Between 6th and 8th March 2019 the EdUcade project partners gathered in Madrid, Spain for the closing project event. According to the scheduled activities, a big International Conference was celebrated on Thursday, 7th March, commemorating the 2000 decade, and especially the 15 years of the biggest EU enlargement into Central and Eastern Europe in 2004.
Representatives of the EdUcade partners from Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Serbia assisted to the conference, accompanied by secondary school students from the Salesianos Estrecho School – Madrid and local CSOs and stakeholders.
The event was opened by the representative of the European Citizenship Point in Spain at the Ministry of Culture and Sport, Mr. Augusto Paramio, the Director of the Salesianos Estrecho school, Mr. Óscar Vázquez and the Director of Altius Francisco de Vitoria Foundation, Mr. Pablo Aledo, as a project coordinator.
Short presentation of the EdUcade project, its main objectives, target groups and activities followed, enriched with video presentations of the project events celebrated in the partner countries:
- Bulgaria: The 1917 social and political revolutions and the fall of empires
- Serbia: Beginning of WWII 1938/1939
- Poland: 1968 Protest and civil rights movements
- Greece: 1957 The Treaty of Rome and the beginning of European Economic Community
- Germany: 1989 Democratic revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin wall
Students from the Salesianos Estrecho School made an introduction and artistic debates on the challenges for the EU countries since the 2004 enlargement.
All together – project partners and students from the Salesianos Estrecho School shared their opinions and feelings on how the EU transformed their countries – Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Spain. Some elderly participants in the Conference had the word on this topic, as eyewitnesses of the historical moments of acquisition and changes lived in their countries.
Then the main contributions to the European Union, according to the year of accession of the country were presented by the secondary school students and discussed among all conference participants.
Germany – 1957
Greece – 1981
Spain – 1986
Poland – 2004
Bulgaria – 2007
The programme was complemented with artistic performances from participating countries. Everyone was invited to the stage to learn together typical folk dances from the partner countries and get to know each others cultures better. The Conference was closed with the Spanish performance of famous songs and dances, prepared by the students from the Salesianos Estrecho school.
A tourist visit to Madrid followed in the afternoon. All participants were provided with free tickets for the City Tour Madrid Bus to learn more about the Spanish capital and enjoy their stay in Madrid.
The event finished with a colourful night party, especially organised for the international participants and the host partner.
This was the closing project event, but all partners’ reflections, collected materials and results from the 18 months work of the international teams could be consulted at the EdUcade website and Facebook page:
www.europeandecades.eu
www.facebook.com/EdUcade-project-1936719693314748/
Some of the materials from the meeting.
