Background and superordinate objectives The background of this project is a growing need of the European people for European solidarity and transnational cooperation in troubled and uncertain times in order to develop intercultural competences allowing for a peaceful coexistence. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with one's own regional, national and international history as well as to find similarities and differences together with (a) foreign partner(s). This provides a basis for establishing a successful cooperation. Although in our specific case project work only focuses on one European partner -Norway- , we consider our endeavours as universal so that they can also be applied to other transnational contexts. Number and description of participants Our project depends on a close interaction between teachers and students. The interested teachers form a project group. At both schools there is at least one project coordinator who is at the same time the contact person for students, teachers and other people involved in the project. The students of both schools will also form project groups who will meet regularly in a school club. They are going to do various project-related work (contacting the partner school, public relations/marketing, journalistic coverage, supporting study groups engaged in project work, etc.). In order to integrate a large number of students there will only be a few permanent participants in these clubs, the other participants will rotate on a regular basis. This way the students who drop out can function as multipliers. In the course of the 24 months diverse study groups will be working on the remaining project-related tasks. Due to the abovementioned structures of this project it is not possible to determine a specific number of participants. Activities and methodology To begin with our students will deal with topics referring to their lifeworld/social environment during lessons (regional and national history; social, geographical, political and economic topics). Their studies shall also focus on the current challenges posed to both countries by last year's wave of refugees and its effects. The students will prepare the results of the research within their respective countries on their own account so that they can be presented to the guest students in workshops during the first transnational learning activities (7 days each), which will offer study periods as well as leisure activities. In practise that means first the German students will participate in the Norwegian workshops and during the following transnational learning activity the Norwegian students will participate in corresponding workshops in Germany. Not only do the students change their perspectives this way, but they also develop their didactic, educational and methodological skills. While preparing the workshops the students are encouraged to focus on outside the classroom learning experience. After having done the workshops all participants will have to reflect on and evaluate their decisions to be able to make adjustments or improvements during the project. Every guest student is supposed to participate in two workshops. They will get access to the results from the other workshops through presentations given by the other guest students. These presentations will be held in English and can be used to measure the actual output of the workshops. At the end of the first learning activities the students will develop ideas for products together. These can be set out in a permanent exhibition open to the public. Subsequent to the first transnational learning activities the students will continue to work on these products. During this period the students are also supposed to look for possible cooperation partners on a local level (clubs, communities, orchestras, etc.). In order to do so they need to interact with people outside school, explain the purpose of our project to them and convince them of a cooperation on a European level. The second transnational learning activities (5 days each) serve the purpose of preparing and opening the exhibitions at both locations. Moreover, the students are supposed to visit the respective organisations that agreed on a transnational cooperation. Products intercultural competence, multilingual website, billboards, journalistic products, permanent exhibition, transnational partnerships, photo book Long-term benefits Even after the project has ended, the exhibitions at both places will remain open to the public, the website will be maintained and the transnational partnerships shall be cultivated on a long-term basis. Personal accounts of participants will function as multipliers for the value of European cooperation.
Background and overarching objectives The background of the project was the growing need of European people in turbulent and uncertain times for European cohesion and transnational cooperation to enable peaceful coexistence through the development of intercultural competence. For this it is necessary to deal with one's own regional, national and international history on the one hand and on the other hand to work out commonalities and differences together with foreign partners and to develop cooperation possibilities on this basis. We understand the work processes, which in our case refer to the partner country Norway, as universal, so that they can also be applied to other transnational contexts. Number and profile of participants The project lived from the close integration of teacher activities and student activities. The interested teachers organised themselves in a project group. At each school there was at least one coordinator who acted as contact person for SuS, teachers and other participants. At the German school, there was an Erasmus-club, which intermixed again and again (every six months), so that more and more pupils worked on the project. The working group was mainly concerned with research, brainstorming, teaching, surveys, contact with the partner school, etc. The Norwegian group of pupils consisted mainly of members of the German courses. By this, language promotion could also be promoted. The remaining tasks were carried out over the 24 months in various groups of pupils (courses, classes...). Due to this broad project it is not possible to give an exact number of participants. Activities and methodology In concrete terms, our students initially dealt in class with topics relating to their environment (regional/national historical aspects; social, geographical, political and economic topics). The insights from the research in their own country were prepared by the students themselves in the form of workshops as courses for the exchange students and were carried out during the first student activity (7 days each), which consisted of work phases as well as leisure activities. In concrete terms, this means that the German pupils first took part in the Norwegian workshops and the Norwegians attended the German workshops during the subsequent pupil activity in Germany. Not only was there a change of perspective, but didactic, pedagogical and methodological skills were also trained. When planning the workshops, the students were encouraged to prefer extracurricular learning venues. The decisions were reflected and evaluated by all participants after the workshops so that adjustments and improvements could already be made in the project itself. Each exchange student attended two workshops. The results from the other workshops were made available to all participants in plenary sessions. These presentations were held by the visitors themselves in English in order to make the yield measurable on the one hand and to enable activation on the other hand. At the end of the student activity, ideas were developed on the basis of the findings, which were then incorporated into the exhibition. The 2nd student activity (five days each) was dedicated to the preparation and opening of the exhibitions at both locations. In addition, other interesting extracurricular learning locations were visited, which further strengthened the partnership. Results intercultural competence, multilingual homepage, billboards, exhibition with exhibits, initiation of transnational contacts Long-term benefits The exhibits will be exhibited as long as possible in the schools (at least in parts), the homepage will be further maintained and the transnational partnerships will be further initiated. The benefit of European cooperation will be disseminated through the participants' experience reports.