Five schools from Europe will work together participating in a project named “DARE – Democratic Actions Rule Europe” on the common theme of democracy, EU citizenship, human rights under the 2 horizontal priorities set by EC – improving achievement in relevant and high level transversal skills and social inclusion. Te sector priority of the project is strengthening the profile of teaching profession. Successfully completed two Comenius projects, the applicant school initiated an Erasmus+ project dedicated to democracy and young people – the future of Europe. The objectives of the DARE project are: to educate socially and politically active citizens, who will play an active role in democratic life, to foster tolerance, social integration and to enhance intercultural understanding which will eventually lead to more cohesive and inclusive societies. The participating schools will link formal, informal and non-formal education as well as social and voluntary activities in order to strengthen progress towards these goals. Students, teachers and school staff will participate in the project. We will also involve students with fewer opportunities such as economic obstacles, educational difficulties, social obstacles. We intend to include short term learning activities in the project as follows: collecting data and presenting history of democracy, governments in Europe and their role, Constitutional democracy and rights of the citizens, human rights, social solidariry, democracy in literature and music. Participants will be involved in discussions, case studies, competitiond, essay writing, preparation of posters, films, videos, group work. Participants will take part in Democracy and frienship evenings organised by host schools. They will have the chance to express themselves artistically drawing, through paintings, sculptures, songs, dances and drama, with the democracy theme throughout history. Students’ councils will organize participants at their schools to prepare artistic events, with the theme "Democracy and its role throughout the history of mankind". We will use non-formal and informal learning in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Project activities will be integrated as much as possible to the curriculum, especially in the disciplines: English, History,Science, ICT, Geography, hoping that they will develop students' skills and attitudes such as: assuming responsibility, the delegation of tasks to others, motivating others, problem solving, decision making, management time, use better and faster the ICT equipment, better presentations by using PowerPoint, better international information and updates regarding issues related to the theme of the project. Tangible results of the DARE project will be a book History of democracy; e- dictionary, Democracy in pictures and sentences - booklet. Students will get their own understanding of the purposes and powers of governments and will take part in debates on the common theme of democratic school. They will present their views about rights and responsibilities of different groups in a school. They will get knowledge about the role of literature in the fight for democracy in Europe and connections between Democracy and European Literature.They will promote . “European Charter for Democratic Schools without Violence” among their peers and other school in their countries. Students will get aware of the right of freedom of speech and its importance in the democratic society. They will practice their right of freedom of speech at the same time improving their transversal skills and critical thinking, sharing opinions and ideas. Participants will be able to recognize different points of view towards the issue of race relations in Europe in contemporary society and back in history. The desired impact of "DARE: Democratic Actions Rule Europe" is: increased sense of initiative and awareness in democracy issues; increased competence in foreign languages; increased level of digital competence; greater understanding and responsiveness to social, linguistic and cultural diversity; improved levels of skills for cultural expression; more active participation in society; more positive attitude towards the European project and the EU values. Benefits and impact for students from social inclusion are: developing friendships with a wide variety of other students, each with their own individual needs and abilities. Participating in the project will positively effect both their school and community to appreciate diversity and inclusion on a broader level. We expect our schools to strengthen their bonds not only to finish this project but also to carry on working together well beyond its closure. As said before, our schools are learning organizations and by getting to know each other better they will be able to share good practices at all levels in order to improve the service they provide to their communities.
• Context / background of the project; The DARE project established a partnership between four Bulgarian, Italian, Lithuanian and Portuguese schools, which have common needs and experienced staff. These positive prerequisites are an effective basis for the development and implementation of the main project objectives. A robust working framework and plan, as well as cooperation between partners and ongoing communication during the DARE project, have led to positive partnership results. They are all closely related to the problems of democracy. • Objectives; Throughout the project, students had the opportunity to create new products and make decisions. They were part of an innovative social process. Working with different IT tools, participating in formal and non-formal learning activities, conducting research and producing project results - presentations, videos, films, electronic dictionary on democracy, book History of Democracy, DARE by ART exhibitions, participation in elections, participation in A Youth Parliament, discussing social issues, participating in a European club, and other activities underpinning the project, led students to realize their civic attitude and their sense of democracy. The DARE project has conducted innovative educational activities beyond the traditional classroom, which takes advantage of students' ability to support entrepreneurship and practical work. Thanks to the work of teachers and pupils within the project, the goals have been achieved and participants have gained benefits while exploring democratic processes. • Number and profile of participating organizations The DARE project identified an exchange of 108 people from 4 European schools in training activities and transnational meetings that took place in the four partner countries. The participants in the learning activities were selected according to clear criteria. Three transnational meetings on the planning, coordination and evaluation project were organized involving project team teachers. The school community in each partner represents the indirect participants in the DARE project. The number of these indirect participants was much higher due to the fact that many students, teachers and parents were involved in the indirect impact of the project. • Description of undertaken main activities Through effective work, pupils and teachers from each partner school have been able to carry out all major activities - to popularize the results of the DARE project at school, city and national level; to produce promotional material on the project; to organize exhibitions; to create an electronic dictionary of democracy; to create an e-book on democracy; presentations on the topics and subtopics of the project, which are excellent teaching materials. • Results and impact attained The DARE project is a well-structured plan that identifies the partners' needs for its implementation and benefits for direct and indirect participants. According to a consistent DARE methodology, planned activities were carried out, results achieved and indicators for evaluation and monitoring of development were established through cooperation between partners. The results helped to raise participants' knowledge, entrepreneurial and critical thinking. Participants gained the skills to share European values; to realize and develop career opportunities; to create conditions for communication in English and teamwork. An important part of the project's impact is to foster friendly attitude among the participants and to establish partnerships with external organizations. The project plan includes four student exchange meetings. Three transnational project meetings took place at the beginning, mid and end of the period, during which teachers discussed change, assessed effectiveness, identified risks, discussed challenges, shared experiences, and coordinated activities between partners. All the activities planned in the DARE project and their outcomes were beneficial to pupils, teachers, parents and stakeholders, like other colleagues and schools who were able to integrate and use them in their work. The dissemination of project results and activities has had a major impact on the local community and regional education institutions. The results were published on the project website and in the Erasmus + Project Results Platform Recognizing that Facebook is a powerful tool for disseminating the project's activities and results, we have created a group and page of the DARE project to help extend the project audience: DARE / group / and Erasmus + DARE project in European schools / page /.