Three secondary schools across Europe, Nurmeksen lukio in Nurmes, Finland, Crickhowel High School in Crickhowell, Powys, Wales in the UK and BG/BRG Klosterneuburg in Klosterneuburg, Austria formed a partnership to equip their students with both roots and wings to survive in the modern world. Altogether, 87 students (aged 16 - 19) and 9 teachers will be working on this project for two years. They will collaborate both online and in real life in three student meetings and two teachers' meetings.

The project ‘Roots and wings – survival skills in the digital world’ has three main aims. Firstly, we aim to enable our students to better understand their identity and appreciate their background and cultural heritage. Secondly, we want to equip them with skills needed in the modern world. We wish to encourage students to be responsible, show initiative and take charge of their lives. This will be done by adopting a learner-centred approach and applying principles of phenomenon-based learning and team learning. We will work on three phenomena: 1) digital literacy, 2) identity, health and wellbeing and 3) higher education. By using various digital tools and collaborating online, we will learn how to behave responsibly and effectively in the digital world. And thirdly, we as teachers will also be learners in this project and learn from each other and students as we try out new pedagogical methods and tools.

To understand one’s own background, it is useful to be able to compare and contrast it to others’ and that is why we formed this transnational network of partners. By comparing and contrasting cultures, we will also find what unites us as Europeans. In this age of economic uncertainty and increased migration it is vital to discuss why the European Union is important even to people in its border regions and in its very centre. A transnational cooperation will also highlight the importance of learning foreign languages and show that learning languages is about much more than learning vocabulary and grammar.