Europe and its values

The recent elections in Europe have  created a great debate online and also in my country many people fear the Union. Some are not aware of the importance of  Europe and think they are responsible for the problems in many countries.

Why  Europe?

Because together we can share values and because we have been able to live in peace for years. After the sad events that occured  during WWII and in the dark age of the Holocaust our fathers decided to build a continent in which democracy and peace were its main values.


We should never  forget this.  Today we travel and work in different countries and  Europe is promoting education and well-being among its citizens. The Union cares for the old, the young, the unemployed, the disabled and since 1945  Europe has been a continent without wars, apart from what happened in  Bosnia in the  1990s.

Today I came across this post which mentions the ideas expressed by an important Italian  thinker and professor, Umberto Eco: today's Europe has its roots in the past.

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“Cari ragazzi, ringraziate di essere europei. Voi per fortuna non sapete che cosa sia una guerra. Per la prima volta in millecinquecento anni di storia, dal 1945 a oggi abbiamo avuto quasi settant'anni ininterrotti di pace (se si esclude un conflitto nei Balcani, atroce ma localizzato e abbastanza breve). Voi siete i figli di settant'anni di pace. Forse la pace vi annoia, ma se non ci fossero stati questi settant'anni voi forse non sareste nati, o sareste morti a sette anni giocando tra le macerie e inciampando in una bomba inesplosa. E invece molti di voi possono non solo vivere in pace a casa loro, ma tentare l'avventura del programma Erasmus e sperimentare come si vive e si studia in altri Paesi. Perché godete di questa fortuna? Perché delle persone illuminate che si chiamavano Altiero Spinelli, Alcide De Gasperi, Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schumann e altri, fondatori dell'Europa unita, hanno capito che non solo per necessità politiche ed economiche ma anche per profonde ragioni di unità culturale si doveva riconoscere il nostro continente come una patria comune. Ringraziate Iddio o la sorte, come preferite, di essere nati europei e non fidatevi dei falsi profeti che vorrebbero farci tornare indietro di settant'anni.” Umberto Eco, Quirinale, 29 novembre 2014 [Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP]

Un post condiviso da Linkiesta.it (@linkiesta.it) in data: 26 Mag 2019 alle ore 5:43 PDT

We should never forget that today our children and people living in Europe are working and studying in a place where the best minds and ideas can work together. There is a mix of languages and cultures and we are developing in order to offer the best to our citizens.

Ersmus Plus, Comenius and  Leonardo are some interesting project that are or were aimed at educators and learners . They promote European  values and schools and educators have learnt to work together while sharing ideas and learning about other  cultures.
The European Union promotes Language Learning and Teaching and as an educator I have already done many Moocs which are supported by the Union. I have met other educators online and we have shared ideas and learnt together.






Many young people  have  studied in Europe and  have acquired new skills  thanks to the European projects.

My students have done some training in Europe: some have been to Belgium while others  did some training in Finland and also in  Spain. They have met new cultures and have learnt about the Union.

Without these projects which promote mobility among learners, university students and also workers we would not be open to new worlds and cultures  and this is one the main reasons why  we  do need Europe.



 

 Less Europe means we become a sort of an island , like the Uk , this implies not living in a community  and rejecting the values which are  the foundations of the European culture.

At school we do work on projects and we do learn together. Thanks to Etwinning we can say that our students are  an online learning community.

Verso il voto, il messaggio degli studenti del Salvemini di Casalecchio: 'Un'Europa senza confini' https://t.co/bQRrD4Vmvr di @repubblica

— Tiziana Angiolini (@Virginiawoolf64) 20 maggio 2019

Every year we  celebrate  Europe, the date is important: it is 9th May.

We need to continue  living in Europe and to enrich our life and culture.  We need Europe and Europe needs us.

#ErasmusPlus brought us together
We shared moments of laughter, joy & difficulty
Enriching lives, opening minds
We became ourselves; we became European.
Happy Europe Day 🇪🇺💙 pic.twitter.com/h9M46U5bcJ

— Erasmus+ (@EUErasmusPlus) 9 maggio 2019