Project story

The events in relation to war in Ukraine had a major impact on the course of the project, especially in the first month of war in February – March when the students from Lithuania and Poland were in the middle of their long-term mobility in Spain. The coordinators had to ensure to raise this issue when communicating with students during tutorials both offline and online and provide additional support to discuss this issue in the scope of social inclusion. Since Poland and Lithuania were the countries who have received many refugees from Ukraine, it was crucial to raise awareness of global refugees and migrants, and encourage the dialogue in the context of current war and social inclusion. During their long-term mobility in Spain, Lithuanian and Polish students were able to see the importance of global support and humanitarian help. The topics and debates were included in the English language lessons where students were encouraged to reflect on the current conflict, form their opinions, defend it and develop their skills of citizenship, empathy and social awareness. As a part of Thos i Codina school initiative, Lithuanian and Polish students were also encouraged to take action and provide humanitarian supplies, including food, clothing together with the whole local school community. It had a major impact on student’s understanding and awareness of the role of empathy and compassion towards Ukraine and Ukrainian people. The students returned to the countries in April 2022 being aware that the issue of social inclusion and migration has become more relevant to them than it had been before they left.