As European educators, we feel that Europe is full of vibrant and diverse cultures. So celebrating our cultural heritage, sharing our past history, literature, music and art are very important to us. But in recent years, with the rise of populist and isolationist movements, the perception of Europe taking our individual values and cultures away from us, has gained momentum. Through this project we tried to counteract this development. We wanted to enable students to appreciate their own and each other's cultural heritage. We wanted them to realize that culture is a construct which can be used and misused to influence people's opinions and behaviour. With the help of this project we wanted them to understand that the development of culture is an ongoing process which they can actively influence. 120 students (aged 14 to 18) and about 40 teachers from six different countries and schools (comprehensive schools, grammar schools and vocational schools) researched the influence of art and monuments, nature and landscape, language and migration, traditions and folklore on the historical development of their own culture. At four international meetings they compared their findings and through different learning activities like workshops, seminars and visits to museums and other educational institutions and places, they completed their knowledge on these topics. At the end of each meeting they created their own product relating to the respective topic that commemorates and celebrates our shared European culture. We introduced a collaborative website where students and staff entered upon a dialogue, presented work on their cultural heritage both local and European. We also developed materials within curriculum lessons, displayed work and disseminated the project in our local communities.

The challenges faced by a socially sustainable Europe require an analysis of urban and rural communities. Europe is one of the most urbanized continents, with obvious population inflation in the periphery and centers of these metropolitan zones. Though these areas are the nuclei for human innovation and interaction, they are also hotbeds of social tension, racism, unemployment, and poverty. Beyond these social issues, residents of these urban communities must deal with ecological difficulties, such as air and water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, waste accumulation, sealed soil surfaces, and the extinction of bees. All of these issues will only increase exponentially due to the future population growth of these communities. But effective community development can only be achieved by the integration of several approaches. The participating schools in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden all face different realities and will contribute the ability to innovate using different perspectives. As our overall objective was to foster social consciousness and responsibility in our students, we directed their focus to the impact of immigration on their own community development. They were encouraged to analyze migratory challenges, and hopefully innovate some conflict resolutions. We tried to motivate the next generation to build a strong foundation for the European Union. It is necessary for them to envision how developing European cities will function globally. Thus we made an effort to give them the tools to build it sustainably and inclusively.In order to help students with this process, we had been looking to design innovative ICT technologies, as well as Open Educational Resources, to help students, as well as teachers, communicate during the project. Our hope that the development of a smart-phone application will give project members the ability not only to communicate with each other, but also to share their results on a local, regional, and international level were fulfilled. Furthermore, once projects have been designed and implemented, the applications can be used to establish a reward system for students who successfully implement the newly acquired sustainability knowledge in their daily lives. Our Spanish partner took over the leadership role in technology and made a great effort to teach the partners the application of MIT App-Inventor and H5P as well as other digital tools.The project began with students researching and developing sustainability projects within their areas. They focused on several topics, such as integration of immigrants through Second Language instruction, urban gardening, sustainable food production, bee keeping, slow fashion, and sustainable mobility. Afterwards, we will encourage students to engage with their results by conducting their own projects, and recording and sharing research via their apps. Finally, the completed projects will be presented to the partner schools in various bilateral science fairs and workshops. Beyond these events, we plan to publish online. Interactive videos and presentations, an augmented reality digital book, an EU domain website, and a Moodle website will allow other schools to easily access materials from our projects.The process will be very transparent for our partnering schools. We plan to keep the communication very regular and to consciously play to each institution’s strengths. Our Spanish school, for instance, has an innovative technological department, which will allow their students to become engineers using open hardware, sensors, augmented reality, computer vision, and voice recognition. The Italian school, with its focus on intercultural communication, will promote geographical unity among the European schools.Several teachers who would take active roles in this project were interested in adopting the CLIL methodology. This Erasmus+ project allows educators to properly implement this methodology. Each school used English as the project’s primary language, which eased the dissemination of the products internationally. The German school already hosts bilingual education programs and has several years of experience with English. This school had taken more of a leadership role language-wise as English acquisition is very crucial to this project. Students had the great opportunity to participate in a Model United Nations conference annually with the Swedish partner school, and English is the language used for that event. In general, we believe in global communication, and its ability to breed understanding and compassion. The Italian partner started a cooperation with a science center, CRS4, about monitoring smart-cities. They allowed the partners to experience this scientific approach.Erasmus+ gave our students and teachers the opportunity to exchange cultural experiences and knowledge, while also improving their second​ language skills, it enhanced the identification with Europe and strengthened European citizenship.

<< Objectives >>ECOSTEAM aims to achieve:· Increased students’ awareness about water/waste/energy/transport management, adaptation and mitigation practices to face climate change.· Enhanced students’ interest and performance in STEM through the ECOSTEAM methodology, resources in the collaborative framework of “Our world is our classroom”.· Greater confidence of teachers and stakeholders in the collaboration with other teachers and with external stakeholders and in innovative teaching methodologies.<< Implementation >>The main project activities will be:· Development of the ECOSTEAM Methodology based on an initial survey on knowledge and interest about water/waste/energy/transport management and learning methodologies and tools within the partnership· Development of the digital Library with educational resources and Learning Units· A recorded training course for teachers· Piloting within the schools and assessment· Dissemination with TV and radio spots, 3 national events, 1 European Contest and Conferenc<< Results >>The main results/outcomes are:· Increased students’ interest in STEM· Enhanced familiarity in innovative teaching· Synergy between stakeholders and schools· ECOSTEAM Methodology;· Digital Library and > 50 educational resources on water/waste/energy/transport management and sustainable solutions;· Min. 12 Learning Units (three per project theme)· 1 Training Course for teachers and educators· 4 reports on ECOSTEAM effectiveness· 3 national workshops· 1 EU Contes· 1 EU Conference

FOR (Finding Our Roots) project emerges out of a previous collaborative work between three state high schools located in greatly depressed economic areas: IES Urbi (Basauri / Spain), Liceo Classico Statale Plinio Seniore (Castellammare di Stabia / Italy), and Varvakeio Model Experimental Lyceum (Athens / Greece).IES URBI high school is specialized in multilingual education based on CLIL (Content and Language integrated Learning), and since 2008-2009 has been holding annual European projects.Plinio Seniore high school puts great emphasis on language learning (English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese) to guide the school community on social development of economic sectors such as cultural tourism. Currently, the school is holding European projects that involve short-term exchanges.Varvakeio is one of the 47 “Model Experimental” state schools in Greece that pursue “excellence”. This school accepts foreign students that make there their short-term stages of practice. FOR project will run for two school-years (2015-2016 and 2016-2017), involving annual short-term exchanges for pupils.This project intends to apply innovative CLIL method to multilingual learning-teaching system in upper secondary education, with the regard to develop academic language skills related to Botany vocabulary, mythology, and social language abilities in English to B2 level. So, having as starting point the official curricula of upper secondary education within our respective countries, upper secondary pupils are going to work simultaneously on various contents in English, belonging to more than one academic disciplines: Natural Science, Classic and Modern Languages, Classical Culture, and Computers. Objectives:-Every target student will acquire English academic language skills related to Botany vocabulary through classical roots finding to B2 level. -Every target student will acquire English academic language skills to B2 level, by means of learning contents related to classical myths and plants.-Every target student will improve English linguistic competences to B2 level in real-life situations, by means of working collaboratively and interacting socially with foreign students.-Every target student will improve and acquire the vocabulary related to Botany in both mother and partners` languages: Spanish, Basque, Italian, and Greek.-Every single member of our schools will improve ICT skills by applying web 2.0 resources to CLIL.-Every single member of our school communities will improve plurilingual and intercultural competences through interaction with foreign partners and the use of e-ELP (Electronic European Language Portfolio).Main activities:-Every school year, the international student target groups should generate a collaborative glossary of 72 words about the morphology of the vascular plants in the project wiki. -Every school year, the international student target groups should generate a collaborative dictionary of 24 mythological plants in the project wiki.-Three times per school year, the target groups of each school shall prepare, conduct, and assess project activities together with the working groups’ representatives from the other two schools, who will be accommodated in foster school families.-Three times per school year, the entire school community shall interact with 12 foreign students and 4 teachers from 2 different countries through face to face real-life communication.Methodology:-CLIL learning-teaching.-Interdisciplinary teaching.-Information and Communications Technology supporting CLIL.-The use of the Electronic European Language Portfolio.Expected results: Intangible results: -Pupils` achievement of English academic language related to Botany vocabulary, classical myths and plants to B2 level.-Pupils` improvement of English linguistic competences in social situations to B2 level. -Pupils` improvement and acquisition of the vocabulary related to Botany in both mother and partners` languages.-School community improvement of ICT skills.-School community improvement of plurilingual and intercultural competences. Tangible results: -The glossary on Botany vocabulary and classical roots.-The dictionary of mythological plants.-The mythological gymkhana.-The mythological garden.-The interactive exercises on Botany terms and mythological plants.Impact:-To achieve the project objectives and results in target groups and school communities. -To include project aims, activities, and results in the annual syllabus of CLIL subjects.-To encourage other educational establishments and associations to take part in European projects.-To share multilingual and multicultural experiences among the school communities.The potential longer term benefits:-To use, develop, and disseminate most FOR activities, methodology, and outputs after the end of the founding, by means of ensuring the continuity of project teacher team work and the cooperation between the three schools.

<< Objectives >>Our main objective is to foster and develop a strong European identity among our students raising awareness of the importance to save and share our cultural and natural heritage using today's innovative sustainable and inclusive practices. Our « cliffs to cliffs » road, i.e. from Macerata in Italy-Liceo Leopardi to Rouen in France-lycée Jeanne d'Arc, will be the perfect breeding ground for our students to discover how important our cultural and natural heritage are to build Europe.<< Implementation >>A conference with Remi Brague and workshops will be held to debate on European conscience and identity. Other debates on green issues will be supplemented by the visit of innovative, interactive and immersive historical museums on the same topics in both cities. The students will discover The Marche and Normandy focusing on each region's eco- friendly practices to perpetuate their natural heritage, gastronomic culture, paper manufacturing. The students will elaborate a joint conservation design.<< Results >>The students' conservation of heritage programme will be submitted to each city's local authorities. This project will therefore encourage Italian and French students to get and spread a European citizen's consciousness that will not only lead to public debates but also actions shining a light on good practices. To fully achieve this objective, our two schools will pave the way for a better Europe from cliffs to cliffs, taking actions locally and being involved in the European network.