UNESCO is responsible for coordinating international cooperation in education, science and culture. It strengthens the ties between nations and societies, and protects the basis of democracy. The following project will foster the cooperation between two European countries in order to strengthen these universal aims which are underlying principles in both educational concepts. The project encompasses a cooperation between a Polish and a German school. Looking back at a diverse history of European Art, culture and democracy Poland and Germany represent different European environments. Experiencing similarities between democratic values by dealing with children's rights the students will learn to consider the democratic development as a precious heritage. The students experiences will serve as an orientation and the focus is on the individual meaning of children's rights in the students everyday lives. In each country we will discover specific „places of democracy“ and take a closer look at their historical importance for the democratic development and for the children's lives. The intention is to pack „treasure boxes of children's rights“. The methodical-didactical approach will be the preparation of these „ treasure boxes of children's rights“ and as a result of this project we will present it to the general public. The „museum suitcases“ that were „packed“ for a former project will serve as a guideline that was provided by the Department of Museum Education at the University of Paderborn. This method was adapted and expanded during our last project. The focus was rather on reproduction of information and modification. Now we want to focus on a higher proportion of individual interpretation of the concepts of „democracy“ and „children's rights“. The treasure boxes will contain information about children's rights provided by the students and thus it will reveal their individual perspectives. Contents might be manufactured unique items and small archives that will represent the region in order to make it tangible for the children. On the one hand these mobile storage devices condense traditional functions of museums such as: collecting, preserving, archiving, exploration, documentation, presentation, education and mediation. On the other hand they represent the concept of democracy in its diversity, social values and norms as well as the practical implementation. For this project we are planing three meetings within 24 months. Each meeting will last 7 days. The final meeting will takes place in Strassburg where democracy is considered and practiced beyond national borders. For each school 12 students will work together. The aim is to create a diverse group of students, no matter what learning disabilities they have, what social background or from what country they may originally be. Using the „storyline-method“ and mind-maps the students discover the concept of democracy in their home country. With the knowledge taught beforehand the participants develop their own approach about the history of children's rights. The “treasure boxes” will contain diverse experiences (haptic, playful or even experimental) and thus depict an enrichment for regional and national democratic-cultural education of children. The participants not only get to know their regional environment and democratic structures but also broaden their mind for national and European aspects. They discover differences and similarities concerning concepts of democracy as a result of Europe's unique history and culture. The learning environment provided by the teachers includes holistic approaches (museums, internet, books...). The aim is to create two treasure boxes that can be presented and offered to surrounding social institutions with a long-term effect for both regions. The cooperation with the University of Paderborn and a child-welfare organisation ensures the cataloguing of the products. A further development will follow within the network of all UNESCO-project schools. The positive effect will enfold among the participants of the Erasmus+ project in particular. The experience in a multilingual group will make a lasting impression on the students and strengthen them on their course of education. UNESCO's messages are of increasing importance. Not only in Europe multiculturalism leads to focus on shared goals in terms of education. In a globalised world where interconnections and multiculturality, tolerance and empathy are of equal importance global learning will step more and more into focus of national and international education goals to support a peaceful cooperation and interaction.
It is the task of UNESCO to promote international cooperation in education, science and culture, to protect democratic values and thus to spread respect and communal togetherness between people. This project has consolidated these universal human endeavors, which are among the goals of the general concept of education of European countries. The cooperation included a Polish and a German school. The aim of the project was to learn about commonalities in democratic values through confrontation with children's rights and to regard democracy development as a valuable asset. In order to achieve a link to the lifeworld of the students, our project was based on the experiences of the children and put the very individual meaning of children's rights in the center. To achieve this, specific "places of democracy" of the partner countries were examined more closely and their historical significance for the development of democracy was explored together. This democratic "treasure" can be found in the exhibits of the three manufactured treasure boxes. These were made available to the public after the project by making the treasure chest exhibits available on the networks through a proven rental system. The children's rights treasure boxes are also interdisciplinary teaching content and were installed in the school program. The method of the museum suitcase developed by the University of Padaborn was successfully adapted to the new teaching content. In contrast to the museum case, the content of the treasure chest is characterized by a significantly higher proportion of the individual interpretation of the terms "democracy" and "children's rights". The treasure boxes were filled with information about children's rights from the eyes of the students. We filled them with home-made unique pieces or small archives that represent the considered region and make it especially tangible for children. On the one hand, traditional functions of the museum, such as collecting, preserving, archiving, exploring, documenting, presenting, forming and communicating are thematized. On the other hand, the concept of democracy in its most varied forms, social values and norms as well -as its implementation in everyday life- was made tangible. Within the 24 months, three project meetings were held. The meetings each included five full project days with a total duration of 6-7 days. An extension to more than five days has had a particularly favorable effect on group identification and better suited the age of the participants. Due to the organizational framework (weeks of meetings of the European Parliament), the final meeting, which did not take place in any of the participating countries, had to be relocated from Strasbourg to Brussels. This step was necessary in order to visit the relevant European institutions and to ensure the necessary transfer of already acquired knowledge from national to higher international level. In order to meet the requirements of the Polish National Agency, the Polish group additionally visited the originally planned town of Strasbourg on the way back. In the transnational project meeting, the national group size was set to 15, taking into account financial conditions and the interest in the student body (pupils with special needs in learning and behavior, pupils with a migrant background, refugees). Using the storyline method and mind-mapping, the students were instructed to get to know democracy in the country and to develop their own access to the development of children's rights with the help of prior knowledge built up in subject-specific education. The resulting treasure chests allowed a variety of haptic, playful and thoroughly critical experiences and enriched the regional and supra-regional democratic-cultural education of children. On the one hand students of the partner schools had contact with their own regional environment and its democratic structures in children's rights. On the other hand, we were able to open our eyes to similarities in democratization as a result of the history and culture of Europe. The learning environment prepared by the teachers has been able to integrate a variety of holistic approaches (museum, internet, books, ...). At the end of the project three treasure chests were created (Germany, Poland, EU).