2018 has been designated as "European Year of Cultural Heritage" by the European Parliament in its decision 2017/864. It will be the European Year of Cultural Heritage, a year of events and activities all around. Europe is to get people interested and involved in cultural heritage. 2018 sees an unparalleled series of initiatives and events across Europe to get people closer to and more involved with their cultural heritage, to encourage the sharing and appreciation of Europe’s rich heritage and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. We would like to join this celebration with this project Our project supports activities related the 2018 European cultural heritage year. The aims of the project are to encourage the sharing and appreciation of Europe's cultural heritage, to raise awareness of our common history and values and to reinforce a sense of belonging in a common European space. (to arise awareness for the Safeguarding of common Cultural Heritage in EU countries and to strengthen their institutional capacities so that they can develop activities to safeguard their heritage with the participation of the communities and groups concerned.) (UNESCO Convention) One of the key objectives of the project is to 'raise awareness of the importance of Europe's cultural heritage through education and lifelong learning, in particular by focusing on children, young and elderly people, local communities and hard-to-reach groups. (by preparing a pedagogical base including reflections and proposals of active methods invaluable to improve the Lisbon Key Competences such as: learning to learn, interpersonal, intercultural and social competences, civic competence, cultural expression and communication in the mother tongue.) The project's other aim is to train individuals, who are integrated to the cultural identity of our age at all, to approach with respect and understanding to different cultures, recognize cultural richness and diversity, see culture as an area for creating not demanding resources, and believe in the necessity of creating economic and social sustainability. These goals will be achieved by addressing the following topics: 1-Globalization and disappearing cultural identities 2-The meaning of learning to live together 3-Cultural traditions (Intangible Cultural Heritage) 4-Common Cultural heritage (tangible Cultural Heritage) 5-Active European citizenship 6-Enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training 7-Digital competence Our activities have been designed to meet the objectives of the European Year of Cultural Heritage as outlined in EU Decision 2017/864: • initiatives and events to promote debate and raise awareness of the importance and value of cultural heritage and to facilitate engagement with citizens and stakeholders; • information, exhibitions, education and awareness-raising campaigns • the sharing of experience and good practices of national, regional and local administrations and other organisations, and the dissemination of information • the undertaking of studies and research and innovation activities and the dissemination of their results on a European or national scale; • the promotion of projects and networks connected to the European Year, including via the media and social networks. • conferences, symposia, fora, debates; studies, surveys; training/ workshops; research activities; visits and exchanges; The project focuses on young people, who will become guardians of our heritage for the next generations. This educational value of cultural heritage will be emphasised, as it will contribute to sustainable economic and social development.The aim of the these activities is to enable the pupils gain knowledge and abilities that they can use in future. We believe that our project is compatible with EU youth policy in attempt to develop young people’s spirit of entrepreneurship. The increased environmental and common cultural wealth awareness in participants as well as in local communities, will contribute to young people to develop their personalities. Our partners represent contrasting social and economic backgrounds, and a diverse collection of communities from across Europe. By working together to reach our aims about cultural heritage, we will be successful in showing our pupils, parents, staff and others how people from different parts of Europe can work together in order to improve relations and create a more cohesive European citizenship. The project methodolgy is based on the concept of interdisciplinary teaching as a means to enhance the quality of education. We aim at approaching key issues from the perspective of different subjects, cultures and languages, thus providing a more comprehensive understanding of civic issues in a European context. To assess the impact and to ensure the proper development of the project, both formative types of evaluation as well as summative ones will be used.
The description of the project started with the announcement of 2018 as the "Year of Cultural Heritage", a year with plenty events, celebrations and activities all overe the continent. Even in 2019 we had the chance to enjoy the richness of european culture and heritage and celebrate our traditions in international meetings with Erasmus+. After our last meeting in January, suddenly the situation changed due to the Corona virus. Because of the uncertain circumstances the next school year, the team decided to close project as planned this summer, even though we can't hold our last meeting in England. On one hand, the cancellation of our final meeting is very disappoiting. Not only for the students, that has been looking forward and preparing the meeting, but also for the teachers, that have become close colleagues and friends during the project. Reservations that had been made, must be cancelled, plans that had been thought, can't turn into actions. Especially the get-together in the final meeting helps to review the project together and reflect about highlights and things that could improve. It's a pity that our last meeting cannot take place. On the other hand, the lockdown of our daily life and also the sudden cancellation of all kind of exchange activities reveals plenty of positive aspects. Things, that had been taken for granted for years, suddenly seem precious and in danger. Open borders are not a matter of course, either is the freedom of travelling. We realize how strong our european relationships have become and how lucky we are to being able to share international experiences. We had defined the following goals for our project, but they have now got a significant new meaning: 1-Globalization and disappearing cultural identities 1a) Reflection of our own culture in times of disease 2-The meaning of learning to live together 2a) The real meaning of learning to live together, not only at home in quarantine, but also as european partners 3-Cultural traditions (Intangible Cultural Heritage) 3a) What is it that we all miss most? Are we really so different from each other? 4-Common Cultural heritage (tangible Cultural Heritage) 5-Active European citizenship 5a) What does Active European citizenship mean to us? How can we show solidarity? 6-Enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training 7-Digital competence Especially the content of our project -cultural heritage and traditions- seem to have an ambigous meaning at the end of project. Theaters are closed, museums are closed, concerts are cancelled, celebrations of all kind as weddings or traditional festivities can't take place. Other things seem to be more important right now. Life is reduced to very basic needs of the human being. But being deprived from all the culture, the beauty and the freedom, we realize another time, how much we have been taken these goods for granted.