Jean Monnet is said to have said „Europe, were I to begin again, I would start with culture“.For the younger generations, Europe today seems to be crumbling. European identity seems to be fading, some countries show nationalist tendencies. As all Europeans we do have our national identities and cultural traditions but the younger generation, through ignorance or fear, seems little aware of their own cultural heritage, let alone of the similarities with other nations. That’s why we would like to create an awareness about what actually makes up their common cultural heritage as well as their differences which will lead to a better understanding of each other and hopefully enhance their tolerance and open-mindedness towards each other and amplify their European spirit. Our activities aim at building bridges between the participating countries by making the students realise through the different activities their European common cultural heritage and increase their knowledge about their own past and present cultural identity. Students should come to the conclusion that even the differences stem from similar concepts (e.g. dancing, singing, etc.) which are just expressed in different ways. To find out what culture means to them, we will start off the project activities with a questionnaire that will be evaluated and analysed. As the topic of culture is a vast field, we decided, in accordance with the specific skills of the participating teachers, to touch the fields of literature, festivals, food, music, art and dance. Each activity will take into account the students’ own interests, knowledge and background. To start with, pupils are asked to think about their own personal interests (fashion, music, books …. ) that they will present to the other participating countries through photos, musical extracts, etc. In mixed nationality groups they will then find common aspects. The following activities will also be worked on: analysing a fairy tale, comparing Christmas festivities, finding a common project song and dance for the two years to enhance the feeling of togetherness. The participants will stage a piece of literature, work on traditional food, eating habits and changes in these, create a recipe book and cook traditional recipes from the participating countries. In the second year we will concentrate on music first discovering traditional songs, instruments and composing a song that contains all the participants’ languages and English. The students will discover acoustic ecology by recording the sounds surrounding them in everyday life. The last phase of the project will focus on art and dance and contains the analysis of paintings portraying dancers. Students will present traditional dances from their countries and create a common choreography and perform it with music.We will bring together music/musically interested teachers and students for two LTTAs (GR and GER). The participants will learn about traditional Greek/German musical instruments and songs. They will join musical ensembles of the hosting school, perform a traditional song together, visit a long-established piano making factory (GER) and see how music is taught at school and at a specialised city music school. Thus, the participants will broaden their knowledge of how a common cultural/musical heritage is passed on in Europe.The project aims at being as diverse as possible by including a wide variety of subjects (e.g. music, art, dance, home economics, languages, etc.) and to give students a comprehensive approach of dealing with the different aspects. The skills and competences should amplify the students’ awareness in an emotional way. Also by working and cooperating in international groups they should improve their English and exchange information about their cultures. Furthermore, they improve their IT skills by documenting their findings and results through different means (PPT, prezi, audio/video files, mastering/editing audio and visual footage, etc.). The aim of the project is for each student to be capable of researching, understanding and analysing and hence explaining to a third party so as to discover the traditions and customs in the partner countries. The important element here is sharing to better understand one’s neighbours. For teachers the project offers the opportunity to work on a topic that includes many subjects and thus providing a platform of interdisciplinary cooperation within our own schools as well as between the partner schools. Also, it allows teachers to learn about, try out and share different teaching methods and approaches. After an LTTA, the pupils will be able to share their experience and help to minimise stereotypical thinking and hence to understand and accept differences.

One of the global issues crucial for the development of our mankind is environment protection. It is not by chance that so much focus is put on coping with this pressing problem- recent surveys have shown that 68 per cent of all extreme weather events studied in the last 20 years were made more likely or more severe by human-caused climate change. This is only of the alarming facts that calls for action not only at political or economical level, but at educational level as well.Because shaping ecological consciousness with young people through education today is the stepping stone for resolving such an important issue in the future. According to a research called Environmental Orientation of the Youth- between sustainable development and techno-centrism (Faculty of Economics Osijek, 2007), 79% of the respondents understand and support sustainable development.On the other hand, a national project called The Research Among Young People in Croatia (Friedrich Ebert Foundation Zagreb, 2019) on how young people spend their free time, showed that only 5% of young people participate in ecological projects. Having the given results in mind, it is obvious that young people’s interest in environmental issues exists- it just has to be encouraged through active involvement in an international environmental project where partnership between schools will have a direct impact on the ecological awareness and activism of the students.In this regard an environmentally-oriented project has been set up between the coordinating school from Croatia and partner schools from Turkey, Greece, Lithuania, Sweden and the Netherlands. Bearing in mind specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based criteria, four clearly defined objectives have been determined for an effective carrying out of the project:1.to enhance students’ awareness and knowledge about environmental issues2.to encourage students to be actively implicated in ecological activities by bringing solutions to environmental issues3.to raise environmental awareness and sensitivity in public4.to engage students in developing their personal responsibility within global eco-friendly citizenshipDuring the formation of partnership, the coordinating school mainly focused on the works, activities, knowledge, experiences, motivations, solution proposals of their prospective partners and the integration of environmental issues into their curriculum. We cooperated among the partners via online meetings. Both Croatian and Swedish schools are newcomers to the Erasmus family who will benefit a lot from other experienced partners. Also, Turkish partner has been awarded the eTwinning Quality label thus making a great contribution to our project as a very active participant of the most influential platform for Erasmus projects.In the course of two years, we plan to organize different eTwinning (communication, uploading materials, forums), dissemination (press conferences, preparing articles, uploading results on platforms) and activities outside (special day celebrations, workshops, exhibitions, competitions, film screening and literary events) and during mobilities (presentations, workshops, competitions, outdoor activities, interviews). All activities will be objective- based and student- oriented. Among the group of 5 students who are going to participate in mobilities, we will encourage students with fewer opportunities (economic, social obstacles etc.)We will use a systematic implementation methodology: Each partner will host a mobility during which we will focus on specific environmental issues like pollution, zero waste policy, preservation of plants and wildlife, organic farming and food, climate change, energy use, sustainability, etc. Before mobility, students will examine local conditions and solutions to the issues. At the LTT participants will continue to work on the topic together combining their findings and discovering new perspectives and solutions. During the project, all students and school staff will learn practical skills to implement a more eco- friendly lifestyle, conduct surveys, create awareness- raising campaigns, influence school practices and local/national/international policies. By taking part in the activities, they will also train the use of ICT, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership and language skills and cross-cultural communication. We aim to reach at least 7000 people, especially by the effective use of social media. We hope that, by participating in this project, rising generation will learn to appreciate different contexts and conditions around Europe regarding environment protection, its challenges and possibilities. They will gain confidence to actively participate in decision-making, which will again improve school and local policies in general and set an example for the whole local community to initiate concrete actions with long-term benefits for a more eco-friendly society at national, international and global level.