As correctly stated in the evaluation of our project and already mentioned in the application, many of our goals are quite vague or ‘invisible’ because they are intended to initiate a longer process in the minds of young people, which may also take place subconsciously and whose fruits may only be reaped in years to come. Our first step was to raise awareness among young people of European (and quasi-universal) developments and processes such as migration and integration, as well as right-wing populism (racism and hostility to democracy), as many pupils have previously lived in a kind of ‘bubble’ in their local areas and have only been exposed to these challenges through (social) media, which always carries the risk of fake news. However, as this is currently changing visibly, the issue has become more urgent. And yet we also wanted the pupils to develop initial concepts for how integration can be achieved and actively shaped in their microcosm of school and, in some cases, beyond (e.g. at the local level).
The shift to the right in Europe is intolerable. Taking democracy for granted is dangerous. The school environment of all our participating schools is particularly ‘protected’ and seems far removed from all the challenges that prevail in Europe in general, as well as in the countries participating in the project, i.e. climate change (not a focus of the project), flight/migration, increasing ‘democracy fatigue’ and even rejection/right-wing populism. However, even within our schools, it is becoming increasingly clear in 2025 that the student body is becoming more diverse and international, which has led to a backlash of defensiveness and resentment among some of the students. Integration processes are becoming apparent, with all their opportunities and challenges. These developments were identified in discussions and exchanges between our schools and were accordingly chosen as the core theme of our project. We wanted to urgently sensitise our student body to the issues and problems mentioned above and prepare them for current and future developments. Our need was therefore to recognise migration and integration as a historically normal process and to actively shape it for the present.