To undertake the European project – Archipelago – we rely on an ongoing art/science collaboration inspired from the European ANTARES KM3NeT scientific experiment which already brought together two French high schools, a theatre company, a visual artist and the Centre for Particle Physics based in Marseille. Following the example of the European scientific collaboration ANTARES KM3NeT that includes 51 laboratories scattered among 15 European countries, we feel the necessity of enlarging this project to a European partnership between high schools in which the participating students will get the opportunity to build their European identity. The ongoing exchanges between highschools and scientific laboratories allow us to start today a collaborative project involving five highschools : two French, one Spanish, one Turkish and one Greek. As Archipelago unfolds, the 25 high school students – five participants for each school – will create an artwork under the supervision of artists and renowned scientists that will enable them to acknowledge the interest of a collaborative work at a European level. The learning process will foster the acquisition of high-quality skills and competences, and encourage the students to produce quality artworks on stage that will then be broadcasted online and open sourced. Archipelago also aims at giving the students elements to reflect on the social, economic, political and environmental challenges of the contemporary societies, in order to underpin the development of new thought patterns and of a new humanism in the future. The students will also improve their knowledge of foreign languages and their communication skills through this intercultural program that also uses digital communication tools. The partnership from Southeast to Western Europe will be the opportunity to further develop several approaches to our European cultural heritage. Through visits to research laboratories and scientific museums the students will gather scientists in natural and social sciences' life stories and will thus enrich their representations of the world realities. Then, through trips to art museums, they will be immerged in modern art tendencies that will also have an impact on their visualisation of the world. Afterwards they will participate to the film shooting that will be taking place at the very heart of the port installations located next to each participating high school. Along with this triple immersion the students will initiate the realisation process by an artistic practice at school : danse, theatre, music, visual arts. During the first European gatherings, they will gradually be party to a narrative in which they will meet students coming from the other Archipelago "islands" and will try to answer these issues : in what ways do we look alike or differ ? What is keeeping us apart ? What unites us? Do we have to secure our "islands" or cooperate so that we build a new one ? As soon as writing the piece will be set, the students will start rehearsing until the final product is developed in the cities where are located the partner schools. The students will receive a two-year high-quality artistic training in their own school. They will also be in learning situation during the European gatherings and the realisation of the final artform. The pedagogical methods used in the Archipelago program – cross-cutting practice, openness between the different disciplines, support towards taking initiatives – will help the students develop their personal skills, strengthen their confidence in the perspective of a longterm higher learning and strive for excellence. The project will also make the scientific and/or artistic careers attractives so that the students can be first plan players in the forthcoming great challenges of the European development. Participation to the project will contribute in different ways to develop the educational institutions involved : the cultural and European openness will be sustained ; the scientific and artistic partnerships will be enhanced and perpetuated ; the bonds established with the artists, the Cities of Sciences and research laboratories will last. The project will have allowed to foster exchanges of good practice between teachers from different countries : an openness to enrich the teaching abilities. The communication that will have taken place on the common site to the 5 high schools should value the results of the Archipelago process for many years to come after its closing.
Our European project, Archipelago, is based on a current art/science collaboration, inspired by the European scientific experiment ANTARES KM3NeT, which already brought together two high schools in France, a theatre company, a visual artist and the Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille. Following the example of the European dimension of ANTARES KM3NeT's scientific collaboration, which involves 51 laboratories in 15 European countries, we wanted to extend this project to a European partnership between high schools, during which the participating students had the opportunity to build their European citizenship. The contacts existing between schools and scientific laboratories have enabled us to establish a partnership project between two French high schools, a Spanish high school, a Turkish high school and a Greek high school. Throughout Archipelago, the 25 high school students from these five establishments (5 x 5 pupils) worked on creating an artistic work, supervised by professional artists and renowned scientists, which made them aware of the value of collaborative work at the European level. The learning process fostered the acquisition of new skills and competences and encouraged the high school students to produce quality artistic works for stage performances, which were to be presented on stage, filmed and then disseminated online and in open source. Archipelago also aimed to give high school students food for thought about the social, economic, ecological or political conditions of contemporary societies, in order to encourage the emergence of new models of thought and a new humanism in the future. The students were also able to develop their knowledge of languages and increase their communication skills through this intercultural programme which also used digital communication tools. The partnership, from South-East Europe to Western Europe, was an opportunity to develop several approaches to our European cultural heritage. Through visits to research laboratories and science museums, the high school students collected stories of experiences and experiences of scientists from the exact and human sciences, and thus enriched their representations of the realities of the world. By visiting art museums, they were immersed in the movements of contemporary art which will also impact their representations of the world. Parallel to these immersions, the high school students engaged in a process of realisation through an internal artistic practice within the establishments: dance, theatre, music, visual arts. Gradually, assisted by a Scottish author, Iain Finley Macleod, they then entered into a narrative construction, during which they met, during the first European gatherings, high school students from other "islands" with these questions: what are our differences, and what are our similarities? What separates us, and what unites us? Should we protect our "islands" or cooperate to build a new one together? After contributing to the writing of the work, the high school students began rehearsals, which were unfortunately interrupted by the pandemic and successive confinements. The choice of a documentary film, made by a professional, was therefore favoured by several partner establishments, retracing the 18 months of the project's existence, based on archive images, interviews and rehearsals filmed in the different high schools when the sanitary conditions allowed it. However, the students were able to receive eighteen months of quality artistic training in their own schools. They were also in a "learning" situation during the European gatherings and the production of the final artistic form (the documentary film). The pedagogical methods used in Archipelago (the practice of transversality, breaking down barriers between disciplines, encouraging initiative) helped the students to develop their personal skills, build their confidence in the perspective of long-term university learning and aim for excellence. The project also helped to make careers in science and/or the arts attractive so that these high school students will be key players in the major challenges of European development in the future. Participation in the project has contributed in different ways to the development of the schools involved: cultural and European openness has been boosted; artistic and scientific partnerships have been developed. The project also made it possible to develop exchanges of good practice between teachers from different countries: an openness to enrich teaching attitudes. The communication carried out on the site shared by the 5 high schools will make it possible to promote the results of the Archipelago process for many years to come.