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Author: Super User

RETAIN-ME PROJECT: A Webinar on Inclusive Remote Working

In its bid to promote solutions and approaches that ensure that workers, of all ages, have access to the support and guidance to make the best of remote working and remain financially and socially active, the RETAIN-ME project hosted an immensely interesting and relevant webinar in the field. The webinar, featuring international speakers, brought to the fore the findings and experiences that the project partners have drawn from their national contexts and built on the work the Consortium to aid older workers embrace the digital transition of the labour market.

The successful event, that hosted more than 35 participants, served as an opportunity to showcase the scope, work and actions of the project. Furthermore, the members of the consortium delivered inspirational presentations on the following topics:

  • Supporting older workers through remote working (Dagmara Dabek – Skillzone)
  • Adapting my management style to remote working (Elena Xeni – CARDET)
  • Relevance of the project to address the training needs of my employees/clients (Sara Keegan SRC)
  • Suitability of the project results to supporting employees in my company (Sara Keegan – SRC)
  • Motivating remote teams throughout the pandemic (Dagmara Dabek – Skillzone)

You can watch the whole webinar below.

RETAIN-ME is an Erasmus+ project that is implemented by a Consortium comprised of partners from 7 EU countries (including CARDET from Cyprus) and aims to develop bespoke training resources to ensure that vulnerable workers can be retained in employment. As part of this process, two toolkits are being currently developed and are to be distributed through the project’s e-learning platform; one will target employers, and the other employees to help with the remote work process.

Find more information on RETAIN-ME on the project’s website: https://retain-me.eu/

CARDET wins gold at Cyprus HR Awards

In an impressive award ceremony organised by BOUSSIAS Cyprus, CARDET, alongside other businesses and organisations, received an important recognition for its efforts and work on building a workplace culture and environment based on respect, personal development and mutual support.

The award was received by CARDET’s Executive Director, Dr Charalambos Vrasidas, who shared with the audience the organisation’s HR vision and expressed its commitment to fostering a positive and productive workplace. He said: “Workplace well-being is a key pillar in our corporate strategy, with a focus on actions and initiatives for the personal development of our people.

A key aspect of our effort is the interpersonal relationships and the promotion of discussion with our employees, which allowed us to operate in a way that meets the needs of our team.

This has been a team effort, at a time when we had to face special circumstances due to the pandemic, to which all our team members contributed, and I thank them warmly. It is certainly an area that we will continue to invest in as we see our staff as the foundation of CARDET’s success and growth.”

CARDET has a dedicated HR Department, led by HR Manager Kiki Kallis, as well as its very own Chief Happiness Officer, Vicky Charalambous. The continuous effort of the HR Department has been tremendous and key to keeping an open communication with staff and ensuring employee feedback reached the organisation’s Leadership. Additionally, the Department has been responsible for several team building activities, trainings and workshops focusing on employee well-being and productivity.

Read more about the ceremony and winners here.

INITIATION – Fostering green social innovation and social entrepreneurship in school education

Under the guidance of the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Peloponnese, CARDET, in collaboration with other organizations and schools in Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Estonia, announces the launch of the project ” INITIATION – Fostering green social innovation and social entrepreneurship in school education”. The project aims to cultivate the social innovation and social entrepreneurship mind-set of students to be more community oriented and to participate actively in the design of solutions to environmental problems faced by their local communities, and it will engage high school students and teachers.

The first meeting of the project team was attended by representatives from all partner organizations, as presented below:

  1. Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Peloponnese – Greece
  2. Institouto Technologias Ypologiston Kai Ekdoseon Diofantos – Greece
  3. University of Patras – Greece
  4. Centro per lo sviluppo creative Danilo Dolci – Ιtaly
  5. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche – Italy
  6. Vandra Gymnasium – Estonia
  7. Center for Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology Ltd (CARDET) – Cyprus
  8. The Junior and Senior School (TJSS) – Cyprus

The INITIATION program will take place of a period of 30 months, and it is coordinated by the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Peloponnese.

Stay tuned for more updates as the project begins its work and actions in the next few months.

Offering full scholarships for the online accredited programme “Award in NGO Management”

Advenio eAcademy in collaboration with SOS Malta and CARDET are offering a limited number of full scholarships for the Erasmus+ co-funded programme “Award in NGO Management”

The Award in NGO Management is an online accredited programme designed to assist Voluntary Organisation officers and staff in meeting the challenges of managing a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). It seeks to provide in a concise format the knowledge and know how to assist them in strengthening their skills and competences. This programme will enable NGOs to upskill and develop their management capacity, to increase their social impact, achieve their goals, and be sustainable over time. It provides details of core concepts and theories that apply and most importantly, it offers a pragmatic perspective for their implementation within the NGO environment.


The programme includes five modules and will be conducted in English:

  • Award in Meeting Key NGO Challenges (NGO Management)
  • Award in Fundamentals of Management (NGO Management)
  • Award in Fundamentals of Campaigning and Marketing (NGO Management)
  • Award in Fundamentals of Human Resources Management (NGO Management)
  • Award in Fundamentals of Financial Management(NGO Management)

*Participants will be accredited with EQF Level 5 (10 ECTS credits) following the successful completion of the programme.

Entry Requirements:

EQF/MQF Level 4 or equivalent certificate

AND

Students whose first language is not English and whose previous qualifications were in a language other than English will have to produce evidence of IELTS level 5 results, or equivalent

AND

Basic IT literacy in using Microsoft packages

Note: Prospective students over the age of 25 can apply without a level 4 diploma as long as they provide evidence in a CV and a work reference that they can make up for it through relevant VO/NGO work experience (at least 2 years’ experience, full-time/4 years part-time in a relevant VO/NGO ).

A limited number of scholarship places are available on the two intakes of the programme that will run in 2022.

  • Intake 1 commences on Mon 04/04/2022
  • Intake 2 commences on Mon 02/05/2022

For intake 1, applicants are to apply online via the following link by Thursday 31st March 2022

https://aea.academy/award-in-ngo-management-registration-form/

For more information regarding the course: https://aea.academy/award-in-ngo-management/

Offering full scholarships for the online accredited programme “Award in NGO Management”

Developing Adult Education Strategies: Trends and Priorities in Cyprus and the EU

CARDET is proud to announce the successful completion of the conference ‘Developing Adult Education Strategies: Trends and Priorities in Cyprus and the EU’. The conference was co-organised with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth, and the consulting company INNOVADE LI LTD, with the support of the Lifelong Learning Foundation (IDEP) and the University of Nicosia.

The conference facilitated the dialogue between educational organisations, adult educators and national educational institutions on current issues concerning adult education and lifelong learning in Cyprus. At the same time, tools, policies, good practices and other initiatives promoted by the European Union in this field were presented and highlighted. The conference was also an opportunity for representatives of private and public adult education institutions and educators for further discussion and cooperation at national level.

The conference commenced with welcoming remarks by Dr Charalambos Vrasidas, Executive Director at CARDET. Consecutively Dr Elias Margadjis, Director of Secondary Technical and Vocational Education in Cyprus, highlighted the current challenges presented in the field of adult education in Cyprus and the role of the Ministry of Education to meet the requirements and expectations of the trainees and trainers.

This was followed by a presentation of the Erasmus + Project “DIMA 2.0: Developing Strategies for Adult Education Providers and Adult Educators”, which was the project that the conference was based on, by Andreas Georgiou, Director at INNOVADE LI.

The rest of the conference, focused on adult education and training on a local and EU level, with representatives from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth presenting the actions taken, and important programs and initiatives, such as Eurydice, EPALE, and the Renewed European Agenda for Adult Learning (EAAL). In addition, Tina Mavrič, project manager at the European Association of the Education of Adults (ΕΑΕΑ), provided an outlook on the state of adult education and the collaboration of different organisations on an EU level. The conference concluded with a panel discussion on the future of adult education in Europe. The discussion was attended by Dr Elias Margadjis, Director of Secondary Technical and Vocational Education, Tina Mavrič on behalf of the EAEA, and Andreas Tsolakis from the Directorate of Primary Education of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth. The discussion was moderated by Dr Charalambos Vrasidas. The discussion highlighted the importance of introducing quality standards for the qualifications of adult educators, and the importance of the pedagogical abilities of the trainers. The complexity of the adult education sector in Cyprus and the fact that there is a decentralised system with many programs, which are managed by different government agencies in different ministries without central supervision, were also discussed.

Overall, the conference found that the field of adult education in Europe will undergo several changes and developments in the coming years and that the field of has many prospects for development, while emphasizing the possibilities of its contribution to personal and professional development, participation and the well-being of citizens.

ProW – Promoting Teachers Wellbeing through Positive Behaviour Support in Early Childhood Education

ProW is a policy experimentation project aiming to develop evidence-based policies and practices to enhance the teaching profession and elevate teachers’ careers and capacities in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings. ProW is implemented by 11 organisations from Cyprus, Greece, Romania, and Portugal and seeks to put forward, test and formulate policies and mechanisms to empower and support teachers using Positive Psychology and School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) approaches. In doing so, it wishes to build an inclusive positive-oriented school culture in which all children are valued and respected.

Specifically, the project will develop alternative ways to enhance teachers’ motivation and take concrete steps to improve teachers’ competencies, wellbeing, job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and reduce burnout levels. Moreover, it will impact policy efforts in the field to scale up and sustain positive behaviour frameworks in ECEC. The project will also improve research knowledge on the effectiveness of Positive Psychology and the SWPBS on teacher’s professional and career development and take concrete steps for the establishment of the European Teacher Career and Wellbeing Observatory.

Promoting Global Development Education in Cyprus

Global Education is understood as a holistic education dealing with the growing interconnectedness between local and global realities.

Global Education aims at enabling learners to understand world issues while empowering them with knowledge, skills, values and attitudes desirable for world citizens to face global problems.

The overview of the project is to develop, enhance and sustain strategies, competence development and capacity-building for global education, targeting institutions and practitioners from the formal and non-formal educational sector.

CARDET coordinates nationally a network of practitioners to share strategies and practices for increased and improved global education. This networking process is supported through an annual awareness-raising event (Global Education Week), a webpage and social media.

CARDET takes on Horizon 2020 project on science education and sustainability

We are excited to announce our involvement in a fascinating Horizon 2020 project, bringing experts from different regions in Europe together, to strengthen educational outside-the-classroom (EOC) networks.

Education outside the classroom (EOC) is when places other than the school are used for teaching and learning. These methods are of great value and is about providing a more exciting and challenging environment for learning, as well as providing students with new experiences to facilitate learning.

OTTER – Outdoor Science Education for a Sustainable Future,is officially in action, aiming to enhance the understanding of EOC methods and pedagogies and how they can help improve the acquisition of scientific knowledge and transferable skills in students. It will also facilitate the strengthening of those networks within Europe, connecting experts from four different regions within the continent; Finland, Hungary, Ireland and Spain.

The project is based on scientific contexts, on the grounds and belief that learning through science enhances the students’ observation, reasoning and argumentation, which are some of the foundations for all learning. It is also concernedwith the field of environmental sustainability and the reduction of plastic waste.

To achieve this goal, a consortium of experts in EOC will be formed, strengthening networks within Europeand building a foundation for the development of EOC pilot schemes.

Furthermore, the partnership aims to identify methods for measuring and accrediting the recognition of knowledge and skills developed via EOC and will seek to enrich the inventory of tools available for future methods of accreditation beyond the end of the project.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates about the project!

Migrant Information Centres (MIC) – ‘miHUB’

The University of Nicosia in collaboration with the research organisation CARDET, and the Cyprus University of Technology implements the Project entitled: Migrant Info-Centre (CY/2020/AMIF/SO2.NO2.1.3/4). The Action is co-funded by the European Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (90%) and the Republic of Cyprus (10%).

The aim of the project is the provision of information and psychosocial services to migrants and refugees that reside in Cyprus, in order to achieve their social inclusion in the local society. The centers operate in Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos and amongst other offer informational services on migrants’ rights and obligations, translation and interpretation services, job and accommodation assistance, opportunities for learning courses and referrals to other organizations.

The provision of services is implemented under a range of different methodologies such as: social and psychological support and use of technological advancement, direct and indirect communication with governmental and other services.

The main pillars of the provision of services are the following:

  • Job finding assistance
  • Referral to Language Courses
  • Referral to Health Services
  • Social Support

The Centres’ working hours are from 10:00 until 18:00 and in Sunday from 10:00 until 17:00. They work with individuals, families and community groups to identify their needs and provide information on a range of options available to them.

They support them to access services and resources that meet their needs and build new skills to adjust harmonically to the Cypriot cultural and social environment. Properly trained and qualified personnel, based on a person-centred approach respond to migrants’ general and more specific needs. The Centers’ comprehensive approach covers many issues related to the settlement and integration of new and emerging communities.

Email: info@mihub.eu
Tel.: 00357 22 080 350
Fax : 0035722 842 222