Partners

Regional District “Nadezda”

Regional District “Nadezda” is one of the 24 districts of Sofia Municipality. The Education Department of the District is responsible for 12 municipal kindergartens, 9 public schools, 6 community centers and Metropolitan Centre for work with children. On the territory of the district operate also 3 private schools.

“Nadezda” focuses much of the industry in Sofia. Commercial warehouses and large trading complex run there activity in the district. The population of the district is multicultural with many people from migrant origin, engaged in trading and small commercial business. As a result of this citizens from various nationalities and their families live in the area: Chinese, Vietnamese, Afghans, Nigerians, Ethiopians, Iraqis, Libyans, Syrians, and other. Children from these nationalities attend the kindergartens and schools in the district. Representatives of the biggest national minorities in the country – Turkish and Roma – also live in the area. About 4,5% of the children engaged in education in the district are with Roma origin, according to the self-definition of their parents (In fact, their number is bigger, but this information can’t be corroborated since for ethical reasons the ethnic identity is subject of self-definition). The schools in the district work on programs and projects concerning integration and socialization of children and pupils with minority origin, and for increasing the efficiency of the educational process.

The Education Department of the District administration, supports and contributes to the realization of the projects implemented by all schools and kindergartens in promoting the efficiency of the education. Some of the projects implemented during the last years are: 1. BG051RO001-3.1.03-0001 project “Qualification of pedagogical specialists”, co-financed by the ESF OP “Human Resources Development” project BG051RO001-4.2.05-0001 2. “Let’s make school attractive to young people” – School of self-affirmation and preparation for European Horizons / SUCCESS / co-financed by the ESF OP “human resources Development”.

Intercultural Cooperation Foundation (ICCF)

Intercultural Co-operation Foundation (ICCF) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation established in 2003. It is active in implementation of educational projects on international and national scale, supporting implementation of modern educational practices that help teachers to answer more adequately to the learners’ needs in the dynamic and ever changing contemporary world. Some of the objectives of ICCF are to support establishing of relations of tolerance, agreement, mutual respect and cooperation in national, regional, European and international aspect; to encourage and support the free exchange of ideas and good practices; to assist to sustainable development and progress of the society throughout initiatives that contribute to the dissemination of knowledge, etc. On national level ICCF cooperates with educational institutions (schools and universities), other non-profit organisations, municipal authorities and Regional departments of education.

Since its establishing, ICCF has been initiator and partner in twelve international projects, supported by the EC in the frames of Socrates program and LLP. Some of these projects are in the field of multilingualism and intercultural problematic, others address the issues related to teachers’ qualification and producing of teaching materials and resources.

On national level ICCF cooperates with local administration and regional educational authorities for implementation of projects addressing cultural and social integration of children and young people frоm the national minorities. Since 2007 the organisation was initiator and partner of activities in the frames of three projects in this field, implemented with the financial support of the national Center for Educational Integration of Children and Students from the Ethnic Minorities.

PANEPISTIMIO KRITIS (University of Crete)

The University of Crete is a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented public educational institution. Established in 1973, the University now has 17 Departments in 5 Schools (Philosophy, Education, Social Sciences, Sciences & Engineering, and Medicine) as well as a number of affiliated institutions, including the Skinakas Observatory, the Natural History Museum, and the University General Hospital.

Scope of work
Research and research training activities at the University of Crete are organized along the lines of the Divisions within each Department. Research activity varies from curiosity-driven to practice-based projects or working in collaboration with research groups from other institutions. These collaborations mirror the increasingly multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary character of both basic and applied research, which is also reflected in the interdisciplinary character of many of the University’s postgraduate studies programmes. Consistent with its research orientation, the University of Crete is the first Greek University to have signed the EU Charter and the Code for the recruitment of researchers, and forms part of the EURAXESS European network for the mobility of researchers. The University fully participates in quality assurance mechanisms and is committed to meeting quality standards both for its academic and administrative structures.

The Department of Preschool Education is one of the 17 Departments of the University of Crete.
It has a two-fold aim: (a) to provide quality teaching and initial training and preparation for its students and (b) to promote educational research and pedagogic applications. The Department holds and runs successfully and generates a great amount of research work in 4 research laboratories: (a) Pedagogical-Educational Research and Applications, (b) Research in Psychology, (c) Research on Drama and Artistic/Aesthetics Education, (d) Music and Psycho-kinetics Education. The Centre specializes in: (a) General Education, Preschool Curricula and Praxis, (b) Education for Special Needs young children, with an emphasis on early intervention programmes. The Department of Preschool Education at the University of Crete cooperates on Research with several universities in the following countries: UK, Canada, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Malta, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Finland, Canada, the USA and Cyprus.

Fondazione Nazionale Carlo Collodi (FNCC)

The Fondazione Nazionale Carlo Collodi (FNCC) is a private Italian non-profit organisation established by President of the Italian Republic in 1962. It is a Cultural Institution of National Interest on the basis of its activities since 1990. Its mission is to promote the culture of and for children in Italy and worldwide through the character of Pinocchio and his adventures, created by Carlo Lorenzini aka Collodi, who took his pen name from the native village of his mother in Tuscany, where he spent his childhood and the FNCC has its official seat. In Collodi, FNCC created, owns and manages a park of art and architecture dedicated to Pinocchio, which is also a venue for children with their families or schools to experience informal or non-formal learning context and activities.

The educational aims and the arts in the work of Carlo Collodi led FNCC also to research on educational methodologies which have been taught to teachers and piloted in cooperation with several schools. Since 2009 this is the core of several EU funded projects which FNCC cooperated to design and implement, in the framework of LLP 2007-2013 first, then of ERASMUS+.

FNCC coordinated the CMP projects: “P.IN.O.K.I.O” on collective narrative creation and sharing both in classroom and by the web for intercultural and social inclusion; “ARTinED” to develop a methodology and a training course for teachers based on a creative use of the arts as a key component of curriculum subjects in primary school; it has been a partner in GMP “ALICE-Adult Learning for Intergenerational Creative Experiences” and in “ARTES” for the dissemination of excellent projects in education. Presently besides the MOV-UP project FNCC is partner in: “ARTinED online” to create an online e-learning platform providing teachers training in the ARTinED methodology; “META” for arts as inclusive tool for children from minority backgrounds in primary schools; “T&D Stories” on Theatre and Digital Storytelling for social inclusion and training of disadvantaged adults.

ASİST ÖĞRETİM KURUMLARI A.Ş.

ASİST ÖĞRETİM KURUMLARI A.Ş. is the managing company, which stays behind Doğa Schools – a chain of schools with 104 campuses all around Turkey, 2 campuses in Cyprus and Doğa College in Canada. The schools in total have 7500 staff members and educate 75.000 students from kindergartens to the end of the high-school education cycle.

The aim of Doğa Schools is to provide pupils with competencies that they can become multi-directional, participative, creative and sensitive individuals of the future. The active citizenship and values based education are among the main principled of the educative process, which aims to educate responsible citizens. The teaching staff and the management of the institution are actively engaged in development and implementation of innovative teaching concepts. Two of these concepts are the most important for students’ development and complement each other: Natural Learning Concept (NLC) and MBA for teenagers (t-MBA).

The NLC is the primary education model of Doğa Schools in which learning is inspired and supported by interaction with nature, which is an active component of the curriculum. Children who grow in big cities are removed from nature, so the NLC curriculum supports awareness of the natural processes and life-cycles, the interdependence of the man and nature, responsible use of resources. The NLC actively applies the learning by doing approach, and focuses on development of the learners’ critical thinking, self-confidence and self-reliance.

Important aspect of the pre-primary and primary school concept at Doga schools is the notion that happy children are better learners. Promoting students’ social and emotional skills through the educational process plays important role in the educational concept of Doga schools as an important means for engagement in the education and also for advancement of students’ academic performance.

The t-MBA program is another original educational concept, created by Doga Schools for students from 9th to 11th grade to help students focus their studies on their future profession and to take courses following their own career plan. The t-MBA program is also focused on helping students’ to understand the society’s needs, to help them grow as socially responsible and better skilled young citizens, which is in line with the goals set by the strategic framework of Education and training 2020.

NLC and t-MBA complement each other in a way that students are first equipped with the skills for critical thinking, self-confidence, self-reliance and willingness to learn, and then they acquire entrepreneurial skills, creative thinking, goal setting, abilities for team-work and active citizenship.

Following their program for social responsibility and exchange of experience, Doga Schools collaborate with public schools, regional and national educational directorates, NGOs for education and engage in social campaigns. For example, the Provincial directorate for national education in Istanbul and Doga Schools have been cooperating on the project May All Your Dreams Come True to reduce the early school leaving and making formal education attractive for the students from disadvantaged districts. Doga Schools also cooperate with the Research and Application Centre for Street Children at Maltepe University in Istanbul.

University of Malta, Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health

The Centre for Resilience and Social and Emotional Health at the University of Malta seeks to develop and promote social and emotional health and resilience in children and young people. It operates as a transdisciplinary research centre tapping into the various strands of research and expertise provided by the different disciplines in the field, and conducts research and development work in the area, seeking to address local and national needs while contributing to knowledge in the international domain. The Centre seeks to establish collaborative partnerships with local, European and international researchers and practitioners in the promotion of socio-emotional health and resilience in school children and young persons, with links to European, American, and Australian researchers and institutions. It was the coordinator of an EU IRSES three year research project on the promotion of mental health in schools with two British universities and two Australian universities (PMHS), and presently the coordinator of another EU funded LLP Comenius project on the development of a resilience curriculum for European schools involving six European universities (RESCUR). It is also a partner in another LLP Comenius project on teacher resilience (ENTRÉE), and in an international study on child wellbeing (Children’s World). The Centre also publishes the International Journal of Emotional Education, an international, online, open access, peer reviewed journal.

Panevėžio rajono švietimo centras (PRSC)

Panevezys District Education Centre is a public and non-profit organization established by the Council of Panevezys District Municipality in 1995 and located in Panevezys City, Lithuania. The purposes of the Centre are to develop professional competence of the members of schools communities and promote the dissemination of perspective pedagogical innovations. The centre provides an in-service training for 30 educational communities situated mainly in Panevezys District.

The Centre strives to develop professional competence of different community groups (youth, members of school communities, seniors) and promote dissemination of innovations in education. The activities of the Centre respond to the priorities of national education, school needs and individual trainees’ and the vision of a life-long learning society. The Centre sees its principal task to offer timely trainings, workshops, seminars, internship. The service of freelance experts of education and acknowledged trainers-practitioners is available for both district teachers and school managers.

The team of the Centre offers research activities and learning projects, developing cooperation among different community groups, governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and foreign partners. It responds to the needs of educational community, regarding qualification, professional and cultural aspects.

The Centre continuously participates in national and foreign projects and programmes and its staff members disseminate experience in international conferences. In 2012–2014 Panevezys District Education Centre together with its partners from Spain, Poland and Portugal implemented Grundtvig learning project ,,Adult Education Pathways Toward 2020”. The EU Education Committee Directorate announced the project as a success story. The Directorate manager Michal Krejza in his letter to every partner-country expressed his gratitude for innovative results and creative attitude. In the platform of project results this one was identified as a good example for different education organizations, implementing Erasmus+ projects.

Education Centre coordinates Panevezys district Third Age University as well as Panevezys district non-formal аdult learning.