With this application our school applies for the organization and execution of an Erasmus project. The overarching theme of our project is the promotion and implementation of a healthy lifestyle policy at our school. In order to do so, we would like to cooperate with other schools across the European Union which follow a similar intention. In an ever more globalized and interconnected world cooperation beyond the borders of one´s own country has become a crucial aspect of today’s business and economic life. For this reason, teaching students intercultural compenteces and offering them the possibility to practically use foreing language skills has become a vital element of our school´s development process. Against this background, the idea of coordinating an Erasmus project with other European schools appears to be a great opportunity. The first step here was to find a title for the project and to collect first ideas which we then published on E-Twinning. Within a few days, we received a great number of responses from schools all over Europe, which proved, that the topic “healthy lifestyle” is of greater interest. The next step was to select those schools which are most suitable for a cooperation. We finally agreed on 5 schools that fully matched our criteria. Concerning the Portuguese school, there had already been personal contacts between two colleagues from Germany and Portugal who had previously taken part in a Comenius project together. These are age of students, socio-cultural background and language. Since we have a number of Romanian and Russian speaking students at our school, a cooperation with schools from these linguistic areas seemed to be especially useful. The other schools concerned through their great experiences within the field of organizing Erasmus projects and their great ideas concerning our project´s topic (healthy nutrition, traditional sports and indoor activities, the local approach to sustainability). The 5 schools we finally agreed on are spread all over Europe. Our partners are based in Romania, Italy, Latvia, Spain and Portugal. Concerning the mobilities, each school is going to send 5 students (age 12-15) and 2 teachers. Consequently, each school is going to host 25 students and 10 teachers. The partners are offering a wide variety of activities and themes regarding our topic Clear mind- fit body-happy life. These are: Germany: Sport and physical fitness Italy: Healthy cooking and eating Romania: Indoor activities Latvia: Sustainability Spain: Student´s free time activities Portugal: Outdoor activities We expect our project to enable students to adopt new ways and strategies of dealing with stress and keeping their bodies and minds fit. Moreover, we hope to increase their awareness for ecological thinking and acting in their everyday lives (e.g. reducing the use of plastic, wasting less resources, utilizing sustainable materials). Spending more time outside in the territory and the knowledge of different cultures, types of sport and eating habits are only some examples (see "Follow up"). Methodically, we are going to work in mixed groups with students from each school . In this way, we can all learn from each other. The project´s language will be English. In order to illustrate our results, we are going to create a life-style guide in the shape of a student´s magazine. Every partner school is responsible for the editing of one chapter. The main communication tool for achieving this will be the internet platform E-Twinning. This life style- guide will serve as a learning material supporting follow up lessons dealing with our topic. Moreover, this guide will motivate future students to take part in European exchange programs as well. The main aim is to encourage students and all other participants to live the European spirit and ideal of cooperation throughout the borders of nations and cultures.
Our project entitled "Clear Mind - Fit Body - Happy Life" was carried out in collaboration with partner schools from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania and Latvia. The overarching aim of this project was to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy, active and sustainable lifestyle. To this end, thematic work was carried out in the respective countries. Through student mobility, the participating students were able to actively work together in these areas. In the run-up to the event, those responsible for the individual countries were invited to Lindern to get to know each other and to improve organization. In each country, there were subordinate key topics to our main theme: Latvia: Sustainability This mobility was carried out online due to the coronavirus travel restrictions for Germany and Italy. While the groups from Portugal, Spain and Romania carried out the activities on site, there were interactive offers including online conferences for Italy and Germany. Portugal: Activities in nature The following activities were carried out in detail: Hikes undertaken, trip to a climbing park, canoe trip, visit to a museum in Pinhao, learning about and performing traditional, historical dances. Germany: Sport and physical fitness The following activities were carried out: "European Championship" sports competition with mixed teams from different countries. Visit to a fitness studio with physiotherapeutic training and performance of the respective exercises. Visit to a trampoline hall instead of the planned visit to a climbing forest. As it was raining heavily that day, the decision was made to reorganize at short notice. A cutter trip on the North Sea with crab fishing instead of a planned mudflat hike due to the tides. The planned bicycle tour along the North Sea dyke was replaced by a walk, as there were not enough bicycle helmets available. Presentations on the individual days and activities were prepared by pupils and presented in plenary. Romania: Indoor activities The following activities were carried out: Visit to a disused salt mine, which was converted into a place for indoor activities. Various sports activities could be practiced there. Visit to the Bucharest Sports Museum. Getting to know and performing regional dances, visiting a natural history museum, visiting a leisure center for indoor activities "AFI COTROCENI" with a laser tag tournament with mixed teams and ice skating. Spain: Student leisure activities The following activities were organised: Canoe trip, visit to the Guggenheim Museum, learning about relaxation methods, visit to San Sebastian and learning about and practising traditional sports of the Basque Country. Italy: Healthy cooking and eating The following activities were organised: Workshop with primary school pupils on healthy eating, visit to a goat cheese dairy, visit to a rice plantation, visit to an apple orchard, visit to Cossato and visit to a brewery museum. Visit to the historic centre of Biella. The results and documentation of the individual mobilities were compiled by the respective host country and published in the "Lifestyle Guide" padlet. Through discussions and observations, we have noticed a change in the behaviour of some pupils that can be traced back to their participation in the project and the mobilities. They are more aware of their environment, eat more healthily, organise their leisure time more consciously and regularly take part in sport and exercise. In addition, some pupils are still in contact with pupils from the partner countries and are endeavouring to make further private visits. New international friendships have been formed here. It was also observed that the participating pupils showed greater self-confidence in their use of English, which was also noticeable in English lessons in the form of greater motivation to participate in class. Long-term benefits The long-term benefit of this program was that participants expanded their language skills and applied them in a realistic context. They also had the opportunity to establish friendships and social relationships across Europe. Exchange and collaboration among the participants were fostered. Furthermore, strategies for healthy living were introduced to increase motivation for future application. Participants experienced and actively embraced cultural diversity. They learned about and appreciated nature. Relaxation methods were presented and practiced during the program. It contributed to building and deepening understanding and tolerance towards other cultures.