In 2022, eTwinning invites teachers and students to reimagine schools and reflect on the elements that make their learning environment beautiful, sustainable and inclusive.

The community participates this year in the global dialogue that intends to give voice to individual initiatives and local communities, as part of the “New European Bauhaus” initiative proposed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

The pandemic has posed many challenges, which have sometimes become stimulating opportunities. Many sectors – work, culture, sport, to name a few – have been forced to reinvent themselves and their ways of existing. Education, due to the closure of schools, was one of the sectors that suffered the most.

In this general framework, eTwinning intends to involve the teachers of the community in initiatives designed to make them reflect, together with their students, on schools in the “new normal”, on blended learning that will continue to play a leading role, on the vision of an “Ideal school” founded on the values of inclusion, beauty and sustainability.

Teachers and students are encouraged to find beauty in their learning environments and to elevate it to its maximum potential. Beautiful and inclusive schools are those designed to involve students of all cultures, from disadvantaged backgrounds, of different sexual orientations, gender identities or with disabilities. Sustainable schools are those that are functional and accessible, which embody eco-friendly practices and which create the conditions for raising awareness of the environment among citizens.

The annual theme will play a prominent role during the 2022 eTwinning Spring and eTwinning Weeks campaigns, in the annual eTwinning conference next October and in the vocational training offer.

Throughout the year, teachers will be asked to creatively reflect together with their students on an “ideal school” open to blended learning, sustainable development, well-being and inclusion. Students will have an active role and will be involved in various actions and activities, not only to co-design the physical environment of the school, but also to make it a space in which multiple values can be represented.

In relation to the proposal for a Council Recommendation on blended learning to support high-quality and inclusive primary and secondary education, the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel has declared:

The commitment to inclusive and better quality education and training is in no way limited to the context of Covid-19. We now have the opportunity to learn from the most recent experiences and move forward. Today’s proposal outlines a vision of education that we want to see in Europe. An education that supports the general objectives of the European education area and the action plan for digital education, to promote quality and inclusion, green and digital education throughout Europe

Find out more about the “New European Bauhaus” initiative >>