Erasmus+ project Granville – Asikkala

”Future Europe: French and Finnish Youth Mobilize for a cause”

project co-ordinator school: Lycée Julliot de la Morandière, Granville, partner school: Vääksyn Yhteiskoulu, Asikkala

Lycée Julliot de la Morandière from Granville, France, and Vääksyn Yhteiskoulu from Asikkala, Finland, started an Erasmus+ project in autumn 2020. Our project is called ”Future Europe: French and Finnish Youth Mobilize for a cause”. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of the environmental issues among the young. It is possible to make a difference by considering your own choices and actions in your everyday life. In addition to the environmental questions, we have also been zooming into good nutrition, highlighting the environmental perspective. Furthermore, we have been studying nature as a source of well-being. Both Granville and Asikkala are characterized by the presence of water in the surroundings; the sea in Granville and the lakes in Asikkala.

The first year we could start working only at a distance, using different platforms like Zoom and Teams. We also used Twinspace to get to know one another and to share the assignments the students were assigned. Finally, in May 2022, twenty-seven French students and their four teachers arrived in Vääksy to spend there almost a week. We had a very active week together, working and learning together. We mostly worked during school days but one of the exciting workshops was organized in the evening: we cooked together and learnt about Finnish food innovations, some of which are used to replace meat. The highlights of the week were, however, the visit to Helsinki and one evening at a summer cottage by the lake, where we barbecued, enjoyed swimming in the lake and bathing in the sauna.

The project will continue by the Finns’ visit to Granville in October. We are already eagerly looking forward to meeting again. We will most certainly learn a lot about Granville and the local culture and environment.

Riikka Penttilä
Vääksyn Yhteiskoulu
Asikkala, Finland