Together with our partners, we aimed to create intercultural learning, solidarity, heterogeneity, empathy and ultimately a sense of “us” in an increasingly individualized society. The ties/bridges established throughout the project would enable us to spend time with disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities or special needs, to think with them, to produce solutions for their needs or to make efforts for it. As a result, the sense of “us” would come to the fore among our students at the local scale and internationally, by providing integration. Our main goal was to raise generations both that were able to keep up with the times they were in and who were happy and caring for human emotions, satisfied with the inner peace of sharing, helping and understanding. It was of great importance that we could teach our students tolerance, equality, justice, respect for the marginalized (not marginalizing), feeling the uniqueness of each individual and also all individuals could live in prosperity with the value they deserved in society.
We applied for this project because it is deeply aligned with our commitment to promoting intercultural learning, solidarity, diversity and empathy in order to cultivate a stronger sense of “us”. Our specific objectives were to improve awareness and the quality of community service and volunteering in formal education. This is in line with the priorities of promoting inclusion, fostering active citizenship and improving educational methods. The Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on inclusive practices globally; this project offered a unique opportunity to explore and address these impacts through a comparative lens, focusing on Italy, Lithuania and Turkey. The research conducted highlights common democratic, inclusive and participatory educational practices. Our aim was to explore how educational practices were implemented and their effects on inclusivity in support of students citizenship and their democratic participation in everyday life.