How can our students develop a personal connection with Europe and (further) develop their European identity? How can they learn through experiences of self-efficacy that they can be part of creating their future, a future that is also in the interest of the European community? Our project “Futerasmus – Our Future Europe” tries to find answers to these questions. We believe that looking forward into the future will change our attitude to the here and now. 4 schools, 8 to 16 teachers and 96 students will (re)think their own and other’s visions of the future to create their own future-compliant solutions. Every school will have an Erasmus workshop with 24 students. First, the group will close up on the topic future visions by developing different drafts of the future and presenting them to each other. Afterwards, each group will work on topics, which will prepare the meetings in the host countries. Video conferences on the results will make it possible to become acquainted but also to open up and even change one’s own perspective. When in the host countries, multinational small teams will work on a topic, which is specific for the city and its inhabitants. The results will be made public on our website in form of video documentations. Between ourselves, we will communicate through E-Twinning. In Prague, our multinational team of circa 50 students will explore and map the city with its different architectural styles between modernity and tradition. Afterwards, they will develop an answer to the question “What is Prague missing?” in small groups. The groups will work on site for two to three days and develop new concepts. Experts and architects from Prague will give workshops and lectures to extend their knowledge. The students will develop an urbanistic and ecological suggestion for a future Prague. In the process, they will also compare Prague to the other European home towns. The meeting in Finnland will concentrate on future work and abilities. With activity-centered methods we will follow the question how students imagine their future. They will learn more about themselves and the others and will get to know important options for taking their future into their own hands. They will think about the work environment of today and the modernization of it. At the Universtity of Turku, they will learn the theory of “Future Thinking”. They will also visit high tech companies for robotics and artificial intelligence as well as modern and traditional manufacturing plants of the Finnish wood industry. The project will make it possible for students to learn how to face unknown challenges of the future in a flexible and competent way. We hope they will learn to take responsibility for their future, for other people and the environment. In Sèvres, France, we will focus on the possibility of a harmonic and ecological coexistence of architecture and nature as well as urban and peri-urban life. Urbanization and the challenges of individual mobility in the city are problematics which solution starts with reflecting on each person’s attitude and leaving old paths to walk new ones. The students will work together with city planners to explore concepts for the mobility of tomorrow. All visionaries need allies, the students will be active, critical, and constructive ones and will thereby profit from becoming players in public spaces, rethinking their attitude towards mobility and understanding the complexity of mobility. In Hamburg, Germany, the project will focus on the possibilities for sustainable projects that an urban city offers in its immediate vicinity. Our school has the official status of a climate-friendly school and finds it important to recycle, to offer climate-neutral food in the cafeteria and to save energy. After visiting the museum “Futurium” in Berlin, the ideas from the visit will be discussed with the climate club to get new inspiration for the school community and the Erasmus project. Our project could focus on the school garden, f.e. creating benches with plants that reduce CO2 or finding a home for a bee colony. A European celebration will conclude the week and the Erasmus collaboration. We will watch video documentaries of the projects, share experiences and knowledge the students gained with the school public.
It was a big challenge for all the members to realize such a project when it is based on the visits of the international partners and schools. The basis for our work was constantly changing according to new laws and regulations. Sometimes we were able to meet in Person and while other times we had to meet virtually. Also, each country had to face different laws and regulations, which were not easy to follow or combine. We decided to enable the students to meet online and introduce their country and their city to each other. The students prepared fotos or videos about themselves as an introduction, which were posted on our padlet. Following the introduction of the participants was the introduction of their favorite and least favorite places in their city. This way the students could present their pictures or videos and get an insight on the influence of architecture on us living in the city on a daily basis. This was also a first introduction to visions of architecture in the individual cities. The change of perspective helped the students to see the different cities from an individual perspective and get to know an unknown place. Those results are documented on our padlet as well. In 2022 we could finally begin to travel. It began with our first visit from Paris in Hamburg in January 2022. It was the first get-together and the atmosphere was happy and also dominated by the thankfulness to finally be able to meet our international partners and to get to know the other culture with all senses. We used urban gardening as our topic. We built a wooden raised bed to nable more plants and Green to grow on our schoolyard. The students painted these with the Erasmus logo and the names of the participants. Upcycling ideas were realized to include more green elements to our rather grey school surrounding and to better our carbon footprint. The seedbombs that were built and painted will nable more plants to grow with bee-friendly plants. The Czech group also experienced a first real exchange to Kangasala, Finland. The differences of the contrasting cities as well as the parallels in the geographical background built an interesting foundation. Also the topic of future jobs was deepened and visions exchanged. The question of the change of architecture and the mobility of the future was the focus of the German students when visiting Paris. Here Sèvres offers and exciting comparison, because the quater around the „Seine Musicale“ posts a parallel to the "Elbphiliharmonie" and the ways the quaters surrounding these concert halls were designed. Additionally we were inspired by the museums like the "Louvre" and the "Bourse De Commerce", offering an exhibition about the visions of architecture that did or did not become real. The change of visions and development of the city could also be seen in the first self-driving Metro Lines in Paris that we visited. Unlike the Hamburg ferries, in Paris the boat as a means of public transportation could not succeed. But just like in Hamburg, Paris is making the use of the car more unattractive because of expensive parking tickets and the massive amount of traffic. The desired biker still has the trouble of not having enough priority within the system. Missing bike paths and long distances hinder the neccessary change from car to bike. In May we could receive our Finnish friends, introducing them to Hamburg as the city of waters. During our various expeditions the students from Kangasala got to know different ecosystems within the city, like the harbor, the Elbe beach and the Alster. They could experience how reviving and important water is, offering a rich ecosystem within a metropolis. As a visionary city it is elementary to safeguard these areas.