This project addressed the key issue of the project partners schools and corresponding communities – how could the education process at schools be organized effectively and how the development of pupils’ competences, motivation and critical thinking be supported to be them the responsible 21st century citizens. During the project preparation stage all schools had done the SWOT analysis. It turned out that all schools were facing the challenges how could the adults of tomorrow be better developed. The world is changing and education needs to adapt to these fast changes. All project schools represent formal education but during discussions and analysis it turned out that not all formal education methods work at schools anymore, the elements of non-formal education should be integrated. Bringing the real world in the classroom or taking pupils out of the classroom motivate them to develop their competences and critical thinking. The overall aim of the project was to identify and disseminate the best practices in the use of non-formal education methods into formal one. That is the way how to raise both pupils and teachers’ competences and find the effective way of collaboration. The project was pupils centred and it addressed the pupils with different interests and challenges, therefore we have chosen the four main topic areas – social, cultural, political and economics. At the same time the teachers also benefited greatly, not every teacher was knowledgeable how to use non-formal education methods to develop pupils’ competences and above all pupils’ motivation and critical thinking. As we had chosen four main topic areas, wide range of different subject teachers were involved in carrying out the objectives of the project. It was important that schools from different European regions – Portugal, Latvia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain and Slovenia - collaborated, we had different background and international collaboration helped pupils learn more about themselves as well as the wider European community. All schools are situated on Europe’s periphery and had faced similar changes over the last decade but had started to deal with them in different way. By working together we enhanced the quality and relevance of learning in our schools and helped each other develop new and innovative approaches. All project activities were worked out to lead to achievements of the project’s objectives. The project was split into 6 modules, two of which were introduction and conclusion and 4 topic modules. The four topic models represented the main challenges facing our schools and even our communes. The worked structure of the project provided clear rules for cooperation and smooth work together. The four topics models gave the project a clear and well-defined frame which helped us structure our activities and allowed for the pupils with different interests got the most of the project. The working methods were tailored based upon participants’ practical experience of coping with real life situations or problems. Non-formal education methods and tools were used throughout the project creating a productive and inspiring environment and giving the participants experience what non-formal learning is. In all four topic areas the non-formal education methods were shared, piloted by other schools and giving feedback. Everyone appreciated the learned methods like – how to organize political debates, Mediation programme, how to work with cultural heritage and how to collaborate with the local entrepreneurs. Practical approach developed students’ critical thinking and analytical skills. As the final product of the project is a booklet of the piloted non-formal education methods/feedback it could be of great help for all teachers and pupils at schools. The project is a spring board to elaborate the system in each school how with the integration of non-formal education methods into formal education pupils’ competences, motivation and critical thinking could be raised. The wide choice of topics and corresponding subject teachers being involved in the project provided that. Even more, cooperation in the project and sharing non-formal education methods gave a new input during the distance teaching/learning period. The objectives of the project and reached results motivated each school evaluate the offered possibilities of the local communes to take education processes out of the classrooms. That is the key component of the changes in education nowadays. The project activities proved that the pupils could not only develop their competences by doing academic studying. The world is changing and sometimes pupils are confused, they need to learn how to evaluate their interests, skills and concentrate on the field they are interested in. For teachers it is very important to provide that opportunity for students and choose the right methodology. The realization of this project was one more step in this direction.