Industrial Heritage: a cultural and an economic challenge for the future

The main interest of our project is to explore the recent history of our city and identify the industrial heritage that it hides. Whereas the cultural heritage of a city is mostly promoted through tourism, the industrial one tends to be neglected not only by the local authorities but in the school curriculum as well. That is why we found three schools in Europe which are situated in small cities with a similar background. We think that these acquaintances will broaden our perception of the recent past, will raise questions about the circumstances of the economical development of a city and the reasons that caused the change of the working conditions in different times and different regions in Europe. Thus, we seek to give a european dimension to a concern that seems to be local in this moment.The three partners will have to conduct six activities through the internet and realize three staff and students exchanges, so this approach resembles a lot to the blended learning one. The WebQuests enhance the group and team-based learning and the actual visits to the sites promote the experiential learning method. This interaction has as result to propose ways of utilizing industrial buildings which are no longer in use. New business ideas can be suggested. The end product of the project in the form of a digital documentary shall be used in order to influence the local Authorities about the existence of industrial heritage and put forward the idea of creating a city-museum.The impact of the european character of the project contributes to promote the cultural awareness, and values such as respect and tolerance towards other civilisations, to detect the common places of history, life and understanding among participants and finally to acknowledge how different cultures piece together the profile of the one Europe. After the end of the product we seek to have influenced at least 20 persons in each school in a way, that they become disseminators of these values in their peer environment and will try to improve their school, their city and their own life in Europe.