Sustainable production: European schools show how it’s done
The four partner schools were already working together for the second time in a School Exchange partnership. “Both the cooperation of and feedback from our pupils were so positive that we decided to carry out another project together,” explains the Swiss project manager, Konstanze Rauber, of the Musegg high school. Experience clearly showed that such a project cannot be carried out without the support of school heads, teaching staff, parents and pupils. As soon as the funding from Erasmus+ was secured, the project was promoted diligently at the school. The participating pupils were selected for the project by means of application procedures.
Selling the specially developed product established the project more strongly within the school. At that time, the project group and the teachers supporting them, who had, until then, largely borne the burden alone in terms of the effort required for the project, had to rely on additional support. Setting up a distribution structure within the school and establishing it on a lasting basis represented a challenge. Thanks to the high profile of the project and to the positive response, they were able to count on the support of the students’ representatives. The latter even agreed to continue selling after the end of the project too.
The parents could also be relied upon when it came to providing accommodation for the foreign partner pupils in Lucerne. They looked forward to welcoming their European guests, who were bringing the cultural exchange into the heart of the families of the high school students.
In the end, due to the regular internal communication at the Musegg high school and the inclusion of the different target groups in the project, it proved possible to achieve wide support for the project and to firmly establish it at the school.