The FREREF network gathers Regions, Regional bodies and organisms acting in the area of LLL. It is associated with several other European Networks, Earlall, The Committee of Regions, The European Association of Regions, and FREREF is an active member of the LLL Platform. The objective of FREREF is to promote and support the concrete development of LLL at Regional and European levels, by enabling interregional cooperation based on practice sharing and peer learning, and by reinforcing the links between regional actors and the European context. The collaboration between actors relies on a triptych: decision makers – field operators – researchers, which guarantees the soundness of work, the efficiency of processes, and the relevance and legitimacy of proposals. The FREREF network is acting through three main channels:
The annual FREREF day is a unique place to share experiences, discuss new developments, prepare new projects, and propagate innovations in LLL. The 2019 FREREF Day gathered many experts, practitioners and researchers of the Education field around the theme of Active Citizenship and Peace Education.
The several European projects in the area of LLL (REFRAME, Cokleeco, UPPER, Child-Up, KEYMOB, TiLL), in which FREREF has already been – and is currently – committed and in which members (such as Catalonia, Malopolska, Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles or Emilia-Romagna Region) are engaged. These projects enable to develop concrete partnerships, tools, processes, to foster and sustain innovative moves for improving LLL practices. Indeed, FREREF built its own evaluation methodology and designed a working methodology for the coordination and the development of projects
The participation in larger actions at the Commission and Parliament level give the possibility to present the positions of FREREF members regarding key issues in LLL policy. For instance, Freref and Earlall presented in the name of their members a position paper about the development of VET mobility in the EU and the role of all actors in the improvement of this special kind of mobility. This year, FREREF will publish the synthesis of the reflections initiated during the 2019 FREREF Day about Citizenship and Peace Education and promote the conclusions of the workshops and panels at the institutional level. Thanks to its Scientific Council, one of the organs of FREREF structure composed of Researchers in different LLL fields from the different member regions, FREREF is able to express its position and disseminate the results of projects and activities to policy makers as well as to university actors.
FREREF
IIHL:The International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) is an independent, non-profit, humanitarian organisation founded in 1970 in Sanremo, Italy. The main purpose of the Institute is to promote international humanitarian law, human rights, refugee law, migration law and related issues by organizing specific training programmes, international gatherings and round tables.
Thanks to its specific, well-tested experience, IIHL has earned an international reputation as a centre of excellence in the field of training, research and dissemination of all aspects related to international humanitarian law, refugee and migration law. IIHL works in close collaboration with the most important international organisations dedicated to the humanitarian cause, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It has operational relations with UNESCO, NATO, OIF (Organisation International de la Francophonie) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It has consultative status with the United Nations (ECOSOC) and participatory status with the Council of Europe. IIHL is a non-political platform for practice-oriented educational and training programmes with the final aim of promoting the understanding and application of IHL, refugee law, migration law and human rights.
Since 2017, the Sanremo Institute has been actively involved in European funded projects in the field of citizenship education, peace education, cultural integration of youngsters in the educational environment all over Europe, and many other related fields. Within this commitment, the Institute represents one of the founders of the Education Inspiring Peace Laboratory (EIP Laboratory) in Sanremo (Italy), an international hub (spin-off of the Erasmus+ funded UPPER project) that aims at carrying out research, training of teachers, scientific analysis and operational support for education and cultural policies at various institutional levels. This further field of activity of the Institute is quickly increasing its relevance in the European educational environment, also considering its active involvement in other EU funded research projects such as Children Hybrid Integration: Learning Dialogue as a way of Upgrading Policies of Participation – Child-Up (H2020).
Within this project, IIHL holds the role of coordinator of the Communication, Dissemination and Impact working group of the partnership, a crucial area for the current project too. As dissemination and impact maximisation will represent two key aspects of this project, the Institute’s experience will constitute one of the most important factors for the partnership. In addition to that, the Sanremo Institute can provide to the consortium an expert view on the main policy instruments in the field of citizenship education and cultural integration, besides high-level expertise in the field of legal research concerning children (unaccompanied minors) at the international, EU and domestic level. Thanks to its 50-year experience in the organisation of international conferences, workshops and round tables, on international humanitarian law, human rights and other related issues, the Institute will also represent a crucial member of the consortium concerning the organisation of policy workshops and other similar events. Furthermore, through its work in the EIP Laboratory, the Sanremo Institute will be key to support the partnership in the development of teachers training curricula and the collection of best practices at school and policy level.
IIHL
MFED – Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE) – Humanities Section: The objective of the Ministry for Education and Employment is to provide present and future generations with the necessary skills and talents for citizenship and employability. Our children need to develop their personal and social potential and acquire the appropriate knowledge, key skills, competences and attitudes through a value-oriented formation including equity, social justice, diversity and inclusivity. The Ministry for Education and Employment is committed to continually improve on the services it offers. The Ministry works closely with the Better Regulation Unit and the Commissioner for Simplification and Reduction of Bureaucracy, to ensure that Better Regulation principles and procedures are applied consistently throughout the Ministry. MEDE’s main functions are:
To ensure equal opportunities of quality education for all; An education system which provides every young person with the lifelong skills, values, and self-reliance to be independent; To offer a wide variety of higher education and training opportunities to enable everyone to get ahead in life and develop themselves professionally; To continue to formulate and implement effective policies on education and employment, working closely with stakeholders in the field.
MEDE’s role in this project will be to contribute in developing and implementing innovative methods and practices to foster inclusive education and promote common values in relation to citizenship education. The Humanities section within MEDE will ensure the enhancement of the acquisition of social and civic competences, fostering knowledge, understanding and ownership of values and fundamental rights.
MFED
Université Côte d’Azur (UCA): UCA is a research-intensive university relying on a strong ecosystem of higher education and research institutions (Observatory of the Côte d’Azur, CNRS, INRIA, etc.). The actual UCA model of university relies on transdisciplinary cooperation, an experimental model for coordination between research, training and innovation, as well as strong and sustained partnerships with private sector entities and local policy makers. To implement these collaborations and increase its flow of knowledge, UCA has different actors. On one hand, 5 academies of excellence and 8 graduate schools create a continuum between training and research. On the other, 4 institutes of innovation and partnerships connect the academic ecosystem with businesses and other external stakeholders. Based on its innovative approach of inclusive and collaborative practices, UCA has the ambition to play a prominent role in the creation of outstanding conditions for excellence that leads to the emergence of cutting-edge research, top-level science and future innovations with the aim to drive major economic and societal transformations. In the past years, the UCA innovative approach has been rewarded through different grants obtained at a national level (IDEX grant, 3IA, Grant, and others) and at a European level (several ERC grants, Marie S.Curie projects, a CoFund programme).
INSPE is the faculty in charge of training pre-service and in-service teachers and it is fully part of the Université Côte d’Azur and the Université de Toulon. In terms of training, the faculty is committed to the Education Ministry’s priorities and thus, it aims to:
Improve the quality of learning through the use of multimedia technologies and the Internet;
Train reflexive primary and secondary education teachers and provide them with research skills;
Maintain a European and international dimension for both study programmes and research.
INSPE has two research entities: LINE research centre, which is dedicated to pedagogical innovation and digital uses to improve learning and educational practices, and the CAPEF (centre for the analysis of training and education). LINE’s research activities revolve around technology enhanced learning and creative uses of digital technology. Technology enhanced learning is part of a need to develop a reflexive and iterative process based on research to improve teaching and learning processes as well as theoretical concepts and models. For many years, INSPE has been involved in research and interventions in schools in 4 different areas thanks to the collaboration with school staff and local authorities as well as its four training centres located in the Alpes Maritimes area and in the Var area.
In the context of the project, INSPE will cooperate with the Institute for Peace and Development (IdPD), which is the resource centre of Université Côte d’Azur in charge of defining, implementing and promoting its commitment and contribution to peace, development and their interactions. As such, IdPD’s mission is to implement UCA’s contribution to the SDG 14 (“Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions”).
In the CitiZed project, Université Côte d’Azur will be involved in teacher training. It will also contribute to the competence framework and assessment of instruments. At both the national and regional levels, it will set up a stakeholders group to organise a policy workshop, specific to UCA, as well as a pilot delivery of the new learning path. Besides this, the organization will contribute to dissemination and valorization of the project’s outcomes at the local, regional, national and international level.
UCA
Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte – Forschungsverein (BIM-FV): The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (BIM – https://bim.lbg.ac.at) is an independent, non-university human rights institute founded in 1992. The work of the BIM focuses on scientific research of human rights at national, European and international level.
The Institute has extensive expertise in the following areas: Human Dignity and Public Security; Development Cooperation and Business; European Neighbourhood and Integration Policy; Asylum, Anti-Discrimination and Diversit ; Women’s Rights, Child Rights, Human Trafficking; Human Rights Education and Citizenship Education. The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights – Research Association handles the Institute’s educational projects in close cooperation and synergetic coordination with all departments of the Institute. For many years, the Institute has had a focus on teaching as well as special attention has also been paid to human rights and citizenship education in schools. In fact, the Institute has run the Zentrum Polis (Austrian Centre for Citizenship Education in Schools) since 2006.
The Polis Centre, which works under contract to the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, represents the education service institution for citizenship education in schools in Austria. The Centre helps teachers to bring citizenship and human rights education into the classroom, serves as an information platform and advisory centre, develops new materials for the classroom, plays a part in the European and Austrian discussions on citizenship education, has an influential role in teacher training and organizes events for students. The employees of Polis have many years of expertise in the development of teaching materials and in the conception of workshop series on various topics of citizenship education. The centre is regularly in direct contact with school administrators and teachers throughout Austria and has a large international network at its disposal since it cooperates with networks such as DARE, EPAN, NECE as well as with the United Nations.
Because of the study “Citizenship Education at School in Europe” 2017 BIM-FV researched the data for the status quo of Citizenship Education in Austria and its important role in implementing the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competencies for Democratic Culture (RFCDC) in Austria, the Polis Centre, in the context of the present project, will supports the development of a guideline in order to implement a “whole school” citizenship education approach in schools. Moreover, polis has well-founded expertise in the field of teachers training and in particular in the implementation of the RFCDC in Austria and at European level. Hence, polis will be involved in the development of a special teachers training by using interactive methods to present and test the RFCDC. The aim is to encourage as many schools as possible to become part of the Network Democratic Schools for All.
Polis
Land der Menschen – AUFEINANDER ZUGEHEN OÖ – LdM:
Land der Menschen – Aufeinander Zugehen OÖ is an association and a coalition of twelve organisations in the social field that have been working together since the year 2000 for the promotion of the peaceful and respectful coexistence of all people in Upper Austria.
Open Mind is a School development project that provides special workshops for pupils and supports schools that wish to become a place where “learning to live democracy” is possible. This work is done by consulting and support, by teaching, training and by leaving room for discussion. By doing so, teachers can also find ways to integrate the issues into their teaching strategies. The catalogue is part of the Open Mind school development programme and supports schools in promoting the transmission of communication skills and participatory competences. An “Open Mind” school is a place where communication takes place at eye level, people listen to each other, issues are discussed, questions raised and doubts voiced until a mutual understanding is reached. Values such as the protection of human dignity, democracy, equality and the protection of human rights and of minorities are transmitted and put into practice.
Therefore, the whole school approach toolkit, which is being developed within the Open Mind project, is the contribution to the present project CITIZED. LdM will bring to the project its expertise in terms of the whole school approach toolkit as well as the implementation of the reference framework for democratic competences in practice. Indeed, it will incorporate the workshop catalogue, materials and the results of the school development process. Also, considering its large collaborations with schools committed to the process of “living and learning democracy”, LdM will share the experiences of the projects within its network.
Land der Menchen
Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU): OBESSU is the platform for cooperation between the national school student unions active in general secondary and secondary vocational education in Europe. It was founded in April 1975 in Dublin, Ireland and brings together 30 Member, Candidate and Affiliate Organisations from 24 countries all over Europe. All Member Organisations are independent, national, representative and democratic school student organisations.
OBESSU represents school students as relevant stakeholders of their educational systems and in issues concerning their lives. This core mission makes OBESSU relevant to the field of youth and to the field of education, as its mission is also to contribute to the development of democratic participation at all levels and promoting and fostering solidarity among young people. As one of the youngest groups among the “youth” group, school students’ organisations play a fundamental role in the non-formal and informal education of young people, by practicing democracy and participation in the organisation and lobbying for change.
OBESSU is a platform run by school students, through the General Assembly, which elects a Board of 5 people. The daily operations of the organisation are performed by the Secretariat, based in Brussels.
OBESSU will contribute to the project with the specific expertise of the group of school students, with which we developed a strong mutual working relationship. Specifically, given our proximity to the topic and our experience and expertise we will contribute to the development of the toolkit for schools as well as to the policy side of the project. OBESSU, in fact, is a recognized stakeholder with several years of experience in the policy and advocacy field. When it comes to Project and Financial Management, OBESSU will equally and actively contribute to making sure that the management of the project is sound and that the coordinator has all the necessary documents from our side. Moreover, as OBESSU is experienced in being a partner in another Social Inclusion project (INSCOOL), it would contribute with the replication of those results and learnings.
OBESSU
