The Var Department, competent as regards secondary schools, from their building up to their functioning, including their financing and the management of educational projects, acknowledged the necessity of developing the learning of foreign languages. Actually,considering the economic context of the territory with a job market orientated towards tourism, boating and the international, it is necessary for the future labour force of this territory to master foreign languages. In this context, from 2012 to 2016, the Var Department offered activities in this field relating to non-formal teaching and as an addition to lessons ,in order to arouse the motivation of young people to learn languages and improve their professional insertion. However, what was missing to this device was the notion of European identity by young people. Without this concept, it was difficult for teachers to motivate their pupils in learning foreign languages. This project, more global on a geographical level as well as on the level of the teachers involved and the duration of the project, could not have been carried out outside a European partnership. So, in 2016, the Var Department,decided, in the continuity of this process, to get involved in an Erasmus + strategic Partnership combining language learning and the use of digital technologies. The Department thus established a partnership with the Lanzarote Administration of Education (Canary Islands, Spain) as the two territories face the same economic issues. 3 secondary schools from Var and 3 secondary schools from Lanzarote were involved. The aim was to compare language teaching methods and the use of digital technologies in both countries. For that, the pupils and teachers of each secondary school worked on a common project, the development of a trilingual tourist guide intended for teenagers. All along the project, the teachers from Var and the Canaries exchanged about their methods thanks to numerical devices and school trips.The teachers learnt from the comparison of their methods with those of the partner country and put the results of this comparison to good use in their teaching. Concerning the study of teaching methods and the development of digital technologies, the Department associated the Toulon « Institut Supérieur de l'Electronique et du Numérique » (Electronics and Digital Technologies Superior Institute). They brought their expertise in digital technologies and provided a sociology research teacher who studied the teachers' methods in that subject . In the field of tourism , the « Lanzarote Society for external promotion »was associated in order to allow the participants to have access to tourist tools and then promote the guide. The group of pupils involved in each secondary school remained the same during the 2 years of the project.These pupils became conscious of the interest of mastering foreign languages and of the usefulness of the numerical devices for a use other than leisure. They went on school trips in order to discover their own territory and make other people discover it .All along the project, activities were organised in class and outside, allowing the pupils to combine the use of foreign languages and numerical devices.The study realized by the sociologist puts forward these different aspects. A Var and Lanzarote trilingual digital tourist guide made by the pupils and intended for young people was produced. The aim on the long term is to promote an optimal use of digital technologies in teaching and to make young people aware of the opportunities offered by these digital technologies apart from the usual use they make of them, and of the interest of mastering languages.

"The ""Kids’ Universal exhibition 2021"" is an ambitious project, involving different European partners; schools from France, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. The main goal of our project is to launch the first universal exhibition conceived by pupils on a topic fundamental for the future of society.Throughout the project we will study the relationship between technology and nature and consider how to create a positive relationship between the two. We will also try to answer the question: “How could technology be on the side of nature?""Non-profit organisations, administrations and companies are also going to be involved in this project, as it deals with a universally important topic that concerns each and every aspect of society. We have decided to work on that project because, in our modern world, we are at the intersection of two phenomena: the destruction of nature and the growth of technology. Many of our digital inventions serve to estrange us from nature and the world they were created to enrich. In this context, the key challenge is to create a positive relationship between nature and technology.Indeed, technology is changing our relationship with nature. This is why, through our project, we want to show that there is now, and will be in the future, a great reliance on technology to have a positive effect on nature, and to help solve environmental problems around the world. The challenge for the future is to deploy technologies in the right way. We must stop seeing technology and nature as enemies, and instead start thinking that technology is “a force of nature”, as the technologist Kevin Kelly believes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KWCiO4NTNo). It is important that we now put this into action, which is why we’ve decided to launch the ""Kids’ Universal exhibition 2021"" centering around this topic. Education has a big role to play in making young generations aware of the issues they will face tomorrow. Indeed, our pupils are more than concerned about it, because they grow up in this changing world and it is important to inspire them to act for this global changing world. It is our duty to make them think about solutions for their future, and to give them the tools and opportunities needed to understand and learn about the world they live in.This topic is one of international importance, hence it is fundamental to work with partners from different countries. Moreover, it is very important for us to help pupils improve their critical thinking and communication skills, and also develop pathways to success in terms of their civic and moral values, linking this with tools and concerns of our modern world.Finally, it is a priority to work and think globally and to initiate different partnerships for our pupils’ success and futures. Pupils from different backgrounds and different countries can only meet up thanks to projects and programs such as this. As a matter of fact, all our partners have their own specificity and richness which will make this project even more coherent.It is also important to open the school to the outside world and to work with partners such as companies and associations in order to share knowledge and put education at the centre of our modern society.To conclude, we and our partners live in areas where the development of technology goes hand in hand with the sustainable development of our regions. In the era of eco-cities, our regions need to educate and engage future staff in this kind of creative scientific reflection. Associations and companies such as EIFFAGE have understood the stakes and the importance of such project, therefore it is very important to work and collaborate with them to put education at the centre of our society."