The issue of social inclusion as a major target – especially the different education acts of the different countries and the individual school policies make it one of their primary goals to face and challenge discrimination based on ethnic diversity. Here, our schools had and have a key function and a diverse school, a school without discrimination, a school, which supports the personality development, a liberal minded school, a tolerant and democratic school was the overall objective.At each school many different actions have already accepted the challenge and we all engage in different projects that spread the message that all people are equal – regardless of ethnicity, ability, skin color, socio-economic background, appearance, educational level, language spoken etc. With our project we supported understanding and acceptance, we created positive experience and with this project we made step forward and worked on the issue on a higher level. 6 schools from 6 different European countries – Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Italy and Portugal – wanted to make a change by addressing different topics in the field of interest. We wanted to show that egoism and nationalism are not a solution – we can only benefit from a diverse society.To reach our goals in the years of the project we had 5 different meetings with students and teachers, which included different activities. The first meeting in Germany concentrated on self-awareness and the question how we see and define ourselves. It was interesting to see that the ethnic background was not the major issue when defining your identity and we defined the term identity for us. Of course, the first meeting was also used to introduce each other and our schools and we presented how diverse our schools are on a map.The second meeting took place in Portugal and centered around the image of the other and how we see and perceive others. E.g. prejudices, stereotypes, traditions and religion were looked at with an artistic approach. The schools also introduced their countries and we wanted to find out what distinguishes us from the other. After getting to know the others and us it was time to change perspectives and to walk in someone else’s shoes to enhance understanding, acceptance and tolerance at the third meeting in Spain. We focused on the question “What does it take to feel at home?” by interviewing immigrants and refugees and by simulating the different stages from being a migrant to being a citizen. A creative approach came in handy as well. Consequently, it was now time to question how we can benefit from a diverse society and what our schools can do to welcome diversity. At the meeting in Denmark we set joint goals for everyone to be put into practice until the next meeting. Also, we created a board game in Denmark (“Trivial Pursuit Europe”) to be used at school.The last meeting in the Netherlands focused on global and personal goals with regards to migrant issues in the future. Students and politicians were addressed and questioned.During the project, different methods and approaches were applied to reach our individual goals and to create many different products, which are distributed to be used in classes, other schools and communities (e.g. slideshows, booklets, posters, shirts, presentations, calendar, recipe book, book, videos, comics, simulated game, board game). A project homepage and a Facebook page still documents our project and its progress (www.welcomingdiversityatschool.weebly.com).The impact was and will be positive in many ways and our encouragement will motivate them further.For students as well as for teachers the project established a consolidation of the foreign language and the intercultural competence. The contact with students from other countries was also interesting for the parents of the native students. They learned about the customs of the European countries. We implemented our achievements, results and the learnt input in our schools’ curricula. In the end we hope that we could make a lasting impact on the European Union and that we made a change to ensure that our students are prepared for Europa after their school life.

The poles are melting, the oceans are packed with plastic, natural disasters increase, the amazon rainforest deforestation causes the release of carbon dioxide, rhinoceros, tiger and gorilla are about to become extinct – the list continues… Economy prevails, ecology suffers. The conflict between ecological and economical needs and the problems that come along seem to be far away from us as an individual, far away from where we live, far away from our country and far away from Europe, but: The conflict is real and right at our doorstep: e.g. Bialowieza forest and National Park – the last primeval forest and world heritage – is endangered by wood industry; monoculture farming (e.g. corn to produce biogas) drive away animal and faunal species; economic important factors like tourism and traffic pollute especially urban areas.Does that mean we have to neglect economy? Of course not. Since we rely on both, also the Europe 2020 Strategy shows that economy and ecology are major priorities: The reduction of greenhouse emission, the increase of renewable energy are exemplary goals here and at the same time “the development of a strong and sustainable industrial base” is demanded. So, where do we set the standards and where do we compromise to find a balance? This is what our project wants to focus on. All 6 participating schools from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Romania and Spain are affected by the topic and can relate to the issue from different perspectives. The participating schools are similar when it comes to students (age and social background) and educational goals and they are rather diverse when it comes to the location within Europe: Madrid and Copenhagen (near Ballerup) are capital cities, Iasi is the second biggest city in Romania whereas Hermannsburg, Hájnowka and Ede are set in a rather rural area.Together we want to educate our participants to become responsible and active European citizens. We want them to broaden their expertise in the respective field by following this structure at the different teaching and learning activities: C1. Knowledge: Understanding economy and ecology (Netherlands)C2. Awareness: The conflict between both is real and becomes obvious (Denmark)C3. Finding a balance: Ideas and solutions for the conflict (Spain)C4. Individual actions: What are possible individual contributions to creating and maintaining the balance and how can I put them into action? (Poland)C5. Spreading the word: Discussing hopes and visions with Politicians in a Conference (Germany)To achieve all this, a variety of methods will be used: cooperative learning strategies, presentations, exhibitions, team-activities, visits to stake holders in the area, interviews, debating, creative approaches (writing, drawing, photos), simulations and experiments and much more. Apart from a project homepage, newspaper articles, project videos etc. each activity will be perfected by results to be used at school/in class and distributed in the area and at European events:- poster with joint benefits of economy and ecology- interviews, questionnaires - a recipe-book including guidelines for economical and ecological shopping- art book entitled “Impressions of a future economically and ecologically balanced big city”- photo journal “My week contributing to a balance”- questionnaire: Am I Responsible and what am I willing to do?”- resolution including ideas- guideline team-building activities- and much moreStarting with C2, the teaching and learning activities will be accompanied by a long term activity/assignment in which every school will try to reduce the use of plastic at school as much as possible. The students will document and share their ideas, chances, actions and their success between the meetings and at the meetings. In the end, a guideline on how to reduce the use of plastic at school will be established and send to other schools.The topic will be an issue for everyone in the following years and by using the results at school during and after the project, the idea of the project will remain omnipresent and remind students and participants of its importance. With students being part of such a project it will motivate others to actively contribute to the idea of a society which considers the importance of ecology and economy at the same time. Besides improving the participants communication skills, presentations skills, and multimedia skills, we want to form responsible citizens with acceptance for each other; citizens who are willing to actively contribute to a balance between ecology and economy and the goals of the European Union. Working together is not only of major importance, it is necessary and justifies a project like this.