"Summary of Project Motivation. The genesis of this project has grown out of a number of news stories which enter our living rooms via the TV every night. These stories include the plight of refugees from Syria, Ukraine and other war zones which don't even hit the headlines. But it is not only war, migration driven by hunger, drought, climate change, the hope for a better future is an ever present story. If all news outlets, if all the opinions our students are exposed to expressed tolerance there would be no need for this project. If the questions our students read, see and and hear was ""how can we help and support our fellow human beings to live rich peaceful prosperous lives as good as our own in a place close to their families, their friends their roots?"" instead of ""why should we accept ""them"".....how can we prevent ""them"" from coming here? there would be no need for this project. Over the past two years , From Budapest to Barcelona and from Britain to Bologna, our students hear the voices of isolationist demagogues, many of these voices are not driven by a localist agenda calling for greater democracy, but by, at worst xenophobia or at best an unrealistic nostalgia for a past that never existed. The need for our students to develop an understanding of the complex factors that have led to these contemporary news stories has never been more pressing or urgent , our students , now , more than ever need to have the opportunity to experience their partners from other regions of Europe, we as teachers have the opportunity to introduce our students to the influences, opportunities and experiences that exist outside our regional boundaries. Summary of Objectives In planning this project, we wanted our students to strengthen their sense of empathy for fellow human beings seeking refuge from war, hunger or despair In keeping this outcome in the forefront of our planning, we want our students to increase their capacity to be active citizens. For many students, their school experience does not fully prepare them for the reality of life outside school, transferable skills are not fully recognised and there is a sense that individual curriculum areas exist in isolation from other areas. We want our students to strengthen their learning outcomes through recognition of the curriculum concepts within a broad context. We hope that engagement in this project will assist in developing critical thinking skills which will empower them to evaluate and interpret news stories. By allowing them to work in a project based learning environment we want our young people to apply their skills in language, numeracy, creativity and citizenship in a real life context. Summary of Project Content Part1 ""If birds fly free...why cant we?"" Students create a powerpoint or portfolio of cases where walls and borders dont exist, so for example a look at bird or fish migration, ocean currents or prevailing winds, this could also include pollution, if I dump filth in the sea, or toxins in the sky it affects you, we dont live in isolation. Part2 ""I am a Rock I am an Island"" The theme here is how events which affect one region can affect us all, the title of ""I am a rock ..."" is intentionally ironic. In this part we are going to consider the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 78 and each partner is going to assume the role of a journalist in their own country and describe how it has affected their region. We will combine these accounts to make a magazine to be published (following the model of something like Time/The Economist/Der Spiegel), with analysis of the impact. Part 3 ""Free Bird"" We looked at bird migration earlier, this part has very little to do with Birds, but migratory birds from Africa or from the Arctic do tend to suffer high casulaties from hunting, lack of food, exhaustion, so this ""chapter"" provides linkage between the problems faced by animals and humans .....We will look at why people migrate, fleeing war, famine , drought.....money...jobs, better futures for their children, the results will be presented as an art exhibition, a drama performance, which includes dance and singing or a multimedia show. Part 4 ""Prison without bars"" How do we as humans impose our own prisons? I would like us to collaborate on producing an ebook or magazine which illustrates how we voluntarily impose limits on ourselves and others, this could be about the acceptance of and the need to challenge sexism, racism, disability, homophobia.....""girls can be builders"" ""boys can be nurses"" ""blood is always red"", if we say we cant do it, we all sit in our personal wheelchair, homophobia is a straight problem. Part 5 "" Imagine"" Imagine a world without borders, we could create an album of songs which all have songs on the theme of a shared humanity, we could write these ourselves or cover established songs. The final meeting would feature a performance celebrating the diversity, optimism and joy of being young."