"Europe in love" project is a Strategic Partnerships addressing more than one field of the School Education but also providing relevant results in the Vocational Training (VET) and Youth field. Love is the project connecting thread and the main link between people and cultures. Besides, love is the engine that fulfils and guides our lives. It is everywhere and there are lots of different ways of loving, being all as good as any other. Love has no borders, understands no language and has no age restrictions. Europe and europeanism need to look for solid and common references to consolidate its existence and also to guarantee the progress in the union process. We do not want an educational project for students and by students but involving politics too, because it might lead to disagreement. We have looked for a common connecting thread we all know and feel and that, far from being practical or rational, is addressed to our feelings and our hearts. Sometimes is really positive to follow your heart. This project involves six educational institutions from Germany (Gesamtschule An der Erft), Slovakia (ZS a Gymnàzium s VJM), England (Carrickfergus College), Italy (Liceo Classico Statale Giulio Perticari), Finland (Myllyharjun Lukio) and Spain (Patronato de la Juventud Obrera). The plan integrates secondary education, vocational training, high secondary education and also enhances the methodologies of non-formal and informal education. Most of the teachers and the students between 12 and 18 years are expected to participate. The project comprehends a simultaneous process of learning and producing intellectual results, being the students themselves who will learn and participate in the whole process. With love as a central theme, the main objectives of the project will be: Compile: Students will research the historical heritage of Europe, both past and present, including legends, films, music, places, traditions, customs, poems, etc. Once the information has been compiled and always with the advice and supervision of the teachers, students will Reflect (on): compiled material after it has been analysed, catalogued, classified and organised in a way it can be used to Produce: and develop three high quality intellectual products including: - Teaching units that will be part of the subjects European Union, History and practical English curricula. - Professional audiovisual production recorded by the students and where the students themselves explain the history of Europe to be used in video and sound Vocational Training courses. - Methodological guide of non-formal education in youth throught the new technologies and ICTs. All materials shall be compatible with the different curricula of all the schools and organizations in different countries. Additionally, an eTwinning project through Twinspace system will be created to publish the advance of compilation and the ongoing production. This will be our window to look out for people’s reaction and, at the same time, the window where people can look through to know us and participate in this project. To obtain the expected results, as well as constant communication and coordination between all partners, continuous work and meetings on-line, there will be meeting spaces every six months to work together: - 4 transnational project meetings for teachers will be held to begin, define and work in the intellectual products - 3 mobilities events where the students will participate and eventually develop all materials, being this a fundamental process to their learning - An international multiplier event where the project outcome will be publicly presented. Finally, it should be noted the great impact this project will have at the local, regional, national and European level since a number of materials in English, with clear added value, will be developed in the field of education, vocational training and youth. All this educational products will be used by different schools, institutes of VET as well as youth and non-formal education organizations, having a direct and great impact on thousands of students and young people who want to acquire and improve their foreign language skills, their knowledge of our common european history and their sense of european citizenship.
The "Europe in Love" project is a Strategic Partnership that has addressed more than one field of Education, focused on School Education but also provides relevant results in the field of Vocational Training (VET) and Youth. Love has been the thread of the project and is the main link between people and cultures. In addition, love is the engine that fulfills and guides our lives. It is everywhere and there are many different ways of loving, all being just as good. Love has no boundaries, does not understand the language and has no age restrictions. Europe and Europeanism must seek solid and common references to consolidate their existence and also to ensure progress in the Union process. For this project we have sought a common thread of connection that we all know and feel and which, far from being practical or rational, is directed to our feelings and our hearts. Sometimes it is really positive to follow your heart. This project has involved six educational institutions in Germany (Gesamtschule An der Erft), Slovakia (ZS a Gymnàzium s VJM), England (Carrickfergus College), Italy (Liceo Classico Statale Giulio Perticari), Finland (Myllyharjun Lukio) and Spain (Patronato of the Workers' Youth). The project has developed intersectoral work in secondary education, vocational training and also improves methodologies of non-formal and informal education (Youth). Participating organizations have involved the vast majority of their students between the ages of 12 and 18 and most of their teachers in the project, making a major impact on participating schools. The project has included a simultaneous process of learning and producing intellectual results, the students themselves having learned and participated in the whole process. With love as a central theme, the main objectives of the project have been: Collect: Students have researched Europe's historical heritage, past and present, including legends, films, music, places, traditions, customs, poems, etc. Once the information has been compiled and always with the advice and supervision of the teachers, the students Reflect: on the compiled material after it has been analyzed, cataloged, classified and organized so that it can be used to Produce: and develop high quality intellectual products including: - 30 Didactic Units that are part of the subjects of the European Union, History and practical English curriculum. - Audiovisual production recorded by the students of secondary education and professional training courses in video and sound. - Methodological non-formal education guide for young people. All materials have been adapted and are compatible with the different curricula of all the schools and organizations of the different participating countries. In addition, an eTwinning project has been created through the Twinspace system to publish the progress of the compilation and production in progress. A multitude of transnational activities have been created in which hundreds of students from all the countries involved have participated, reinforcing their key competences and obtaining very successful learning outcomes. Recently this project has received the ETWINNING QUALITY SEAL. In order to obtain the expected results, in addition to the constant communication and coordination between all the partners, the continuous work and the on-line meetings, there have been meeting spaces with approximate frequency every four months to work together: - 4 transnational teacher meetings have been held to coordinate, define and work on intellectual products - 3 mobility events for learning where students have participated and collaborated in the development and pilot test of all materials, this being a fundamental process for their learning - An international multiplier event where the result of the project has been presented publicly. Finally, it's important to highlight the great impact that this project has had at local, regional, national and European level, since a number of English-language materials have been developed with a clear added value in the field of education, vocational training and youth. All these educational products are beginning to be used by different schools, VET institutes and youth and non-formal education organizations, extending the project's impact in the long term and having a direct impact on thousands of students and young people who wish to acquire and improve their skills in the foreign language, their knowledge of our common European history and their sense of European citizenship.