During fall term 2025 a group of 8 students from 9th grade and two teachers from Carlslundsskolan got the chance to travel to Berlin for a 5 day exchange. The exchanges topics revolved around aspects of sustainability, cultural heritage and EU values. 

During October 2025 our group of eight 9th-graders headed to Berlin for a five-day exchange trip focused on active citizenship and sustainability. Right from the start, the students used interactive methods like sports, discussions, and theatrical ice-breakers to get to know each other better, boost their language skills, and build strong intercultural bonds. They quickly put these skills to use in an upcycling workshop, where they got creative by crafting wallets out of old Tetrapaks, and in a collaborative workshop filled with case studies and group discussions. Working in international teams, the students tackled school-related environmental issues together, gaining a much clearer understanding of waste reduction and its impact on the planet. This hands-on teamwork gave the Swedish students a genuine look into the unique challenges faced by their peers from Spain and Germany, and reflection sessions later showed that everyone walked away with a deeper sense of what it means to be a responsible EU citizen.

Beyond the eco-projects, the students stepped out of their comfort zones to deliver formal English presentations about their home schools in Barcelona, Umeå, and Berlin, which they paired with a student-led tour of the host school. They further explored themes of globalization and modern identity during an interactive visit to the Berlin Global exhibition at the Humboldt Forum. Of course, no trip to Berlin is complete without diving into its history, so the group hopped on bikes for a guided tour of the city, which included an incredible opportunity to visit an authentic WWII bunker. Exploring these historical sites firsthand sparked deep conversations, upgraded their vocabulary, and helped them see how local history connects to a larger global context. Finally, to tie everything together, the students took part in lessons about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall before paying a meaningful visit to the Berlin Wall Memorial.