Over the past three years, Europe has experienced the largest mass displacement of refugees and migrants. In addition, the economic crisis has increased the number of disadvantaged people. Given this situation, our project Put Yourself in my Shoes aims to awaken, foster and instil the solidary spirit in young people both in their immediate surroundings and at a European level. The participant schools, due to the characteristics of their social environment, are aware of the challenges that the arrival of displaced people implies for the host society. Mestres de la Creu Coop. Vcna. (Colegio Santa Cruz) in Mislata (Spain), Istituto Superiore Vittorini Lentini in Lentini (Italy) and Escola Básica e Secundária Dr. Ângelo Augusto da Silva in Funchal (Portugal) have led educational projects in their local communities in which the reality of refugees has been one of the main topics of work. In these projects, students and local social actors have collaborated and have had an active participation. The overall objective of the project is to inform and sensitize the entire educational community and our local communities about forced displacement and the importance of mobilization and solidarity in the global world in which we all live. Hence, after analysing the needs of our centres and their surroundings, we have decided to set the following goals: to acquire ethical and moral values; to promote the sense of European citizenship; to improve the social, civic, linguistic and digital competences; to foster intercultural awareness and to reinforce the cooperation among the different schools. Furthermore, our project includes different types of activities aimed primarily at the educational community, especially the students, and also at institutions working with people at risk of exclusion. Thus, we will focus on preparation activities, such as signing agreements, training and work planning, as well as meetings, workshops and creation of materials with collaborating institutions. These activities are based on the realization of solidary tasks through youth volunteering. In addition, the mobilities between European schools will be complementary to the work carried out locally and will provide an added value. The methodology of the project is based on the elements of education for development that seeks to promote knowledge, attitudes and values regarding social inequalities and promoting volunteering as an educational practice. In addition, we will implement a practical approach through cooperation and short exchanges of groups of students with other European institutions. With regards to the results we can distinguish between tangible and strategic. On the one hand, tangible results such as statistics, presentations, audio-visual material, etc. will be published in the Strategic Partnership’s blog. In addition, we will create other material like calendars, leaflets or t-shirts. On the other hand, strategic results will lead to new and more attractive activities for the benefit of local communities. We will approach new methodologies to deal with social, ethical, linguistic and social diversity. In addition, we will build a more modern, dynamic, committed and professional environment within the organization, as well as increase the use of ICTs. Focusing on the impact and potential longer term benefits, we expect to have a big influence mainly at local level, improving the quality of school education and their cultural level. Moreover, we pretend to increase volunteering and solidary activities and to sensitize the local administrations about the project objectives. Finally, we intend to develop and identify good practices between European schools, complementing personal training with socio cultural and socio professional activities to strengthen links. This enables us to develop new educational projects, which imply an improvement of the results, sensitizing the educational community with the newcomers’ reality and Human Rights.
As we have observed in recent years, Europe has experienced a massive displacement of refugees and immigrants. In addition, the economic crisis has increased the number of disadvantaged people. Given this situation, our project Put Yourself in my Shoes had as its main objective to awaken, foster and instill the spirit of solidarity in young people, both in their immediate environment and at European level. For this reason, the participants have been 14 students from each centre between 13 and 17 years of age. The participating schools, due to the characteristics of their social environment, have been always aware of the challenges that the arrival of displaced people implies for the hosting society. Mestres de la Creu Coop. Vcna (Colegio Santa Cruz) in Mislata (Spain), Istituto Superiore Vittorini Lentini in Lentini (Italy) and Escola Basic e Secundária Dr. Ângelo Augusto da Silva in Funchal (Portugal) have led educational projects in their local communities where collaboration with disadvantaged groups has been one of the main objectives. In these projects, students from these local institutions have collaborated and participated together. The overall objective of the project has been to inform and sensitize the entire educational community and our local communities about the importance of mobilization, empathy and solidarity in the global world in which we all live. Therefore, after analysing the needs of our centres and their surroundings, we decided to establish the following objectives: to acquire ethical and moral values; to promote the sense of European citizenship; to improve social, civic, linguistic and digital skills; to foster intercultural awareness and to strengthen cooperation between different schools. In addition, the project included different types of activities aimed primarily at the educational community, specially students, and institutions that work with people at risk of exclusion. Moreover, preparation activities, such as signing agreements, work planning and meetings were carried out. Subsequently, several workshops and materials were developed and created with collaborating institutions during the mobility. All these activities were based on the performance of solidarity tasks through youth volunteering. In addition, complementary mobilities among European schools have been carried our providing added value to the project and complementing the work done by the schools with local organizations. The project methodology has been based on the elements of education for development that seeks to promote knowledge, attitudes and values regarding social inequalities and promoting volunteering as an educational practice. In addition, a practical approach has been implemented through cooperation and short exchanges of groups of students with other European institutions. With regards to the results, we can distinguish between tangible and strategic. On the one hand, tangible results such as statistics, presentations, audio-visual material, etc. have been published on the website of the Strategic Partnership www.k219putyourselfinmyshoes.org. Furthermore, several materials such as calendars, brochures, posters, bookmarks and T-shirts have been created. On the other hand, the strategic results are allowing the development of new solidarity activities for the benefit of local communities. New methodologies are being addressed to assist social, ethical and linguistic diversity in schools. Moreover, through the use and implementation of ICTs, the centres are being modernized creating a more dynamic, committed and professional environment. Regarding the impact and possible long-term benefits, there has been a great influence mainly at local level, improving the quality of school education and its cultural level. Therefore, the number of volunteer and solidary activities has been increased and local administrations have been sensitized to the objectives of the project. Finally, we intend to continue developing good practices between European schools, complementing personal training with socio-cultural and professional activities. This will enable us to develop new educational projects that imply an improvement of the results, sensitizing the educational community with the reality of newcomers, disadvantaged groups and Human Rights.