Goethe-Gymnasium – Liceo linguistico Falcone –
Lycée Robert Schuman
(Logo created by students)
Trinational student exchange Ludwigsburg – Bergamo – Haguenau
by Florian Braun (project teacher at the Goethe-Gymnasium in Ludwigsburg)
From Sunday, November 16 to Saturday, November 22, the first week of our new trinational school project took place at the Goethe-Gymnasium Ludwigsburg as part of CORE (“Cooperation of Rotarians for Europe”). In close cooperation with the Rotary Club of Ludwigsburg, I was allowed to organize and accompany the program as a social studies and French teacher. What we experienced during these five days was much more than an exchange: it was a living piece of lived Europe.
Six 16-year-old students from the Lycée Robert Schuman travelled from Haguenau with their teacher Matthias Manceaux, and from Bergamo six students from the Liceo linguistico Falcone with Stefania Lovat. Seven students from the Goethe-Gymnasium took part. In total, 19 committed young people – real young Europeans – worked in mixed teams in English on a joint project.
The young people quickly agreed on a current and relevant topic for their work: “We in Europe, together for gender equality,” and explored three different facets of equality in a mixed German-French-Italian setting:
- Gender Pay Gap
- Women’s Rights
- Powerful Women: Simone Veil vs. Marine Le Pen (France), Giorgia Meloni vs. Emma Bonino (Italy), and Angela Merkel vs. Annalena Baerbock
They presented their findings in two talks at the end of the week and set up an Instagram account, corememories.rotary, which they plan to continue developing in the coming weeks and months. They also created a logo for it (see above). With creativity, wit, and a clear political awareness, they demonstrate how young people today discuss European issues – engaged, critical, and at the same time hopeful.
In addition to the project work, the students enjoyed a varied accompanying program that brought them closer to Europe on both a small and large scale:
Tuesday: Visit to the Franco-German Institute in Ludwigsburg, followed in the evening by a walk along the “Illuminated Dream Paths” in the Blühendes Barock gardens
Wednesday: Full-day excursion to Strasbourg, including a visit to the European Parliament and the Council of Europe
Thursday: Reception with the Mayor of Ludwigsburg, followed by participation in the Rotary Club’s lunch meeting
Friday: Visit to the Le Corbusier Museum in the over 100-year-old Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart
Shared dinners on Mondays and Fridays provided an opportunity for students, teachers, and host families to get to know each other better outside of work sessions. Many friendships developed here that will surely last beyond the project period.
What touched me most personally was the exceptionally strong group cohesion, the likes of which are rarely seen in exchange programs. Furthermore, the young people demonstrated a remarkable commitment to the issue of gender equality, which deeply impressed not only us teachers but also the host families. These 19 young people have shown that the idea of a united Europe is not just a political vision, but a lived reality. The work doesn’t end here, however: the groups will continue their projects online and meet again in Bergamo in March 2026.
