Europia pursuit draft

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
- Nelson Mandela -

In times of great change, we all need helping hands we can rely on. This change began years before we set foot on this earth and yet we as the young generation have made it our mission to do everything in our power to create our "Europia" - Our European Utopia.
In the summer of 2018, we started our three-year journey towards a better future with the project "Erasmus+". Six schools from the six European countries – France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Romania – joined forces to ask themselves what our differences and similarities are, as well as implement sustainability projects. But what does sustainability actually mean? Is it the protection of biodiversity? The reduction of plastic production? Or something completely different? We have learned that everything that provides a happy and healthy future is sustainable. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, which should be achieved until 2030, set out exactly that. We have oriented ourselves to these goals. We have asked ourselves again and again: What creates peace? How do you combine climate protection and industry? And what about society? What does a community like Europe mean - mean for us?
Funded by the European Union, we sat down and made plans. We travelled to each participating country, albeit sometimes only virtually due to the Covid19 pandemic, and discussed what we could do as young citizens of the world.
Together, we set up projects that allowed us to forge intercultural links under the EU flag. A documentary project and a picture contest led us to the perception: These are the shoulders we stand on.
All that we did in three years in each of the six countries is now summarised in our big "Europia" book. But the most important achievement cannot be squeezed into words, because friendship is the driving force that we all take away from this project. We have all made new friends who may be miles away and yet, through a shared dream, seem very close.
These three years of the project are now behind us, but we look forward with pride and confidence and are grateful for the companions we know are by our side.

Amelie Fox, Hamburg

Faro

Faro is an historic and culturally rich city, located in the south of Portugal, opened to the Ria Formosa lagoon.

The walls that surrounded the town in Moorish and Medieval times;
the vestiges of the past still to be seen in churches and museums; the refreshing green of gardens beside the Ria and the sea; the outline of noble residences that bear witness to Faro’s splendor in centuries past; narrow streets of whitewashed houses that recall the town’s Moorish heritage: these are among the sights to be savored on a walk around Faro, a city where there is lots to see, to enjoy and to remember.

Mariana Fernandes and Sofia Salcedo

Beius

Beiuș is a town in Bihor County, Romania, located in the southeast of the county, at 62 km from Oradea, at the foot of the Apuseni Mountains. The city of Beiuș is located on the right bank of the Crişul Negru, being crossed by Valea Nimăiești (its tributary), which divides the city into two parts. The city administers a single village, Delani. A not so well known thing about Beius is the fact that it is one of the oldest towns of Bihor county, its earliest mention in recorded history was in the year 1263.
The most famous tourist attractions in the Beius area are: Municipal Museum of History and Ethnography, The Orthodox Church on the Hill, dedicated to St. Archangels Michael and Gabriel, The buildings of the “Samuil Vulcan” National College, of the Pedagogical High School, Casina Română, karst area Remetea - Meziad - Roșia.
Municipal Museum of History and Ethnography houses over 3,000 pieces. The museum exhibits reflect its natural history, military history and art, but most famous are its folkloric artifacts: peasant tools, pottery, garments and folk art gathered from the entire central and southern county of Bihor.
The Orthodox Church on the Hill, dedicated to St. Archangels Michael and Gabriel is one of the oldest churches in Beiuș. It was built in 1784 on the site of an old wooden church.
The “Samuil Vulcan” National College from Beiuș was founded in 1828 by the Greek-Catholic bishop Samuil Vulcan. The high school is the second oldest in Transylvania, after the one in Blaj. The high school from Beiuș is the first school unit in pre-university education that gave the country, in a single class, three academicians: Marius Sala, Mircea Flonta and Lazăr Dragoș. It was also the first educational unit in Bihor County to receive the title of National College (March 1st 1998). It contains 5 own museums, the most spectacular being the Biology Museum "Ioan Bușiția".
These are some of the things that make my city attractive, if you want to know more, come and visit it!

Hamburg and Blankenese

Hamburg is a city in the north of Germany. The specialty of this city is that it is a state and a city at the same time. With an area of ca. 755
and 1.8 million inhabitants it is the second greatest city in Germany.

The language spoken in Hamburg is German, just like in the rest of the country. The Elbe is a big river which is running through Hamburg and is a great trade route for the whole country.

There are many landmarks to visit in the city. Such as the Alster, which is another river, the harbour of Hamburg and the Elbphilharmonie (Elbe philharmonic hall).

Our school

Our school was founded in 1890. Back then it was a school for girls. Now everybody is welcome! J Our school only got its name as the” Marion Dönhoff Gymnasium” in 2009. It was named after the countess “Marion Dönhoff”. She was known for her independence and her social and political engagement.

Every year we get to choose a new student team. The team represents all of the students in front of the teachers and the principle. It plans parties and little special things, like distributing chocolates at Christmas time. We can always tell them suggestions or wishes how to make our school better. Then it is their job and interest to realize these things in our school or at least to try to implement them.
But what also makes our school special is that we can freely choose some of our classes, like being part of our choir, a band, special arts or natural science courses. We also have the chance to have some of our subjects in English (first history and afterwards natural science) to improve our language. Besides English every student has to choose another language: Latin, French or Spanish.
We really like our school because everyone gets integrated in all projects and events and there are so many things to choose from.