Current developments and changes in European societies have an impact on democratic coexistence in Europe and its individual states. They require the strengthening and development of competences for a democratic culture of acting and living together, also and especially with children and young people, such as: - Openness and appreciation towards ideological and cultural diversity, - Trust in one's own ability to act, - Analytical and critical thinking, - Knowledge and critical evaluation of politics, history, media, etc. School is a substantial part of the world in which children and young people live. Therefore the learning of democratic action is of great importance at schools. In this respect, schools should enable their pupils to participate in a self-determined way in school, local and global contexts and make it possible for them to experience the effectiveness of their actions. The project creates such learning opportunities by allowing pupils from four European countries to jointly research and discuss pressing issues of the future and to develop ideas for their solution. In transnational working meetings (short-term mobilities), five pupils (aged 15-17) from each of the participating schools will develop and produce podcasts in collaborative processes, which will make the various (European) perspectives and solution approaches on future issues visible. They are supported by two mentors per partner school. Between the working meetings, all interested pupils of the partner schools work in local project groups on the project: they research for the podcasts and create material for their production. They are in permanent exchange with all other local project groups via etwinning. The mentors advise them on research work and the use of etwinning. The project groups are not fix, so they can grow and change during the course of the project. These processes support pupils in developing and testing competences for a democratic culture at their school and between European partner schools. The results of the research and the podcasts produced in the transnational working meetings are regularly presented by the local project groups to all pupils and staff in the participating schools. The podcasts are available to all participating schools as a source for different European perspectives on relevant social, political and cultural topics and questions. In this respect, the schools are able to present European future topics in an exciting way for the learners. They also have the technical know-how to create podcasts. This enables them to record podcasts independently even after the end of the project or to transfer their knowledge to other areas and/or other media. In the course of the project, the participating schools expand their partnership and consolidate it. They can also enhance their international profile. The respective schools gain practical experience in European project management. If transnational cooperation is continued using etwinning, more teachers and pupils can acquire competences for the initiation and implementation of transnational partnerships.
The current developments and changes in European societies have an impact on democratic coexistence in Europe and in its individual states. They require the strengthening and development of competences for a democratic culture of acting and living together, also and especially among children and young people, such as: - Openness and appreciation of ideological and cultural diversity, - Confidence in one's own ability to act, - Analytical and critical thinking, - knowledge and critical evaluation of politics, history, media, etc. Precisely because school is a substantial part of the living environment of children and young people, learning to act democratically at this place of learning is of great importance. In this respect, school should enable the pupils to participate in a self-determined way in school, local and global contexts and make it possible for them to experience the effectiveness of their own and collective actions. The project creates this kind of learning opportunity by having students from four European countries research and discuss pressing future issues together and develop ideas for solutions. In transnational working meetings (short-term mobilities), pupils (students) aged 15-17 from each of the participating schools developed and produced podcasts in collaborative processes that make visible different (European) perspectives and ideas for solutions to future issues. They were supported by teachers from each partner school who acted as mentors. In between the working meetings, all interested students from the partner schools worked in local project groups for the project: they researched for the podcasts and created materials for their production. They were in constant exchange with all the other local project groups via sthinning. The mentors were available to advise the students on the research work and the use of sthinning. The project groups were not fixed, so they could grow and change during the project. These processes supported the students in developing and testing competences for a democratic culture at their school and between European partner schools. The results of the research and the podcasts created in the transnational working meetings were regularly presented to interested pupils in all participating schools by the local project groups. The podcasts produced are now available to all participating schools as a source of different European perspectives on relevant social, political and cultural topics and issues on the school website of a participating school. Today, the schools are able to present European topics of the future in an exciting way for the learners. They also have the technical know-how to create podcasts. This enables them to record podcasts independently even after the end of the project. They transfer the promising method of postcasting to other school subjects and interdisciplinary projects and thus integrate it into everyday school life. The participating schools have expanded their partnership in the course of the project. Some of the teachers involved will continue to mentor students at their partner school(s). They were able to sharpen their international profile. The respective colleges gained practical experience in European project management. Through the continuation of the partnership cooperation, further teachers and pupils can gain competences for the initiation and implementation of transnational partnerships.