ROOTS. Learn where you live

Inroduction
The following four partner organizations worked together from
June 2021 to December 2023 in the Erasmus+ programme of the
European Union:
- Museumsverein Klostertal (Wald am Arlberg, Austria, Lead)
- Imerisio Gymnasio Anoixis (Athens, Greece)
- KozgazdasagiPolitechnikum Alternativ Gimnazium (Budapest,
Hungary)
- Município de Vila do Porto (Vila do Porto, Azores, Portugal)
In view of the coronavirus crisis and the associated uncertainties
as well as an identity crisis that we identified, we wanted to
strengthen regional awareness of our own origins (the „roots“
referred to in the project title). Through international cooperation,
a European network was to be created and the discussion
of local phenomena was to be brought into exchange. We have
placed cultural heritage at the heart of the project, which ties in
with the theme of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.
In the project, young people from the participating institutions
and regions have become researchers who have explored the genesis
of their living environment (in German, the term „Heimat“
is commonly used for this). Both the tangible cultural heritage,
i.e. everything built and made, and the intangible cultural heritage,
i.e. the knowledge of the older generation, as well as the
treasure trove of traditions, legends and tales, have been made
the subject of the project. The exchange of schools with archives,
museums and libraries has played a particularly important role
in the project.
It was very important to start in the participating cities and regions
as a starting point for dealing with the local cultural heritage.
We wanted to jointly develop methods with which young people
could turn to the established structures of their living environment
in a targeted and results-oriented manner, in the approach
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