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About ABC Network

In February 2002 a cross-border cooperation of several schools was launched under the project title ABC Network (Across the Borders Cooperation)—School Network «Creative Central Europe». In addition to the EU member states of Austria and Italy participants also included the future EU members of Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic. Ever since and under the coordination of KulturKontakt Austria schools from these countries have been creatively cooperating and trying out project and topic-oriented teaching subject to the communicative possibilities offered by the new media. The network currently includes 16 actively participating schools which cooperate in four different working groups.

The ABC School Network «Creative Central Europe» is an initiative run by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture. KulturKontakt Austria is responsible for its implementation.

The ABC Network is a long term project for the specification of future-oriented school cooperation models in the field of "creativity promotion and cultural education" between Austria and the countries in Central Europe.

The ABC School Network «Creative Central Europe» aims at a continuous and longer term cooperation of a discussion of topics of relevance for Europe. These schools act as multipliers within their regions and closely cooperate with national and regional administrative institutions (school authorities), training institutes, cultural institutions, etc. The Network shall subsequently also grow in numbers and set sustainable educational priorities on a European level.

Regarding the ABC Network for KulturKontakt Austria the development of critical faculties is an essential educational objective. This requires the encounter and discussion of what is foreign to dismantle possible prejudices through personal contact, concrete cooperation and an exchange of experience.

The ABC network is centred around the pedagogic-didactic challenge of «cross-border» including the geographic, topical, and methodical meaning:

• In the form of an active cooperation of schools from neighbouring countries in Central Europe,
• in the form of school as an open community centre with external cultural institutions, artists, scientists and other experts and
• in the form of cross-subject, project and topic oriented teaching particularly through the use of the new information and communication technologies (ICT).

The school projects

Four international school teams with three to five schools begin to take shape dealing with the general topic of "Reinventing our Europe" as part of cross-border projects.

The four working groups

• Regional Culture: Identity in the Past. Identity for the Future
• Teenage Lifestyles in an United Europe
• The Variety of the Regions—Tourism in Peripheral Regions
• Taking our Past into Contemporary Society (TOPICS)

are dedicated to the historic, cultural and economic differences and common features in Central Europe under different aspects.

Starting from a catalogue of topics each team elaborated the exact objectives of its project, the central activities of the respective school with the pupils, the methodical-didactic procedure and the evaluation, mobility, the time schedule, as well as the results to be expected. A main element also is the integration of artists from various fields of art as well as experts from business, science, sociology, history and philosophy.