Migration is one of the most topical and urgent issues that is being discussed on political as well as individual levels at the moment. The various countries of the EU are bitterly divided over how to find satisfying solutions to solve the refugee crisis. And the importance of the topic will only increase in the months/ years to come. Therefore we need to build a more cohesive and inclusive society in which each citizen will play an active role in democratic life and in which education will be an important key to promote European values, foster social integration and enhance intercultural understanding and prevent any form of radicalization.The rationale of this project is that all the participants first shall find out more about migration/ refugees in their own local community/environment and then exchange and discuss their findings with their transnational partners. The project also aims to include some of the "Europe 2020 strategies" to prepare students to work beyond school, stimulate their thinking, share educational strategies and good practice transnationally and promote social inclusion. In line with the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty its goal is to “encourage the participation of young people in democratic life in Europe”.The objectives of the project are: - evaluating the history of migration through current days in Europe and places (towns, countries) where our schools are situated. - offering a chance for young people to work together on a transnational level preparing presentations and organizing discussions on the topic of migration.- understanding migration cognitively and becoming aware empathetically of this challenging issue: working on preconceptions and feelings about other cultures and valuing cultural similarities and differences, understanding reasons, forms and effects- updating school curricula by collecting material and using it in the teaching process (history, civic education, geography, etc).Each school takes part in the project with a group of 20-25 students (aged 15-16) and teachers particularly interested in the topic and willing to cope with a complex emergency of modern Europe. They will focus on possible new perspectives of opportunity and challenge, fostering sensible renewal and tolerance within the frame of human rights and respect of democracy.The planned activities will bring students to investigate about the issues of migration and become aware on how it has always interested our Countries along the centuries, also considering how reasons, impact and problems have changed at all times. The topic includes four macro areas of investigation: "Migrant routes in our communities" , "Recent changes in the society", "Human rights and migration", "Cultural diversity" to be developed during the mobilities. The activities will be various and interesting, including researches, interviews, meeting with relevant speakers, debates, presentations of results in various forms (website, photos, DVD,web magazine), organization of common social events and special days, visits to migration and cultural centres and charities. The short term students' exchanges are considered highly important for the exchange of products and the sharing of learning experiences.The methodology is student-centered and will make use of any possible procedure to raise interest, keep motivation high and join academic issues with practical outputs, involving all the students, especially the ones socially deprived or in need of special care for cognitive or economic reasons. A special attention is dedicated to group work and workshops during the mobilities, ensuring multinational dimension and encouraging debates and exchanging of ideas and opinions, guided and monitored by teachers.The immediate envisaged impact on staff and students involved by initiating and carrying out project would be excitement and enthusiasm leading to increased focus, building on transversal skills and self motivation leading to raised achievements, and improved interpersonal skills. In the longer term comparing educational systems and learning and sharing from and with others will improve the learning and teaching experience for students and teachers.This project started as an etwinning project and at the end of any EU funding it would continue as an extension of the work done. By using etwinning and other online platforms throughout any funded part of the project which would allow face to face activities, the online activities can continue and build up on the previous work and evolve along agreed lines. All the products will constitute a bulk of didactic material to be used in any school urriculum focused on Eruopean citizenship, Social studies, History and Geography.
4 schools took part in this project : - « Erftgymnasium - Europaschule der Kreisstadt » General Education - in Bergheim in Germany - « Istituto Statale di Istruzione Secondaria Superiore E. AMALDI » General education - in Santa Maria Capua de Vetere next to Naples in Italy - « Klaipedos turizmo mokykla » Vocational school - in Klaipeda in Lithuania - « Lycée Professionnel Saint-Michel » Vocational school - in Blanquefort in France The title of our project is "The Opportunities of Migration to Multicultural Europe [O.M.M.E]. The general objectives we were forecasting were promoting European values, enhancing intercultural learning, preventing any forms of radicalization and encouraging young generations to actively take their share in the European life. More specifically, we aimed at considering the history of migration from the beginning of the 20th century to the present in our own countries and places of living, at organizing presentations and debates over the topic of migration, at looking for keysfor a better understanding of the reality and of the difficulties linked to the current migrant flows, but also at showing how Europe enriches itself culturally thanks to the flows and intermingling of people. The partners worked hard and well to reach these objectives and make innovative performances during the mobilities and in their own schools. You could have a look at what we did on ONEDRIVE with the following codes : User : omme20162018 Code : erasmus2016 Or directly following the link above : https://onedrive.live.com/?id=20ECC1F5ECB602A0%21125&cid=20ECC1F5ECB602A0 Here are the main activities that we implemented : • Part I: first project meeting in Santa Maria (February 2017). "Migrant roots in our communities": Where from and where to, in the 20th and the 21st century / why, what for / which impact on our daily environment • Part II: second project meeting in Bergheim (May 2017). "Current migration": Recent changes within our society : reasons for departures / number of flows / the routes / the idea of migrant crisis • Part III: third project meeting in Klaipeda (September 2017). “Freedom but with Duties” : Work on the Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 for its 70th anniversary / videoed breaking news about • Part IV: Fourth project meeting in Blanquefort (March 2018) “Cultural Diversity” : Work on articles dealing with the current migrations between September 2017 and March 2018 / focusing on African artists / discovering the European influences of the French south-western gastronomy / our contribution “OMME has got talents” / positive testimonials of young migrants We well knew that, with this topic, controversial debates would arise. But seeing the national crises that emerge in more and more countries in Europe because the difficulties involved couldn’t be faced in a united and combined European way, we thought that the challenge was perilous but that we were right to have our students think about this theme to help them understand what it is about and to have a critical point of view. For all of us, this project has strengthened the notion of European citizenship and solidarity between peoples for a better living together, at a time when the rise of withdrawal and populist movements are legion.