With the project ‘From ancestral to today’ the two schools Väike-Maarja Gümnaasium in Estonia and Sonkajärvi Lukio in Finland have focused on tolerance and multiculturalism. Through dialogue, creative activities and intercultural exchange, the aim of this Nordplus Junior project was to create a sense of belonging to a common Europe.

Climate change was in focus when Kursenai Laurynas Ivinskis gymnasium from Lithuania and Harjavallan Lukio from Finland initiated the project "SOS Polar Bears" in 2009. Through the Nordplus Junior mobility project comic strips, video films and a calendar have been produced to illustrate the findings in the students' work.

What is everyday life like for deaf and hard of hearing persons in different Nordic and Baltic countries? That was the starting point of a two years Nordplus Junior cooperation between schools in Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

“The argument that the arts and cultural activities are an important part of the economy has been won; now let’s ask the question, what sort of economy do we want in the future?” (Kate Oakley, 2009)

Junior Achievement Estonia has been engaged in the projects delivered by the Nordic Council of Ministers for years. The current project under the Nordplus Horizontal programme is called “Creative and entrepreneurship education in schools” and in the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 academic years we have focused on relationship marketing as a tool for entrepreneurship and business but also for teaching entrepreneurship at school. The project involves 5 countries: Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland.

The idea of the project was born from the realization how important it is for people travelling to neighboring countries to know at least several words or phrases of the country’s language. It can help make your trip much more pleasant and meaningful and feel more self-confident. Moreover, your efforts to address people in their native language will be most rewarding and people will become more open and friendly because of the respect you have exhibited for their country and culture. They will be pleased to learn that their language is important for a newcomer who has come not just for work, studies, but on a visit as well.

In 1999 Tina Sølbek Schmidt went to Iceland for a training course. As a biology teacher, she realized already at this stage what an interesting starting point a school cooperation with Iceland – with its dramatic nature so different from the Danish – would be for the biology subject. Nine years later the school management at Fredericia upper secondary school gave Tina the green light to reify her plans.

Byåsen secondary school in Norway posted a profile on the Nordplus Frameworks database. It was hoping to pair up with another school on the topic learning-related cooperation. The school, in Trondheim, did not have to wait long.

“Here is a challenge for you: you are now to do research on the Sun and the Northern Lights, and you will study and analyse real-time data. Is it possible that there will be any Northern Lights in week 47, 2009?”

This is an example of an assignment in a Polar Year contest for secondary school pupils. An inspiring learning environment that stimulates young people’s interest in science requires skilled teachers – and that is exactly what “Polar research in the classroom”, initiated by the Norwegian Centre for Space-related Education, is about. The project aims to qualify teachers in various polar-related subjects by establishing quality follow-up studies within a Nordic educational network.

14 Nordic & Baltic institutions joined forces and became one ambitious and exciting Nordplus network KUNO (Kunst Utdanninger i Norden).

Studentsand teachers have been given access to resources they may not find at their home institutions.