<< Background >>Europe is a wonderful place when we think of the cultural richness and diversity that exists on this continent, or of the achievements of our evolved democracies. But Europe needs an education system that takes all the people who live here along and gives them equal opportunities and chances to participate, especially in the arts and culture. This is the only way to prevent a dangerous division of society, that starts at the national level. It is a big task, and there is still a lot to do here. The schools, cultural institutions and universities involved in E*CCAJ and spread over four European countries want to join forces to do their part for the inclusion of young, disadvantaged pupils – with the power of arts education. Because: some young people in European schools are not visible to each other or even themselves. We feel strongly that the program CCAJ, through creative encounters between young people from different schools, through their participation on cinema as art, will enable them to see themselves and each other, to share their lives and passions and identities - both on screen and behind the scenes. But to make these encounters successfully happen, teachers need tools and expertise, which can be provided by developing pedagogies with filmmakers, and further developed and exchanged between each other. Furthermore, since the outbreak of COVID-19, our target groups of young people (and teachers and filmmakers) have experienced more isolation, but at the same time have been put in reach of each other, and culture, through digital means. E*CCAJ addresses all these challenges by initiating a European learning community over three years, across geographical borders and sectors.<< Objectives >>Objective 1: The renowned film education project CCAJ will be transferred into a new European constellation and methodically developed further. New reusable products & training formats will be created. Objective 2: The positive effect of this film education project and its special methodology on disadvantaged students with regard to the acquisition of Key Competences, empowerment and inclusion is to be examined as an example. Implicit experiential knowledge that has grown over years in the pedagogical leadership / in the tandems of participating artists and teachers will be made explicit and can be shared. The significance of the project and its many dimensions can be better classified in terms of educational policy. It is opened up for further research and serves to develop research perspectives and methods for aesthetic film education. Objective 3: All project participants (students, teachers, filmmakers, mediators, cultural organizations, universities) engage in an intensive examination and learning process on film education and broaden their horizons, network, etc. through participation in a European project and the mobility that comes with it.<< Implementation >>E*CCAJ will implement teacher training in film education as well as long-term learning activities for disadvantaged pupils in four European countries: Portugal, Bulgaria, France and Germany. This will be accompanied by a research-based evaluation (observation, interviews) organized by two Universities in France and Germany. Furthermore, we will organize a international cross-sectoral in-depth exchange and reflection on methodologies and pedagogical approaches on arts education & inclusion.<< Results >>see annexed PDF