The Schools Project
Students who live beside ancient sites become their ambassadors — presenting their heritage to peers on other continents, and discovering how much it is admired.
- Direction
- Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) & IIMAS
- 2024 edition
- 8 schools · 4 countries · 3 continents
- Cities
- Athens, Bergamo, Pavia, Qamishli, Los Angeles
- Recognition
- ILUCIDARE Special Prize 2020 (Europa Nostra)
How it works
Each participating class prepares a presentation about the heritage on its own doorstep — a tell in Syria, a Roman street in Italy, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. Then the classes meet online, present to one another, and answer each other's questions. The exchange runs both ways: everyone teaches, everyone learns.
Why it matters
For students living near archaeological sites, the project turns a familiar mound of earth into a source of pride: something the world wants to hear about, explained by them. For their partner classes abroad, Syria and Lebanon stop being headlines and become classmates.
Visits that bring it home
Site visits are a regular part of the project: classes living near Tell Mozan come to walk the excavation with our local archaeologist as their guide. In December 2024, for example, participating students from Qamishli explored the site — and many stood inside a royal palace for the first time in their lives, one that has been part of their own landscape all along.
