A group of Leytonstone students had a mock parliamentary debate with pupils from a German school using Skype, last Friday.
Working together with their German counterparts, the students debated and developed environmental policies for Europe.
To help prepare for the event London MEP Mary Honeyball spent Friday afternoon 5 February 2010, with 15 students of Lammas School and Sports College offering advice on debating skills, helping them to explore environmental issues, and explaining a little bit about the European Parliament.
The event culminated with the students from Lammas school, and Gymnasium Hamm Europaschule in Hamburg in Germany, voting on the policies they developed during the online debate.
Speaking about the debate Mary Honeyball said:
“Projects like this play a crucial role in bringing the spirit of the EU to life by showing the real benefits of cross-country debates in addressing such important issues as the environment.
"I’m delighted that the students from this school will have a chance to learn more about the EU an I hope this will engage their political interest.”
The debate forms part of a bigger project called the Young Ideas for Europe project, an international programme which aims to raise awareness of the EU, which is run in conjunction with the Citizenship Foundation.