The project „Back to the roots- B.T.T.R- European Citizenship“ deals with the European identity and European values. In the light of a still decreasing acceptance of the EU and a lack of a community of solidarity within the EU the development of a cultural European identity has become of increasing importance. This identity can be achieved by creating an awareness of cultural characteristics as well as of differences and similarities among the different cultures. Thus the following aims apply: 1) creating an awareness of identity/equality/otherness within the European cultural heritage in schools and in our society 2) educating the students to become European citizens bearing responsibility towards their fellows 3) recognizing and experiencing cultural variety and/ or otherness in the areas of music, dance and sports 4) teaching the students central values of the EU 5) developing and executing a workshop with the topic “Who am I within the European Community?” Additionally several indirect objectives exist: 1. Getting to know mutual roots of our European languages by creating a dictionary 2. Experiencing one´s own musical identity by developing and presenting a musical or dance performance 3. Abolition of prejudices by joint sportive and musical activities 4. Improving one´s own foreign language skills (English as the agreed project language) 5. Acquiring key qualifications in specific areas of IT and Web2.0 6. Gaining experience abroad and immersing in a different culture All these aims are achieved with the help of ten products in total, among these are an interactive map, sports- and free time activities, music and instrument manufacture, a digital dictionary as well as activities on Europe Day. The institutions taking part in this project are four schools, two secondary schools, one primary school and one vocational training school. The geographic location of the members is adapted to the main objective of the project. The target group of this project are firstly selected students ages 14-15, but all participants being affected by the project are automatically also target groups. A variety of activities is offered spreading over 6 activities (four meetings, two local activities per location). These activities are divided as follows: C1: Opening event in Rheda-Wiedenbrück C2: Meeting in Bombarral P1: Workshops for Europe Day I C3: Meeting in Castellana Grotte C4: Meeting in Pärnu P2: Workshops for Europe Day II The coordinating institution manages the project through periodic meetings via Skype. Dropbox is used to exchange documents and material. Within the project Etwinning is used as a documentation tool. It is expected that each participant´s awareness of the own enculturation will change, although this process can occasionally take longer. Within the migrationworkshop a connection to the German as a foreign language classes is intended. The project will be dissaminated through the local press and products of Web2.0. After the meeting all internet and etwinning components will be downloadable for 5 years.
The project "Back to the Roots - B.T.T.R - European Citizenship" dealt with European identity and European values. Against the background of dwindling acceptance of the EU and a lack of solidarity in the EU, the development of a cultural European identity through an awareness of cultural characteristics as well as differences and commonalities is of great importance. Thus, the following goals were valid for us: 1. to develop an awareness of identity/sameness/differences within the European cultural heritage for school and society 2. to educate the pupils to become mature European citizens who bear responsibility towards their fellow human beings 3. to recognise and experience cultural diversity and/or otherness in the fields of music, dance and sport 4. to convey the core values of the EU There are also other indirect objectives: 1. getting to know the common roots of our European languages by creating short films through the Animaker -App 2. to get to know one's own musical identity and to develop and carry out a musical or dance performance. 3. breaking down prejudices through joint sporting and musical activities 4. learning foreign languages and acquiring language skills through the project (project language English) 5. learning key qualifications in the field of IT and Web2.0 6. experience in a European country and immersion in another culture These objectives are achieved through a total of ten products, including an interactive digital map, sports and dance activities, music and instrument making, and a digital padelt documenting the project's activities, as well as Europe Day activities. Originally, a digital dictionary was planned, but due to the departure of a colleague, the Animaker app was used to illustrate the diversity but also the similarity of European language families. The participating institutions are four schools in total, two secondary schools, one primary school and one vocational school. The geographical location of the participants is adapted to the research question. The target group of the project primarily includes selected pupils between 14 and 15 years of age. In addition, all persons affected by the project are of course also automatically the target group. A wide range of activities were offered, spread over a total of six fixed activities (four meetings, two activities locally at each institution). These were structured as follows: C1: Kick-off meeting in Rheda-Wiedenbrück (December 2019). C2: Meeting in Bombarral (March 2020) P1: Work on Europe Day I (online/May 2021) C3: Meeting in Pärnu (autumn 2021) C4: Meeting in Castellana Grotte (May 2022) P2: Work on Europe Day II (May 2022) The project was managed by the coordinating institution through periodic Skype meetings. Dropbox was used to share the materials. Within the project, etwinning was also used for project documentation. It was expected that each student's awareness of their own enculturation would change. Sometimes this process can take longer. The aim was to link the migrant workshop to the DaF lessons. The project is disseminated through the channels of the local press and Web2.0 products. After the meeting, all internet or etwinning components will remain available for five years. The sequence of activities has changed fundamentally. The first Europe Day could not take place due to the pandemic. It was made up for on the original 2nd date (online). Due to the extension by 12 months, the 2nd Europe Day could finally be held towards the end of the project (May 2022). Due to the change of personnel in the project team, the products also changed (see above). Due to the pandemic, no participants from Italy were able to attend the meeting in Portugal (national travel restrictions). The project documentation and coordination did not change significantly due to the pandemic. The Animaker app was used as an additional tool (see website). In addition, as of January 2022, Skype has been switched to Zoom to hold video conferences for coordination purposes.