HAPPINESS IS...

The project «HAPPINESS is …» was conceived to develop the theme of happiness from an international and multidisciplinary perspective, through the sharing of experiences, reflections, ideas and resources of teachers and students from a selected group of schools.

The initiative is part of a European Erasmus project for education, training, youth and sport; our students took part in intercultural exchanges, together with the Collège Henri Wallon in Savigny-le-Temple (Paris) and the Leonhard-Wagner-Gymnasium in Schwabmunchen (Munich).

During the exchanges, students from the French, German and Italian delegations had the opportunity to reflect on the theme of happiness from an individual, community and intercultural perspective, declining it in various forms and contexts through specific week-long workshops on topics such as political philosophy, sports and chemistry, art, literature and technology.

The project also saw students engaged in a series of activities that made it possible to experience collective, social and shared happiness, as well as individual autonomy.

The first exchange was held in Reggio Emilia, from 8 to 14 May 2022, a period in which the French and German students were guests of our high school. During the week, the students were involved in a series of workshops aimed at an initial experimentation of the theme of happiness: they created a collection of haiku (Japanese poems), created the project of the "happy city", studied the chemical processes that regulate the expression of emotions. The workshops were held in alternation with other group experiences, such as a cooking workshop, an Orienteering experience in Reggio Emilia and a trip to Bologna.

The treasure hunt, the trek in the Fontainebleau forest, the boat trip on the Seine were the main activities of the “Parisian week”, from 8 to 15 October 2022. The three delegations, guided by the teachers, were able to further develop and deepen the initial reflections, as well as study happiness from new perspectives, concretely realizing the 3D project of their “city of Happiness”, experiencing the joy of movement and sport, creating and expressing themselves through shadow theater.

The last of the three weeks of exchange was held in Schwabmunchen from 11 to 19 February 2023. Here the students brought their projects to a close, creating the final products of their reflections and experiments: the web page “Happiness is”, the book of happiness, the video with interviews and testimonies of teachers and students. The visit to the splendid Neuschwanstein Castle and the tour of the Olympic Park in Munich then allowed us to conclude the week in the best possible way.