Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Polish group studying about Estonia

Polish study group started European approach ... project meetings in October 2010. We have 22 participants who wants to learn more about other cultures and EU. The tutors of the group are: Anna Orzechowska and Malgorzata Tarasiuk. Our first partner country was Estonia. We started  with collecting general comments  about Estonia. Although Estonia is not so far from Poland, we realized we  don’t know  much about Estonian people, culture, country...
Every meeting we discussed about the most important topics: history,  food, local traditions, customs, economy, language, culture, art etc. We also tried to learn some general  words in Estonian language. Now we know what does it mean: hea päev, hüvasti, maitsev, tervis, tänan teid J. Important source of useful informations about Estonia was Internet. We saw interesting films about local dances, music, customs, architecture and history. We also used books and articles from the Polish newspapers. Our patricipants prepared powerpoint presentations: general about Estonia, Tallin, interesting places, costumes.
Unfortunately, we didn’t know anybody who was in Estonia. That’s why very important for us was meeting in Lisbon, were we had an opportunity to talk with Estonian participants about their everyday life.
According to our participants opinions project meetings helped them to find out more about Estonia. Some of them tried to learn more about this country on their own. Final opinions about Estonia and Estonians were very positive.
MT, Poland

Thursday, November 25, 2010

First Partnership Meeting: Lisbon - 10th to 14th November 2010

As five hundred years ago the portuguese navigators discovered a new world, thirty people from six different countries had the opportunity to meet different cultures.

On the 10th November, the participants of European Approach Project arrived in Lisbon and in the next day, it all began with a presentation of the members of each country. After that, it was prepared an international fair, where each country shared the best of its culture.From music to pictures, drinks to finger food, a little bit of everything was shown.

During this afternoon, each country presented the project work developed by the study groups until the moment. Afterwards, the participants attended a session about 'Portuguese Discoveries and Discoverers'. The programme for the first day ended eating roasted chesnuts and drinking 'água-pé' to recreate the 'magusto', celebrating St. Martin's Day.

The 12th November was dedicated to cultural visits in Lisbon, including Belém Tower, Monument to the Discoveries, Jerónimos Monastery, Rossio, Chiado, Santa Justa Elevator and St. Jorge Castle.
In the morning of the 13th November, the group started a journey to Sintra to visit Pena Palace. In the afternoon the participants had free time to walk around and discover a little bit more about Lisbon.

The partnership meeting programme ended with a walk and farewell dinner, listening to Fado in Alfama, one of the oldest and most typical neighbourhood in the city.

After exploring, experiencing and exchanging in Lisbon, on the 14th November every participant returned to their countries.
Text by Portuguese Participants

Monday, November 22, 2010

Finnish Study Group

Finns showed a great interest in Greece

The KuuRet 55+ team of Kuusankoski Hiking Club started its studies of Greece, the Greek people and the language in mid September and completed them in mid November. There were six meetings and 35 participants. 26 participants we present at least four times. During this short course also some tasks of the EU were dealt with. The representative of the local EU Information Bureau, Mrs. Leena Halonen told the group about EU. The tutor of the group was Seppo Tahvanainen, the coordinator of the European Approach project. An important element of the studies was the meeting with the Greek Partner group at the Lisbon partner meeting.


At the beginning we collected opinions about Greece and the Greeks and sent them to the Greek partner group for comments. Later on we received their comments plus their questions about Finland and the Finns, and then we answered them. At the Lisbon meeting we had the opportunity to check some topics with the Greeks. Every meeting included some 20 Greek word or some phrases. We hope some of them will stay in mind. In addition, a food vocabulary was distributed to the participants.

According to the study schedule the following topics were dealt with: general information, history, natural environment, geography, politics, economy, population and culture. The material consisted mainly of information found on the internet and the tutor's own archives in copies for all participants. At the meetings during the starting coffee Greek music was played in the background. On the last evening we had Ms. Anna Fazou from Crete as our guest. Her comments were very interesting and refreshing. Anna is studying in Kouvola through a student exchange program. By the side of our studies we followed up news about Greece in the media and collected a lot of cut-outs to our portfolio.

Due to the size of the group and the form of the conference room interactive discussion between the participants did not play a very big role. However, in general the participants were satisfied with the methods used. There was some need for more information on traditions and everyday life of the people plus things connected with travelling. Maybe there could have been less history - although exact dates and years were avoided.

A written final assessment showed that (in spite of the short time) the results of the course were good and the course met the majority of the participants' expectations. Most of the participants had also found some further information on their own. Attitudes towards Greece and the Greeks were positive - in spite of the fact that Greece was often mentioned on the news because of the economical crisis, demonstrations and strikes. Most of the participants are interested to continue their studies concerning Greece.

ST

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Kick Off Meeting - Warsaw, August 2010

The first Grundtvig European approach - exploring, experiencing, exchanging project partners meeting took place in Warsaw (Poland) from 22nd to 24th of August 2010.

It was a very important meeting, as most of the partners were meeting each other for the first time. Local coordinators from five partnerships organizations came to Warsaw. They were: Seppo Tahvanainen and Miikka Rikala from Finland, Joana Duarte and Ines Calado from Portugal, Tahir Demircioglu from Turkey, Anastasia Zorga Greece and Panagiota Arvaniti from Greece, Malgorzata Tarasiuk from Poland.
Unfortunately, two partners couldn’t participate in the meeting because of justified reason.

For most of us 22nd of August was arrival day. At 13:00 we had first meeting in the Westin Hotel. During this appointment we had an opportunity to get to know each other but also we discussed basic rules of our learning partnerships.

In the evening, when the remaining partners from Greece had arrived, we ate supper together and we tried typical Polish dishes like: pierogi, kartacze, bigos. It was a further useful opportunity for the partners to unoffically continue the discussion about the project.

Next day – 23rd of August - our first official meeting to initiate the project took place at Szpitalna street. Each local coordinator presented information about their partnership institution and their reasons for becoming involved in the project. Then we discussed the study plan, details about website/blog, rules of recruiting learners, drafts for the meetings in partnership organizations, especially meeting in Portugal, we spoke about interim and final reports. This was a very important starting point from which to formalise the content of the successful bids the partners had submitted through the respective National Agencies. We established the rules and details of partnership as well as discussing roles and responsibilities for delivery of the agreed outcomes.

After a short rest, we went for a walk around city centre with English speaking guide – we saw The Old Town, the Royal Palace, Krakowskie Przedmiescie street, the Presidential Palace.

After a very busy and productive discussion meeting and sightseeing, we finished the day in the typical Polish restaurant near the Old Town, where we tried local dishes. Meeting around the table was a great opportunity to speak about culture, traditions, politics and customs.

The next morning we had a last meeting in the Westin Hotel. That day we talked about evaluation issues. And we recalled the most important decisions about the learning partnership. We also evaluate our first meeting. We agreed this kind of meeting was very important. We could explained all the rules of the project and appreciate each other.

In the afternoon most of us left Warsaw and we came back homes full of energy and very enthusiastic about our partnership.

MT, Poland

Monday, September 13, 2010

Opintoryhmä aloittaa

Kuusankosken Retkeilijöiden KuuRet 55+ tiimi aloittaa "Eurooppalainen näkökulma" projektin Kreikkaa ja EU-asioita koskevat opinnot tiistaina 14.9. klo 18.00 Kettumäen palvelukeskuksessa.
Tervetuloa mukaan!

Seppo Tahvanainen

The study group of Kuusankosken Retkeilijat, KuuRet 55+ team will start on 14th of September at 18.00 o'clock at Kettumaki Service Center.

Welcome!

Seppo Tahvanainen

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Partner descriptions

Kuusankosken Retkeilijat ry., Finland, started in Kuusankoski (nowadays a part of the town of Kouvola), a town in south-eastern Finland, in 1979. The town of Kouvola is wide in area and mostly rural, e.g. a large Nature Park is situated there. The town is situated in a disadvantaged area because many work places in factories have been lost and the population is decreasing.

The club is a member of the Union of Workers’ Travel and Hiking Clubs in Finland, which in its turn is a member of the worldwide Naturfreunde Internationale (NFI). The club aims at encouraging people to take part in activities in our natural environment with regard to ecological viewpoints. Today the club has some 450 members. Many of the members are older people. Members of the club help groups of old or disabled people to enable them to take part in various activities. The club has taken active part in various social happenings arranged by Kuusankoski town and other organizations. Participation in the activities is based on volunteering.

The program of the club includes instructing people interested in outdoor activities e.g. in ecology and history and traditions of the places visited, excursions both in our own town Kouvola with its surroundings and in Lapland, cultural excursions, various outdoor activities travelling abroad at moderate expense, planning and organizing programs for visitors in Finland by using voluntary team work. These activities include project work and at the same time offer multiple transnational learning possibilities to the participants.

In 2006-2008 the club acted as a partner in a EU project “Travel Agents 55 + without frontiers”. A network of groups working for similar causes in ten European countries was created during the project. The themes of the project were mobility, voluntary work, lifelong learning and active ageing. After the EU project the club has continued similar activities. Our core group of active members is growing all the time – during the EU project there were some twenty active people, now they number more than thirty - which is a sign that our goals are good and well accepted. We have a 55+ group meeting every month. In a non-formal study circle we learn about environmental issues, other European countries, EU issues and other interesting topics which people like to study.

Palamuse Rahvamaja, Estonia, celebrates its 100-year anniversary this year. Officially it was registered in 2000. The main goal of our organization is preserving and developing traditional arts. There are seven folk-dance groups from the age of 7 to 70, a mixed choir, male and female ensembles, senior club, amateur theatre, children’s drama club, art studio, two line-dance groups, handicraft studio, guitar club and youth band in our house.

We organize different events and celebrate national and international holidays by organizing concerts, plays, tours, etc. Five of our groups participate in the national Song and Dance Festival program. There is a dance group for elderly, which mostly practices Estonian folk dances.

In Palamuse we organize four bigger events, known all over Estonia:
- this year we had, for the twelfth time, the biggest open-air fair in Estonia- Paunvere Country Fair
- every year we give out a humor award for the best humor writer in Estonia
- every year we have an amateur film festival
- every second year we have a land-art festival with famous Estonian artists, lasting a week

We organize meetings for elderly people once a month. We also cooperate with Palamuse Ale society (deals with cooperation with Swedish counterparts) and Palamuse Women’s Association (deals with handicraft and field trips for senior citizens). During the past few years we have organized many special events and courses for senior citizens.

In the last two years we have activated our international activities and contacts. Last year we established contacts with a folk-dance group Sadancis from Latvia and so far we have organized four joint events with them. Last year we participated in a BECC program, organized by European Network of Cultural Centres (ENCC). During the program the contact person had a chance to spend a week in Brussels community centre De Zeyp, where I helped to organize Baltic Festival. With Belgian and other partners we have applied for a joint project under the program Grundtvig.

This year we got accredited to the organization of European Voluntary Service. At the present we have a volunteer from Romania. Last May we had a joint project with our British counterpart and seven people were in Norfolk, GB, for anti-racism youth exchange.

Meram Halk Egitim Merkezi Ve Aso Mudurlugu, Turkey. Most of the learners in our organization are between 25-60 taking education to help in their jobs and attending training courses for special jobs. We currently work with our learners through projects and activities and manual, cultural and re-creative courses.

Our aims are:
- to promote European partnership, offer our learners and staff facts and experiences in different countries and intercultural dialogue.
- to help adult learners develop awareness of the importance of lifelong learning,
- to involve them in cultural and educational activities with foreign partners,
- to become active European citizens,
- to be open to other cultures and to live without prejudice
- to increase the use of ICT among adults.

 

Bem Me Quero, Portugal, is a company founded in 2008 by five young professionals, and acts mainly in the villages of Oeiras and Cascais (20 minutes from Lisbon). We aim to promote the personal development of individuals in their emotional, cognitive and educational aspects, through the enhancement and enrichment of capabilities and personal skills.

In order to provide the necessary skills to achieve a successful life, we offer services such as psychology, speech therapy, pedagogical activities and vocational education and training.

Being attentive to current real needs, we are aware of our part of social responsibility, promoting and developing nonprofit projects on behalf of “Bem Me Quero Solidarity”.

The changes that the social relations and the professional world have been suffering from push the new considerations that arise in the context of education. It is necessary to promote and develop core competences so that individuals can respond to the demands of daily life and have a better adaptation to the modern world, both within and outside work life.

This year, for the first time, Bem Me Quero - Educational Clinic is applying for a Lifelong Learning Project.


Stowarzyszenie Wolontariatu Miedzypokoleniowego, Poland, Center of Intergenerational Voluntary Work started in 2001 in Bialystok. The members of the society are from different generations helping one another. Our aim is to organize that kind of assistance which would benefit the younger generation and older people and create attachment between them.

It requires a change in attitudes to voluntary work and towards older people and to the way they get help from the younger generation. It leads to relations between the generations, where age, education and the state of health cease to matter. Such activities of our society contribute to a better civil coexistence. This "intergenerational" character is very important to our society.

The problem our city is facing is common to all EU - a gradual and permanent growth of the number of older people. We see the problems of the older generation – people over 55, who are retired, lonely and have lost sense of their lives, who feel worse because they don’t know IT or foreign languages. Thanks to activities organized by our society seniors can feel better, can feel needed.

 

Luetec: Libera Università Europea della Terza Età Campania, Italy, established in 2000, is a cultural institution belonging to the non-formal education system operating in the adult learning field. Our main aim is to meet life-long educational needs for personal development and to improve work-related skills, as well as supporting the needs for social networking and general well-being.                                                   We carry out studies and researches about life-long learning and adult vocational training. We organize adult and senior citizens oriented formative paths working at local and international level with private or public bodies.

In addition we offer a great variety of courses, lab activities and workshops on practical crafts, creative arts, music, health and fitness, languages, and general subjects: Archaeology, Biology, Communication, Diction, Egyptology, English, Spanish, French, German, Graphology, History of Architecture, History of Art, History of Music, Italian Literature, Journalism, Neapolitan Culture and Language, Psychology, Creative recovery, Painting, Soft gym, Ceramics, Creative writing.

All these courses are finalized at improving the attractiveness of the access to adult education and teaching and learning in later life.

 

Kinisi Ethelonton Service Civil International Hellas (SCI-Hellas), Greece, is a nongovernmental organization based in Athens. It is the Greek branch of Service Civil International, an international voluntary movement that aims to promote peace, solidarity and intercultural understanding through organizing international volunteer projects, campaigns and seminars.

Through its actions, SCI tries to enhance the peaceful cooperation of people from different cultural and social backgrounds as well as to encourage the direct participation of citizens in the solution of social problems. It is a founder member of the Greek Antipoverty Network.

Main activities:
1. International work camps in Greece
2. Sending Greek volunteers to work camps in other countries
3. Hosting and sending volunteers in the frame of EVS (2007-GR-49)
4. Coordinating hosting EVS projects (2007-GR-30)
5. Raising awareness activities for the promotion of volunteering in Greece
6. Close cooperation with organizations from Mediterranean countries (youth exchange, training and seminars)
7. Member of the international working groups of SCI (W.G. on developing cooperation with NGOs in Mediterranean countries, W.G. on Youth and Unemployment)
8. Activities in secondary schools and universities on Human Rights (creation of a table game, seminars on Human Rights, open air activities during the antiracism week every March, seminars on conflict resolution), Turkey, is a non-profit and public association established in Konya -Turkey in 1962, active in the continuing education field. It is a lifelong learning centre for everyone, particularly women, children and senior citizens, as well as socially disadvantaged people such as unemployed, from rural areas, economically disadvantaged group, prisoners, legally restricted, illiterate, retired and immigrants.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

European Approach

The common rationale of the project is increasing the feeling of European togetherness by offering adult learners opportunities to study facts about EU and explore European countries and get experiences of international living. Increased mobility, studies of English and IT skills and new networks with the project partners help to achieve these goals. The concrete objective of the project is to give adult learners, especially elderly people and people with special needs, positive learning experiences and to motivate them to LLL and to promote their mobility.

Tutors can develop their methods to activate and motivate adult learners to study in groups and the organizations can find new learners and aims for their learners and establish continuing cooperation with other partners.


Common study program will be planned together with the partner organizations. The program will consist of facts about the European Union and facts (e.g. history, geography, climate, nature, population, culture and economy) about partnership countries.


Each partner will organize study groups (study circles) of adult learners and each partner will organize a partnership meeting in their own country. During the partnership meetings European fair or other performances for the local public will be arranged.


The project has a good combination of seven partners. Participants will get a lot of new transnational learning experiences during the project. European cooperation will help them to share knowledge and understand other cultures better and learners can feel that they are members of the European community. The project is also a way to combat prejudice, racism and xenophobia.


Partners: Kuusankosken Retkeilijat from Finland, Palamuse Rahvamaja from Estonia, Meram Halki Egitim Merkezi Ve Aso Müdürlügu from Turkey, Bem Me Quero from Portugal, Stowarzyszenie Wolontariatu Miedzypokoleniowego from Poland, Luetec; Libera Universita Europea della Terza Eta Campania from Italy and Kinisi Ethelonton Service Civil International Hellas from Greece.