S(t)imulating European Identity (EUSId) has been a project about bringing European teenagers together in order to foster the European identity and consciousness based on plurality, tolerance and collaboration, as well as strengthening the European civil society by further developing democratic processes on a national and an international level.

Our objectives have been the following:

• to provide specialised training in the Institutions and Bodies of the European Union and contribute to the better understanding of EU’s structure, policies and procedures
• to stimulate the interest of young Europeans on matters related to the EU
• to act as a forum of productive dialogue about the future of EU
• to promote the dissemination of knowledge and provide hands-on experience on EU institutions
• to empower pupils through providing life and work skills
• to introduce pupils to the world of diplomacy, negotiation and decision making
• to develop media literacy and critical thinking
• to adopt a holistic approach to language teaching
• to support teachers in adopting collaborative and innovative practice
• to support schools in tackling early school leaving (ESL) and disadvantage and offering quality education, securing success for all pupils.

Five schools with

• good organisation, digital competence and expertise in extracurricular activities, innovative pedagogical approaches and best practice, European project management, national and international project running, competitions, team work
• interested in taking on responsibilities and positive action on educational matters
• creativity and active involvement in school life and
• seeking to reinforce the European dimension of education and the intercultural awareness among pupils

agreed to collaborate on the EUSId project because they strongly believe that it would benefit all the involved partners and produce results that could not be achieved by a single partner working individually.

Project activities have focused on simulation procedures of European Union's main institutions, as well as studying and learning about various important matters that concern all of us. Having taken that into consideration, the participants have been involved in five Learning, Training, Teaching Activities (LTTAs) as scheduled. Namely,

• the topic of the simulation of the European Council in Latvia (April 2018) was Nuclear Energy
• that of the Council of Europe in Finland (October 2018) was GM foods
• that of the European Commission in Portugal (April 2019) was Blue Growth
• that of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Romania (October 2019) was Brexit
• that of the European Parliament in Greece (February 2020) was Cultural Heritage

For the needs of each LTTA the partners:

• designed and implemented learning scenarios about its topic and subtopics
• carried out research into the European institution in question and presented the outcomes
• provided a guide concerning the rules and the procedure of the specific simulation
• kept a learning E-diary
• created a video
• assessed the LTTA with the help of Google Form Questionnaires
• published all the material by giving the link to the repository (a shared Google Drive folder)
• disseminated with many different ways the outcomes, in order to increase the project's impact

The project has involved young people in the study and discussion of European Union's issues and encouraged the development of useful skills such as the linguistic ones, critical thinking, debating, carrying out research, public speaking, problem-solving, conflict resolution, compromise and cooperation. The impact and the long term benefits of the EUSId project are:

• the improvement of the quality of the education provided, which combines higher levels of excellence and attractiveness with increased opportunities for all, including those at a distinct disadvantage
• the promotion of an encouraging, positive and supportive school environment to reduce the risk of ESL
• the provision of education that is fully aligned with the needs of pupils and the opportunities offered at the labour market and closely linked to the community
• a better provision of basic and transversal skills, particularly the social, civic, intercultural and language competence, critical thinking, digital skills and media literacy
• the enhancement of the ICT-supported learning access to high quality OER with the help of a more strategic and integrated use of ICTs and open educational resources (OER) in education
• an increase in motivation for language learning through innovative teaching methods and more opportunities for practical use of language skills
• the creation of more teamwork and peer learning opportunities by making them more target-oriented, and, finally
• the fostering of teachers' professional development by raising the level of their competence