The European Union needs an active and vital European public. A joint European public is essential to make the citizens perceive themselves as European citizens. A joint European public can help to broaden the own (national) horizon. A joint European identity succeeds in the democratic legitimation of the EU. Hence, a strong Europe needs citizens that identify with Europe. What can we do to establish such a public? Five schools from Germany, Finland, Poland, Hungary and Italy have decided to translate the idea mentioned above into action. Approximately 100 secondary school pupils and 20 teachers from these countries take part in the exchange programme. The main objective of this programme is to provide and establish new impulses for the joint European public. The project involves three intertwined action levesl. These levels ensure that the pupils as responsible and empowered citizens are able to take part in the discourse with decision-makers. Necessary steps: 1. We create a European public: Via eTwinning and other formats we make different lesson plans available. By creating, using and sharing these lessons plans we understand how subjects of particular European relevance are discussed in our European partner schools. That’s what we need digital formats for. Digital literacy and the competence to take others perspective are our main priorities. 2. During the first week of our exchange, in which each school sends and welcomes a delegation of each participating partner country, we work on our “national narrative”. In workshops we are going to develop an understanding for historic, economic and social backgrounds which influence our partner schools' views on certain European topics. We will train the competence to take others perspectives, professional and language competence as well as critical thinking. The results of our workshops are the foundation for a European public because mutual understanding and knowing about each other’s interests are the basis for a strong Europe. 3. During the second week of our exchange we work on essential prerequisites for a joint European public. For this purpose we follow up with the meaning of the public and the role of the media in democratic systems. Subsequently, we develop ideas and prepare impulse papers and presentations for the establishment of a European public. Therefore, we come into contact with media-makers. In particular, we train the professional, language and methodical competences during the exchange. 4. Our common journey to Brussels is the highlight: here, we are going to present and discuss our results with European decision-makers of the legislative and executive. We want to promote our pupils’ civil society commitment and to make our impulses public on a European level. Our pupils as responsible and empowered citizens shall partake in the development of the European idea. This project enables us to foster/promote the European idea and set concrete impulses. Our schools expand the exchange, and the partaking pupils encourage and promote their digital and civil society competences. We publish our results on a regional level and thus promote the European ideas and thoughts.
The European Union needs an active and vibrant European public sphere. Only through a common public sphere citizens will see themselves as citizens of the EU; a common public sphere can help people to look beyond their own national horizons. A European identity would contribute to the democratic legitimacy of the EU. After all, a strong Europe needs citizens who also have a European identity. How can we arrive such a public sphere? Five schools from Germany, Finland, Poland, Hungary, and Italy have set out to do so. About 100 upper school students* and about 20 teachers from these countries went through a joint exchange programme, at the end of which impulses for the establishment of a European public sphere were generated. The project had three interlinked levels of action. They ensured that in the end the students were able to enter into a discourse with decision-makers as responsible Europeans. Our steps: 1. create a European public sphere ourselves: through eTwinning and other formats, we provide lessons in which we understand how issues of European relevance are discussed in our partner countries. We started talking about digital formats for this purpose. The focus was on digital literacy and the adoption of perspectives. 2. In a first week of exchange, during which each school sent and received delegations in each partner country, we developed our "national narratives". Historical, economic, and social backgrounds that influence the partner countries' perspective on European issues were examined in workshops. The adoption of perspectives, professional and language skills, and critical thinking were trained. With the results we provided the basis for the establishment of a European public sphere, because mutual understanding and knowledge of the interests of the partner countries are the basis for a strong Europe. At the end of this week stereotypes were broken down, prejudices were overcome and a deeper understanding of national self-understandings was developed. 3. In the second week of the exchange we worked out the conditions for a common European public sphere. To this end, we looked at the role of the public and the media in democratically constituted systems. We then developed ideas and prepared impulse papers and lectures for the establishment of a European public sphere. Moreover, we came into contact with content creators from radio, television, and newspapers and learned first-hand about the conditions under which the media work and how they report on the EU. The focus of this exchange was on technical, linguistic, and methodological competences. In the end, the students went from media consumers to media producers. 4. The highlight was a joint trip to Brussels. Here the results were presented to European decision-makers in the legislative and executive branches in a discourse. This way we wanted to promote the civil society involvement of our pupils and to bring concrete impulses to the European level. As responsible citizens, the pupils were to take part in the development of the European idea. However, the pupils were also able to experience the "engine room" of the EU at first hand with Brussels and experience the internationality lived in the EU as a diverse normality. With this project we promoted the European idea and set our own, concrete impulses. Our schools deepened the exchange, and the digital and civil society skills of those involved were promoted in the longer term. We conveyed our results to the regional public and thus also strengthened the European idea locally.