ENHANCING EUROPEAN COOPERATION ON THE BASIS OF THE OLYMPIC IDEA Context/background: The Olympic idea helps to motivate young Europeans to be open-minded in every respect. There is a focus on sport and health especially in Scotland as a result of the 2012 Olympics in London followed by Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Our school in Aschaffenburg focuses on diversity, multicultural understanding and physical education. Being twin towns Aschaffenburg and Perth strive to broaden their cooperation in education and in the context of school in order to get young Europeans and disabled children involved. Objectives: 1.) To raise interests for foreign countries in general 2.) An increased understanding and respect for other cultures by means of experiencing togetherness in sports activities 3.) To achieve a lifelong commitment to sport and therefore be healthy, active and responsible European citizens 4.) To promote open-mindedness and empathy between children from different backgrounds 5.) Inclusion of special needs students from a local special needs school and sports club Number and profile of participants: -participants from the Friedrich-Dessauer-Gymnasium in Aschaffenburg: 15 students from different backgrounds aged 14-16 and 3 teachers -participants from Perth Grammar in Perth: 15 students from different backgrounds aged 14-16 and 3 teachers Description of activities: - Mobilities: 4 short- term exchanges of groups of pupils in Scotland and Germany (C1-C4) Activities during the exchanges: - Participation in sportive events such as Football (Soccer), Basketball, Handball, Mountainbiking, Hockey, Climbing - A visit of the Olympic Centre in Frankfurt - Mini-Olympics and Mini-Paralympics in cooperation with a special needs school - Experiencing a number of high-level coaching and training opportunities - Participation in daily school life of the partner school - Short-term joint staff training events during the mobilities Preparation and organisation of the meetings in advance through modern media: - time before the exchanges will be used for activities at both schools that help to get to know the partner school i.e. a school video will be made, students will be in touch by means of e-mails or/and the e-twinning platform - after the project meetings: results will be summarized in a coloured booklet and/or on DVD that contains information about the whole project from beginning to end and will also be published on the schools' websites to be available for downloading Methodology used in carrying out the project: - Close and constant cooperation between the partners during preparation, organisation and implementation of the events Results and impact envisaged: - improved understanding of other cultures and of children from different backgrounds; open-mindedness and commitment to sport; bonding between Aschaffenburg and Perth in terms of education and school - connecting school values to the values of the Olympic and Paralympic idea - coloured booklet and/or DVD showing all the information about the activities and results - school exhibition - special link on the schools' homepages - articles in the local newspaper Long term benefits: - Improved understanding of foreign cultures, sports and students with special needs - Open-mindedness of students and their support of the European and of the Olympic /Paralympic idea - Leading a healthier lifestyle - Serving as a role model activity for European cooperation programmes to come