About the project

"Off the Beaten Path: Studying the Architectural, Historical and Social Heritage of Local Communities
in European Cities" is a project involving 6 secondary schools from 6 partner countries (Hungary,
Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Poland and Lithuania) and is running between 2019 and 2021. The
project's main aim is to study 12 (2 per country) neighbourhoods in the partner schools' home cities
that are architecturally, historically and socially characteristic and relevant but not in the forefront of
public interest. With the activities of the project, the partner schools will bring these local communities
closer to the public and each other. Another aim of the project is to help these local communities,
make them known outside their cities or countries and boost local economy by increasing the number
of tourists visiting these neighbourhoods. From the students' and teachers' point-of-view, the main
aim of the project is to strenghten the position of History, Arts and Social studies in the participating
schools, increase the students' motivation towards these subjects and get better exam results at
national exams. The project also aims to increase students' tolerance and respect towards other
cultures and local communities all around Europe. With the help of the project's activities, the
students will be able to develop their team-working and presentation skills, as well as their English
language knowledge. They will use modern multimedia platforms and devices to get to know and
present the chosen local communities to the wider public. During the mobilities they will visit the
chosen neighbourhoods and make interviews with locals, historians, business owners, take photos,
shoot short video clips, do further research on the history of the communities. At the end of each
mobility, they will organize a mini-conference at school, during which they introduce the
neighbourhoods to the school's studentship. Between mobilities, the participating students and their
teachers will engage in various activities connected to the place and topic of the previous mobility:
they will work on the materials created during the mobility, upload them on the project's website and
eTwinning page, create and send each other online quizzes related to the studied topics and
communities and organize local history walks to the chosen neighbourhoods for their fellow students,
students from other schools or the wider public. The project's events are evenly distributed for the
periods between mobilities and cyclical, so they will be easy-to-follow and can become a practice
during the project and afterwards. The results of the project include a website and a mobile app
introducing the 12 neighbourhoods from the 6 cities for the wider public and tourists, preferably. The
project will have its own multimedia and social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
channel), on which the materials will be made public. The students will also design brochures
introducing the neighbourhoods and their sights to tourists and these brochures will be placed at
local hotels, tourist agencies and restaurants. With the help of the local history walks, students will be
able to introduce the neighbourhoods to tourists and they will learn to respect local communities.
The students participating in the project will be between 14 and 18 years of age and many have
fewer opportunities. The project intends to involve these students at various stages of activities. The
students, their teachers and local community members will be the main focus of the project. These 3
groups will benefit from the project the most.

The students' motivation towards subject such as History, Arts and Social studies will be increased.
Consequently, they will get better results at national exams. They will also learn to respect other
cultures and be proud of their own. They will develop such interdisciplinary skills as team-working,
presentation, self-discipline, self-confidence, cultural awareness multimedia and foreign language
knowledge. The teachers involved in the project will be able to engage in activities new to them and
this way they will reinforce their commiment toward the teaching profession. They will learn and
practice to use multimedia devices and platforms, learn how to integrate them into their teaching and
this way their lessons will be more modern, interesting and engaging for their students. The local
communities will also benefit from the project. They will be able to present themselves to the world,
show their values and "hidden treasures", tell their own stories. This will not only make them more
appealing to the wider public but streghten their own sense of pride and local patriotism. They will
meet with members of other local communities and engage in talks with them. They will be able build
relationships and exchange good practices that may lead to a long-lasting relationship between local
communities around Europe. "Off the beaten path" will become mainstream.