The background of the project "same, same but different" is that many teenagers and (young) adults are bias against foreigners, like EU migrants and especially refugees, even in economically prosperous parts of Europe. They adopt that attitude of other teenagers or adults without reflecting it. The aim of our project is that our students will adopt a more tolerant and open-minded attitude. This should be achieved on the one hand by gaining knowledge for example about causes of flight, the flight itself, difficulties of refugees and migrants upon arrival in Europe and financial help in the EU. This should prevent teenagers from mistaking "fake news" for the truth which they read on social media platforms or which are being discussed in families and among peers. The common opinion that "only our country is helping refugees" should be revised by the exchange of experience between German, Swedish and Sicilian students because all three countries play a major part in the refugee question in Europe. This will teach the students about working together in the European Union, too. On the other hand, there should not only be encouraged a congitive but also an emotional learning process. The project "same, same but different" will include a strong cooperation between immigrants and natives. Prejudices and fears, that are natural emotions of humans against the unknown, should be reduced through personal contacts and exchange. That's why all activities are based on gaining knowledge about immigrants as well as encouraging the personal contact. Therefore, we plan activities such as interviews with immigrants, visiting a refugee home, analysing the labour market for immigrants, learning and celebrating together or making kites, a typical Afghan tradition. These activities take place locally, at the three different schools and during three short trip exchanges that focus on the arrival and the chances in Europe as well as what we can learn from one another. Before and during these trips, the teenagers will also learn a lot about their European partners and about the benefits of the EU in their own lives. Students participating in this project are aged 16 and above from a German, a Swedish and a Sicilian school. Each school have 16 students participating in the exchange, with eight going on the trip to one partner school and eight to the other. Locally, there will be more students involved in the projects in the hometown and with the classes that are for refugees and EU-migrants. All results will be filmed and made into an English documentary-like film, which will focus on the three parts of the three short trip exchanges: Arrival in Europe, Chances in Europe and Learning from one another. The film will be used afterwards by the schools to teach other (and future) students, teachers and interested familiy members and the community about migration. This is one important way how we want to spread tolerance not just among those teenagers who actively take part in our project but also at the schools and the communities.
The background of the project "same, same but different" is that many teenagers and (young) adults are bias against foreigners, like EU migrants and especially refugees, even in economically prosperous parts of Europe. They adopt that attitude of other teenagers or adults without reflecting it. The aim of our project was and is that our students will adopt a more tolerant and open-minded attitude. This has been be achieved on the one hand by gaining knowledge for example about causes of flight, the flight itself, difficulties of refugees and migrants upon arrival in Europe and financial help in the EU. This should prevent teenagers from mistaking "fake news" for the truth which they read on social media platforms or which are being discussed in families and among peers. The common opinion that "only our country is helping refugees" could be revised by the exchange of experience between German, Swedish and Sicilian students because all three countries play a major part in the refugee question in Europe. Especially in Sicily, students learned about the reasons why people need to leave their home countries. A lot of refugees arrive on the Italian islands and therefore our students could see first hand, that we are in this together in all of Europe. In Germany, students could learn about the chances and difficulties of finding work as a migrant. In May 2020, we wanted to go to Sweden to focus on the aspect of social integration but unfortunately, this had to be canceled due to the Corona-virus. Nevertheless, we managed to encourage not only a congitive but also an emotional learning process. The project "same, same but different" has included a strong cooperation between immigrants and natives throughout the school years. Prejudices and fears, that are natural emotions of humans against the unknown, could be reduced through personal contacts, such as interviews with immigrants, learning and celebrating together. This took place at all three schools, e. g. with a music and culture festival in Sweden with food, music and dances from the home countries of the refugees. They sold the food and gave the money to Amnesty. In all three countries, natives students where invited to integration classes to learn about the home countries of the refugees and their reasons why the had to flee. The making of kites, a typical Afghan tradition, needed to the canceled due to the pandemic. These activities have taken place locally, at the three different schools and during two of the three short trip exchanges that focus on the arrival and the chances in Europe. Before and during these trips, the teenagers also learned a lot about their European partners and about the benefits of the EU in their own lives. Students participating in this project were aged 16 and above from a German, a Swedish and a Sicilian school. Each school had between 8 and 16 students participating in the exchange, with eight going on the trip to one partner school and eight to the other. Locally, there have been more students involved in the projects in the hometown and with the classes that are for refugees and EU-migrants. The local project "You can do something, too" will continue after the Erasmus+ project is over to make sure that future students will broaden their horizon as well and we continue to reach the goal to spread more tolerance. All results were filmed and made into an English documentary-like film, which will focus on the social interactions of the two short trip exchanges: Arrival in Europe and Chances in Europe. The film will be used afterwards by the schools to teach other (and future) students, teachers and interested familiy members and the community about migration. This is one important way how we want to spread tolerance not just among those teenagers who actively take part in our project but also at the schools and the communities.