The idea of this project was born from the observation that city planners are reconsidering the rules that underlie urban planning, to meet the needs connected to improving the quality of life of all residents; in some European countries we are still far from a rational and "sustainable" conception of urban and natural spaces, which results in negative impacts and in relevant and widespread problems such as: a) atmospheric, land and water pollution b) traffic congestion c) the misuse of urban spaces, with a future waste of "urban landscape" d) the lack of social cohesion, which leads to the creation of ghettos and places of "social segregation". The project "TALES of our cities '" aims to generate, in students and teachers, the awareness that rational urban planning and collective well-being is an indissoluble binomial for social progress. The 28 students involved in the project activities will be selected among students of the 3rd, 4th and 5th classes of the French language course in Italy, and Italian in Belgium. In addition, these will be supported and accompanied by teachers of geography and art history. Through questionnaires, research, mapping, educational visits and photographic techniques, students will develop an in-depth knowledge of the distinctive characteristics of their cities, history, culture, traditions, as well as an approach to the quality of life and environmental protection. The joint activities of the project will encourage students to acquire not only a social conscience, but also an understanding of the different planning systems, influencing the local communities involved. The objectives of the activities are the following: • The modernization and strategic development of the teaching/learning system of soft and transversal skills and of the specific ones related to history, geography, citizenship education, art history • knowledge and understanding of the partners' historical and cultural background • strengthening of motivation and the continuous updating (lifelong learning) • development of social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and awareness of European citizenship • development of ICT skills • raising awareness on issues related to "sustainable urban development" • the inclusion of the educating community in a European context that fosters quality, innovation, modernization and internationalization of education • the development of awareness of the multicultural nature of contemporary society and of the school • the development of interest in multilingualism in school staff and a different openness to comparison with new teaching methods and cooperation There are 2 joint training events, during which each group involved in mobility will present their research on the planning and urban development systems of their city to the other group; each of them will have to retrace the various urban projects adopted over time and highlight their effects within the community. This presentation will also be held in the presence of the families, students and teachers of the host school, the local authorities of the Municipality and, more generally, the community invited to take part in the presentation of the work carried out.
The project "Tales of our cities" is a project in which the students worked on the link between urban planning and social well-being as these two aspects of city life are linked. The teachers of history, geography, languages, and art history helped the students with their research. This allowed them to develop knowledge about their city, history, culture, traditions as well as an approach to quality of life and protection of the environment. Two mobilities were carried out: one in Brussels and the other in Vasto. The idea was also to allow students to discover the culture of the language they are studying. This project had several objectives: • The modernization and strategic development of the teaching/learning system of soft and transversal skills and of the specific ones related to history, geography, citizenship education, art history • knowledge and understanding of the partners' historical and cultural background • strengthening of motivation and the continuous updating (lifelong learning) • development of social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and awareness of European citizenship • development of ICT skills • raising awareness on issues related to "sustainable urban development" • the inclusion of the educating community in a European context that fosters quality, innovation, modernization and internationalization of education • the development of awareness of the multicultural nature of contemporary society and of the school • the development of interest in multilingualism in school staff and a different openness to comparison with new teaching methods and cooperation The results are manifold. The first major result of this project is to have managed to bring together and work together two groups of students of different languages and cultures. They spent a week in a host family in Italy for Belgian students and in Belgium for Italian students. In addition, thanks to these mobilities, the students improved their knowledge of the foreign language and widened their competence in terms of communication in the target language. Thirdly, the subject of the project made them aware of the importance of European citizenship and its values. Then, the work carried out throughout the project allowed the students to develop ICT skills. They feel more comfortable and confident with innovation and new technologies. Last but not least, the students learned about the urban planning of their own city as well as the city of the host country thanks to research and visits carried out on the subject. Regarding the achievements, this project allowed the students to feel valued as the actions to be carried out were so varied: 1) video presenting their own school and their own city, 2) preparation and realization of interviews (micro-pavement) on the pedestrian, 3) videos presenting the important monuments of the cities, 4) discovery and production of Belgian pastries, 5) creation by each student, using computer software, of an “art nouveau building” having the characteristics of the architect Victor Horta, 6) realization of a tale after having discovered Belgian-French words.