Educational program in European schools with special needs is not as developed as it should be. Students with disabilities are often pushed to the sidelines, and yet they are sentient beings who want to live in an equal opportunity society. Our students have less opportunities to be included in international projects and projects, which would give them skills for life. United Nations conventions on the rights of persons with disabilities states that persons with disabilities should be treated with dignity, they should not be discriminated and should be given appropriate education. Based on stated above, schools with special needs and special programs have decided to team up in an international project. We wish to include our students in activities, which will help them develop independence, responsibility, social skills and acquire language skills. We named our project G.R.E.E.N. because we want to keep in mind the following objectives: Global - Recyclable - Environment - Employment – Nature. We chose to make the environment the main focus of our project because, as scientists have been warning us, we are in a state of planetary emergency. Uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources, waste accumulation and excessive consumption lead to great climate changes that are already happening. We want to raise awareness in the student that it is important to take care of the planet in which we live. We want to encourage them to become aware of the impact an individual’s actions has on the health of the environment and the wellbeing of society, and teach them how to design sustainable products that create less waste. Many of these students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, making it difficult for them to take advantage of cross-cultural exchanges and projects that would equip them with lifelong skills. With the activities we wish to approach the goals of the program “Education and training 2020” that provides a long term goal of increasing innovation and enabling employability to vulnerable groups. We wish to encourage our students to pass from passive viewers or observers to active individuals who are involved in caring for a better tomorrow. The partnership will include six countries: France, Germany, Latvia, Macedonia, Romania and Slovenia. Students involved are aged 6 to 26 and have disabilities in different areas. All the countries included have similar needs, problems and limitations in our work. We also have the same long term goal for our students – living as independently as possible. Although new technologies and online tools have increased the prevalence of remote learning, we believe that face-to-face contact and experiential learning activities still have an essential place in education. Based on the exchange our students will learn about different cultures, acquire foreign language knowledge and meet pears from other countries. Combination of different teaching methods and curriculums, that each school uses in raising awareness of the importance of the environment, will provide new knowledge and methods. We have organized round tables and workshops which will expose students to various topics and enable them to participate in hands-on activities. These could be used and transformed to different areas of education. Knowledge and experience on the importance of clean environment gained during the project, will be multidisciplinary included in further educational process by the teachers. Not only will project benefit its participants, but we expect it to have a lasting positive impact on the wider community. We wish to reduce the amount of waste and by that the consumption of consumers. Students will see that they can do a lot of things by themselves. Activities that will be performed in the gatherings have been carefully planned. We payed attention to individual needs of the students. We pursued a goal to include all students as much as possible in the project. Students will be encouraged to treat the environment responsibly by various activities, such as debates, different workshops, making of teaching aids. Teachers are going to help the students in communication and at their language skills with various visual materials. Teachers will gain new knowledge, methods and strategies, which will help them in their education process. In the end of the project we will publish a manual with examples of best practice and methods that will be presented to local educational institutions. Students will also gain new knowledge, skills, independence and responsibility that will have a great impact on their further independent life, which is the goal we all wish to achieve. We want to show students that each individual can develop their abilities and thus contribute to society. We believe that together we can make life long changes for wider society.

Special Needs Education is not as developed as it should be in most European countries. Schools for SEN students provide limited opportunities compared to mainstream schools when it comes to experiencing Arts, European/ International environment and living their lives to the fullest. Furthermore, any relevant extracurricular activities are directly connected to the personnel’s expertise and not generally implemented nationally or in a European level.Therefore, the need for innovative projects that will be auxiliary to the further development of the educational systems at European level is apparent and necessary. The desire for a project with partners involved only in Special Needs Education was the main reason for the establishment of this partnership. We came to the conclusion that Arts (Music, Dance, Theater, Filming, Photography, Handcraft, Poetry) and Emotions (both recognition and expression) are not only weaved in everybody’s everyday life, but also a fine way to gain our pupils’ interest and to enrich their extracurricular cultivation. Six countries will comprise this partnership: Greece, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Spain. All participating schools provide education exclusively to students with Special Needs, aged from 3 to 18 years old, of a varied diagnosis. These similar school profiles are of our advantage, as we have common problems and limitations in our work, common ambition to provide the best to our students and common thirst to enrich our professional repertoire with innovative educational and therapeutic methods.The combination of the different curriculum and the methodology that each school applies with Arts will provide a new therapeutic tool capable to be implemented in other schools or institutions. Also, Arts will aid the teaching of basic educational lessons such as language, maths, physics etc. This shared knowledge and best practice exchange will promote pupils’ developmental skills such as Emotional Development, Movement Skills, Learning- Thinking abilities and Communication and Language Skills. It will also facilitate our pupils’ Knowledge spectrum, Social Skills, Physical Health and Well-Being. It will strengthen their knowledge and understanding of their role and identity in the European Community. We trust that this project will be a step forward in their development concerning all aspects of life (school, family, social, personal life).We find that all of the above will, undoubtedly, advance the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We vision that “Artemotion Xpress in Europe” will offer the opportunity to our pupils to learn about other cultures and develop personal relations with other pupils from Europe. We believe that we will be given the opportunity to implant the idea of using various kinds of Arts as a new/ contemporary learning/teaching method in special education of pupils with different kinds of disabilities.The activities that we have carefully and in detail planned are of gradated difficulty, aim to give opportunities to all pupils to participate and meet their interests from early childhood to late adolescence. We will give our pupils the opportunity to recognize their emotional reactions and to express them in several, creative ways. Worksheets, games, role playing, video projections, books, filming and creativity will help us along the way.Each participating member will work on the project in the class, but also in extracurricular activities. The organizing of events in special occasions with students and parents will enhance the implementation of our objectives at home and in the community.The project will benefit the staff of each school and the community. School staff will meet new teaching methods, tools, pedagogical approaches to learn and apply, while the community will arise opportunities for the fight against diversity and the promotion of the social inclusion and integration of SEN population. It will also acknowledge and appreciate Arts in education and its important role in the non - formal pupils' education through exhibitions, partnerships, art contests, local press publications.Our ambition for the project is to enhance our pupils’ progress in all aspects of their development, by making them the receivers of contemporary educational approaches. They will be the pioneers of various innovative educational paths. They will acquire a European identity and be accepted and embraced as equal citizens of the community, the nation and Europe.It is a project with valuable outcomes both in products and in methods for all the participants and receivers which can absolutely improve the existing educational conditions affecting not only pupils and staff but also the wider community and can make a brilliant example for imitation.