In Reggio Emilia 25 teachers from Europe for the WideSpread School project

Last week we hosted in Reggio Emilia a delegation of 25 teachers from four European countries for a few days of training, dialogue and exchange as part of Widespread School - Teaching Outside the classroom, an Erasmus+ project led by the Municipality of Reggio Emilia with the aim of improving the quality of primary and secondary education in four European cities: Reggio Emilia (Italy), Zara (Croatia), Girona (Spain) and Espoo (Finland).

The three-year project started in September 2023 and will end in August 2026 with the aim of achieving several objectives, including the creation of an analysis report on the Education Outside the Classroom approach, containing initiatives and good practices at European and international level, and a bibliographic search of the pedagogical approaches available on the topic; following national dissemination seminars, the creation of a Toolbox (guidelines and pedagogical materials) and several local workshops to discuss with policy makers, teachers, educators and school directors about the implementation of Education Outside the Classroom approaches in their contexts.

The project will culminate in a final event in Brussels.

The four days of meetings, from 21 to 24 October, were an opportunity to deepen the Widespread School experience launched in Reggio Emilia in response to the Covid-19 emergency: divided between workshops at Agricola Villa Canali and a visit to Remida - The creative recycling centre at the Ex Mangimificio Caffarri, the teachers worked together on the toolbox (a tool containing guidelines and useful materials) designed to support teachers and educators in the innovation of teaching through the introduction of educational proposals based on the Education Outside the Classroom approach.

In the coming months, teachers will have the opportunity to test the toolbox in practice in local contexts, co-designing and activating Widespread School experiences in their schools, with the involvement of colleagues, local partners, children and young people.

The project is led by the Municipality of Reggio Emilia with Officina Educativa of the Municipality of Reggio nell'Emilia, the support of Fondazione E35 together with the partners University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, University of Girona, Fondazione Reggio Children - Loris Malaguzzi Centre, Saunalahti School (Espoo - Finland), City of Zadar (Croatia) and Carme Auguet School of Girona.

To learn more visit the project website: https://www.widespreadschool.eu/