A European research project involving 9 European countries, 120 schools, 18000 students and 2400 teachers aimed at improving students’  achievements and well-being in their educational environments. Criticalities, weaknesses and needs will be analysed  to understand and improve the caring dimension of educational inclusion and school success.

Let’s Care project, funded by the program Horizon Europe, has the ambitious goal of tackling the increasing under-achievement and early school leaving rates, by promoting the building of the Safe School model: a caring educational environment in an effective relational and emotional context to fosters inclusion and motivation.

From early childhood through secondary school and beyond, Let’s Care aims to pinpoint the factors behind underachievement, disengagement, or dropping out of school taking into consideration four different pillars: individual, relational, community, and political. Additionally, the project advocates for innovative research to promote safe learning, safe teaching, safe schools and safe education by establishing emotionally secure relationships as the foundation for teaching. In situations of vulnerability and social disadvantage, building emotionally supportive relationships within a ‘safe school’ can play a crucial role in reversing these dynamics.

The implementation of the project Let’s Care will take place over the next 3 years. The preparatory work, carried out in 9 countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands), laid the scientific foundations of the research by creating the first community of schools, carrying out preliminary theoretical and field research and developing the online hub that will gather training material, good practices and discussion space for the 2400 participating teachers. The objective is to identify the actions to be implemented to improve the relationships between teachers and pupils, school and families, local communities and politics. These actions will result in a lively and constructive environment, where all the students, even the ones from culturally and socially disadvantaged backgrounds, can express their talents, inclinations and abilities.

Students who currently experience a positive school environment and recognize their abilities and potential are likely to evolve into proactive, open-minded, and respectful citizens in the future. Essential to realizing this ambitious yet vital objective is the active involvement of the broader social community connected to the school. This, indeed, is the sole indispensable factor for cultivating a healthy, democratic, inclusive, and secure society. Let’s Care project will engage with over 300 stakeholders, encompassing public authorities, non-governmental and civil society organizations, teachers’ and parents’ associations, as well as academic institutions. The next steps of the project will include the active participation of the schools involved in practical workshops, training courses and conferences. In each participating country, safe teaching training courses will be organized in presence and online, based on innovative training materials and assessment tools.  National Conferences will then take place in each member country to disseminate the LET’S CARE model and results and to train teachers, educators and researchers to the use of the different tools. Furthermore, in 2024 the International Teachers’ Forum will be held in Verona, where teachers from all over Europe will introduce and share the Safe Teaching practices experimented and applied in their own countries. The final LET’S CARE International Conference will take place in Spain in 2026 and will involve education stakeholders, decision and policy makers, together with the representatives of other European projects.