In March of 2024, we (two students among five from the class of IB22) were given the opportunity to travel to the Italian city of Bologna for an Erasmus+ programme called 'Active Citizen of Tomorrow' on human rights. We participated in various human rights activities, including seminars and workshops, which were then concluded with a collaborative piece of work - namely a podcast! The trip was insightful and engaging in more ways than one, and we have thus chosen to share a belated summary of the trip. Shoutout to our IB-teachers Mihaela S. Gross and Markus Andersson for creating the ACT-project (and for have chosen our essays that qualified us for the project)!
The trip was certainly not a bed of roses: we departed from Arlanda at around 06:00, and one of the students even slept at Arlanda the previous night to avoid having to wake up in the middle of the night to travel to the airport. Nonetheless, the breakfast and flight were both pleasant, despite our (very) long layover in Amsterdam. After arriving in Bologna at around 13:00, we were given the rest of the day off to rest, recuperate and explore the exciting city whose bustling, picturesque streets were filled with food markets and impressive architecture - architecture not so different from that of Sweden.
We met up with the other Erasmus participants from Belgium, Italy and Norway at the school the following day, where we were given an in-depth tour of the prestigious, science-oriented school (which even had a museum filled with dinosaur fossils on the bottom floor)! We then attended a lecture from an Amnesty representative who enlightened us on their work in Italy, and particularly Bologna, as the city is known for its politically active university students. For instance, numerous students in Bologna University, two of which were present at the seminar, are members of Amnesty and engage in awareness-raising campaigns against, for example, police aggression. This is perhaps not as prevalent a phenomenon in Sweden, but we definitely think that Swedish students can learn from the Bolognese university students and, too, feel eager to expand their political knowledge, as this is something that benefits the entire population through higher vote turnouts!
On the third day, we attended another lecture by the NGO Emergency, which specializes in medical care and providing it to those who do not have access to them, including in more economically developed nations such as Italy. There, they focus on rescuing refugees arriving to Italy by boat, and providing them with medical assistance after their challenging journey to find a safe haven in Europe.
We also got to participate in an English class with the local Italian students, and were positively surprised by their high level of English, as many first were (understandably) reluctant to speak their second, or perhaps even third, students. Eventually, though, we realized that most of them were near fluent as they answered the teacher's intricate questions on the happenings in Romeo & Juliet, which they were reading at the time. One culture difference we noted was how much more crowded and vocal the Italian classes were, which was a refreshing and a much needed change of atmosphere from our quiet and spacious hallways at Åva!
The next day, we spent the entire day working on our podcasts that were focused on certain human rights articles in the UDHR - including the right to equal wages and to start a family. It was a very giving experience to actually get to produce and synthesize something of our own, and these podcasts will be used to educate younger students in all of the respective countries participating in this ACT-project.
This trip was overall a lot of fun, and we were overwhelmed by just how kind and open minded all the students were. We had an astonishingly memorable time here and would recommend this experience to all students, who have the possibility (and energy to write an essay for the Erasmus-trip competition that the IB-teachers organize), to apply. We did a ton of work on human rights, and were introduced knowledge we otherwise might not have come across. We also focused on Italian culture and also building relationships inside the EU which we found especially intuitive, particularly due to the fact that (hear, CAS teachers!) one of IB:s key concepts is global mindedness. We were also delighted at the sheer amount of freedom we were given to explore the city and its friendly inhabitants. We have created life-long friendships, and definitely strengthened the bonds within the IB-group!
Written by: Tilda Jonsson and Varun Senthil Kumar in IB22
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