Euro-Arab Neighbourhood

During a workshop in Germany, experts from education ministries, public organisations, publishing houses and schools from Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine established the basis for this school magazine network. The project is open for any other schools and partners from all European and Arab countries.

Within the network, the common project work between staff of different school magazines may be organised in the form of common online magazines or print productions. According to the organisers, the aim should be to write about similar topics, to exchange knowledge and to discuss certain subjects. The choice of topics and the individual organisation are up to the students. Each group of editorial staff may be assisted and coached by a teacher who supports the team and acts as a facilitator.

The workshop in December 2003 and subsequent activities starting in May 2004 have led to the following results:

• First Arab-German school partnerships have started their work: Beirut (Lebanon) - Lüneburg (Germany), Djerba (Tunisia) - Bonn (Germany), Amman (Jordan) - Cologne (Germany), Amman (Jordan) - Göttingen (Germany). The spectrum of collaboration ranges from the production of common articles to the production of complete print versions and online school magazines.
• The Lebanese-German school partnership organised a student exchange in May/June 2004 in order to plan and co-ordinate their first common print magazine.
• Students and teachers from Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia met with German students and teachers in Frankfurt in October 2004. During their stay, they presented their first results within the "Spiegel-Bildungsforum" (a forum for discussion organised by the German magazine Der Spiegel) at the Frankfurt Book Fair.