Solidarity: Youth in action! That is the title of the Erasmus Plus - project 2018-2020 that was chosen by four partner schools of Günzburg (Germany), Athens (Greece), Vergato (Italy) and Falun (Sweden). It ist true that young people tend to behave selfishly in a society focusing on personal success and fulfilment. The most important community for teenagers is, surely after their family, their school. There we wish to transmit them the duty and the motivation to commit themselves for the cause of others. To say NO to bullying, to defend the weak and play the role of mediators in conflicts, to offer their help to those who fail at school, to fight against exclusion at all levels, all these are lots of opportunities for young people to show responsible behaviour. Together, teenagers, teachers and parents are able to improve the social structures existing within the schools so that every member feels accepted and supported by the others. However, this commitment should go further. Solidarity means giving some of one's time and energy to those who need support. That's why we would like to encourage the youth to take interest in volunteering and charity organisations by letting them meet firemen, paramedics and other representatives of social professions. We are convinced that the youth can learn first aid and use it at school. They are also able to organize cultural events (international concert and meals) and sports events in order to raise funds for a good cause. They can even commit themselves for the protection of the environment by creating works of art out of recycling materials and by selling them for a charity. All the mentioned actions where civic responsibility of every single one is involved prove that we are strong together and we can change things. This topic will be extended to the importance of unity and solidarity within the EU. Our four countries, more or less big geographically and more or less strong economically, can contribute to the European unity. We want the young people to inform and commit themselves in order to strengthen European citizen 's sense of belonging to the EU. To make it short, we would like to tell the youth "Get involved!" because solidarity is a worthy experience on a personal level and essential within our diverse communities. The active youth will provide a multiplier effect on other young people who feel like getting involved but do not dare to do it yet.
The title of the 2018-20 Erasmus+ project is: Solidarité: à vous les jeunes! Four schools from Günzburg (Germany), Athens (Greece), Vergato (Italy) and Falun (Sweden) were involved. The working language of the project is French and all pupils who participated have been learning French as a foreign language, whose use is an added value for all. As today's society is oriented towards personal success in many areas, it is important to show young people the importance of solidarity and solidary behaviour, especially as they are often very self-focused anyway. School is an important instance of socialisation alongside family and peer group. The aim of the project was to give young people aged 13 to 15 the motivation to stand up for others: to take action against bullying, to defend the weaker and to help each other. For this purpose, we showed them how solidarity can be lived in society, at school and in their personal environment. On the one hand, they got to know a variety of governmental and private organisations as well as individuals who are active in the social field. On the other hand, it was also a goal of the project to let the participants become active themselves. Through a variety of offers, the participants could also find themselves in their personal preferences and feel accepted. Thus, a wide variety of charity projects, both under state and private sponsorship, but also school actions were presented. In this way, the teachers wanted to arouse the students' interest. They organised visits to a social department stores' (Sweden), to the volunteer fire brigade or to municipal charities for sick children. In addition, the young people were able to meet sports professionals and invite members of charity associations working in their region and to find role models in them for their own social commitment. They also learnt to be responsible in their own actions by collecting and sorting waste or avoiding plastic. In addition, the young people collected money for good causes (e.g. help for refugees, tree planting project). An important topic of the project that affects young people in their personal environment was bullying. The participants could tell about their own experiences. They were also given general information and trained behavioural skills to feel more committed and be encouraged to take action against bullying. At the international meetings, there were various activities from the areas of sports (handball and dances), music (school choir, visit to a musical, theatre workshop), art (designing logos, joint handicrafts), joint cooking and baking, while the emphasis was laid on self-activity, team spirit, empathy and tolerance. They were finally able to get to know another school system, another culture and the customs while living with their host family and during school classes. What is more, the students became aware of the fact that solidarity between the states of the EU makes it easier for citizens to work together and to live peacefully and productively. For this purpose, the pupils were able to interview political representatives on site, learn important facts about the history of Europe and the European Union, and visit the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Another activity focused on the Olympic Games as an event of international cooperation and fair competition (in ancient Greece and today). The project allowed the young participants to improve their language skills, discover their respective school systems and also their traditions around Christmas (like the Santa Lucia festival in Sweden), visit symbolic places like Olympia, the cradle of the Olympic Games in Greece. They shared hospitality and conviviality (cooking workshops) and made friends despite cultural differences. During the lockdown due to the pandemic, the students showed solidarity by wearing a mask (with our project logo) or morally supporting distant, lonely and elderly people. We hope for the future that the committed young people will become multipliers for the idea of solidarity, both in their immediate environment and within society in the EU in general.