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Living Our Common Ancestry - LOCA is a 2 year Comenius multilateral partnership among 6 European countries, 3 of them from the north and the other 3 from the south of Europe: Iceland, Finland, Latvia, Turkey, Greece and Spain.

 

The purpose of the project is the study and reproduction of the living conditions of each country’s society in the Middle Ages, (9th -13th centuries) in order to find what constitutes the primary origins of the European civilization. Departing from six mostly peripheral countries, which far from being a disadvantage could represent an added value for the project, the aim is to research the common denominators that shaped the European cultural roots, in order to deepen into a sentiment of unity that future generations will have to preserve and strengthen.

By promoting research into their own historical background and by delving into the common origins, the project will encourage and energize the students’ awareness not only of their own national heritage but also of the common European legacy. Knowing and living their national histories in the light of the understanding of the phenomena that favored cultural relationships and human migrations can help students, aged 13-16, diminish prejudice, ensuring tolerance and solidarity among cultures.

 

Language

Throughout the project, the English language served as a modern Lingua Franka and was used for the purpose of communication among students and teachers. Moreover, one of the objectives of the project has been the improvement of the students' English language skills. For this reason, students worked with authentic material and produced written discourse in English. 

 

Communication
One of the key elements of the project was communicaton and collaboration among students and teachers from different countries.The partners took advantage of the opportunities that new tools for collaboration can offer, such as wikis or blogs, and exploited the potential of new  ICTs.  In order to assure a regular and effective communication among transnational working groups, the students’ use of more or less formal Internet tools such as e-mail, Skype, FB groups, wikispaces or WhatsApp has been encouraged and facilitated.