured that in
the end the students were able to enter into a discourse with
decision-makers as responsible Europeans. Our steps:
1. create a European public sphere ourselves: through eTwinning and
other formats, we provide lessons in which we understand how issues of
European relevance are discussed in our partner countries. We started
talking about digital formats for this purpose. The focus was on digital
literacy and the adoption of perspectives.
2. In a first week of exchange, during which each school sent and
received delegations in each partner country, we developed our “national
narratives”. Historical, economic, and social backgrounds that influence
the partner countries’ perspective on European issues were examined
in workshops. The adoption of perspectives, professional and
language skills, and critical thinking were trained. With the results we
provided the basis for the establishment of a European public sphere,
because mutual understanding and knowledge of the interests of the
partner countries are the basis for a strong Europe. At the end of this
week stereotypes were broken down, prejudices were overcome and a deeper
understanding of national self-understandings was developed.
3. In the second week of the exchange we worked out the conditions for
a common European public sphere. To this end, we looked at the role of
the public and the media in democratically constituted systems. We then
developed ideas and prepared impulse papers and lectures for the
establishment of a European public sphere. Moreover, we came into
contact with content creators from radio, television, and newspapers and
learned first-hand about the conditions under which the media work and
how they report on the EU. The focus of this exchange was on technical,
linguistic, and methodological competences. In the end, the students went
from media consumers to media producers.
4. The highlight was a joint trip to Brussels. Here the results were
presented to European decision-makers in the legislative and executive
branches in a discourse. This way we wanted to promote the civil
society involvement of our pupils and to bring concrete impulses to the
European level. As responsible citizens, the pupils were to take part in
the development of the European idea. However, the pupils were also able to
experience the “engine room” of the EU at first hand with Brussels and
experience the internationality lived in the EU as a diverse normality.
With this project we promoted the European idea and set our own,
concrete impulses. Our schools deepened the exchange, and the digital
and civil society skills of those involved were promoted in the longer
term. We conveyed our results to the regional public and thus also
strengthened the European idea locally.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 146980 Eur

Project Coordinator

Herderschule Rendsburg & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Istituto Europeo Studi Superiori
• Miskolci Zrínyi Ilona Gimnázium
• Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace w Bieczu
• TAMPEREEN YLIOPISTO