"What is it today's youth need of skills, knowledge and mindset to master a Europe of tomorrow? This project aims to deal with this question and thus give our students a framework for success; to prepare them for a competent life in a fast-changing Europe. Focusing on key competences within S-K-M (Skills - Knowledge-Mindset) will bring out the voices of both our students, but also the voices representing innovation, culture, businesses and education.As partner schools, we have thoughts about what the content of S-K-M should be, but are they aligned with the students' thoughts? One of the strongest motivational factors in learning is ""relevance"". Making this project relevant for the students and their future is important. Through socio-educational development and personal development the project intends to make the students employable in their future. To interact and collaborate with, peers has shown to be highly effective, and leaves a lasting impact. Our students will be working with the theme of the project through different sub-titles, and they will be doing this both at their own schools, through e-Twinning and meetings at the different participating schools. The activities, the meetings, will all be dealing with the overall heading for the project, but in the light of relevant national/regional challenges. Organizing the project in this way, giving the students the opportunity to travel will give them knowledge, insight and an awareness of everyday life for their generation in different parts of Europe. The partners in this projects represents different school sizes, different corners of Europe (Norway, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Spain) some are urban and some are rural; but they all have in common that they are smaller areas (population) within their region/country. Being a smaller area might influence how one think abouts the future. It may also influence what opportunities a young European has, or believes s-/he has. Creating an arena for students from different countries to meet and learn from each other gives not only a broadened perspective on Europe, but may also provide new insight to ones own home town.The diversity of Europe and the opportunities given through meeting different cultures are at the core of this project. A project aiming to show the idea of unity through diversity, and thus give students from across Europe a common understanding of what is expected from them in their future. Each meeting will provide opportunities to learn from each other, and it will encourage cooperation and entrepreneurial thinking - in its widest form. The activities in the project are developed to strengthen the students' awareness of possibilities and opportunities. The underlying common thought, throughout all the activities is to help our students becoming competent and contributing citizens of Europe of tomorrow. It is a defined goal that the project will give the partner schools an overview of possible ways of focusing on, and teaching in the field of ""how to prepare for the future?"". Each meeting will at its completion provide a rough-guide to S-K-M within the specific theme focused on. Based on the reflections and findings made by the students,we will hopefully be able to draw some conclusions on what the students themselves consider to important and expected from them in their future."

Small Towns in Europe: Sharing Innovative Practices was a project which took its origin from the previous partnerships of 9 European schools mostly located in small towns in the northern, central and southern parts of Europe.Profile:Gymnasium Schaerding (AUSTRIA)provides a specifically comprehensive education in the field of computing science. Foreign languages are taught troughout the different curricula. RSG Broklede (THE NETHERLANDS)provides areas of specific expertises with digital competence, bilingual education and a focus on cultural activities.Botikazar BHi (SPAIN) offers training for future citizens, cooperates with more than 20 different high schools across Europe and has taken part in the European program since the beginning.Elisabeth Langgässer Gymnasium (GERMANY) is multilingual and offers education for independent and responsibel citizens, preparing the students for the requirements of multimedia world and conflict management.Hoyanger Upper Secondaryy School (NORWAY) offers both general academic and vocational studies.Gymnasieskolan Knuth Hahn (SWEDEN) offers a wide socio-economic range to a great number of immigrants from different countries.Frederiksborg Gymnasium (DENMARK)has a strong international profile and has had several exchanges with Europe and India.Rolando da Piazzola (ITALY) offers the students class exchanges, international project work and language studies abroad.Liceum Ogolnoksztalcaceim Jana Pawla II (POLAND) deals with students whose parents live or work in other EU-countries and prepares them for EU conform living.By doing project work together, we found out that entrepreneurship in schools is little encouraged in the traditional curricula. Besides, We felt a need to consolidate a strong and permanent link between school and the world of work in order to transfer innovative competences that may increase students‘ confidence on their educational and training success and reduce, therefore, the risk of school failure.Being carried out transnationally, the project provided wide and exhaustive information and planning on future studies and careers outside the metropolitan regions and established links between schools and the work sector. Students and teachers were able to observe educational and working systems in north, central and south Europe. As a result, they were able to achieve a better understanding of new industrial, business innovation, social entrepreneurship, educational opportunities as well as classroom culture in their own and other countries.All school staffs will receive benefits from the project. In terms of teaching, entrepreneurship and exchanges of innovative best practices are needed for staff involved in education to improve their professional competences and enhance the quality of their teaching in a new designed innovative school system.Throughout the 3-year project, more than 200 students and 80 teachers were actively involved in the training sessions organised by the 9 partners. But the impact will be higher and we reckon to have involved more than 2500 students aged 16 -18 attending the final years of the upper secondary school in the project work. They took part in the preparatory meetings, they contacted sustainable and innovate companies in their territories and participated in the workshops and conferences organised during the training sessions. They visited fairs and events where they got in touch with the job market and its innovative practices. The training sessions organised in each of the 9 partner schools dealt with different topics which are gradual steps to bring current issues into the school and enhance the quality of our educational systems. The topics were : Attracting business, The Media, Ghettoes, Local Tourism, Active Citizenship, Volunteering, Sustainability, Working in Europe and, finally, Why do I go to school? All planned training activities included visits to local companies that make use of sustainable and innovative practices; school workshops and conferences where the different educational systems were presented; group work where students and teachers reflected on the received training and prepared reporting materials (videos, interviews, questionnaires) to be used in the final products and for dissemination.A final publication (printed and digital) was produced containing reports on all activities, presentations of the visited companies and a deep insight into the different educational systems.