Author: Joao

EAVI – the European Association for Viewers Interests – is an international non-profit organisation registered in Brussels that advocates media literacy and full citizenship. EAVI supports the adoption of initiatives that enable citizens to read, write and participate in public life through the media.

Full and active citizenship in Europe is increasingly reliant on media literacy skills. Therefore, by empowering Europeans as responsible media users, EAVI is actually working towards the goal of a healthy, democratic, more cohesive society.

EAVI represents citizens’ interests in the European sphere through lobbying, conferences, networking, research, media literacy-focused projects, the development of good practices and the production of online content resources with particular attention to the education of young people.

ALL DIGITAL is a pan-European association based in Brussels, representing more than 100 member organisations that work with 25,000 digital competence centers, providing training and advice to 2.3 million people in Europe every year. Its aim is to enable the Europeans without basic digital skills to exploit the opportunities created by digital transformation.

ALL DIGITAL promotes methodologies & certifications, facilitates partnerships among members & stakeholders, organises events and awareness raising campaigns, implements projects and surveys. The association also contributes to EU policy in the fields of skills, employment, social and economic inclusion, social innovation, Digital Single Market by policy papers and targeted communication.

European University Cyprus (EUC) was founded in 2007 and developed out of Cyprus College, which was established in 1961. Today, EUC operates five Schools, namely, the School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences, the School of Business Administration, the School of Sciences, the Medical School, and the School of Law, with the mission to educate students for successful careers and life achievement, to understand and serve the needs of society, and to create knowledge through research and innovation.

EUC has participated in more than 200 projects funded by a number of programs and organizations such as the Horizon2020, Erasmus+, 7th Framework Program, Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013, Directorates General of the European Commission, the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, United Nations, and governmental bodies. In the last 3 years, the University has accumulated approximately 4M euros in research funding, while it ranks third among the Cypriot universities in terms of total funding from Horizon2020 (first among private universities).

Research activity is primarily carried out by a number of research centers, laboratories, and other kinds of specialized settings such as clinics and innovation centers (http://euc.ac.cy/en/research/research-centers).

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, officially founded on April 14th, 1837, is the first University not only of Greece but both the Balkan peninsula and the Eastern Mediterranean region.
The administration body is the Senate, which consists of:

• The Rector
• The 4 Vice-Rectors
• The 9 Deans of the Schools
• The 42 Heads of the

DepartmentsWith a student body of about 67.000 undergraduate, Postgraduate Students and Ph.D. Candidates, 8.255 Foreign students, over 2.100 Academic Staff and 1.000 Administrative and Secretarial Staff, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens aims at excellence in both teaching and research in a significantly varied range of disciplines.”

Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski is the first school of higher education in Bulgaria. Established in 1888, the University is exemplary in terms of its scietific research and educational activities, both of them enjoying wide cultural and social significance.

The University forms the nucleus of the Bulgarian scientific and cultural elite and enlightens the Bulgarian national self-consciousness. It contributes significantly to the Bulgarian participation in the global development of science and education and plays an active role in preparing and conducting policies of national, regional and international significance.
Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski has the mision to safeguard, enrich and carry through the centuries the spirit of knowledge and the aspirations of humanity to knowledge and truth. The University is the center of the development of science and the education of students in all domains of life; it also cultivates highly educated, nationally responsible personalities who will lead the Bulgarian nation to spiritual feats and social welfare.

The University’s objective is to assert its role as an academic, scientific and cultural center of European standing. According to its vision statement the educational programs of Sofia University must constantly meet European quality standards and approximate the leading world criteria; the University aims at maintaining the level of the best practices in the development, management and the implementation of scientific achievements in vitally important walks of social life and in the life of the separate individual; the University will continue to expand its pivotal role in the setting up and development of projects, policies and strategies for the development of the country. Last but not least, the University does its best to assert its leadership position in education, science and the key projects in social development.

As the largest higher education and research center in Western Romania, WUT, founded in 1944, has 11 faculties and a Teacher Training Department, 85 study programmes at Bachelor Level, 120 study programmes at Master level, and 12 Doctoral Schools. Out of these, over 20 Bachelor, Master and PhD study programmes are offered completely in English, French or German. A comprehensive higher education institution, with around 6% (around 1000) international students out of a total of 15000, West University of Timişoara is constantly striving to create a substantially authentic, interdisciplinary and international environment for our yearly incoming cohorts of undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates.

To this end, we count on a number of almost 700 academic and 400 administrative staff. Our connection to the pre-university medium of education in Romania, through a specific office focused specifically on this matter, allows us to recruit and cater to the needs of the exact future students who need us the most. WUT are involved in this project including Faculty of Sociology and Psychology and the Teacher Training Department.

The University of Lodz (ULO) is one of the largest higher education institutions in Poland. Established in 1945, it has long been one of the biggest and most popular universities in its national context.

The University employs over 2.500 academic teachers. The 12 faculties of the University provide programmes in 60 fields of study, 170 specializations and 90 postgraduate programmes including an MBA programme and host around 40,000 students.

Media literacy, critical thinking in media perception as well as aspects of influencing the recipients of media messages are examples of thematic areas that require interdisciplinary approach, hence teams from several faculties of our University are involved in this project, including Faculty of Management, Faculty of Sociology and Faculty of Educational Sciences.

The University of Palermo, founded in 1806, covers today almost the full spectrum of arts and sciences. The academic structures include: 16 Departments, 2 inter-departmental centres, 1 School of Medicine, 3 decentralised premises (Agrigento, Trapani, Caltanissetta), the Museum System, the Language Centre, the Italian school for foreign students, the Guidance Centre. The Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement (SPPEFF) has an interdisciplinary vocation as it includes among its areas of teaching and research psychology, pedagogy, human movement (motor and sport sciences), and sociology.

There is also a training area, focused on the study and design of professionalization courses for teachers and/or educators involved in formal/non formal education and adult education. In addition to teaching and research activities, the Department SPPEFF aims at promoting activities to exploit the findings of its research activities as well to transfer its knowledge in the reference territory (Public Engagement/Third Mission).

The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute (CPI) is one of the Directorates of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth in Cyprus.

It is the official body responsible for the continuous professional learning of in-service teachers at all levels of education and it also has substantial contribution to planning and implementation of educational policy. The scope of the CPI is to improve the quality of the educational system, taking into consideration the literature and research and the priorities set by the Ministry. Moreover, the mission of the CPI is the design and implementation of continuous professional learning of teachers at all levels, the setting of framework for the teacher competences and the promotion of horizontal issues of educational priority, improving the content and effectiveness of the education provided in accordance with the wider international, european and local context.

CPI offers in-service training to teachers of all levels through several compulsory programmes and optional seminars, including school-based programmes for teachers’ in-site professional learning and development, it plans and conducts education research and evaluation studies, it follows and adapts current trends in pedagogy, it promotes the use of new technologies in education, it undertakes the writing and publication of teaching books, the designing of the curriculum and the production of teaching materials.

The Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) is an executive, scientific and research body that supports the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports as well as the supervised bodies in matters related to primary and secondary education, teacher training, the transition from secondary to Higher Education, post-secondary education, the confrontation of educational inequalities, student dropout and early school leaving aiming at the assurance of every child’s right to education. It issues opinion or proposes upon related query on the part of the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports or ex officio according to the law in force 3966/2011 (art. 2, par. 3, line a).

The purpose of IEP is to carry out scientific research and study of the issues referred to in paragraph 1, as well as to provide ongoing scientific and technical support for the planning and implementation of education policy on these issues.