Since the end of the Second World War the cooperation within Europe has been a key factor in the preservation of peace between the member states. Its peoples have unanimously supported the European project with its legislation, democracy, social justice and prosperity and many countries who were not member announced their willingness to join. However, things have changed since the British voted in June 2016 to exit the EU. Besides this, separatist movements are increasing all over Europe, which may mark the beginning of a disintegration of the European Union. Hence, it is all the more important to awaken the students' feeling of being European citizens and to help them to gain an understanding of the importance of a common shared European cultural heritage and to give them the idea of belonging together. There is still a lot of ignorance, prejudice and misconceptions about other cultures. What do German, French, Polish and Spanish People have in common? What aspects of our life do we all share without even knowing it? What can the participants gain from jumping onboard the Erasmus+ train? During our previous Erasmus+ project we had noticed that our students were always very impressed by the differences they noticed between their and their partners' lives. Some adapted very quickly and tried to understand these differences while others reacted very strongly and found faults with everything they saw or were supposed to do. This shows that they only see the visible part of what the cultures' icebergs are and are likely to become prejudiced; that's why we intend that the students overcome these prejudices. We wish them to understand that despite differences they all belong to the same European community and should see their differences as an asset rather than an obstacle. This is why we called the project "EUROPE'S EYES - INSPIRATION - INNOVATION - INTEGRATION". The objectives we want to reach in particular are improving the foreign language skills, enhancing the ability to use ICT tools and deepening the cultural competences. Furthermore, the students investigate the following topics: - Europe past and present - What does Europe mean to you? - Europe in our everyday lives - Our shared European cultural heritage (through poetry / art / dance / music / architecture / customs / food) - IT and social networks in students' lives, Internet safety, how to become a responsible and competent user of digital media - Protection of the environment in Europe - renewable energies, sustainability (i. e. use of plastics), fighting climate change The students who are involved in the project are aged between 15 and 18. They all belong to special Europe classes that are focused on Europe-related topics and foreign languages. So we can be sure that all students who take part in the project have a certain motivation and are interested in meeting and working with people from other countries, what guarantees a successful outcome. In total approximately 250 students benefit from this project directly. Furthermore, about 100 students are also part of the project, either by designing the project's website or by hosting guest students during the exchange weeks. Approximately 25 teachers are involved directly, in addition 20 teachers take part in the project by offering sport activities, accompanying students to sights and companies etc. Last but not least the families that are hosting benefit from this exchange as well. In total, there are four short-term exchanges with students, during which one country hosts the other three partners at the same time. Each country takes eight students and two teachers on each travel and travels to each country once. Each short-term exchange is organised identically and lasts for five days plus two additional days for travelling. All students and teachers are hosted in guest-families. During the exchange week students work in international teams on the different topics in order to find out about the differences and similarities accordingly. They attend classes and get an insight into the school life of the hosting country. Furthermore, they visit local companies which provide a practice-oriented perspective on the respective topics. Each exchange includes the visit of either a regional cultural sight or any other cultural event, what gives them an insight into the cultural heritage of the visited country. The products that will have been created during the exchange weeks within the international teams will be either posters, PowerPoint or prezi presentations, flyers, videos or games which are presented on the project's own website and the twinspace. All in all, this project definitely widens all participants' horizon and promotes the European idea in all our minds. Students gain more self-confidence and improve their language skills in the long term and are prepared to withstand the increasing challenges of the European labour market and contribute to keep the European Union alive.
"EUROPE'S EYES - INSPIRATION - INNOVATION - INTEGRATION" was the title of the project that we had carried out from September 2019 to the end of August 2022 with partners from France, Poland and Spain. As the title suggests, the main aim was to open the students’ and teachers’ eyes and to raise awareness that people in Europe have different views and that these different perspectives lead to inspiration, to innovation and finally can lead to the integration of other ideas into one's own way of life. Especially with regard to Brexit and increasing separatist movements within the EU in recent years and the current Ukraine conflict cooperation within Europe and in particular the European Union is a key factor in maintaining peace. It is all the more important to make students feel like European citizens, to help them develop an understanding of the importance of a common cultural heritage and to give them the idea that they belong together and support each other. As there is still a lot of ignorance and prejudice towards other cultures, we wanted the students to see and understand that they all belong to the same European community and that they see their differences as an enrichment rather than an obstacle. The project has made a significant contribution to overcoming prejudices and paving the way to a culture of togetherness and understanding in order to help future generations to find common solutions. The topics we had chosen for our project were aligned with the priorities of the current EU programme 2021-2027, i.e. IT and social networks, environmental protection and the fight against climate change, participation in democratic life, creation of common values and civic engagement. In particular: 1. Europe - past and present - "What does Europe mean to me?" 2. IT and social networks in everyday student life - "How do I become a responsible and competent user of digital media?" 3. Environmental protection in Europe – “How can I use renewable energies sensibly and sustainably?" and "What can I do to stop climate change?” 4. Our common European cultural heritage - “What is my own culture?" and "What do I have in common with my European neighbours?” Each topic was linked to a trip to one of the partner countries, where all the project partners met. Before each trip, the participating students prepared presentations on the respective topic with regard to their own country. To do this, they have used a wide variety of IT tools such as videos, PowerPoint, Genial.ly, Prezi or Canva. When they arrived at the partner school, they looked at the topic "through the others' eyes" and finally created a common result - either in the usual form by PowerPoint or Prezi or in the form of videos, role-playing games or songs. The questions were always the same: "What does the European solution look like?" and "What can we take out of the others' ideas for our own way of life?" Besides expanding their knowledge of the individual topics, the students have deepened their foreign language skills, improved their ability to use IT-tools and the Internet responsibly, have expanded their intercultural skills and raised their awareness of a common cultural heritage. In particular, through the numerous presentations, the students trained their ability to speak in front of a foreign audience and give feedback. They not only expanded their interactive, but also their written foreign language skills. In terms of IT-skills, students were encouraged to use new tools, such as Padlet, Genial.ly, or Prezi, but also to use familiar tools, like PowerPoint or Google Forms. The use of eTwinning and in particular the TwinSpace also improved the students' ability to get used to new applications. They also created and edited numerous videos and audio files. The third main goal for the students was to overcome prejudices against foreign cultures by first examining their own culture through research on everyday topics and then comparing it with that of others. This gave them an insight into the lifestyles and traditions of other European countries. This was further reinforced by staying in host families, which helped them be more open-minded and less biased. They got a sense of what it means to be European citizens and they learned that as Europeans, despite their differences, they belong to the same European community that exists across borders.