Our Erasmus+ KA2 project

How can Europe be defined? Is it the geographical proximity of the countries or rather common values and ideas? How far away do you have to travel from central Europe until you reach the point of not feeling European anymore? This leads us to the question if you can even recognise in the outermost regions or in countries at the edge of Europe the feeling of belonging to Europe and the true spirit and solidarity of a united Europe? Due to these questions we are five secondary schools located in Tromsø, Norway, Lappeenranta in
Finland, Matoury in French Guyana, Ravine des Cabris on Reunion Island and Kirchheim/Teck in Germany, which want to explore what it means to be European even though we live really far from each other. Thus, the title of our project is „No matter how far away we are, we are Europe“. Our project deals with the topic of reducing distances between people, schools and countries.
As our main goal we would like to make students and teachers aware that geographical distances do not play a role and above all, by visiting far away places, schools and students we want to show that barriers in people’s mind can be reduced. This is possible on the one hand by working in crossnational teams and on the other hand to see how they live in reality, to get to know students, talk to them face to face and see their school and town. Only this can foster common values and a mutual understanding and it also leads to a European identity.
Our partners are from the South American continent, others are situated in the Indian Ocean, near the Arctic or just a step from the Russian border. Due to these locations, most students probably feel far from Europe and especially this seems to be the chance to bring everybody closer together. It is very important to show them the similarities they can have with other high school students in Europe. We want them to recognize that despite different cultures they all have a lot in common. We share culture and values, the same hopes and fears and this bring us together, despite distances.
The aim of the project is to promote active European citizenship, to support life-long learning, to get to know other cultures, people, Europe and differnt school systems as well as to promote mutual understanding and tolerance. Further, students and teachers discover different points of view and see differences and similarities of young people all over Europe no matter how far away they live from
each other. We will focus on the EU's values and the agenda 2030.