It was intended the appreciation and recognition of the ECB as a privileged space for the teaching-learning process, where internationalization emerges as a process of opportunity and inclusion, combating the school allowance and as an incentive to improve school performance, particularly for the needy and disadvantaged and trainees under DL 54 (with special educational needs). It was intended to create opportunities for sharing good practices between different institutions that would enhance future mobility projects. It was intended that teachers improve their skills in creating digital educational resources. It was intended that participants would come into contact with new realities, broaden their linguistic, social, professional, and transversal skills, gain a taste for innovation and a spirit of initiative, and strengthen their sense of European citizenship. Since the ECB is located in a geographical area far from urban centers, having a middle/low social class, and a significant number of trainees with educational difficulties, this project is part of the school’s strategy to promote inclusion and equal opportunities for all young people.
The Externato Cooperativo da Benedita (ECB), an educational establishment owned by the Institute Nossa Senhora da Encarnação (INSE), a cooperative of education and culture, develops its activity since the 1964/1965 school year. The target audience of the ECB is young people aged 12 to 18, divided between primary, secondary, and vocational education. The project "Being what you want to be in the EU" took place between September 2021 and February 2023, as one of the strategic activities of operationalization of internationalization defined in the School’s Educational Project (PDE). The school applied for this project to involve young people in training in professional courses and staff (teachers and non-teaching) in order to increase human capital through contact with other European social and professional realities. In particular, to respond to the needs for improvement and development of skills and qualifications diagnosed, which provide personal, social, and professional growth to participants, opening new horizons in the European area.