Meeting in Strasbourg, France - March 2022
Meeting in Strasbourg
Description of the activity
This project meeting was not part of our original application. But since three scheduled meetings (in Molfetta, Dubrovnik and Lüdenscheid) had to be cancelled because the corona pandemic made travelling with students impossible we decided - after consulting our NA in Bonn - to conduct this meeting in Strasbourg as a substitute for the cancelled ones. Our project was kept alive through several online meetings with teachers and with students. As class trips became possible again in 2022 we decided to venture this physical project meeting in a town that hosts several important European institutions. A meeting in Strasbourg gave every participating school the opportunity to travel with students and meet in person with the other project partners. Covid19 precautions were taken in each group following the national requirements. Every participating school took 8 to 12 students and 2 to 4 teachers to Strasbourg, according to the mobilities applied for in the original application. So we met up with 50 persons all together. We had a busy program to follow in Strasbourg. After some teambuilding activities the whole group visited the Council of Europe on a guided tour followed by a discussion on human rights and what these meant in the current situations as to (old and new) migrants in Europe. The European Parliament had just opened up after a long closure for visitors because of the pandemic, every participant was impressed by building, the hemicycle, the films, and the interactive facilities. The highlight for students and teachers was the visit to the European Court of Human Rights. This visit was only possible because of the initiative of our Portuguese partners. We had the opportunity to talk to a lawyer, a judge and the deputy registrar of the ECHR. Their presentations and the following discussions about their work and the role of human rights nowadays was immensely interesting for all participants. Here the work on this important topic could be connected with personalities who are dedicated to their job. Questions of migration – especially concerning the war in Ukraine - were discussed as well. For the last day in Strasbourg we rented a conference room at the European Youth Centre Strasbourg to get the whole group together and discuss and sort out different aspects of our 3- year-project. After a few presentations on migrational issues the students discussed various aspects in mixed groups. We planned the final product of our Erasmus project, an ebook with a chapter for each participating school. Teambuilding activities rounded off a successful day in the youth centre. This seemed necessary as the school teams were by now a mixture of old and new students - some had left school in the meantime. This physical meeting was a much welcomed chance for every participant to meet the project partners in person and to experience how Europe works on institutional and private levels. How did the participation in this activity benefit the involved participants? The meeting was successful in every respect. After a long pause - filled with online meetings only - this was the only possibility to experience in person what Erasmus could feel like. The emotional impact was huge, especially the visit to the ECHR left a lasting impression on teachers and students. Working together in mixed groups on the topic of migration was a unique experience for our students.