Schools are key agents in nurturing sentiments like respect, tolerance and understanding in the students. The key concept of the " You start first, then wait for the others" is social empathy as it is a fundamental aspect of being a responsible and helpful member of a community. Human beings have the tendency to underestimate the power of empathy, of a smile, a compliment, a listening to ear and of a kind word. So many times people tend to listen to reply and not to understand the other's opinion. Therefore, the sooner we start working on this issue, the better. Building empathy and teaching students to see the world's through a peer's eyes is a trait that will help them all their life. The common needs illustrated by the SWOT analysis of the project partners from Portugal, Macedonia, Turkey, Poland and Serbia, are: students’ tendency to work alone, not in teams; students’ reduced tendency of being tolerant; the number of students’ that are bullied; teachers’ need to be updated by other EU educational systems; schools’ need to internationalise their curricula. According to the feedback reports, it was noticed that at the level of each school there is a tendency among students to disparity by creating gaps among them. The project aims to foster excellence in education by equipping participants with knowledge and competencies to ensure a socially empathic school setting. The main focus is to use social empathy to bridge diverse people and communities. The general project aim is to increase participants’ awareness about the importance of social empathy in schools and in a multicultural world. The project objectives are: -to encourage social and cultural dialogue between 250 students from 5 European schools during 24 months project -to develop participants’ interpersonal empathy, contextual understanding and social responsibility -to increase understanding of social and cultural differences -to reduce aggressive behaviors and emotional disorders of students from 5 EU schools -to strengthen cooperation between schools and local communities The project is designed for students aged 12-14 , a total number of 100 participants will directly attend the international reunions (119 students and 40 teachers). Through this project we hope to make students aware of the power of empathy, the need of being empathic in the daily life and to help them become better people both at a personal and professional level. The activities are designed to make them see the school as a positive and productive place where they have friends who share same fears, needs and similar aspirations. Participants will notice the diversity of the European cultures and be encouraged to reject stereotypes. The activities will show that in order to accept something different is important to undestand it, respect and appreciate differences, actively listening to the others, widen the circle of concern, increase the management of personal emotions, and explore social situations in a fair way. The concrete results we want to achieve are project logo, questionnaires, presentations of schools, promotional materials (roll-ups, flyers, etc.), InterNational Heritage 3D cards exhibition, videos "A world without empathy", bookmarks , 1 script play (Theatre of the Oppressed), 5 travel guides, Feelings Collages, Anti-bullying Workshop, Wall of friendship, a common celebration Festival Tolerance Day, one summer school programme (celebrating International Friendship Day) and two project newsletters. As a result of our project the institutions and participants involved will strengthen their social, digital and communication competences and by means of this, the quality of the educational process will increase. The experience will increase the competences and abilities to work in multicultural working teams and contexts. On a broader and EU level, the project will impact cultural and general knowledge of participants. The international face to face meetings will create the space to exchange examples of good practice and broaden knowledge of different approaches of the educational process. The concrete results produced during the project will stand as learning tools that can be used for teaching offering an international dimension to the school curricula. Project products will remain available on the project webpage and will be free of download. The project website will remain active minimum 5 years after ending the project. The project ensures in the long-term run the personal and professional development of the indirect participants to the project and direct participants to the mobilities. Participants' social empathy, cultural understanding and tolerance will increase and they will approach more positively other life situations. By interacting with people from other EU states, participants will increase motivation in promoting and preserving the EU cultural heritage.
The key concept of the project "Start first, then wait for the others" has not changed, and it focuses on social empathy, as this is a fundamental aspect of being a responsible and helpful member of a community. Only the duration has changed because of the pandemic situation. Instead of 24 months the project was extended for 36 months. The activities developed aimed to create empathy and teach students to see the world through the eyes of a colleague, a characteristic that will help them throughout their lives. We started from the common needs illustrated by the SWOT analysis of the project partners from Portugal, Macedonia, Turkey, Poland and Serbia: the tendency of students to work alone rather than in teams; the low tendency of students to be tolerant; the number of students who are victims of bullying; the need for teachers to be updated by other EU education systems; the need for schools to internationalise their curricula. The project promoted excellence in education, equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to ensure a socially empathetic school environment. The main objective was to use social empathy to build bridges between people and diverse communities. The project's objectives, as initially defined, were to: -encourage social and cultural dialogue between 250 pupils from 5 European schools during the 36-month project (instead of 36 months); -to develop interpersonal empathy, understanding of context and social responsibility among participants; -increase understanding of social and cultural differences; -reduce aggressive behaviour and emotional disorders among pupils from 5 EU schools; -strengthen co-operation between schools and local communities. The project is aimed at students between the ages of 12 and 14, with a total of participants attending the international meetings directly (121 to 119 students and 40 to 59 teachers). Through this project, we sensitised students to the power of empathy, the need to be empathetic in everyday life and helped them become better people, both personally and professionally. The activities were designed to make them see school as a positive and productive place, where they have friends who share the same fears, needs and aspirations. Participants realised the diversity of European cultures and were encouraged to reject stereotypes. The concrete results we wanted to achieve are the project logo, questionnaires, presentations in schools, promotional materials (roll-ups, leaflets, etc.), exhibition of 3D International Heritage cards, "A world without empathy" videos, bookmarks, 1 scripted play (Theatre of the Oppressed), 5 travel guides, collages of feelings, anti-bullying workshop, friendship mural and joint celebration of Tolerance Festival Day. The tangible outcomes generated throughout the project served as educational tools that can be integrated into teaching, adding an international dimension to school curricula. Project products will remain accessible on the project's website and available for free download. The project website will remain active for a minimum of 5 years after the project's conclusion. The project ensures long-term personal and professional development for both indirect participants in the project and those directly involved in the mobilities. The participants' social empathy, cultural understanding, and tolerance will increase, leading them to approach other life situations in a more positive manner. By interacting with individuals from other EU member states, participants will heighten their motivation to promote and preserve the cultural heritage of the European Union.