How can we talk about Europe with VET students in a way that is concrete, relevant to their experiences? This question guided the first year of the EUCLASS Alliance pilot, the Jean Monnet project coordinated by ENAC.
The two-year pilot began in autumn 2025. During its first year, six VET providers, ENAC in Italy, Centro San Viator in Spain, Luovi Vocational School in Finland, Kuressaare Ametikool in Estonia, Firda in the Netherlands and AKMI in Greece , introduced into their classrooms the materials and methodologies developed during the first Teacher Summer School.
The aim was not simply to provide information about the European Union, but to test activities capable of making often distant-seeming topics more accessible.
The project’s shared calendar records 30 activities involving almost 1.000 students.
The most interesting result, emerges from the classroom experiences: students participate more and understand better when Europe stops being an abstract subject and becomes something they can discuss, simulate, create and experience.
In many of the participating schools, one of the most successful activities was the Moving Debate.
In the Mermaid Quota Simulation, the delegations had to agree on how to distribute a limited resource while balancing national and collective interests. In Estonia, graphic design students at Kuressaare Ametikool produced posters for the My Estonia, My Europe exhibition, transforming their research on the European Union into a professional visual communication project.
In Spain, Centro San Viator , VET students worked in teams to tackle puzzles about EU symbols, citizens’ rights, institutions and European funding in the Mission Strasbourg escape room.
During the second year, the schools will continue testing and refining the materials, strengthen online collaborative activities and teacher exchanges.
The most important lesson has already emerged: bringing young people closer to Europe requires more than explaining how its institutions work. They need opportunities to take a position, exchange views, negotiate, create and collaborate across borders.
Author: Luca Calligaro – Project Manager ENAC Ente Nazionale Canossiano ETS
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