Europe aims to raise awareness in the educational and cultural communities of the potential value of using new online technologies as teaching, learning and discovery resources. These include the use of the Internet, videoconferencing and new audiovisual tools. These included schools, youth clubs, museums, cinemas, opera houses and vocational training centres. The initiative includes a communication campaign that encourages partnerships between a variety of organizations in the private and public sectors. The Commission also provides financial support to some of the projects, which have to involve at least three partners from different European countries.
Priority is given to the educational content of projects rather than to the technology.
The 'Guardians of the Millennium' project was an online adventure about space. Over 35,000 students all over the world had access to information about galaxies, the solar system, comets and other planets. The underlying theme was to develop a peaceful approach to outer space exploration and the resolution of territorial conflicts in space. These included demonstrations of how the Internet relates to youth training, employment opportunities and the development of foreign languages. This provided the opportunity for all involved to showcase their projects and to exchange ideas and information about their interests in the areas of education and culture.