Cooperation Across Borders (Plato)
Chief coordinator:
Klaus Wegmann, Landshut
Project coordination:
Jane Krüger, European School Munich (ESM)
Project management:
Tom Høyem, Director European School Karlsruhe (ESK)
Mr Goth, Director of Odsherreds High School in Denmark
“Cooperation Across Borders” (Plato project) is an international, interdisciplinary partnership project of the European School Munich. Since 1996, eight schools have been working in cooperation with each other and have been organising large scale events every year. The participating schools are: the Odsherreds High School in Asnaes (Denmark), the Hans-Leinberger-Gymnasium in Landshut (Germany), the Lieceul de Arta, the Liceul Octavian Goga and the Collegium National Georghe Lazar (all three in Sibiu, Romania), the European School Karlsruhe, the Institute Sacré-Cœur, the diocese in Pressbaum close to Vienna (Austria) and the European School Munich.
The project is led and planned by an annual meeting of the directors or the coordinators. This meeting takes place simultaneously with the annual symposium of pupils from the partner schools. Cooperation Across Borders mainly comprises mutual pupils’ exchange, common school projects, a common website and the development of didactical and methodical material for school lessons. In addition, teachers’ exchanges through common workshops on pedagogical methodology are an important part of the project. Exchanges between administrative staff are also part of the programme.
In school year 2003/4, the Institute Sacré-Cœur carried out a symposium on the topic of “Europe is Dancing”. Eight pupils from all participating schools spent one nice intercultural week together, learning different dance styles ranging from Viennese waltz to Romanian folk dance to rock’n’roll. In November 2004, the project “Art in Europe” took place in the Odsherreds High School in Denmark. A symposium on theme “Tourism: Designing a Marketing Concept“ was held in Sibiu, Romania, in November 2005. Due to organisational reasons, the ESM was not able to attend.
Under the slogan “Friends Across Borders”, the ESM organised a sport’s symposium called “Sport-München 2006”, which took place in November 2006. This symposium was organised and carried out by a group of committed parents and teachers. The event consisted of a large variety of sport’s activities, which also included the “Friends Across Borders” magazine (available as download; see below). Many pupils and teachers took part in the project.
The pupils competed, in mixed teams, in Volleyball and Badminton matches and ran a relay race against each other. There were also many other exciting activities, i.e. a visit to the “Allianz-Arena”, swimming in the Olympic swimming pool, an orienteering race around Munich and a visit to the Bavaria Film Studios. The participants also watched a training session of the Bayern-München football club. The celebration and prize-giving ceremony marked the highlight of the week.
“Circus Europe” was the theme of the symposium in November 2007 in Landshut (Germany). As agreed beforehand, the pupils of each participating school chose to perform one of the spectacular acts, which they had been rehearsing over many weeks. Eight ESM pupils, who were supervised by the mime and theatre expert Mr Jean-Marie Bottequin and supported by the teachers Mrs Filtri and Mrs De Stefano, had rehearsed clownery for the big performance in Landshut. The pupils of the other schools chose to perform as horses, magicians or do the music. Teachers from the participating schools offered workshops on site. In four morning sessions, pupils were able to study or deepen already existing skills in acrobatics, juggling, magical tricks and pantomime in mixed school groups. The skills acquired in the workshops became part of the entertainment programme of the final circus performance at the end of the project.
Under the slogan “Together For Nature” the Plato Project (“Cooperation Across Borders”) took place in the week of the 20th to 25th September 2009 in Sibiu, Romania. Eight pupils from each school, including the European Schools of Munich and Karlsruhe, Hans Leinberger High School Landshut, Institut Sacre Cœur Pressbaum, Austria, Colegiul national Octavian Goga, Colegiul National Gheorghe Lazar, Liceul de Arta, Romania and the Danish school Odsherreds participated in the event. In order to raise the pupils’ awareness about current environmental issues, each group had already completed a field study or project in advance. The students of the European School Munich studied the topic of air pollution and examined how it can be measured by Lichens.
In school year 2010/11 the project meeting was held in Sacré-Cœur (Pressbaum near Vienna) from 11th – 16th October 2010. Eight ESM students, accompanied by Ms Scheiber, contributed their share in the recurring symposium’s theme “Europe is Dancing” by performing two Bavarian folk dances. In this way, they raised awareness about and increased the popularity of these local dance styles. The students rehearsed a variety of modern and traditional dance genres in the various workshops. The various genres included "Danish Quadrille", "Line Dance", "Jazz Dance", "Street Dance", "Salsa" and "Bachata". The newly acquired dance skills were then presented in the festive atmosphere at the big prom on the last night. Despite the busy days spent at the workshops, there was still time for sightseeing, the agenda of which allowed for a visit to the Benedictine abbey “Melk Stift”, which is a cultural centre and part of the UNESCO world heritage, an airy boat trip on the Danube river and a tour of Vienna including a visit to Schönbrunn Castle, an impressive cultural monument.
New places offer new learning opportunities. The combination of dance, physical exercise and cultural experience enabled the students to develop new skills and to strengthen their sense of community beyond national borders.
The project meeting in the 2011/12 school year with the motto “Art in Europe” was held from 14 th to 18 th November in the Odsherred school in Denmark. On the morning of the 13 th November, the Romanian groups were welcomed with a breakfast at the ESM during their stopover in Munich. This was followed by a short city tour of Munich in which Ms Scheiber showed the Romanian guests the Marienplatz and the City Hall. The short tour through Munich was rounded off with a visit to the “Pinakothek der Moderne”, guided by Mrs Krüger.
After a long bus ride by night, the seven pupils of the ESM, accompanied by the art teacher, Mrs Krüger, together with the other participants, finally reached their destination on Monday morning: Asnæs in Denmark. During the project week, Danish host families accommodated the pupils who spent each day in various workshops engaged in a variety of creative and artistic activities - such as photo editing, film, graffiti, abstract paintings, colourful sculptures, anti-fairy tale pictures and making masks. The pupils displayed great commitment and had lots of fun participating in the shared artistic process. The finished works were then put on display in the festive atmosphere of the grand finale at the last day’s exhibition. The project’s former coordinator for the ESM, Mrs Mertz, who was also attending the event, was clearly pleased with the success of the project.
Despite the busy days spent at the workshops, there was still time for a walk along the local beach and a visit to Copenhagen where, among other things, the pupils visited H.C. Andersen’s little mermaid and admired the the Queen of Denmark’s castle. Art projects such as this one which reach across national frontiers make an important contribution to the development of creativity and intercultural cooperation. The combination of creative activity and cultural cooperation promotes the emergence of a common European cultural ground and provides places of encounter and dialogue.
Since the founding of PLATO – “Cooperation across Borders” – the project has proved to be a great success. The enthusiasm of the participating pupils is always so boundless at the end of each project week that everyone is inclined to imagine how nice it would be if the “cooperation” not only ensued across national borders, but would also stretch in time and last longer! The Plato project has facilitated the development of lasting friendships across borders for the past 15 years. Thus, every symposium significantly contributes to a peaceful understanding between European nations.
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