J.E.E.P. – EXPO 2015 – English version

J.E.E.P is a simulation of the European Parliament work sessions in which delegations of 8 colleagues from eight different European countries from the Company of Jesus take part. The work sessions are held once a year in a different host country. Only students from the 4th year of high school can participate.

JEEP 2015 on Gesuiti Educazione website- 5th October 2015

On the Gesuiti Educazione website  has been published the news relating to the JEEP final assembly . You can read it at the following link

http://educazione.gesuiti.it/2015/10/05/milano-jesuit-european-educational-project-2015/

JEEP 2015: web site and students’ social

All the reports about the eleventh session of the JEEP can be traced through the website created by the staff of journalists and related socials reachable from the home page of the site.

Here is the website address:

http://jeep2015.wix.com/news

And here the socials addresses:

https://www.facebook.com/jeep.milan.5

https://twitter.com/JEEP2015Milano

https://instagram.com/jeep2015_milan/

JEEP 2015: closing Assembly at Assolombarda – 4 ottobre 2015

The XI Edition of the Jesuit European Educational Project has just come to its end. It started on Saturday, September 26^th, when the seven European delegations arrived.

In Assolombarda

After meetings and discussions that covered a week’s time, the Italian, French, German and Polish delegates publicly presented their Project at Palazzo delle Stelline on September 30^th, when they engaged in their last, most exciting and meaningful debate.

The plenary meeting which has always been hosted in prestigious locations such as the Bundesrat in Bonn, the Parliament of East Flanders in Gent, the Parliament of Catalonia in Barcelona, this year has taken place in one of the most important institutional places in Milan, that is Sala Camerana situated in Palazzo Giò Ponti where the Assolombarda is based.

The seven J.E.E.P. boards presented in turns the resolutions which resulted from the decisions taken during the previous week and submitted them to all the members of the “assembly” for their approval.

Lavori dei Delegati

Each board has dealt with one of the seven subtopics deriving from the main one “Feeding the planet. Energy for life” and has produced a range of resolutions (written in English and following the model used by the European Parliament) offering an accurate and original insight into the major issue of sustainability.

It is of little importance whether these resolutions have been approved or rejected: what really matters is the value of their contents which were dealt with competence and passion, always complying with the rules of parliamentary democracy.

During the opening speech which Dott.ssa Chiara Fanali, International/trade officer at Assolombarda, has addressed the audience, she has also shown “Italy, the extraordinary commonplace”, an interesting video made by the Department of Economic Development and published in January 2015: this footage rejects the most common bias against Italy and the Italians emphasizing the many domains of excellence our country can boast of.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaXqHU32bm4)

Altri interventi

We are sure that J.E.E.P can be regarded as a meaningful experience which represented a significant step in the participants’ personal and civic growth within an international frame.

The commitment, knowledge, reliability and enthusiasm shown by the 63 students while working at this project, lead us to believe that there is great hope for a better future, that Europe can really be at the centre of human progress and of the sustainability of the planet and that being leader in the service of others is a possible dream.

We are pleased to publicize the content of the resolutions (anyone who is interested in it, can refer to the following link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_tD_HAToBfmbUFCTEQ5RDd2VEU/view?usp=sharing ).

It may be said that our students’ play-acting was just a game but it was a serous one, especially if we consider how urgent and real these problems are.

After carrying out accurate research which implied working for months, our students devoted all their energy, intelligence and creativity to developing elaborated, sound proposals. A lot of adults should be inspired by their mature behavior and, as their leaders, we have been proud of their achievements.

I “capi” delegazione: da sin. i proff. Paolo Tenconi, Antonio Bertolotti, Pierre Vinck, Andreas Guenterberg

We wish to give our sincerest thanks to the teachers who prepared these students and guided them throughout this work session: : Mr. Johan De Ridder e Mr. Pierre Vinck (Gent – Belgio), Mr. Andreas Guenterberg (Bonn – Germania), Ms. Sophie Pellegrini e Mrs. Brigitte Baudou (Marseille – Francia), Mrs. Vitalija Miskiniene e Mr. Faustas Meskuotis (Kaunas e Vilnius – Lituania), Mrs. Andrea Juhasznagy (Miskolc – Ungheria), Mr. Eduard Rovira (Barcelona – Spagna) e Mr. Jerszy Sinckzak (Gdynia – Polonia).

A special mention should also be given to the seven delegates of the Italian board: Rebecca Rossi, Federico Cerri, Stefano Malorgio, Luca Piatti, Pietro Parodi, Federico Colombo e Giovanni Friggi.

We eventually wish to express our appreciation to Edoardo De Crescenzo, Guglielmo Buffo, Maura Cortese, Maddalena Calafiori, Lorenzo Cogliati e Alessandro Spalletti: these six journalists developed a well-organized communication system (website, facebook page, Instagram and Twitter accounts) which will be used from now on during the J.E.E.P. editions.

JEEP 2015, ceremony at Palazzo delle  Stelline – 1 October 2015

The opening ceremony of the J.E.E.P. project took place at Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan on September, 30^th.

The event was attended by prof.ssa Gabriella Tona, head of Istituto Leone XIII, together with the representatives of the European Institutions and the delegations of the eight European Jesuit Schools.

After welcoming their guests, Mr. Paolo Tenconi and Mr. Antonio Bertolotti, the teachers responsible for the J.E.E.P., explained the work schedule of the following days.

After this preliminary stage, Mr. Bruno Marasà, director of Lombardia’s Representation Office for the European Parliament, and Mr. Francesco Laera, press agent of Lomardia’s Representation Office for the European Commission, warmly greeted the assembly, followed by Dott.ssa Roberta Randazzo from Trinity Viaggi Studio.

It was also a privilege to have Ms Gaela Bernini, responsible for the Social and Scientific projects at Fondazione Bracco.

Ms Patrizia Galeazzo, responsible for Expo 2015 School project, and Mr. Fabio Pizzul, member of Lombardia’s Regional Parliament, were awarded one copy of the Carta di Milano each. This document had been signed by all the Jesuit delegations to show their awareness of and their personal involvement with the Expo themes. A student from Milan handed to dott.ssa Galeazzo the Carta di Milano as a token of the commitment to Expo 2015 shared by Leone XIII and the other Jesuit schools. A student from Lituania, where the next J.E.E.P. edition will be based, offered dr. Pizzul the second copy of the Carta as a legacy for the political institutions.

A speech by Mr. Pierre Vinck, who was the head off the Jesuit College in Gent and one of the founding members of J.E.E.P., followed: he gave a moving report of the history of this project and its aims.

The ceremony ended with a Forum Debate about Expo pros and cons during which the students engaged in discussions also answering their mates’ questions.

English was the language spoken during all these activities.

A DIFFERENT IDEA OF EUROPE: THE BIRTH OF J.E.E.P. – 22nd July 2015

Summer is the best period in the year for gossip and remembrance. For this reason we would like to seize the opportunity to answer some questions that have been recently risen to our attention. What the hell is this JEEP which everybody is chatting about and for which Leone XIII is bothering (again!) to find host families? By the way, 11 places are still missing: don’t lose your opportunity to be part of the history!

Once upon a time, May 2004. The European Union gained 10 new countries out of the blue, most of them part of the burn out sovietic world, plus a couple of small islands lost in the Mediterranean Sea. In that time the importance of such an operation was not clear at all; on the contrary, to be honest, there was some confusion: Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, only a few people knew which was which, even fewer understood why all of a sudden it was not possible to write Czechoslovakia without splitting it into two parts and EU were only two almost meaningless letters and not the new political creation they actually meant. The general interest for geopolitics was very low, as well as the international activity of our school, that was linked only to the exchanges that were planned twice a year with Sint-Barbaracollege (Gent) and Aloisiuskolleg (Bonn) inside the frame of the old Comenius projects. Wonderful projects indeed, pleasant and successful, but they didn’t seem to adapt themselves to the new world any longer.

But here it is: new protagonists for new times, as it often happens! After this events JEEP was no longer the famous brand of a sport car, but our Jesuit European Educational Project, i.e. the new way the Jesuit schools used to handle the European history: let the students meet once a year in a different school, to be in continuous touch and learn how to discuss about European topics. In May 2004 Leone XIII organized the Feast of Europe to welcome the new countries: Kaunas and Gdynia immediately accepted our invitation: we consolidated our knowledge of the English language, the only way we had to communicate with our new partners, as we were already used to do with Bonn and Gent. And then in a couple of years Marseille, Barcelona, Vilnius and Miscolc followed: a rainbow from East to West, from the Mediterranean to the Baltic Sea, throughout the whole Old Continent.

The project was written on unofficial papers, i.e. two tickets of the public transports of Milano: we are proud to show these precious relics to our curious audience, attached at this news, for the first time. There was no lack of paper indeed, but we as teachers are used to enjoy common happy moments together, in places far from the usual school rooms: and we can say that the best ideas were born in unofficial situations, as it happened for the latest details of JEEP 2015 Expo edition, released in Bonn in a nice brewery in the middle of the Xmas markets and written on a couple of Bierdeck, taken under a couple of fresh Weihnachtsbier! Of course you understand we cannot show these documents for the time being: nevertheless we invite you to join us in Milano, from September 27^th through October 3^rd ,to celebrate JEEP 11^th edition: you will be able to see with your own eyes how seriously and thoroughly students coming from eight different countries prepared their topics of discussion.

And today, after that the freaky Lehmann Brothers broke the bank, while the tricky Greeks recalculate their debts and the flexible Germans restyle the Treaties, while the Italians try to conform themselves to the expectations and in all the countries a dangerous euroskeptical wind blows, we want to confirm our commitment and cry our “Yes, we believe in the European Union!”. We are not talking about market and spread, even politics and new geopolitical balances: we are talking about education. We want to educate our students to be men and women for the others and with the others inside the framework of a changing world: our students will be protagonists of future changes and they will not simply follow the drift. No regrets, no homesick, simply the search of a new home, our way to change the world. From September on.

NEW LOGO FOR THE JEEP – 15th July 2015

During the Teachers’ Session of the JEEP it was launched the new logo of the project, chosen from a wide variety of proposals.

Compared to the previous historical symbol, the new logo retains the word “JEEP” inscribed at the crown of the twelve European stars, adding in square spaces square the flags of the eight member countries, with the symbol of the Society of Jesus in white on a blue background.

The new logo of the JEEP, which will appear on every publication of the XI event, have been designed by Prof. Christian Devaux, who already composed the layout of all publications of the conference “The Jesuits and History” (May 2015).

TEACHERS’ SESSION. THE JEEP TEACHERS VISIT MILAN. 2nd July 2015

From July 2nd to 5th, the teachers from the European colleges will be hosted by Leone XIII and they will guide the various delegations in the 11th edition of JEEP in September.

The teachers (from the colleges of Bonn, Gent, Marseilles, Kaunas and Miskolc) will be involved in a work session at the school , followed by a visit to EXPO on July 3rd.

Their objective is to to plan the September work sessions well by combining experience, work practices and ideas.

Then, on September 30th , the entire delegation of ‘jeepers’ will be among the pavilions of the universal exhibition.

“BACK TO SCHOOL” THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PROJECT – 15th April 2015

In 2007 the European Parliament started an interesting and ambitous initiative called “Back to School” in order to make the history and functioning of European institutes better known. This year more than 600 Parliament officials were asked to make contact with the schools that they attended as students in order to meet the students and tell them about their own experiences, describe their curriculum and pass on knowledge from inside the continental institutions.

As written on EU website, “the idea is to “give Europe a face” and to take part in discussions with school students on European issues of interest to them.

This initiative will take place contemporarily with Europe Day on May 9th.

On May 4th at 14.30 Leone XIII will host Mrs. Barbara Roffi, Head of Promotion Sector Audiovisual Unit in the European Parliament who will meet the delegated students for the next J.E.E.P edition. This will be an excellent opportunity to take a step forward in preparing for the work sessions in September.  

THE PATRONAGE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT -19th March 2015

We are delighted and honoured to announce that the European Parliament has granted its patronage to J.E.E.P, a renowned project of the simulation of the Youth European Parliament work sessions which involves high school students from various European Jesuit schools including Leone XIII.

The 11th edition of Jeep, which will take place from September 26th to October 3rd 2015 in our school in Milan, had already obtained the EXPO 2015 patronage (the entire session will be dedicated to the theme) and the collaboration of the European Commission – Milanese Delegation.

Martin Schulz, Presiden of the European Parliament

The letter, dated March 17th 2015 signed by the President of the European Parliament, Hon. Martin Schulz in which the patronage was officially granted, was particularly significant and flattering. (It refers to the official presentation of the project which will take place on September 30th in Palazzo delle Stelline in Corso Magenta in Milan, Headquarters of the Milanese Delegation of the European Commission and the European Parliament).

READ THE LETTER of the granting of the patronage.

THE PREPARATION – February 25th 2015

The preparation of the students for the next edition of Jeep is continuing.

The meetings take place twice a week and the main topics are the birth of the idea of a United Europe thanks to the tireless contribution of the fathers of the EU, Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman, and Alicide De Gasperi, the gradual enlargement of the Union, until the joining of Croatia in 2013, and the main events and issues related to the current situation and the future perspectives which are facing Europe today.

THE CONVOCATIONS – November 15th 2014.

The J.E.E.P EXPO 2015 meetings have been branched out and the preparation officially started with the first meeting in the school on November 3rd.

This is the list of students who have been selected by the Teachers Council: Scientific section: Giovanni Friggi and Luca Piatti 4A, Stefano Malorgio and Edoardo De Cresenza 4B, Lorenzo Cogliati, Pietro Parodi and Guglielmo Buffo 4C. Classical section: Federico Cerri, Rebecca Rossi, Alessandro Spalletti, Maddalena Calafiori, Federico Colombo and Maura Cortese 4th year.

On December 3rd, the first preparatory meeting will take place guided by Mr. Tenconi and Mr. Bertolotti. Good luck to the students!

J.E.E.P. – EXPO 2015 – TO FIND OUT MORE

In 2015 the J.E.E.P. (Jesuit European Educational Project) one of the oldest projects of the European network of the Company of Jesus.

Started from a common idea by the colleagues from Milan, Gent and Bonn, JEEP is a simulation of the European Parliament work sessions where students from eight colleges of eight european countries discuss topical current events in english. They then meet to deal with these topics in a plenary assembly.

The 11th session of the JEEP work sessions will take place from September 26th to October 3rd, preceded by a teachers’ meeting of all the participating schools.

This is a new feature compared to the original timetable (where the work sessions should have taken place in March) as the whole event will revolve around the main reason for EXPO2015, Feeding the planet. Energy for life”; each delegation will address a sub-topic which will refer to the seven official Expo topics. 

The 4th year Leone XIII students will be the key players in the work sessions and they will start their preparatory work at the beginning of November 2014. All the foreign students involved in the project will be hosted by the parents of the Leone XIII students.

The project has already been granted the official EXPO 2015 patronage which has as its aim to promote culture and sense of european citizenship, through study and activities planned and carried out together in a consolidated international context.

The Milanese Contingency has also applied for patronages from the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The final stage of the work sessions will take place in the prestigious setting in the Chamber of the Regional Council of Lombardy in Palazzo Pirelli, on Friday October 2nd 2015.

Th 56 candidates will be working on the topics which are already set out in the General Candidature file of Expo 2015.

a.Scientific and technological sub-themes

Science and technology for food safety, security and quality
New Production and Trade measures to ensure food security for all (quantity and quality) and sustainable development.

Science and technology for agriculture and biodiversity
Finding a balance between agro-forestry, livestock farming, fishing, fish farming and natural resources, investigating the scientific, technological and ethical issues of sustainable development.

Innovation in the agro-food supply chain
Science, technology, traditional knowledge and new consumer needs for production processes and food products of the future.

b.Social/cultural sub-themes

Dietary education
Families, schools and universities, companies, associations and the scientific community working to improve  communication  on proper nutrition and on making conscious choices.

Food for better lifestyles
Relationship between food and health, both in terms of social systems and personal needs, aimed toward complete wellness.

Food and culture
Encounters and dialogues among the various cultural and social identities of the world regarding their food traditions. 

c.Cooperation and development

Cooperation and development on food
Development of methods and instruments for partnership cooperation, respective of the roles and characteristics of the various players and attentive to all innovation processes.

The task of each Commission will be drafting a resolution, according to the rules dictated by the European Parliament, in order to propose methods and strategies to address the subject of debate in a European perspective. These resolutions will then be debated and voted on by the Plenary Assembly of Delegates.

Currently colleges official members of the JEEP, alternating in the organization of the working sessions are Istituto Leone XIII – Milano (Italy), Sint-Barbaracollege – Gent (Belgium), Aloisiuskolleg – Bonn (Germany), École de Provence – Marseille (France), Ogolnoksztalcace Liceum Jezuitow – Gdynia (Poland), Kauna jesuitu gimnazija – Kaunas & Vilniaus jesuitu gimnazija – Vilnius (Lituania), St. Ignasi-Sarrià – Barcelona (Spain) and Fényi Gyula Jezsuita Gimnázium és Kollégium – Miscolč (Hungary).

Mr. Antonio Bertolotti (antonio.bertolotti@leonexiii.it) and Mr. Paolo Tenconi (paolo.tenconi@leonexiii.it) are in charge of the JEEP Project for the Leone XIII.