„The EU looks like the Soviet Union in 1991 – On the verge of collapse“ (George Soros, The Guardian, 12.02.19) In times like these when the media is full of dystopian nightmares about the future of the EU because of the pressure from right and left-wing parties growing ever stronger, when breaking news about the menace of Brexit, permanently reactivated border controls in Hungary or even - although temporarily - reactivated border controls in Germany are pushed on your mobile phone on a weekly basis and it looks like the EU is about to collapse, it is our duty to bring the main idea of the EU and with it the dream of an ever peaceful Europe back into people's minds. We want to start this movement in our schools. We want to shift the focus back onto the main ideals and values of our european society: tolerance, acceptance and mutual understanding. The mere existence of the EU cannot be taken for granted. It is fragile and needs to be protected. Although, from a historical point of view, the EU emerged from an economic community its main objective has always been the promotion of peace. Thus the notion of the declaration of Paris „Europe is our home“ must be revived in each and every European citizen. The complex concept of the „European Community“ is not just an empty word – it has become part of our everyday life and goes far beyond affordable international roaming: „Europe belongs to us and we belong to Europe.“ It is the aim of the Erasmus+ project „(C)all for tolerance, acceptance and understanding – Building bridges, not walls” to raise conscience for the European central theme in times of the rise of right-wing populism and nationalism across European countries. The participating partners – teachers and students – should recognize the value of the European Union and its central ideas and guiding principles. In the course of the project we will deal with the history, politics, culture and future of the European Union member states and we are getting to know the European Union and its cultural diversity. Thus, we intend to motivate the students to participate actively in shaping, defending and re-creating the European society and transfer the guiding principles of tolerance, acceptance and understanding to daily life. As a result, we want to focus on the advantages of a united Europe, create more tolerance, acceptance and understanding among the participants and plan to unclench ideas such as “us and them” and “friends and foe”. A „Bridge-Mosaic“ is created during the entire project by all participants as a steadily developing product. The mosaic will evolve from the participants' work during the LTTs in all partner countries and is designed to be provided to every partner after the conclusion of the project to present all achievements. Therefore, the „Bridge-Mosaic“ is planned as a digital-interactive piece as well. During each LTT one important component will be created and added to the piece. The base will be made of pictures and stories of important bridges from European history and present, the pillars will show the diversity of European nations and so on. „The Bridge“ is the central theme of the whole project. In addition to the digital „Bridge-Mosaic“ real bridges will be built, created or designed by the participants. The stories and pictures of these events will also find their way into the digital „Bridge-Mosaic“. To have something tangible „to put your hands on“ the result will be transformed into a multi-piece puzzle and made available for each partner school. The participating schools represent the diversity of the European Union in an excellent way. This diversity can be regarded as one of the many reasons to take part in our project. Two of the project partners – the Dutch and the German schools – are located right in the heart of Europe and simultaneously integrate characteristics and mindsets of urban institutions. The Portuguese school, in contrast, as a member set on the Western outskirts of the European Union integrates a rather rural and agricultural background into the project group. Moreover, the Romanian school will be first introduced to the dimensions of such a long-term, international project. The partnership’s value is also increased by the young Romanian membership and their recently made experiences of entering the union which at the same time symbolises the union’s continuous, dynamic development. Additionally, Romania is on the brink of introducing the single European currency and thus offers immense opportunities in actively participating in the convergence process. The Spanish partner school, on the other hand, is an example of reviving old relationships, as it has already successfully participated in an earlier European project together with the German school. Besides the school’s location in the city of Melilla on the African continent offers a tangible experience of the EU’s appeal in terms of peaceful living conditions to the young European participants.
"It is about our future, which is called Europe. This Europe is challenged today as never before. ... And who, if not us, could protect and defend Europe's values - both internally and externally? Europe is our future. And this future is in our hands." (Olaf Scholz, translated, Aug. 29, 2022) In times when such speeches are quoted in the media and the continued existence of the European community is at stake due to armed conflicts and other massive threats, such as pressure from the right and left, the European idea must be intensively lived at schools, more than ever before. This includes central values of our society: tolerance, acceptance, and mutual understanding, which automatically result in peaceful coexistence. This is currently more worth protecting than it has been for a long time. At present it is apparent that the existence of the EU cannot be taken for granted, but is rather fragile. Accordingly, the idea of the Paris statement "Europe is our home" (2017) should be revived and everyone's awareness of it raised. In this context, Olaf Scholz emphasized in his aforementioned Europe speech at Charles University in Prague that "Europe ... [is] united in peace and freedom ... and functions ... through the recognition of diversity, through equality of rights between all its members, through plurality and the balancing of different interests" (translated, Aug. 29, 2022). Accordingly, the declared aim of the Erasmus+ project "(C)all for tolerance, acceptance and understanding - Building bridges, not walls" was to raise awareness of the European idea and to spread its ideal in times of instability and great challenges. During the project, all participating partners – teachers as well as learners – should recognize the significance of the EU and feel and live its guiding ideas and (community) principles. It was intended to increase the motivation of the project participants to actively participate in shaping the European community, to defend it and, if necessary, to rethink it. In concrete terms, all participants dealt intensively with the history, culture, politics and future of the EU member states. Despite many obstacles resulting from the Corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine, five mobilities could be realized due to the close cooperation of all participants, which were thematically prepared within the framework of Erasmus AGs or lessons. While the first meeting took place already in 2019 according to the original plan, all participants then had to wait for almost two years until their next reunion and even then, there was again a long break until April 2022. In the following 2.5 months, three LTTs were finally carried out, partly even during the summer vacations. During all exchanges, the joy of the project’s continuation was noticeable, and the project significantly gained appreciation – the right to freely travel and the end of social distancing were widely celebrated. In a study conducted by the University of Osnabrück, one participant expressed her motivation as follows: "I just hope that this really works, that we can somehow change something in the future, that this is not in vain". During the LTTs all countries presented a member state of the EU – either in physical or virtual presence – and afterwards the audience tested their new knowledge. Numerous Kahoot! games were created and played in this context. In addition, the participants dealt with the diversity of the EU and both the importance of tolerance and acceptance, European freedom of travel and the future of the EU in the context of climate change were discussed as well as the influences of increasingly multicultural societies were experienced. As products of the meetings, cooking videos on national dishes, a definition video on the term "tolerance", games on diversity, artworks such as collages of national flags were created. On top of that the teachers wrote a report about each LTT. In the Netherlands the participants planted trees as a symbol of European cooperation in the fight against climate change. During each exchange – like a golden thread – a symbolic bridge was created in line with the project’s title, e.g. from cookie dough, spaghettis, wooden sticks, paper or recycled objects. The final product was a video with photos from all LTTs, which was made available to all schools. A selection of the results and experiences was exhibited in an Erasmus Corner at all participating schools, so that the rest of the school community could also participate in the project. The participating schools ideally reflected the diversity of the EU with members from Central, Western and Eastern Europe as well as a partner on the African continent. Inspired by this successful project, European work at all participating schools is to be kept alive and future exchanges are planned. In addition, the schools intend to hold regular festivities on the occasion of Europe Day on May 9 just as it was celebrated together during the Romanian LTT.