The European Union celebrates its 60th birthday and faces a difficult moment. Europe must respond in a creative and convincing way to the questions of how to promote a model of progress. This project, Young Europeans THINK&ACT, focus on four areas that it will be crucial to find a sustainable solution to in the years to come. The project meetings focus on the environment, on water management and the transition from fossil energy to "green energy", on migration and integration of immigrants, and also on the processes of sharing, protecting and creating heritage. All the aspects are bound together because they are central, they are relevant to all Europeans, and most important: a sustainable solution demands that we work together. The solutions can't be only on a local or national level, but demand international understanding and cooperation. Objectives of the project: This project set out to equip and enhance teachers and students with essential high quality skills and competences so they can contribute in the process of meeting the challenges in the best possible way. The learning outcome will be improved language skills, innovation/entrepreneurship skills and digital skills. We will encourage active citizenship and participation in civic and social life. Students and teachers will work with experts in specific fields, and they will themselves do research on the topics. They will acquire subject knowledge and deep insight in the selected topics and priorities. The core idea of Young Europeans THINK&ACT is that young people meet and work together. They will discover similarities and differences, and discuss their common future with a transnational approach. Through working together, an international mindset is encouraged, their cultural competences will deepen and thereby also their intercultural understanding. These are central competences to limit social exclusion and develop active citizenship among the young. The project tasks and activities will teach the students and teachers how they as individuals can contribute. The effects will also reach the students' families, the schools and local communities that are involved in the project. This school exchange partnership consists of four secondary schools in Spain, The Netherlands, Poland and Norway that have previously worked together on Erasmus+ funded projects. The partnership has been successful in the past and we would like to continue the good work. All the partner schools are experienced in international work and want to have an international focus in our curricula and teaching methodology. Two of the partners are CLIL- schools. For the student meetings, six students from varied socio-economic backgrounds will be selected, together with two accompanying teachers from each school. Activities in this project: Short-term joint teacher training where the objective is achievement of digital skills and mastering of tools necessary to complete the project. Short-term exchanges of groups of students in The Netherlands with focus on energy transition. Short-term exchanges of groups of students in Poland focusing on cultural heritage. Short-term exchanges of groups of students in Spain focusing on water resources management. Short-term exchanges of groups of students in Norway focusing on migration and integration. All the activities involve pre-tasks before the meetings. Students collect information and communicate using different digital shared platforms. Between meetings the partner schools will communicate using eTwinning and other digital communication arenas. During the student meetings the participants will meet experts, scientists, organisations and local authorities etc. Each meeting will have a final product that will be shared on the project's open platform: a webpage. All products made (brochures, leaflets, posters, films etc.) will be uploded and made accessible and public on this webpage. Focusing on skills and learning outcomes teachers will design innovative teaching resources and materials and contribute to their schools' curricula. Thus the schools as organisations will benefit from the development and improvement of teaching methodology and from the implementation of an international perspective on teaching and learning. Students will also acquire new content and subject knowledge about the selected topics. Further they will acquire high quality language skills, entrepreneurship skills and digital skills that will be central in making changes towards a more sustainable handling of migration, heritage and environmental issues in the years to come. In a long term perspective we believe that students and teachers will develop important cross cultural understanding and willingness to address the future challenges of Europe with a greater understanding of transnational cooperation and social inclusion.
The background for this project is that Europe is experiencing difficulties. A lot is going well in Europe, but there are also serious challenges, even more so in recent times due to the pandemic. We chose to focus on four areas where is it essential to find sustainable solutions in the years to come: renewable energy, water management, migration and integration of immigrants and the processes of sharing, protecting and creating heritage. The project weeks have given the students new knowledge on the topics and they have been challenged to come up with ideas for solutions. According to us, the objectives of the project is absolutely met. The students have improved their digital skills. The tasks have included making of videos, webpages, podcasts, digital posters and presentations. They have also been using different shared platforms for communication and joint work. The students have improved their language skills, mostly in English, but also Spanish. Many of the participating students have Spanish as their second foreign language in school. The evaluation of the project weeks show that the students have gained in depth knowledge on the topics. The topics have been approached in an explorative and open way, combining both a theoretical and a practical approach. All project weeks have included lectures and/or meetings with experts and researchers. In Poland, the students got a lecture at The University of Poznan on the subject “heritage”. In The Netherlands the students met researchers on renewable energy. In Spain, the students visited sites executing successful water management. In Norway they met municipality workers in charge of integration of refugees, refugees in the local community and a survivor from the Utøya-attack in 2011. These are just examples. For a more complete presentation, please look at each partners summary, and at the project webpage: https://erasmusthinkandact.wixsite.com/yeta and the Twin-space site: The project weeks have encouraged active citizenship and participation in civic and social life. Especially the projects in Spain and Norway have been connected to ongoing processes in the local community. The students have experienced that powerful people have listened to them and have taken their ideas into consideration. We think and hope that this will aspire further engagement. All the project weeks have tasks where the students are encouraged to make actual changes in their own life, as to transition to environmental friendly energy behavior, water saving, social inclusion and awareness of their role as creators and protectors of cultural heritage. All the activities in the project have been completed, but a few changes was made (see below). The activities involved pre-tasks before the meetings. The students collected information and communicated using different digital shared platforms. Between meetings the partner schools communicated using eTwinning and other digital communication platforms. Each meeting had a final product that has been shared on the webpage: https://erasmusthinkandact.wixsite.com/yeta The students were working in international groups all the time. It is complex to state the effects of such a transnational project, as the effects are on many levels. On a personal level, it has been important for the students. This can be read from their evaluations. They have enlarged their understanding and knowledge of important topics. They have acquired new skills and competencies. They have experienced difficulties and joys working in international groups, they have lived in families and experienced the foreign culture from the inside. For students from families with economic difficulties, it has been their first trip abroad. And for students coming from unstable families, the hospitality and friendliness of the host families have made great impact. The students, and teachers, have made friends, potentially for life. The value of this should not be underestimated. Understanding and social inclusion comes from getting to know people that are different from yourself, to challenge your prejudice and to experience, not just talk about, intercultural exchange. During the project weeks, social, cultural and outdoor activities have been added to enrich understanding. The effects are also substantial on a school level. Teachers and school leaders involved in the project have shared thoughts on administration, methodology and content. This will be integrated and used by teachers and school adminitration to improve student outcomes. The cooperation with the local municipality has resulted in dissemination outside the schools. Local newpapers have made articles about the project and helped us disseminate even further. It has been a great joy to take part in this project. The project partners work really well together and we are hoping to continue working together also in the future as we still think we have a lot to learn from each other.