To celebrate Belgium receiving the presidency of the Council of the European Union in January 2024, Mechelen is hosting a major cultural and social event, ‘Construct Europe 2024’. Through the eTwinning project, four eTwinning ambassadors from Mechelen will closely collaborate with the city council to integrate education and eTwinning into the festival.

The eTwinning project aims to bring Europe into schools in the Mechelen region and facilitate collaboration with teachers and students from other European countries throughout the 2023–2024 school year. To launch the project, these eTwinners have organised a variety of activities in the city, including a partner-finding webinar, information sessions and ‘Europe teacher days’. They have also collaborated with educational partners to raise awareness about Europe and connect education and the city festival.

Like the festival, the eTwinning project consists of four construction sites: imagination, dialogue, celebration and future. An activity was created for each site. Through activities like ‘Signs of Europe’ and ‘EU Listens with Pros and Cons’, students from partner classes across Europe have been encouraged to look for signs of the EU in their communities, reflect on its influence on their lives and actively engage with EU topics by sharing their opinions.

The eTwinning ambassadors invite teachers to join the ‘Construct Europe’ project and become ‘Europe teachers’. This unique opportunity will enable educators to learn more about Europe and to discover and introduce eTwinning into their teaching practice.

If you would like to embark on an educational journey through Europe together, you can check out the project website or TwinSpace. You can also read the story of the project on the eTwinning Flanders’ website.