The project’s aim is to help young people coming from 5 European countries, from a socially disadvantaged background with a limited access to culture, to find a positive integration in a multicultural, multiethnic, but sometimes hostile environment Culture opens the way towards equality, social inclusion, development of social skills, self-assertion and reduces the risk of school drop-out rates. The purpose is to make pupils aware of the cultural wealth of the European Union which shares common values : the respect for human rights and for dignity, freedom, equality, democracy, respect for the rights of people belonging to minorities. We would like to accomplish that it in a different, stimulating and funny way; for this reason the European Year of the Cultural heritage has been chosen to be illustrated by showing them how it is possible to get to know the world "by working" through our senses. Thus, plunging into the universe of senses to try to learn our heritage through perceptions which supply us with invaluable information which surrounds us and has an important influence on our behaviour. To admire, to savour, to touch, to listen , to smell, all this will encourage them to discover and to appreciate the cultural heritage of Europe, as well as to strengthen a feeling of membership in a common European space. By appreciating it, we can discover our diversity and begin an intercultural dialogue on things we have in common. For every country, 4 pupils, selected according to their school results and their socioeconomic environment (to give to all the possibility to take part in an European project) and 2 teachers and/or headmasters will be involved in the mobility. Every partner will work on its cultural and natural heritage in a transverse way, that means that all the activities will contribute to discover the regions of Europe through our 5 senses. We can organize tours in the city center, walk around and take some pictures, take a stroll to the markets or plug into nature so that students can "feel" the host country. These tours will be narrated through images, descriptions, tales, videos. Besides, we shall organize a day or a half-day of cooking with practice but also a drafting of a common recipes cookbook and play games to discover cities through our 5 senses (and we are obliged to learn culture and heritage of every city discovered through our 5 senses) Throughout the project, teachers can measure its impact on participants. Foreign pupils could show an increased interest for the study of French or a better oral production . During the project, teachers, in particular those who teach the subjects connected to the project, will be able to estimate the degree of acquisition of new skills and knowledge of pupils (skills in IT, better knowledge of oral language, geography, and so on). The periods of mobility have numerous impacts both on the life of the establishment and on participants and partners. The implementation and the management of the projects involve working in a big team and it facilitates the development of interdisciplinarity, strengthens relationships. Relations among partners at the European level are strengthened, and this increases the possibility of sharing common practices of education and improves the management of processes of remote cooperation. Establishments will spread their results, which will have a positive impact on their reputation. Furthermore, cooperation with the local authorities, companies and media will facilitate the local and national influence of every establishment. The most important effect will be the transnational cooperation which will allow to evolve at the European level and to live the European citizenship through the exchanges with other countries. Besides, through the E-Twinning and partnerships, we hope that our establishments go into a network of European partners to cooperate and build a long-lasting collaboration.
“Discovering the cultural and natural heritage through the 5 senses" is a project developed by 5 European schools during the period 2018-2021 with the support of the European Commission, thanks to the Erasmus + program, action key 2. It was designed in 2018 to make young people aware about the European Year of Cultural Heritage and encourage them to discover the cultural richness of the European Union in which all countries share common values: respect for human rights (dignity, freedom and equality) and democracy. The project is based firstly on the need to find a different and more practical approach to the cultural and natural heritage in order to promote it and secondly on the development of student’s different abilities and skills encouraging diversified forms of communication that allow the stimulation of senses and perceptions. Senses and perceptions indeed provide important information on all that surrounds us and influences our behaviour. Through “sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing” we experience a different way to discover and appreciate the cultural heritage of Europe and strengthen the feeling of belonging to a common European space. Its main objectives were: - make students aware of other cultures through activities that solicit their creativity -raise awareness of cultural heritage of European countries -encourage young people to use online resources and networks to develop their citizenship skills and become active citizens, open to other cultures -promote the collaborative approach to encourage communication and promote integration -promote the learning of foreign languages, in particular French, an important language within the EU. -improve the linguistic, methodological, technical, IT and interpersonal skills of students and teachers. The partnership involves 5 schools and students aged 15 to 18. All the schools involved in the project, even if they are in a disadvantaged social background, they are rich in history and traditions. They have worked together to find ways to improve and reduce the identity crisis of young people shown in their behaviour and schooling problems and to promote their access to culture. Animated by the common European culture and a very strong linguistic and cultural openness, they compared about the integration problem of groups of students coming from socially and economically disadvantaged contests, fighting against the risk of dropping out of school. Each partner worked crosswise on their cultural and natural heritage, with specific courses aimed at stimulating creativity and "cultural awareness" in students. The organization of activities around the 5 senses (visual, olfactory, tactile, gustative, auditory workshops) allowed to affirm the importance of the role of cultural heritage in a country identity, to observe the similarities and differences between countries and their histories. The activities implemented were: - heritage discovery activities through multimedia presentations and site visits -practical realization activities: workshops around the 5 senses with creative works -writing activities: writing articles, booklets, notebooks, brochures - psychosocial activities: working in teams and keeping in touch by exchanging messages through the various social networking portals. The results achieved are as follows: -various productions published on the website, the Facebook page and the eTwinning platform -a positive attitude towards national and European values -a better ability to cooperate and have good interpersonal relationships -development of individual skills and better self-confidence -an improvement in linguistic and technological skills. The relapse of this project is linked to: -modification of the didactic approach among the schools involved: all the activities done have become an excellent laboratory to reflect on the relationship between reality, culture and communication and could become a good practice for all interdisciplinary activities -dissemination of results to a wide audience through the eTwinning platform, the Facebook page and the project website -the transferability of results by setting up innovative systems in partner establishments -the best visibility at local, regional, national and international level (media, press, radio, open days, Erasmus Days) -the lastingly of the project by maintaining the Facebook page and the project website -the reuse of knowledge and know-how acquired to support other projects.