This is the second newsletter of VINA project, on which you can find more information at www.vinaproject.eu. The first newsletter was published in March 2017 and gave an overview about the aims of the project, activities and partner organizations. This newsletter is about following actions, meetings and examples of the most interesting tools for the database of the project.
Meeting in London
In September 2017, a second meeting of partner organizations was held in London. Outputs 1 and 2 were discussed in two working sessions. A review on the first activities of the Output 1 was given, as well as an overview on Output 2 – Recognition Opportunities tendency Analyzer (R.O.T.A.) and on Communication/Management Platform. The partners created a General Evaluation plan.
Meeting in Athens
The third meeting took place in Athens and was organized for 2 days in February 2018. A Database of Instruments and a communication platform were discussed, as well as the Analyzer. The division of next tasks was also agreed.
The next meeting will take place in September 2018 in Poland.
Validation of Education of Informal and Nonformal Learning
One of the outputs we are currently developing is a Database of Instruments for Validating Informal and Non-formal Learning, which will be a repository of recognition tools applicable in informal and non-formal learning. It will gather tools, collect the instruments developed as a result of projects funded by the EU and by local organizations, independent experts, enthusiasts, etc. It will make a qualitative evaluation of the collected tools and provide recommendations for users and provide users with the possibility to comment and evaluate collected tools, as well as to add a new instrument and create recommendations.
You can see how the database will look like:
Each partner organization was given a different area of Europe where they carried out an in-depth research on existing databases, searching for results related to non-formal and informal learning area from outside the world of EU projects with using work groups.
You can have a look on two examples of tools:
The National Register of Qualifications (from the Czech Republic) – a public register of complete and partial professional qualifications existing on the labour market in the Czech Republic and their assessment standards. It is a continuously built, state-supported register which can be used by citizens and employers. It allows candidates to obtain a nationally recognized certificate of their professional qualifications gained in non-formal education.
The Croatian Qualifications Framework – a reform instrument for regulating the system of qualifications at all levels in the Republic of Croatia through qualifications standards based on learning outcomes and following the needs of the labour market, individuals and society.
For more information about the project please visit us at – www.vinaproject.eu – or contact us via the coordinator at – info@associazioneeuro.org or via one of our partner organisations.
In May, ERA sent a Czech participant to another two-week training under the Grow Your Raw project, which took place in Bordeaux, France. The project is focused on the development of start-up businesses in the field of organic production and sustainable development. Mr. Daniel, whose company produces chilli peppers, has visited a number of French organic companies together with a group of other European participants and has been inspired by their experiences, ideas and new projects. Participants visited vineyard specialized in organic and biodynamic winegrowing, permaculture garden, saffron farm, wine museum, farm producing organic vegetable, bio-bee farm, company producing cognac and much more.
On 3rd and 4th May, the second transnational meeting of 3DP-Help Erasmus+ project took place in Iasi, Romania. All 5 partner organizations, coming from the Czech Republic, Malta, Romania, Lithuania and Croatia, encountered to discuss the results achieved. The main aim of the project is precisely concerned in developing training material to help Adult trainers to attract, reach out and assist adult learners to catch up with the 21st Century digital skills of 3D-printing. In this phase the attention has been concentrated on the first two outputs realized according to the project plan.
The first one, Guidelines on the use of 3D printing in Adult education, based on partners experience and on preliminary studies carried out was led by the Maltese organization MECB Ltd, however, all partners contributed to this part of the project.
The second output, Case Studies for Adult Education was led by Romanian organization Ludor Engineering SRL. A survey to identify the most relevant case studies relative to the uses of 3D Printing was performed and the selected case studies were analyzed in order to find out best practices and other useful ideas for the 3DP course.
The European Development Agency, lead partner of the whole project, is the organization responsible for the third output: Curriculum of a 3DP Course Adult Training, which now be developed.
The ideas are growing up and we are on the right track, ready to move forward.
You can find more information on the website of the project: http://3dhelp.euda.eu/, and Facebook page of the project: https://www.facebook.com/3DHelp.Enhancing.EU.Employability/.
European Development Agency, s.r.o. arranged a study internship for students of secondary
vocational school from Poland. The internship took place from the end of April till the beginning of
May 2018 for a period of three weeks, which was mainly focused on practical training. This mobility
was carried out within the "Eurostażysta", within the Operational Programme Knowledge Education
Development, funded by the Operational Program for Knowledge Education Development (PO WER
2014-2020), which is in line with the Erasmus + rules.
16 students from the 3rd year of the school Zespól Szkól Technicznych from the town Suwalki took
part in the internship, accompanied by two teachers. The students were from the fields of
construction, electrical engineering, and renewable energy sources. During the internship, they were
in two of Prague's secondary schools, SPŠE V úžlabině and SPŠ stavební Josefa Gočára.
For the participants of the internship, a very interesting program was prepared, where besides day to
day lessons, leisure activities were also included. As a tour of Prague with a Polish guide and a trip to
Kutná Hora also with a Polish guide. During this trip, students had the opportunity not only to visit
the Constance and St. Barbara's Church, but also to explore the historic city.
Due to the excellent organization of the European Development Agency, the students have gained
many valuable experiences, as many students have been living abroad for the first time, where they
have come into contact with a foreign language, culture and the environment of a large city.
Students enjoyed their classes and their stay in Prague.
The second transnational meeting of all partner organizations will take place from May 3rd – 4th,
2018 in Iasi, Romania. Representatives of all partner organizations from 5 different countries (Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia, Lithuania, Malta) will participate.
The project started in November 2017 and during the first half of the year, the first two intellectual outputs were being worked out and all partners were contributing and cooperating on the content. The first output IO1 was led by MECB (Malta based Excellence Consulting Bureau) and provides us with guidelines on the use of 3D printing in Adult education, while the second output IO2 was led by a Romanian organization Ludor Engineering, which provides case-studies identification and analysis using of the 3D printing. During the meeting, each partner organization will present an overview of their work, obstacles and results. Both outputs will be discussed in Iasi. At the same time, further results will be discussed, such as IO3, for
which the EUDA will be responsible.
You can find more information on our website: http://euda.eu/3d-help/, on the website of the project: http://3dhelp.euda.eu/, and Facebook page of the project: https://www.facebook.com/3DHelp.Enhancing.EU.Employability/.
A lot has been already said about CREA.T.Y.V. project. This time we would like to share that on Moday 23rd April EUDA successfully finished the last intergenerational workshop. The Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin prepared a perfect manual which we followed during the four workshops. Thanks to well-structured instructions the participants experienced an entertaining and quite motivating workshops. The responses were positive with special emphasis on interactivity. We were happy to see that a lot of participants made new friends and that they established new friendships despite age differences.
At the beginning of February EUDA team composed of 3 mentors attended event “Train of Trainers” in Dublin. Cold but sunny weather in their free time didn´t stop them from sightseeing Dublin beauty such as Half Penny Bridge or legendary Temple Bar. Training lasted throughout the whole week and attenders from partner countries learned how to host and lead workshops. New experiences gained this week will be put in practice during pilot workshop in the Czech Republic.
There will be 4 workshops – motivational, inspirational, intergenerational and evaluating. Motivational workshop will be open for people in the age of 18-25, who face all sorts of life issues. Inspirational workshop will be only for volunteers among elderly citizens, who are enthusiastic and courageous enough to support youth in becoming independent. At the same time, elderly will encourage youngsters into volunteering and explain them that even a small step can change their lives. Afterwards intergenerational workshop will take place and both groups will meet each other and work on given tasks by EUDA mentors. The last but not the least evaluating workshop will happen. Participants interested in volunteering will be introduced to organizations working with volunteers and time for their feedback will be also included.
The 5th of December is a very special day for Czech childern and their parents. Every Czech household is visited by St. Nicholas with his companions, angel and devil, who reward the well-behaved kids and punish the mis-behaved ones.
However, there is something more about this day apart from the Czech custom. The 5th of December is the world’s International Volunteer Day and we would like to thank to all these people who devote their leisure time to volunteer duties. These people work for free to serve our society and to make the world a better place to live. Their volunteering activites may vary greatly, yet there is one common thing for them all – they ask nothing in exchange for their work and time.
EUDA participates in an Erasmus + project on volunteering and we know what it takes to be a volunteer. Therefore, we would like to thank you all and wish you a happy Volunteer Day!
Please read more about CREA.T.Y.V.
On Wednesday, November 15th the EUDA team was glad to host the representatives of Easy School of Languages from Valletta, Malta. The seminar took place at Střední průmyslová škola in Prague, and welcomed some seventy-five enthusiastic teachers as participants.
After a brief introductory video showing the beauties of Malta and the advantages the Easy School of Languages provides, the representatives of the School, Ms. Galeann Barbara and Ms. Rita Ramelyte went on to describe the main features of their Institute, such as the pretty location, the comfortable accommodation options and, of course, the different types of English courses the School offers.
Among them, the most popular and the main topic of the seminar, was the Teacher Training course: the School works with teachers from various countries and different backgrounds to help them improve their language skills and the quality of English language teaching.
The presentation was very much appreciated by the participants, and the seminar continued with Mr. Martin Synkule explaining what EUDA can do for those interested in taking one of the courses presented, and how this fits in the framework of EUDA’s work within the Erasmus+ Program.
Finally, the Q&A session led to an enthusiastic debate among the participating teachers, who were able to further understand the structure of the courses, the functioning of Erasmus+ and the advantages that the Easy School of Languages and EUDA can provide.
During the days of Thursday and Friday, November 9-10th 2017, the EUDA team took part in the second Partners’ Meeting for CREA.T.Y.V. – Creative Drama for Training Young Volunteers in Intergenerational Learning Environments, in Prague, Czech Republic.
The project, and the partners involved from Romania, Italy, Ireland and the Czech Republic, aims at fostering inclusive education of young people who live on the edge of the society.
After a brief catching-up session, followed by a welcoming introduction, the partners were able to evaluate their own work and progress thanks to the review of an internal evaluation questionnaire, and to further discuss possible improvements.
The main features of the project were discussed, such as the drafting of the E-Book that will ultimately describe an education program that will provide new learning opportunities in volunteering in an intergenerational mentoring approach through creative drama.
Later, the representatives of The Gaiety School of Acting presented the structure of the planned Workshops and introduced the pilot project.
After a quick lunch the partners went back to discuss the main details of CREA.T.Y.V., such as communication strategy, timetable and selection procedures.
Finally, the partners discussed the future planned mobilities and how to approach them.
Last but not least, all the partners decided to go for a walk to explore the beauties of Prague, and finalized the meeting with an authentic Czech dinner.