Context and Background: The main goal of the European Commission as it was declared in January 2018 is to provide young people with any kind of help, such as knowledge and skills, through the educational system in order to improve the connection between the job market and them. The path, through which this will happen, is the triangle: education – research – innovation, in order to rediscover young people’s talents and skills. Its a tough bet but also absolutely necessary in today’s circumstances. Being inspired by this, we want to work in a project based on learning in an environment outside of the schools. Our students will face with real-life issues, primarily on a local base, but also through a global aspect. They will to visit organisations, people and places linked to these local problems and try to suggest the best possible solutions. The core of this methodology is to abandon the sterilized environment of the classroom and we put education in the centre of real life. The topics have been chosen as they are linked to the EU commission’s priorities, allow a multi-disciplinary approach and are linked to the schools’ curriculums. Each theme is strongly connected with one of the participating schools and its local area. The LTT metting in each country will be concentrated around it: -Social and economic inequality: The quality of life in a disadvantaged neighbourhood -Food ethics: Food waste -Immigration: the integration of immigrants -Environment: the pollution of the sea Objectives of our project in relation to the program priorities and the European Comission are: 1.To learn and research in an innovative way, mostly outside the classroom and on locations that are relevant for the different local topics during the LTT activities. 2.To learn in a practical and critical way, to ensure that our students have the capacity to think out of the box. Since the given problems concern real life, the way our students should deal with them must be absolutely practical and the method must ensure the increase of critical thinking. The problems concern real life and the solutions should be linked to that. 3.Foster social integration, enhance intercultural understanding and a sense of belonging to a community. In a multicultural environment it is necessary to achieve a minimum of consensus between the different communities in order to succeed in dealing with the complicated and more demanding problems of our era. And through this the common goal of coexistence can be ensured. 4.To produce a teacher’s guide for our own teaching methodology that focuses on teaching essential skills and competences in a practical way and which can easily be accessed and implemented in the school practice all over Europe. Number and profile of participants: 200 students are directly and indirectly involved. In detail, about 30 students of each school will travel abroad to the partner schools and about 180 students will indirectly provide their help and efforts to conclude the goals of the project. Also about 30 teachers will interfere and provide their guidance for the purposes of the program and share experiences. Activities: The students will prepare an introduction to the local theme of research. The form of this introduction will be a short film which will show in a clear manner the nature of the given problem. After this the participants will work on similar local problems in their places. During the LTT meeting, the participants will be in contact with local institutions and factors who have tare linked to the problems. Each group will come up with an out of the box solution, after they have completed their research. After the discussion that will follow, the students will decide the type of the event through which they are going to act towards suggesting their own solutions. They will prepare a vlog about the process and the solutions. The concrete results will be: a.A teacher’s guide that contains a methodology, activities and lesson plans that will be shared. b.A website on which to describe the themes in the participating countries, the results of the research and the solutions c.A YouTube channel that contains the vlogs the students made during the LTT activities , the research process and the presentation of the solutions Impact: We focus on the direct connection between real life and education, the preparation of our students to act and behave as proactive citizens, the increase of their critical and practical ability, the integration of disabled, learning and economically, groups of students, the multicultural cooperation in a demanding and changing modern environment. The public character of the program and the widespread of its results in a vaster educational community through its concrete results will provide the methodological tools to colleagues in the whole EU, helping them to deal with the major problem of modern education, to adjust to the modern demands and connect to real life.

Facing severe economic, financial and social crisis, the new European Commission has defined a strategy for growth. The number 1 priority is to ensure Europe is growing again and employment rates are increasing. This top priority and the social, economic and educational situations in the 4 participating countries, inspired us to work together and tackle the problem of early school leavers by keeping them motivated for their future and increase the opportunities for our students as well as other students in Europe to access the European job market.Localised in 4 different geographical and cultural contexts, the 4 schools have realised over the last years the fundamental benefit of European cooperation of the students, teachers and the schools themselves. The experience of working together on a specific project not only in virtual space but also meeting each other and to be in different environments and cultures in Europe has proven an essential step in creating European awareness and fostering a sense of European identity and citizenship amongst students and teachers which could not have been achieved otherwise.The fundamental objectives of this project are:1. To decrease the number of early school leavers and increase the employment rate in Europe by implementing the concept of personalised learning, both by students and teachers, in an international setting. 2) to learn and research in an innovative way, mostly outside the classroom and on locations that are relevant for the different topics during the Student Visits (‘Active Learning’). These locations are typical and relevant for the place/country each participating school is located. 3) to produce the ‘European Backpack’ and ‘Briefcase,’ for both students and teachers. How the results from the research carried out by students and teachers are created for the ‘European Backpack’ and ‘Briefcase,’ is entirely for the students and teachers to choose on the understanding that it is publicly accessible for example: a film, info graphic or a blog. Over two years 100 students and their teachers from different countries were actively involved in the project, and cooperate with their partners, virtually and during student visits, conducting comparative research and practice related to 4 topics. Furthermore, many students inside and outside the schools will be part of the project and benefit from its results. The topics have been chosen as they are linked to the EU commission’s priorities, they allow a multi-disciplinary approach and are linked to the school's curriculum. Each topic is strongly connected with one of the of the participating schools, its surroundings and its environment. The student visits in each country, will be concentrated around that topic. The 4 topics are:1. Discrimination and integration (Sweden)2. Language barriers (UK)3. Exploring New Horizons: study/ work/ training in Europe (The Netherlands)4. Coping with social and economic disadvantages (Greece) We have achieved the goals and will continue to do so of decreasing the number of early school leavers by keeping the students motivated for their future and increasing employment rates in Europe by an innovative new approach: Active Learning. The European Commission’s investment says on its website about the top priority: ‘This investment should be targeted towards education, research and innovation’. That is the centre of our approach ensuring the students and teachers own their own learning process by creating personal and specific research questions which focus directly on the theme. They will work in international teams of 4 people. This is a big step in the concept of personalised learning. (Education) We aim to challenge tradition learning styles of learning i.e. inside the classroom. Instead teachers and students will venture out to address their personal research question in different locations focusing on specific features relating to the chosen topic of each country during the student visits. (Research) This way of learning will enable students to contribute to and make a positive impact on the surrounding society and their own ideas for their future prospects. (Innovation) The project will facilitate ‘Action Learning' aiming to increase practical skills by developing independent learners and implementing the concept of personalised learning with an international group of students aged 15-18yrs and their teachers. Throughout the duration of the project students and teachers have created products such as blogs, films and digital posters which contain the results of their research. All of which will be contained within a 'European Backpack’ for students and a ‘European Briefcase’ for teachers. This is a digitalised portfolio which young people and teachers from all over Europe can access from anywhere and share. It can be downloaded via a website which we have produced ourselves during the project.

The project had as a partnership five schools of PT, IT, RO, GR, TR, Portugal was the coordinating country and the age group of students focused on the 12-17years.The starting point for the project were the problems of social exclusion experienced in partner countries and gaps in students' behavoiral and social skills. Evaluating the problems in each school we conclude the need to address gaps in social inclusion, basic skills, parental support skills and socioeconomic needs. In order to reach the inclusion objectives, new cooperative and inclusive teaching strategies and methods were studied and implemented in schools, during classes and during free time.The strategies and methods covered have brought many ideas to put into practice and have proved a real alternative in solving problems in schools. At the same time, the observation of good practices during the mobilities also allowed them to be transferred to the realities of the other partner schools.Each school studied and applied one of the new methods, evaluated and disseminated practices and results. In each mobility it was possible to present and discuss methods and transfer practices from one school to another. Thus, at the end of the project five methods of cooperative and inclusive teaching that could be applied in schools were studied, applied and discussed.GOALS- to promote the inclusion of pupils, those lacking basic skills, risk of abandonment, with special needs, helping to promote their integration into regular education and society.- implement new strategies to overcome social exclusion, lack of basic skills and school dropout- to develop new methods in the field of social and emotional development of students, especially students with special educational needs.- give teachers different methods of education and share good practices.These objectives were largely achieved, with great success in the changes of behaviors and acquisition of competences on the part of the students and introduction of new strategies in the teaching practices.NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTSStudents / young people: More students than expected participated actively in the project. Countries such as Portugal, România and Italy had a great participation, so we can say that about 240 students participated in the project and about 1,200 influenced by the actions of the project. indirect.Teachers / Adults: From the planned teams of 5 teachers participated actively in higher numbers in countries such as Portugal, Italy and Romania. 40 teachers participated actively in the teams. About 150 teachers / adults will have been indirectly touched by the project.Administrative staff: At least the principal and other administrative of each school participated in the project, approximately 36 administrative staff were involved in the project.Families: Also in families the number involved in the project was higher than expected. Countries such as Portugal and Romania had a large participation of the families, 350 members of the families participated, contributing to the knowledge of the culture and traditions of their countries. It should be noted that the Portuguese school was the first time it was sent and received students, with great success and participation of families.Local community: The participation of the local community in each country was also relevant. From the local press that helped disseminate project actions (newspapers and in some countries local television), the municipalities that received the delegations and cede local and logistics, representatives from the Ministries of Education and local Associations that participated in project actions and helped in the dissemination of it.RESULTS AND IMPACT: Through our project, the five partners have created tangible and intangible results in the short and long term and have achieved the greatest possible impact for future educational and political projects and processes, such as getting students to overcome their lack of self-esteem , to gain personal and social skills, to work on their capacities for tolerance and to gain more competences on European citizenship. Students with special educational needs were largely involved in the project, overcoming barriers, gaining more standardized skills and teaching others to overcome fears. Schools were endowed with new strategies, methods and good practices and were able to extend their internationalization. Facebook group, website, articles, brochures, manuals, newsletters provided continuous access to general information on project activities, progress and results. In this way it is possible to multiply our success and cultivate effective partnerships among teachers, educators and community organizations.