As a very successful 3-year long school partnership with the Karleby svenska gymnasium in Finnland (2016-1-Fr01-KA219-024249_2) ends in May 2019, this school exchange program is aimed at continuing this international cooperation. The concrete goals are two project weeks in Finland and Austria: one is planned for 14 students and 2 teachers of the BG/BRG Lienz in Kokkola in November or December 2019, the other one for 14 students and 2 teachers of the Karleby svenska gymnasium in Lienz in May or June 2020. The main purpose of the two project weeks of this exchange program is the passing on of knowledge about European cultural heritage in geographical and economic peripheral regions like East Tyrol and the West coast of Finland. Getting to know local customs, traditional work methods and successful companies in niche positions should teach the Austrian and Finnish students the value of agricultural work, regional business as well as the social aspects of traditions and landscape conservation. Both project weeks will mainly be based on excursions to local companies and nature reserves (such as the National Park Hohe Tauern or the area of the South Tyrolean Dolomites which is classified as Unesco World Heritage Site) and interviews with local farmers or fishermen, artisans and artists. In addition to that workshops regarding photography, creative writing or land art should intensify the aspect of practical experience first, theoretical experience second. Both project weeks therefore have the motto "learning by getting to know and seeing". For the teachers of both schools these two project weeks should strengthen management and organization skills because most of the workshops will take place in form of excursions and include various people and companies outside of the school. As a consequence this will not only lead to a stronger cooperation between the schools but also a stronger one between the schools and the public in their area. This will also make it possible to enhance the international aspect and philosophy of the school in the two regions. Articles in the local press, presentations of the project on the Day of the Open Door at the school as well as at school presentation evenings in all secondary schools of East Tyrol and the homepage of the school will also guarantee the dissemination of the project. Therefore the project firstly aims at intercultural learning which focuses on the cultural heritage of the the regions of East Tyrol and Western Finland. Secondly it should strengthen the cooperation between the BG/BRG Lienz and the Karleby svenska gymnasium in Kokkola that includes an exchange of teaching contents, didactics, methods and models. Thirdly it should guarantee the dissemination of international school projects and their possibilities in East Tyrol and Kokkola and last but not least it should serve as a role model for another vocational school in Lienz, the FW /ALW Lienz, which plans to start with Erasmus projects, especially a school exchange program next year.
As a very successful 3-year long school partnership with the Karleby svenska gymnasium in Finnland (2016-1-Fr01-KA219-024249_2) ended in May 2019, this school exchange program was aimed at continuing this international cooperation. The concrete goals were two project weeks in Finland and Austria: one took place for 14 students and 2 teachers of the Karleby svenska gymnasium, Kokkola between January 25 and February 1, 2020 in Lienz, the other one for 14 students and 2 teachers of the BG/BRG Lienz that was planned for May 2020 could unfortunately not be held due to the Covid 19 restrictions. The main purpose of this exchange program was the passing on of knowledge about European cultural heritage in geographical and economic peripheral regions like East Tyrol and the West coast of Finland by getting to know local customs, traditional work methods and successful companies in niche positions in order to teach the Austrian and Finnish students the value of agricultural work, regional business as well as the social aspects of traditions and landscape conservation.The project week in Lienz was therefore mainly based on excursions to local companies and nature reserves such as the area of the South Tyrolean Dolomites, which is classified as Unesco World Heritage Site, and interviews with local farmers, artisans and artists. In addition to that workshops at the school intensified the aspect of practical experience first, theoretical experience second. The project week therefore had the motto "learning by getting to know and seeing". For the teachers of both school this project week also strengthened management and organization skills. In addition to that it led again to a stronger cooperation between the schools but also a stronger one between the schools and the public in their area. Furthermore this project made it again possible to enhance the international aspect and philosophy of the schools in the two regions. Presentations of the project on the digital Day of the Open Door at the BG/BRG Lienz (33 Tage Gym) also guaranteed the dissemination of the project within a larger group of teachers. students, parents etc. To sum it up, the project firstly aimed at intercultural learning which focused on the cultural heritage of the the regions of East Tyrol and Western Finland. Secondly it strengthened the cooperation between the BG/BRG Lienz and the Karleby svenska gymnasium in Kokkola, including an exchange of teaching contents, didactics, methods and models. Thirdly it guaranteed the dissemination of international school projects and their possibilities in East Tyrol and Kokkola and last but not least it served again as a role model for another vocational school in Lienz, the FW /ALW Lienz, which is still planning to start with Erasmus projects, especially school exchange programs as soon as possible.