"Dreaming of Elefsina" (Photos: Natalia Mantikou)

"Our city, Elefsina"

Our school is located in Elefsina which is a town and municipality about 20 km NW of Athens.It is located near the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf and is the seat of administration of West Attica Prefecture. 

 It is best known for having been the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most famous religious center of ancient Greece.

It was also the birth place of Aeschylus, one of the three great tragedians of antiquity.

Elefsina is the town where the majority of crude oil in Greece is imported and refined. The refinery nearest to the city is on its west side.

  The greater region of Elefsina is called West Attica, (population 150,000 - 1.5%, area 1000km2 - o.7%) and is mainly industrial area. It is estimated that in this area 40% of the total GDP of Greece is produced. Thus the main occupation of people has to do with industry.

Elefsina currently is the city with the highest ever officially recorded temperature in Europe of 48.0΄C (118.4 `F) on 10 July 1977.

The motivation of the project "Europe Without Prejudices"

We are partners in a project with other partners from different parts of Europe (Greece, Germany, Estonia and Polland). We aim to introduce the students as not just Greek, German, Estonian or Polish but European citizens and allow the students to meet and work with pupils and peers from the partner countries.

We want to develop our schools in an European dimension and to set an example of good practice. We want to show that cultural, social and leligious prejudices can be overcome by both students and teachers, through effective cooperation, dialogue, team work in order to accomplish some common final products, and by cultural exchanges, meant to provide first hand experience regarding different lifestyles and mentalities.


There is a wider world outside the borders of the countries, and in all partner schools we want everyone to understand what makes us national and European, and at the same time to let students immerse in the cultures and traditions of the other partners, thus overcoming prejudices and ignorance.


Our schools would like to open a window towards Europe in order to help the students involved in the project develop an active citizenship regarding the theme of our project.


The major goal of the project is to teach students how to appreciate cultural diversity, how to understand people with a different historical, religious, social and cultural background, and to learn to appreciate the customs and mentalities of different people, tolerate them or even make friends with them.


The project is also meant to improve student's creative abilities and their team building skills beyond borders, by urging them to use the latest technology and a common foreign language in order to accomplish the objectives of the project.


As a result of the project the students will also increase their self confidence and self respect, because they will get involved in activities which will challenge them to use new pedagogical methods of learning and communicating. They will also be more motivated to take part in other European projects and to get better and better results in their developments as European citizens and in their personal life.


Last but not least both students and parents will be able to measure the results of their work and to understand which changes they have to undergo in order to make a difference in their local community regarding attitude towards people from their own town who have a different religion or ethnical background, for example.

(The motivation of the project "Europe Without Prejudices" as it is described in the Application Form to the European Commission by the coordinators of the project)