"“MUSEUMHOLICS” got inspired by the European initiative of 2018 as the official year dedicated to EU Cultural Heritage. The project will develop activities related to ""museum education"" so as to improve the learning process of pupils and experiment innovative teaching methodologies. A museum is an important educational resource to be used in teaching both for its prompting of a more visual communication and for the values it hides (authenticity of historical documents, completeness of collections, the multi-dimensionality of expressive languages, etc.). The main principle of “museum education” is that the visitor – however old he/she is - becomes protagonist of his/her development and learning. Through the promotion of activities based on museum education, the partnership intends to encourage students' knowledge of EU Cultural Heritage and to renew teaching methods by integrating more active and participative strategies aimed at fostering a lab-based learning process. Visits to local museums as well as exchanges, debates and brainstorming activities will allow students to explore new cultures, acquire intercultural knowledge and increase their awareness about this common cultural heritage that all European Countries share. The partnership is made up of 6 Countries (Italy, Turkey, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Spain) and will have a duration of 24 months. The planned support initiatives will impact the participating students and teachers, but also the entire partnership that will benefit from the use of new teaching methods and tools as well as from their project management expertise. The activities will contribute to improve the participants’ linguistic, digital and soft skills, enhancing the schools’ internationalization processes. Among the project results: - creation of a Facebook page and a logo representing the project theme; - creation of a Padlet displaying project activities and “behind the scenes”; - production of 6 short films (one for each partner school) that will visually summarize which are the different perceptions held by the Countries involved in regards to EU Cultural Heritage; - opening of a picture gallery in each partner school; - creation of 1 e-book outlining the most successful activities and good practices organized in the framework of the project to be disseminated on the European platforms of eTwinning and School Education Gateway. As for numerical impacts, it is expected that: - 100% of participants will be fully satisfied about the cultural exchange experience they lived; - drafting of a new project proposal to be submitted under the 2019 Erasmus + KA229 call for proposals; - 90% of participants will manifest greater cultural awareness; - 100% of the families will be extremely happy about the project activities and themes; - 1 new eTwinning project submitted on behalf of the present partnership; - 50% of museums involved will be interested in developing new educational paths with the partner schools; - improvement of pupils’ school performance and level of participation in their learning growth."

We have been teaching for many years in a secondary school in a Priority Education Zone and we had noticed that many students were working in an individualistic way, regardless of those around them, especially the most disadvantaged people. We talked with our colleagues, our management and a number of parents who shared our point of view. The idea of our future project started then.We wanted to set up a project for the European section of our school, because we knew that if a European project would begin, English would be the essential language of communication. We also wanted to find a local associative partner in our country in order to make pupils aware of their surroundings and to make them interact with people in distress, to see how they would behave and hoping that they would become better citizens, more sensitive to the misfortunes of others and far less egocentric. This project, initially carried out by France (as we wished to be the coordinating country), could be extended to potential partners who would be added to the original project, since we thought that we all had the same problems, including countries (Scandinavian countries for example.Once the association was chosen by our students, GALI (a group of several local micro-associations with a social vocation and the reintegration of people lacking benchmarks and suffering from a disorganized social life), a partnership lasting almost two years was created, enabling our students, aged between 14 and 16, to interact with volunteers and beneficiaries, listening to their difficulties and problems of life. Little by little, concrete actions were put in place, punctually and then more regularly, according to the associative life of the association and its highlights. Charity sales organized by our students for the benefit of the association were born, volunteer contributions to food collections, lottos and other celebrations multiplied.The exchanges with our European partners made it possible, as time went on, to discover new national or local associative actors and also to see what actions were being implemented on both sides of the borders. The students fed on each other's ideas and approaches, and adults, parents and teachers alike.Because of the level of class chosen, a first promotion of students who participated in the project and became high school students, we were able to continue exchanging with them and really know what the lessons they had learned from the experience. They all agreed that they had the feeling of growing and evolving positively, developing a spirit of altruism and of European citizenship, committed to continuing the work of associations initiated and to pursuing Europe and across European borders.We have been sensitive to all the marks of gratitude, wherever they come from and whatever country it took place in. From our point of view of teachers, we had the feeling of being useful in the realization of this project, both for our students and for the beneficiaries with whom we were in contact. We aspired to set up a project that was not academic but whose approach would be essentially a citizen, with not necessarily concrete or tangible skills and competences, we were more in the creation of a concept, an idea and we think we have reached our target.Much communication around the project has brought some reflection on our local community, teachers, parents and pupils closely associated with the success of the events throughout these two years together with a single common dynamic: improvement of the living conditions of the beneficiaries of our respective associations.

As we are living in a more and more connected world, we've come to realise that our students are increasingly living in a digital world and hardly knowing their neighbours, whether close or far. They are hyper connected, think they know ‘everything’ but only a few of them know the customs of their European neighbours or the local initiatives they could take part in to help the Other. Thanks to this project entitled Local initiatives in a European Village we want our students to take a critical look at their use of social networks, the internet in general and mobile phones but also lead them to use them efficiently, safely enjoying the multiple benefits they can provide. Alongside with learning how to master this tool they were born with (contrary to us, their teachers …) we want them to know the many local initiatives that are around them and to make them take part, to make them learn how to help the Other, how to respect our beautiful Planet and how to transfer our know-how. The European dimension of the project will enable them to compare their behaviour, experiments, the many different initiatives they can be part of and the solutions they can bring to make a better living together future. They will also learn that it is no better no worse elsewhere, but just different and that one must take time to consider different opinions, strategies, ways of doing things to better understand others and to better live altogether We want to work with 13 to 14 year-old students from the 4 partner schools that’s to say , France,Bulgaria, Italy and Spain. Each partner wants to work with a team of about 20 students on a regular basis each year. The different activities we’ll organise will ensure us to efficiently lead this project and to foster the development of abilities and skills for our students such as -looking for information thanks to ICTs -meeting local actors ( humanitarian charities, crafts transferring actions ….) -creating, conducting analysing and disseminating the results of surveys -exchanging and meeting with our European partners. -creating blogs, posters, exhibitions, videos, articles….. Each school wants to involve as many teachers as possible so as to ensure cross-curricular learning and skills sharing. The project objectives will be achieved through effective European team work (on twinspace and during the mobilities). Parents will of course be involved and encouraged to take part in the different actions taken. Thanks to this project, we hope that our students will become more autonomous, more confident and open-minded with the others and the world they are living in. We want them to practice foreign languages and see how important they are. We want them to get used to working in teams, here in multicultural teams. We would also want our students to be sensitive to local initiatives and to get some of them to take part on a regular basis. They will also be aware of what is happening in other countries, how other people are dealing with the same and often burning issues. Finally we want them to take a critical stance on their digital devices use (and use pace), keeping clearly in mind the drawbacks and benefits they can provide in our everyday life.Whether in short, medium term or in the long run, local partners, such as charities, will benefit from the involvement of our students and the feedback on European initiatives we will provide them.In their future life as young adults, students will definitely benefit from this enriching and empowering experience giving them the means to better understand their social and economic background as much as the European one. Having acquired key competences, ICT and languages skills, they will be motivated to keep on studying, for some to escape poverty and psychological decay.They will thus face adulthood with as much confidence and hope as any young European should have.