2023/24
Visiting the European Parliament in Strasbourg
Some of class 5AHWII, accompanied by two of their teachers – Mr Kluwik and Mr Kampner, attended the Euroscola event in Strasbourg on 16 November 2023. The excited group set out on their adventurous journey by night train on 14 November to give themselves enough time to make the rather complicated trip. To save costs and make it all possible, they booked seats rather than beds in the sleeping coaches. It wasn’t the most comfortable train ride, as you can imagine, but the long journey was certainly worth it.
The first day, 15 November 2023, was mostly sightseeing. While some students were more interested in shopping, others found the architecture in Strasbourg very impressive, which is understandable after having seen Strasbourg Cathedral. It was also very surprising that almost everyone in Strasbourg spoke at least a bit of German, so communication didn’t exclusively happen in English. This makes a lot of sense, however, because Strasbourg is only separated from Germany by a bridge.
The main reason for our trip was the parliamentary session simulation and workshop in the European Parliament on 16 November 2023. The title of the session was From energy crisis towards a sustainable future: EU measures against climate change. In this simulation, the participating students, from all around the globe, were allowed to sit in the Plenary Chamber, called the Hemicycle. We, of course, represented Austria and had lively discussions around these current issues. Everyone was allowed to take part in the discussions. We had a wonderful time, and it was a great opportunity to meet students and teachers from other countries. It was an extraordinary experience and if we had the opportunity to go again, we would seize it.
After visiting the European Parliament, we stayed in Strasbourg until 19 November 2023, enjoying the pre-Christmas atmosphere in the city, as well as in nearby Colmar and Kiel. Exhausted but very happy we arrived back in Vienna late on Sunday night but were on time for school on the next day! Stephan Lottes (Class 5AHWII)
Online Participation at SZU, Vienna
The rest of 5AHWII participated virtually back in Vienna. Joined by class 1AHITN, they watched the Euroscola event on a livestream and could give their opinions via the Slido tool, which enabled them to rank the speakers during the debate. Before the livestream the 5th graders Todor Lankov and Philipp Recknagel (both from class 5BHITN) led a discussion about the role of the European Union to raise awareness among the younger students. (SCPA)
