"The background for the project is that we wanted to work on student motivation for learning foreign languages. The project's main goal is to increase the students motivation through applying new and innovative methods using new technology. We also want to develop professional teaching communities where we learn from each other and develop new ideas together. Through working on this project we aim to make our teachers and students more aware of the opportunities that lie within applying new technology in the foreign language classroom, and we also want to make them see how knowing different foreign languages may help them in the future. The main objectives of the project are:- To increase student motivation for learning foreign languages- To develop professional teaching communities that can inspire teachers to be more innovative in the foreign language classroom (Spread of good practices)- To develop some concrete lesson plans that can be used by foreign language teachers across EuropeWhen choosing the partners we decided on schools that offer the same foreign languages and that were equally interested in working on their student's motivation for these subjects. The participants in the project will be a selection of English, German and French teachers from all the five participating schools. In addition a number of student groups will also be involved in the project as recepients of the lesson plans we will develop. An important part of the lesson plans will involve communication between students at the different schools. The three most important activities will be the teacher workshops where we collaborate on making lesson plans, the teacher mobilities where we plan to visit each other, and observe and participate in the teaching using the newly created lesson plans, as well as communication between the students throughout the duration of the project.The most concrete end result will be our ""Foreign Languages for the future"" blog where our lesson plans are gatherd for future use in foreign language classrooms. Our results will also be presented here. Furthermore, we hope that working on this project will help to increase student's motivation for learning foreign languages, both through the use of new technology and also through helping them see the need for knowing foreign languages in the future. Another thing that we hope will be a lasting impact is that participation in this project can lead to teachers using more technology in the classroom, which again can lead to both students and teachers learning more and becoming more motivated. The long term benefits of this project we see as being for instance the contact we create between the schools. We can continue to use these connections to involve new student groups in communicating with each other also after the project period is over."

"The partnership between Menntaskólinn of Reykjavík (MR) and Hersleb vgs. of Oslo onsets a long-term cooperation that will give the students and school staff the opportunity to develop new social and professional skills. This collaboration aims to give the participants the unique experience to come into contact with cultural, social and methodical differences in education between both countries. Iceland and Norway differ strongly in geology. Therefore, this collaboration attaches importance to complementing the geology education program. The main focus will be towards climate change, geological resources and geoscientific research. These three topics will emphasize the challenges faced in a changing climate and environment. Hereby we want to encourage the students to become more responsible towards and aware of environmental issues. The students will be challenged to think and learn actively about ways to conserve the earth in a durable way. Furthermore, this project may engage in furthering the recruitment of geology education in schools and universities.Besides the mentioned differences above, both schools differ strongly with respect to the cultural composition. In contrast to the more homogeneous composition in MR Hersleb houses a large proportion of students with an ethnic origin differing from Norwegian. Through language and culture, openness, teamwork across nationalities and new friendships the participants’ understanding and tolerance towards other cultures will increase. The students will hereby broaden their horizons and develop a European and even a global approach of thinking. This will enable them to participate in social and political debates concerning Europe and the European Union. Making contact with new cultures will raise the students' interest in foreign cultures, which in return will help to decrease prejudice and prevent racism among the participants.The collaboration will further strengthen the teaching profession in both methodical and practical ways through the exchange and the development of new learning and teaching methods. The main focus of change lays on active teaching in the field. The fieldwork will be organized in a way that the students will receive the role of guides for the visiting students. The area near Reykjavik explains numerous physical phenomena involved in geoscience competences. Through fieldwork the Norwegian participants achieve a unique approach to the theory of plate tectonics, sea floor spreading, hotspots, volcanism, younger igneous rocks, natural disasters, glaciers and natural resources such as geothermal energy. For Menntaskólinn the cooperation with Norway has a more ""historical” interest. Iceland's oldest rocks are namely ""only"" 20 million years old, while near Oslo a 1.2 billion year old bedrock consisting of gneiss is found. The road up to Kolsåstoppen is a walk through 250 million years of geological history. Oslo Field forms a model in geology with its number of distinctive rocks and fossils. Students will take part in the ""Fossil project in Tøyenparken"" which is a road cut with fossils unearthed by students at Hersleb vgs. The project is a collaboration with the Natural History Museum.The collaboration centres on lifelong learning and the development and sharing of good teaching and assessment of practices. It will therefore be important that participants develop positive attitudes and grow into an internationalization project. Through geosciences with focus on alternative energy sources and sustainable resource utilization the students will be challenged to think critically and participate in discussions. The result of the project will be presented and shared through a dedicated project website and eTwinning. The website will also act as a kind of blog where students can share articles, reports and other relevant materials. Other social media like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram can be additionally used to present the project work. As the students will have to present their research in a formal way, they will learn to improve their professional English language skills, besides the English language skills obtained during informal activities.It is desirable that this project will set up a long-term cooperation that will live on also after the EU grant. Over a three-year period we hope to have built up a strong and sustainable contact that endures after the EU funding has ended. The partnership may continue through online contact, and will be further developed through the eTwinning Portal. We envisage in the future to link to us a new partner which has a different climate and a different geology than Norway and Iceland, that could help to complement and develop the project."

We are a group of five schools from towns and communities on the edge of Europe - from Hammerfest, Norway in the north, to Adana, Turkey and Iglesias, Italy in the south, Brae in Scotland to the west and Gulbene in Lativa to the east - who have joined together to examine the issues that affect our pupils. Our schools and communities although far away from each other have faced similar issues over the last few years. The changing nature of our towns has greatly affected local societies and we want to teach our pupils how to cope with these changes. One of the biggest changes has been the changing needs of the employment market. With the change in industries traditional career paths have become less attractive and less sustainable. Our project will help pupils to learn about the new industries and increase the labour market relevance of the pupils. Another central element will be developing active citizenship and encouraging our pupils to learn more about entrepreneurship and how to react to the labour market; this will help our pupils develop into active citizens with increased employability and a greater understanding of local industries. Migration is also an issue that has affected all of the project partners, both immigration into the regions and emigration from the regions, we want to get pupils to learn about the consequences of this migration and to help them better understand both the positive and negative effects migration has on the nature of our communities. Our project is for pupils aged 16-18 years and about 250 pupils in total from our five schools will be taking part in the project directly with many more being affected indirectly. Our pupils face all the normal trials of teenages growing up in today's world but with the added challenges of living in remote areas that have often been overlooked by capital-centric government policies and the changing nature of economies moving from primary industries to secondary and tertiary industries that tend to be more centralised and which require new and different skills. Due to the challenges that they face many of our pupils lack motivation and a significant proportion to don't complete their studies and are thus unable to gain employment in their home regions. The participants will over the course of the project's two years not only learn more about their own communities but also about the similar situations other communities are facing. International collaboration helps pupils learn more about themselves as well as the wider European community. By working together we can enhance the quality and relevance of learning in our schools and help each other develop new and innovative approaches, at the same time we can promote and support the dissemination of best practice. By carrying out five exchanges, one to each of the partner schools, our students will be able to see how different communities have reacted to the same issues. During each visit as well as running relevant workshops at each school, each exchange will be centered around a visit to an important local industry. Teachers will also benefit greatly from these exchanges where there will be round table discussions about different pedagogical technics and practices which will help teachers increase the diversity of their teaching methods. Our project managed to complete all the planned activities, exchanges and workshops. While some elements took on a greater role than originally envisioned; local industries for example became central to all exchanges, we found that all the topics we had hoped to include in the project were relevant to our target group - the pupils. In addition to the formal workshops and excursions during the exchanges the informal meetings and brainstorming that the teachers took part in among themselves were invaluable and enriched both this short two-year project as well as the wider social capital at the partner schools. Another important impact has been the relationships built with local industries who hopefully can continue to be fruitful in coming projects. Much of what has been learn and achieved is hard to document but its impact on the teachers, partners and relevant, local stakeholders will develop over the next few years as the our international work and partnerships continue. The impact that the project has had on the pupils has been great, first and foremost their English language and communication skills have improved. Another important impact has been upon the pupils social skills, by taking part in exchanges they have learn to adapt to a different culture. By comparing and contrasting their own situations and possible career paths to the pupils' at our partner schools they have learnt much about their own society and the wider European community in which they live in. This project has helped our pupils learn how to express their views and become motivated, empowered young adults with the skills and drive needed to make a positive impact on their regions.