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e-DARE
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One of the most active DARE members, Partners Bulgaria Foundation, invited us to take part in the closing event for their Interethnic Interaction Programme, which was carried out from 14-15 June 2007 in Sofia. DARE members had the opportunity to share the experiences of this seven-year programme and to get in touch with partners and supporters of an educational concept which contributed in a sustainable way to intercultural understanding between ethnic minorities in Bulgaria thus fostering democracy and giving roots to human rights. More detailed information you find in the article by Corina Leca below.
DARE combined the closing event of the Interethnic Interaction Programme with our annual General Assembly. Despite the difficult conditions at present the meeting was a sign of the commitment and ongoing activity of network members. Looking back at the past year it turned out that many activities instigated by individual member organisations have taken place, which goes to emphasise both the recognition achieved by DARE and the importance of EDC/HRE. In Croatia a manual was published 111 steps to Democracy. Another member was invited to get involved in the development of EDC/HRE quality assurance indicators on the strength of her contributions in the context of DARE. In the UK citizenship manifestoes supported democratic education in schools. Ou Czech member institution pursued Tolerance in the multicultural society of Central Europe, reflecting a topic which has been (and still is) one of the main topics on DARE's agenda.
These are examples which showed something DARE is still missing: a structured way of giving feedback on these activities and a way to collect and to specify members' projects and programmes in education for democracy and human rights.
A thematic workshop therefore took place between the formal sessions of the General Assembly. In this workshop the resources of the DARE network and the missing elements were analysed and practical conclusions drawn. These later were included in the agenda of the General Assembly. Decisions on them were taken by the general Assembly and will be implemented in the work plan for the coming year.
In addition the General Assembly followed the recommendation of the board to postpone the elections. A letter has been sent already to members explaining the procedure and appealing to all of them to take an active part in the election and to nominate candidates for the new board.
The General Assembly focused in particular on:
Sofia has been a very productive and inspiring meeting with a pragmatic and at the same time creative approach to overcome obstacles. In particular it became obvious that we should use the existing capacities of DARE in a better way in order to remain independent. We felt strengthened on the way ahead. Nevertheless we still hope for good news with regard to the last funding proposal.
Best wishes for a relaxing time of holidays and a sunny summer!
Hannelore Chiout, DARE chairperson, Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten (Germany)
The Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools is currently involved in the distribution of an educational package which aims at raising awareness among high school teachers and students on human rights issues and on trafficking in women and young people.
The toolkit with the title "Human Rights and Trafficking in Women and Young People in Europe" has been developed by the University of Padua (Italy) in cooperation with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (Austria), the Association Human Rights-Human Development of Padua (Italy) and the La Strada Foundation (a Foundation against Trafficking in Women) of Warsaw (Poland). It contains information material and methods that can help teachers acquire the basic knowledge on the issue and stimulate in students different levels of consciousness regarding human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The materials are available in print and in digital format in German, Italian and Polish. Part of the toolkit is also available in English, though only in digital format. The German version of the toolkit can be ordered from the Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools
For further information (in German) please visit the site of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, where you will also
find the links to the materials in English, Italian and Polish.
Dorothea Steurer, Zentrum polis - Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools, Vienna, Austria
Twelve people representing eight DARE members participated in the latest General Assembly and in the Interethnic Interaction closing event held in Sofia between the 14th and 16th June. Both meetings were hosted in a wlecoming way and generously supported by Partners Bulgaria Foundation. In spite of the modest participation, DARE has met some important outcomes:
A. The very diverse local projects and activities run by Partners Bulgaria and many local entities (NGOs and state bodies) and funded by USAID showed us the genuine faces of the multicultural Balkans. Like the documentary movie presented in the first day Faces of Bulgaria, the thirteen speakers who introduced examples of success stories illustrated a very powerful approach employed by the above mentioned programme: identifying and addressing specific problems of local communities by using foreign money/grants and domestic energy are learning opportunities that trigger new investments and intellectual contributions. From mediation centers to cooperative planning; from inclusive policies to inter-religious dialogue; from traditional crafts to tiles and concrete articles; from pastries to ornamental trees and herbs; from computing to sports, health services or cooking, everybody (child, old person, disabled, mayor, teacher, Roma, Turk or Christian, farmer, researcher, religious leader, tailor, dancer, worker etc.) participates in getting closer to his/her fellow citizens or peers. Mediation, human rights, participative methods, sociological studies are not abstract or political concepts used by specialists in conferences and workshops, they produce jobs, medical care centres, dozens of small businesses, extracurricular activities and, even more valuable, people who trust themselves and their peers because they achieve various things together. Besides the extremely efficient Bulgarian experience we were also impressed by the report of the Partners for Democratic Change from Slovakia. The analytical way of presenting good and unhappy lessons they have learnt make us believe they are a real example of sustainability.
B. The DARE General Assembly and workshop took place under the uncertainty of getting the second Grundtvig 4 grant. Although subsequent to September 2006 when the EU grant was over, DARE lost the comfort of undertaking financially covered activities, the participating members were very willing and deeply motivated to overcome the current situation. Besides the often mentioned but never brought into life common projects, the alternatives suggested by the chair (Hannelore Chiout) and some members envisage:
DARE, as any other multicultural community, has many face(t)s that depict different contents depending on the intersection between internal needs and views and environment. It is time now to give a pragmatic head of steam to the network and show practitioners the most realistic and effective ways to make a difference in EDC and HRE.
Corina Leca, CRED, Romania
5. European Democratic School Development Project
The study may be downloaded from www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk
For more information, please contact:
Ted Huddleston, Citizenship Foundation, UK
6. Nice set of drawings on children's rights
Nice set of illustrators on children's rights
VORMEN recently produced a series of drawings on children's rights, for educational use. Of course in Dutch, but we produced an equivalent in English. We are in the process of developing a series of products derived from them: webpages, a quartet game, etc. The English version can be seen in PowerPoint version and in QuickTime. (url's still to be added)
Interested in getting a version in your own language? or in a presentation on a conference or seminar? Contact us
Wim Taelman, VORMEN (Belgium)
8. Web database 'Human Rights Actors in Switzerland'
This new database locates state and non-state institutions and organisations that are committed to the advancement of human rights in Switzerland and elsewhere.
Are you looking for a type of organisation in Switzerland but you don't remember its name or you're not sure where to start the search? The 'Human Rights Actors in Switzerland' database will help you to refine your search - offering advanced filtering criteria such as regional scope, main activities, target groups or specific human rights issues. The focus of work can for instance be information, training, counselling or research in the area of human rights. The organisation(s) listed are presented in a comprehensive form, including not only a brief description and contact information but also cooperation possibilities, current projects, and much more.
The web database 'Human Rights Actors in Switzerland' was created in September 2006 and is managed by the Swiss organisation Humanrights.ch/MERS. Founded in 1999, it aims to promote human rights in Switzerland by raising awareness of public opinion on human rights issues and sharing information with NGOs and other interested people (its website www.humanrights.ch being a comprehensive information portal). Humanrights.ch also coordinates and compiles complementary NGO reports about human rights conventions. Another important field of activity is organising projects in the field of education on human rights.
Caroline Eichenberger Fuhrer, Humanrights.ch / MERS (Switzerland)
10. European Project Planning training course (Florence, Italy)
Edition 12: 26th - 30th June 2007
Edition 13: 25th - 29th September 2007
Edition 14: 9th - 13th October 2007
Training Objectives
The training course "European Project Planning" aims to provide participants with the skills to enable them to: use community resources in their professional field in order to carry out development projects, understand and make their way through the community funding opportunities managed by the European Commission, interpret a call for proposal for funding correctly, carry out the procedures necessary for the presentation of a project, create an effective project partnership and set out an application form correctly.
Methodology
The course lasts 60 hours:
- 25 hours of classroom based learning in Florence (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 5 hours each day)
- 35 hours of e-learning integrated with 2 virtual meetings with the course tutor and the other course participants.
The methodology that will be used for the classroom based training will be based on the constant integration of theory and practice. The training contents will be provided in classroom using power point presentations. The training contents will be integrated with the analysis of case studies. Practical exercises will be carried out working in groups, they will focus on the simulation of a presentation of a European project. The classroom- based course will be held in a multimedia laboratory where each participant will have access to a PC so as to carry out the practical activities planned (e.g. on line downloading of calls for proposals; on-line search of documentation; on-line simulation of partners_ search; etc.)
The methodology that will be used for the e-learning course is based on the distribution to the participants of a CD-ROM containing the study materials. The use of the CD-ROM will be thoroughly explained during the classroom based course. The structure of the e-learning course is similar to that of a Power Point presentation (a series of slides with didactic contents) with the possibility of accessing more in-depth information relating to a particular slide and attachments containing reference material.
On each slide of the training course there will be the possibility of asking questions to the on-line tutor by simply clicking on the button "Questions?" which will automatically open up an e-mail window with which it will be possible to send your question directly to the tutor. Practice exercises and tests based on the themes developed will be available at the end of every section.
Trainers
The training will be conducted by Dr. Elisabetta Delle Donne. Elisabetta Delle Donne is the president of Pixel, an education and training agency based in Florence (Italy) and accredited by the Italian Ministry of Education and by the Tuscany County Council. Pixel also has a certified quality system according to the UNI EN ISO 9001:2000 standard.
Elisabetta Delle Donne graduated in Political Sciences - International Affairs from the University of Florence in 1993. She started working in the field of transnational cooperation funded by the European Commission a few months after her University graduation.From 1993 to 1995 she worked as a European project manager in a public organisation created by the Tuscan universities for the promotion and management of European projects. There she started writing her first European projects application and managing European projects in the field of education and training. From 1996 to 2000 she worked for a consortium of training companies coordinating the European Project Planning and Management team.
At the beginning of 1999 she created Pixel and since then she has been its president. She coordinates the Pixel staff of 15 full time project coordinators and administrative employees and about 100 external consultants who collaborate with them on specific projects.
So far Elisabetta Delle Donne has been involved as project planner and/or manager in more than 50 projects funded by the European Commission mostly in the field of education and training and has developed partnerships with more than four hundred bodies - including universities, public authorities, training organisations, schools, research centres etc. operating throughout Europe. Elisabetta Delle Donne is often invited as a speaker or expert at international conferences to present the European cooperation projects in which she is involved.
Expected results
The individuals who carry out the "European Project Planning" training course will acquire the skills to: use community resources in their professional field in order to carry out development projects, understand and make their way through the community funding opportunities managed by the European Commission, interpret a call for proposal for funding correctly, carry out the procedures necessary for the presentation of a project, create an effective project partnership and set out an application form correctly.
All participants will receive a certificate of attendance with details on the specific training contents developed as well as the skills acquired.
Follow Up
The two weeks following the classroom based course will be devoted to the e-learning based course that the participatnts will attend from their own workplaces. During these 2 weeks 2 virtual meetings will be organised between the course tutor and the course participants so as further to analyse and discuss the contents learned at distance. Also the participants to the course are potential promoters/partners of a common European project which they might decide to present to the European Commission.
Finally, participants will have free access to the Info-financing service (personalised information on financing opportunities available at Community level) provided by Pixel for a period of 1 month after the course.
Certification
All participants will receive a certificate of attendance with details on the specific training contents developed as well as the skills acquired.
For further information, please contact Anna Dalrymple, Pixel (Italy)
11. The Grundtvig Award 2007
The European Year of Equality of Opportunities through Adult Education: Learning 4 Rs
The first Grundtvig Award in Adult Education was launched in 2003 in order to recognise and celebrate excellence in adult education. The European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) is proud to announce the fifth annual Grundtvig Awards for 2007. This year The European Year of Equality of Opportunities for All, the award will be given to transnational projects focusing on Learning 4Rs: Equality of Opportunity Through Adult Education.
EAEA welcomes entries for two categories of awards, European and Outside Europe.
EAEA invites applications from projects aimed at improving and increasing learners' equality of opportunity to the benefit and reward of full active citizenship and critical democracy. Projects should focus on:
The judges will be looking for adult education projects with evidence of content or methods aimed at improving and increasing participants_ equality of opportunity to the benefits and rewards of full active citizenship and critical democracy.
EAEA will award the prizes to the organisations or participants who present the best example of a transnational project in adult learning. The award will go to projects developed by communities, groups and individuals. Adult education projects which at least one transnational partner are eligible to enter a project for the award, presented on videos, photographs, books, power point presentation, slides and posters, and so on. Indeed any project that is accessible to the public, is presented in a comprehensible way and may be useful and/or transferable to others is eligible to enter this competition.
The assessment criteria are as follows...
The project:
It must have the following qualities:
The prizes will consist of specially commissioned sculptures, certificates of achievement and a free subscription for one year to EAEA.
Deadline for submissions: October 22, 2007.
Send your application to eaea-main@eaea.org
e-DARE is an initiative of the network DARE vzw, Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe, and is distributed to the DARE members and to interested third persons, organisations and institutions.
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