The project 'Let’s Talk About Living Cultures' aimed to address various themes related to the cultural, artistic, and linguistic heritage of each country, while emphasizing art as a tool for promoting regional languages. We wanted these languages to cross borders and be celebrated within both partner institutions. Additionally, we sought to boost pre-baccalaureate Erasmus+ projects, which remain relatively few today. In fact, one of our History and Geography colleagues is currently launching a new project in Germany.
As modern language teachers in New Caledonia, we wanted to highlight Kanak regional languages and 'export' them to Europe. Our goal was to provide students with more opportunities to thrive within a context of cultural and artistic diversity, and to create links between students who practice a regional language at home, while also opening them up to an international and European dimension. In the wake of the 2024 unrest, we felt it was vital to relaunch an international outreach dynamic at Lycée Lapérouse. This exchange aimed to promote culture and regional languages, such as Drehu or Valencian. Highlighting innovative and creative working methods—using resources specific to our geo-social and cultural context—was a major necessity. This approach generates new knowledge and skills, fostering better personal development for students both at school and in their future lives. Given New Caledonia’s geographic isolation, providing teacher training for secondary education and offering schools new collaborative opportunities felt like an obvious and essential step.