Geographical Association

Karl Donert (Liverpool Hope University College) offers advice on funding opportunities that are available from the European Commission and information on a range of resources for teaching about Europe, the EU and the EC. This Think Piece accompanies the one on 'Teaching about Europe'.

• The Lifelong Learning Programme
• European Union websites
• Non-governmental organisations and professional associations
• Articles and other materials on Europe
• Bibliography

The European Commission offers a variety of funding opportunities to support European collaboration activities for schools. The current programme of European education activities has just changed to cover the period 2007-2013 and will focus on lifelong learning.

The Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) supports the European dimension at all levels of education. It seeks to promote collaboration and change among education institutions through the mobility of education staff and students, the use of new technologies, language learning, new approaches in education practices and study periods, and to develop the sharing of ideas and information.

LLP offers a wide range of opportunities to schools and colleges including funding for European collaborative projects, bilateral links, courses, study visits, networks and resources to enable and enhance the European Dimension. Through Comenius and Arion, schools can access funding to help set up joint European projects, attend European in-service courses or study visits, and access a variety of resources to enhance the European Dimension in their school or college. Through Erasmus, teacher training institutions can set up intensive short courses, pilot projects, teaching visits and student exchanges.

Many of these projects require collaboration with partner institutions in other European countries. Partner finding facilities are available on the Europa and British Council websites. Undertaking international activities with students is extremely rewarding to all concerned. Exchanges and visits can be life-changing experiences, but they require much planning and preparation.

For schools, teachers, students and tutors, advice on European activities should be obtained from the British Council. Some regions in the UK still have European Information Centres, where free materials, advice and guidance can be obtained. Higher education institutions should contact the British Council or ECOTEC.

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There are a number of websites about Europe, the European Union and European Community, and this list is by no means comprehensive.

• Arion Study Visits
• British Council
• Comenius
• Council of Europe portal
• Council of Europe Education
• Council of the European Union
• Europa
• European Commission representation in the UK
• European Union in the US
• EuroStat
• Eurydice
• EUR-OP (EU publisher)
• Lifelong Learning Programme
• UK Office of the European Parliament

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Other websites about Europe which are useful in supporting teachers and provide useful resources.

Central Europe Focus - offers links to sites that report on politics, events and research in Central Europe, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Centre for European Social Research and University of Mannheim - examine current societal and political developments in Europe. With a large index of resources, organisations, events and the EURODATA Research Archive.

EGEA is the European Geography Association for students and young geographers. It currently consists of 85 entities all over Europe with more than 1800 registered members.

Environment Online - A virtual school where environmental data collected by schools is shared with others around Europe and beyond.

EUROGEO - the European Network of Geography Teacher Associations organises conferences and workshops, research and development of materials associated with the European dimension in geography.

EuropaGO - interactive games and quizes for young people

European Documentation Centre - links to official and unofficial pages including statistics.

European SchoolNet - contains a huge number of examples of European projects, opportunities and activities including:

• Comenius Space (now closed)
• Environment for Young Europeans
• MyEurope
• eTwinning
• CALIBRATE (Calibrating eLearning in Schools)

HERODOT is the network of higher education institutions in Europe. It seeks to raise the profile of Geography and support the professional development of teachers and trainers in higher education. It investigates the state of Geography in Europe and the transformation of higher education through the Bologna Process and the establishment of a European Higher Education Area.

Speak Out (on European citizenship) - an education project aiming to develop the notion of a diverse and inclusive European citizenship by bringing together students from across Europe in discussions on issues linked to European citizenship. Includes teachers guide, forum for discussion.

Young European Movement details of the activities of this pro-Europe group links with other similar groups within the EU.

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DfES (2001) Promoting Citizenship through Geography
Savides, N. (2002) A comparative study of the European Dimension in the curriculum of English and Irish compulsory schooling

Handouts, prompts, summaries and worksheets can be downloaded as pdfs from the following site: International Dimension Factsheet

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Andrews, R. and Lewis, G. (2000) Citizenship Education in Wales: Community, Culture and the Curriculum Cymreig’ Paper presented at the BERA Conference, Cardiff University, 7-10 September.
Borchardt K-D (1995) European Integration: The origins and growth of the European Union. Luxembourg: Office for OPEC.
Commission of the European Commission (1995)Teaching and Learning: Towards the learning society (White Paper). Luxembourg: Office for OPEC.
Council of Europe (1989) ‘Conclusions and recommendations’ of the symposium on geographical information and documentation on European countries (Doc. CDCC 89). Strasbourg: CE.
Donert, K. and Bosschaart, A. (2002) ‘Establishing the role of ICT in delivering Citizenship in Geographical Education’ in Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Conference of the European Teachers Education Network. London: University of Greenwich, pp. 83-6.
EC (1993) Green Paper on the European Dimension of Education.
EC (2004) The Europe of Cultural Co-operation.
Kirchberg, G. (1995) Europe in Geography Education.
Weinbrenner, U. (1997) ‘Education for Europe by means of geography school textbooks’, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 6, 1, pp. 93-7.

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(Updated 20.08.09)