The project “European Cultural Treasures: where the past meets the future” (EuroCulT) will be carried out by 6 European primary schools (Greece, Portugal, Lithuania, Canary Islands, Croatia, and France) in a 2-years period. It is based on open and innovative practices in a digital era, promoting the acquisition of skills and competences, the social and educational value of European culture. The main motivation, in the dawn of the European Year of Cultural Heritage (2018), is to raise awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage, to educate young generations towards tolerance, preparing them for a multicultural and multiethnic Europe, respecting their origin and traditions as well. All schools, that build this partnership, were selected on the basis of culture diversity, so as to add more value and support to the project progress and results. During the cooperation, they will become a melting pot in which the appreciation and the osmosis of the cultural good will converge and provide a solid basis for the students to learn how to appreciate and respect their own and other nations’ backgrounds. All teachers involved in the project will aspire to broaden student's horizon and teach themselves to be an eye-opener in order to realize that they are a part of a larger community, so as to promote citizenship, facilitating European unity. The EuroCulT project aims to demonstrate the different aspects of cultural heritage, recognizing its contribution in contemporary life, provide cultural interaction between partners to broaden self-awareness, enhance adaptability in diverse cultures, acquire citizenship, contribute the cultural and social development, educate in open and innovative practices in a digital era (portable learning); enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of school education by increasing awareness of European values, promoting multicultural understanding and overcoming established cultural stereotypes; to strengthen a sense of European identity. To achieve the objectives, we planned workshops (Compiling a QR code; Creating a Digital Quiz; Embedding QR codes in the fairytale; Using the ARcGIS platform; Making a short film documentary; Creating thematic maps) and activities related to tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The beauty of the matter is that all these aspects will be acquired through smart cultural heritage routes, selected by students, which are based on three main pillars: Fragments of the Past; Hidden Town Treasures; Mind up Tradition. In this context, portable learning and IT tools play a key role, offering a variety of channels, where activity-based learning (QR, GPS, IT) can be enhanced during collaborative and cooperative activities, increasing the educational efficiency. Thus, this project, as part of an innovative, thought-provoking and interesting educational journey, motivates students to look beyond their "backyard" and together with their European peers to integrate their intellectual skills and empower their self-confidence as future active citizens. The outcomes of the project (EuroCulTwebsite; EuroCulTQuiz; EuroCulTQR Atlas with Routes; EuroCulTTale; EuroCulTTalk; EuroCulTShort documentary; EuroCulTCalendar 2020) will be distributed to all target groups. These outcomes will be implemented through a series of activities, derived from the main pillars of the EuroCulT project and will be carried out on a regular basis to ensure a cohesive and constant dissemination on a local, regional, national and European level. The peak of all our deliverables will be presented to our target groups and regional and educational authorities at the EuroCulTFiesta. The project activities will spread and highlight the educative initiatives regarding multicultural understanding and promotion of all aspects of local cultural heritage and traditions, within European concept as well as it will provide new and innovative approaches. The achievement of the objectives will have a positive impact on the school community, local authorities and relevant stakeholders, which will gain an insight into different cultures and therefore develop a better understanding of European cooperation and multicultural interaction. Moreover, all participants will develop communication skills, personal and interpersonal skills, digital and management skills and competences. They will gain experience in using English language in real life situations. Furthermore, this project will increase motivation for partners and stakeholders, ensuring the dissemination of results by being available on line. We hopefully believe that the EuroCuIT project could inspire other teachers to establish new partnerships in local, region and European level. The long term sustainability of the project will be promoted by teachers, who will motivate students to make good use of the produced material and they will integrate it in class curricula, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
The project “European Cultural Treasures: where the past meets the future” (EuroCulT) was carried out by 5 European primary schools (Greece, Portugal, Lithuania, Canary Islands and Croatia) in a 3-years period, as it was extended due to pandemic Covid-19. Having as main motivation to raise awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage and to enhance the social and educational value of European culture, used open and innovative practices in a digital era that promoted the teachers' acquisition of skills and competences as to educate young generations to respect their origins and traditions, preparing them for a multicultural and multi ethnic Europe. The achievement of the objectives was based on workshops (Compiling a QR code; Creating a Digital Quiz; Embedding QR codes in the fairy tale; Using the ARcGIS platform; Making a short film documentary; Creating thematic maps) and activities related to tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The beauty of the matter was that all these aspects have acquired through smart cultural heritage routes, which were based on three main pillars: Fragments of the Past; Hidden Town Treasures; Mind up Tradition. In this context, portable learning and IT tools have played a key role, offering a variety of channels, where activity-based learning (QR, GPS, IT) was enhanced during collaborative and cooperative activities, increasing the educational efficiency. The EuroCulT project have demonstrated the different aspects of cultural heritage and recognized its contribution in contemporary life, providing cultural interaction between partners as to broaden self-awareness, to enhance adaptability in diverse cultures, to acquire citizenship, to contribute the cultural and social development, to enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of school education increasing awareness of European values, promoting multicultural understanding and overcoming established cultural stereotypes, strengthen a sense of European identity as well. All schools that built this partnership, were selected on the basis of culture diversity, so as to add more value and support to the project progress and results. This cooperation became a melting pot in which the appreciation and the osmosis of the cultural good converged and provided a solid basis for students to learn how to appreciate and respect their own and other nations’ backgrounds. All teachers involved have broaden student's horizon and have taught themselves to be an eye-opener in order to realize that they are a part of a larger community, promoting citizenship and facilitating European unity. All project outcomes (EuroCulTwebsite; EuroCulTQuiz; EuroCulTQR Atlas with Routes; EuroCulTTale; EuroCulTTalk; EuroCulTShort documentary; EuroCulTCalendar 2020) had positive impact on school communities, local authorities and relevant stakeholders, as they have gained an insight into different cultures and therefore developed a better understanding of European cooperation and multicultural interaction. We hopefully believe that EuroCuIT project deliverables, that have distributed to all target groups and are available online, will inspire other teachers to establish new partnerships in local, region and European level. Moreover, the long-term sustainability of the project will be promoted by teachers, who will motivate students to make good use of the produced material integrate it in class curricula, bridging the gap between theory and practice. Thus, this project, as part of an innovative, thought-provoking and interesting educational journey, have motivated teachers and students to look beyond their "backyard" and together with their European peers to integrate their intellectual skills and empower their self-confidence as future active citizens.