De D'Artagnan à Napoléon, Pas à pas l'Europe de Dumas

For several years, the Gers county Council has been developing European projects in collaboration with various countries: the Czech Republic, Scotland, Ireland, Spain.... The added value these projects can bring to young people, partners, and all stakeholders helps build genuine European citizenship. Awarded the "Good Practice" label and drawing on this experience, the Gers county Council applied for this project to address various needs: - the need for young people from rural areas to open themselves up to a European dimension, develop exchanges, and practice a foreign language; - the need to exchange new practices among teachers, discover new teaching methods, and better use digital tools; - the strengthening of public/private partnerships; - the need to unite pupils, teachers, local authorities, and associations around an ambitious shared project. The project successfully met these needs by creating a dynamic of openness, learning, and discovery.

Various objectives were pursued: - a general objective: to create a dynamic of international openness for young people and to exchange experiences and good practices between the voluntary and education sectors, and national and European institutions. - Specific objectives were as follows: - foster active citizenship among young people, - develop skills and share experiences, - develop the learning of literature through original artistic practices, - build learning and knowledge of the European Union and its institutions through innovative initiatives, - organise the dissemination of the project. Raising awareness of environmental issues and sustainable development, the "common thread" of the project, was pursued throughout these three years through key initiatives.

All the activities planned in the application were carried out, with the exception of the trip to Georgia. The project enabled the implementation of activities such as: International school exchanges: middle school students from the four countries participated in weeks of exchanges in France, the Czech Republic, and Italy. Cultural encounters and discoveries: these exchanges allowed students to discover the heritage and history of the different partner countries, following in the footsteps of Dumas's beloved characters. Educational collaboration: the project involved collaboration between the schools of the different countries. Exchanges of good practices through two seminars organised in France and in Italy. Written and artistic work by pupils to contribute to a travel diary, a book on great writers and two exhibitions. Visits in Brussels for the ambassadors to better understand the organisation of the European institution. Sports and cultural activities to strengthen group dynamics through original activities. Training to better understand digital tools and languages. Peer-to-peer awareness of sustainable development.

The students created a travel diary and a book on the great writers who built Europe through their beliefs. They also worked on creating two exhibitions: one on Dumas's caricatures and the other on his travels. Two seminars were held during these three years. One for teachers, on the integration of non-formal education into formal education, took place in Italy. The other, on the educational promotion of European cultural routes, was aimed at organisations that support certified routes and the partners. It took place in Villers-Cotterêts, in France. The student and project partners traveled to France, the Czech Republic, and Italy to follow in the footsteps of Alexandre Dumas and participate in introductions to various activities such as artistic fencing, stunts, theatre, and horseback riding, as well as painting, with the creation of a fresco about Dumas. Finally, the student ambassadors and representatives of each partner travelled to Brussels to meet a Member of the European Parliament, visit the Parliament and officially present the project results to the Parliament's library.