Our project entitled “My career in Europe” covered the time period of 1st September 2017 to 31st December 2020.It enabled us to set up all the activities that we had planned to achieve the goals we had set ourselves in the application form.Indeed, we had previously noticed that it was necessary to start a new project for our students to be more self-confident, to improve their skills in English as well as in the use of new technologies, and to develop their own idea of a European citizenship. This collaboration was supposed to open up new horizons for our students, most of whom having to face difficulties common among teenagers: getting out of their comfort zone and opening up to the world while daring to speak a foreign language. It was also supposed to enable them to cut off from the monotony of their curriculum.We chose participating organizations whose profile was different from our school’s. We targeted more or less rural schools and which shared our objectives. On the whole, 5 schools participated to this project. The diversity of the schools and of the partner countries enabled a larger multiculturalism. It was very interesting for our students to notice the cultural differences of several European countries: in Austria, the school is situated in the capital city but it also hosts many students born of foreign parents; in Bulgaria, the school is situated in a very small and rather underprivileged town; in Lithuania, the school is situated in a small town; finally in Greece, the school is situated in an area which has suffered from the 2008 economic crisis. This diversity enabled the students, whatever their country of origin, to become aware of the differences, but above all of the similarities between the young of very distinct countries: after discovering the culture and forgetting the language barrier, they very quickly created bonds: they are European teenagers with the same desires and dreams. On the whole, about 100 students and 30 teachers could get in touch with at least one of the partner schools, either when hosting foreign groups in their schools, or when sharing the preparatory material for the meetings, and even more people as the schools shared the results with all the students and personnel of their schools, without forgetting the host families who accepted to host a foreign student.The activities set up in the application form were held in a progressive way. First in class to prepare for the meetings (research work), then in group work during the Learning, Teaching and Training activities (sharing the results of the research and exchanges), the activities enabled to go smooth with our project and to achieve our goals. It is obvious that, apart from the fact of learning about the possibilities students can have if they want to study and/or work abroad, the meetings were essential and shaped the minds of all the participants towards a better self- and other people acceptance, towards more acceptance of the difference and towards more inclusion. Not only was our objective of improving language skills greatly achieved, but our goal of more open-mindedness among our students was even more greatly reached. Their stereotypes and prejudice soon disappeared during the different meetings.As for the teachers, the meetings were also the occasions to exchange their good practices, a useful thing to improve their working skills.Nevertheless, because of the sanitary situation, the last meeting in France, planned in March 2020, couldn’t be held and our project couldn’t be totally finished, and we don’t have any final product (simulation of job interviews respecting the work laws of each country). We were agreed a postponement of the project ending date (until 31st December 2020), but the pandemic never permitted us to be better organized, some of the partner schools teaching online only, others in a hybrid way, and even if in September we could have tried to organize something, some schools hadn’t started yet, and the time was too short. It is a real disappointment which was detrimental to the project itself, but not really to the participants, at least to the students: they surely benefited from all the advantages this kind of project offers in terms of exchanges, language, and learning about Europe and European citizenship, and they will necessarily keep a long-term benefit. As for the teachers, there is this feeling of unaccomplished task, but they know they haven’t done things for nothing; the student’s reactions were so positive that they can be proud of it.

Context/background of the project;The main aim of our international partnership was to provide effective, sustainable and successful transitions of young people in Europe from initial education to further training and into the labour market, in a creative and motivating way. Our students have done a lot of research on the labour market and shared opportunities in all our countries. They have worked with:- the education system in each country/region;- the European dimension;- the use of ICT;- the economic situation and opportunities in each country/region;- the conditions of early school leave;- the conditions of entering the labour market.During the partnership, students have improved and shared their knowledge, exchanged opinions and negotiated, and have become aware of the requirements of the labour market, learning how to create a good CV and to apply for a job.The project has had a strong impact on students, confronted with the problem of finding a job after graduation. The aptitudes and practical skills acquired during this project will hopefully help students to avoid unemployment in the future.The working language of the project has been English, which has enabled the students to widen their language abilities and gain fluency in using the foreign language in real situations.The most important thing in this international project has been to motivate and enable students to find possibilities of careers not only in their own country but all over Europe.The objectives were as follows:- to increase the capacity and relevance of learning in education and training;- to promote key competences: basic personal competences, cross-subject competences, entrepreneurship, acquisition of foreign languges, digital knowledge;- to reinforce links between education and training and the labor market;- to foster innovative educational development (cooperative learning, learning-by-doing and the development of critical thinking);- to foster structured cross-regional and cross-sectoral cooperation;- to enhance professional development of educational staff;- to develop active citizenship and the creation of a new working network;- to access subject-specific target language terminology;- to increase learner motivation.Description of undertaken main activities;Six international meetings have been the foundation of the main activities, as well as the work provided by students and teachers locally. The aim of the project has been cooperative learning and creating product in an international scope, and therefore the learning/teaching/training activities have been very important and absolutely necessary. The work in the different countries around the same topics needed a common conclusion which became clear during the meetings. At each mobility we had the following activities as a minimum:- A debate among students with a suggested agenda prepared in advance (results were brought home to be further discussed)- Presentations of the research done during the period previous to the meetings- Visits to organisations or centers of work dealing with a relevant economic sectors to the visited country.- Cooperation acitivities among students- Attendance to classes- Language exchanges- Knowledge of educational systems- Cultural visits to relevant places in the countries (to appreciate and compare the different cultures)- Monitoring meetings of teachersResults and impact attained;Our final product is a website, where young people all over Europe can search for jobs, apprenticeships, tips to consider when looking for a job in Europe,Links:Dissemination website: http://euneedsu.euJob searching website: http://ajob4u.euThe impact of the project:- to inform secondary school students about the possibilities in education throughout Europe;- to develop bridges between educational and economic organisations;- to involve families in the schools by informing them through meetings, emails and orientation days on the activities connected to the project;- to enhance the European dimension in education within the local boundaries by visiting other educational institutions during the mobilities;- to share experiences and good practices with other schools in the local and/or regional area also thanks to regional Erasmusplus initiatives - to create a new tool (job searching website) suitable to find a job/educational possibilities in another European country and to encourage users to create their CVs according to European standards (Europass);- to inform visitors, through the job searching website, about rules and regulations concerning further study and work in the European countries involved in the project.Number and profile of participating organisationsThe partners of our project are public schools with students aged between 14 and 19.Denmark: 10th Grade Center (Lower secondary)Austria: Vocational schoolGreece: Vocational schoolSpain: High SchoolTurkey: High SchoolItaly: HIgh School