The objectives of the project’s activities are: 1) For students: -To motivate them into exploring the European audiovisual archives, with a focus on the EUscreen platform; -To view their everyday school lessons through an alternative and more artistic approach; -To have them compare analogue with digital art and incorporate the elements of the latter into their creations; -To establish a digital and creative mindset; -To increase civic engagement and participation in community; -To raise their inclusion spirit; -To raise their environmental awareness. 2) For teachers: -To introduce them to a new methods of design and delivering lessons and project; -To be able to motivate their students into exploring the legacy of Europe through archival material; -To make their lessons more pleasant and interactive; -To help students remain engaged into the learning process, despite the difficulties that the pandemic brings. 3) For schools: -To incorporate new learning methods into their curricula; -To retain extracurricular sources as a significant part of the school’s curriculum; -To promote dialogue, networking and interaction between schools; -To add inclusion and environmental awareness as 2 basic elements in their students’ mindset.
Due to the pandemic measures, students have been deprived of cultural stimuli since field trips have been put on hold. At the same time, platforms such as EUscreen which have exceptionally interesting material, have not received sufficient attention, despite the fact that it has been online for about 10 years. EUscreen is a portal containing thousands of digital audiovisual items steaming from the biggest European audiovisual archives that provide an insight into the social, cultural, political and economic events that have shaped the 20th and 21st centuries, mainly form the European aspect. Therefore, the platform’s content can be an important collection of resources that can be exploited in education and incorporated in school lessons and projects. Finally, in the last years there has been a greater than ever need for civic participation, democratic values and social inclusion, due to daily incidents of racism, prediscrimination and prejudice, and environmental awareness due to the veer alarming issue of climate change. The project addresses all these issues simultaneously since it will provide students with a substitute for field trips, it will turn the spotlight to an interesting but neglected platform and it will raise awareness on inclusion and environment through its contest.