Vrede Vzw, a Belgian peace organization, will send Lien Santermans as a volunteer to the Institute of Modern Media, the media arm of Al Quds University with premises in Ramallah and Jerusalem. Lien is 24 years old and recently graduated with a BA in English, a MA in Journalism and a MSc in Conflict and Development Studies. She has traveled to Palestine three times before and is familiar with the local context and situation. The objective of the project is to provide support for the IMM's work, while allowing the volunteer to gain more experience in the field of journalism within a different social and political context. Lien will provide support to the IMM's work by writing articles in English for the IMM's website Hona Al-Quds about the daily life of Palestinians in Jerusalem, by carrying out general communication tasks and by assisting with fundraising proposals. By expanding its English language coverage, the IMM can reach a bigger audience and raise more awareness about life in Jerusalem, both locally and internationally. Lien will be working full time on the IMM's campus, where she will be monitored by her personal and professional mentor, Lucy Nusseibeh and Hanoun Abu Arrah. Her articles will receive the appropriate amount of feedback and she will hold regular meetings with her mentors to discuss her progress and possible difficulties. Lien will also consult with Vrede Vzw through email every two weeks to keep them up to date on the way the project is carried out locally and provide them with the opportunity to give suggestions.As a result of the project, Lien will gain more intercultural experiences while learning more about her field of study, the IMM will experience support for its work and have the opportunity to expand its coverage in English, and Vrede Vzw will enjoy the opportunity of having a local contact person in Palestine who can provide the organization with relevant articles for its website. This project will also make an exchange of ideas about good journalism possible between the volunteer, the partner organizations and Palestinian journalism students at the IMM.Upon her return to Belgium, Lien is interested in continuing to write and raise awareness about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and in looking for ways to use journalism as a tool for empowerment. This volunteer project will give her the necessary skills, experiences and insights to continue on this path. She will also remain a link between peace organisations in Belgium and organizations in Palestine.

“Integrarea sociala prin teatru social pentru egalitate in Romania” a fost un proiect KA1 Erasmus PLUS care a avut loc la Telega, Romania, in perioada 21-31 August 2015. Aceasta manifestare a reunit 50 de participanti, inclusiv 2 formatori si 3 cadre de suport din 9 tari din UE si de asemenea tari invecinate cum ar fi: Tunisia, Spania, Romania, Turcia, Palestina, Iordania, Israel, Serbia si Italia. Ei au explorat impreuna moduri in care teatrul social poate fi un mecanism de salubrizare si restructurare al relatiilor sociale.Excluziunea sociala este o problema majora in ziua de astazi, care a inlocuit “notiunile vechi” ale saraciei si marginalizarii. Excluziunea sociala este adesea o cauza de saracie, conflict si nesiguranta. Pentru o aboradare corecta, avem nevoie sa intelegem unde se pune problema si apoi sa cautam diferie modalitati de lucru cu partenerii, guvernele, comunitatile internationale si organizatiile societatii civile. Acest proiect trateaza fenomenul de excluziune asa cum il percep participantii, fie direct, fie prin intermediul persoanelor mai tinere cu care lucreaza. Necesitatea acestei mobilizari de formare are originea in perceptia nesigurantei a standardelor de viata, idei preconcepute, izolarea politica si sociala, sentimente de instrainare si stiluri de viata nesanatoase si cresterea brusca a ratei somajului in randul tinerilor. Cu aceasta mobilitate contribuim la imbunatatirea competentelor si cunostintelor lucratorilor de tineret, care acum sunt mai in masura sa identifice riscurile si oportunitatile, s-au dezvoltat, si au dobandit intrumente practice necesare pentru a preveni si remedia excluziunea sociala, cum ar fii teatrul social sau Flashmob-urile.Tema principala a mobilitatii, a fost cresterea gradului de constientizare a realitatilor si oferirea de instrumente educative non-formale pentru a realiza o societate mai favorabila incluzinii, prin proiecte anti-discriminare cu grupurile marginalizate, impotriva excluziunii sociale.Mobilitatea utilizeaza metodologii non-formale si informale de educatie, care se bazeaza pe instrumente specific teatrului social, cu privire la abordarea deschisa si interactiva si care vizeaza in mod direct crearea unui sistem sigur de invatare pentru participant. Acest lucru a facilitat atingerea obiectivelor noastre, care a inclus dezvoltarea si dobandirea de catre participanit de noi abilitati, competente si aptitudini care au condus la dezvoltarea sociala si personala a participantului. In cadrul mobilitatii fiecare participant a fost capabil sa:-Dezvolte propriul set de abilitati si competente, prin munca individuala si de grup, in functie de nevoile lor-Dezvoltarea capacitatii de a intalni si de a lucra cu persone noi, din diferite tari, medii si stiluri de viata-Capatarea de experienta si imbunatatirea abilitatilor de a lucra intr-o echipa multiculturala-Imbunatatirea tolerantei si capacitatii de a asculta in mod constructiv si alte idei, pozitii-Dobandirea de noi instrumente si abilitati de combatere a excluziunii sociale-Acumularea competentelor in comunicare-Dezvoltarea ideilor pentru proiecte noiConceptele cheie care au fost explorate in cadrul acesti mobilitati sunt: incluziune versus excluziune, analiza excluziunii sociale si factorii care o influenteaza, discriminarea, emanciparea, participarea tinerilor versus indiferenta, cetatenia activa, institutiile locale si rolul ONG-urilor, a UE si a strategiilor locale impotriva excluziunii, atitudinea fata de grupurile tinta, luarea de masuri. Participantii au invatat informatii noi, au avut loc discutii, dezbateri, partajarea si dezvoltarea de noi instrumente care i-au ajutat sa combata si sa depaseasca in mod eficient excluziunea sociala.

This Project aims to build capacity and enhance human skills of Palestinian academics, fresh graduates, and technicians to support the establishment and operations of smart cities in Palestine, and hence reduce unemployment. The Project will focus on three fields that are considered enablers for smart cities; IT Security, Telecoms and Computer Networks, and Smart Grid. The specific objectives of this project are: I. Developing & Delivering Academic courses to enhance knowledge & skills of university studentsII. Developing & Delivering tutorials to fresh graduates, private & public sector employees in order to help bridge the gap between academia and industryIII. Delivering the courses and tutorials via e-learning to guarantee flexible & wider deliveryIV. Increase cooperation between academia & industry.V. To promote entrepreneurship and encourage students and trainees to be job creatorsVI. Sustain lifelong learning by establishing an e-Academy which will also ensure academia-industry partnershipTo achieve the objectives, partners including public bodies will firstly identify the exact needs. Then study tours for PS academics will be organized by EU partners in order to gain knowledge and identify learning resources. After that PS and EU professor in collaboration with EU partners will develop university courses and society tutorials. The developed material will be delivered to students and trainees, and then they will be revised. After that some of the developed material will be adapted for VLE environment.Provoking academia-industry cooperation will include many activities like joint supervision of projects, internships, projects incubations, and Faculty to Factory program. The e-Academy will be established to maintain good relationship with industry. It will also maintain and promote the developed material to larger communities. The dissemination of the project will be guaranteed by a web portal, leaflets, dissemination workshops and others means.

This eMWRE project aims at improving the existing MSc curricula in partner universities and develop eLearning curriculum for the eMaster program in water resources engineering to equip future professionals and scientists in Partner countries with the technical and managerial knowledge and skills they need to solve the current and future water challenges using innovative solutions. The project also aims at developing an eLearning platform to promote joint research, develop and educate on Open Source Software and Open Access data for Integrated Water Resources Management.The major outcomes of eMWRE are the development of an eLearning MSc. program in Water Resources Engineering (WRE), a set of professional eTraining modules and eLearning platform for water resources management and open software tools. The master programme will be implemented in the four Partners universities, where the curriculum, eCourses, and eTraining modules will be developed jointly by the project consortium. The project will contribute to the capacity development of water sector and open education in partners countries to advance their economy and social welfare. At the same time, aim of the project is to promote socially-equitable and gender-balanced access to education.Graduates of the eMSc program and professionals enrolled in the training modules will have acquired a comprehensive knowledge to successfully plan, design, operate and manage water resources projects; and advice and support authorities in decision-making and the development of policies and regulations that enhance the sustainable use and re-use of water, the equitable distribution and the conservation of the local, regional and global water resources using the latest technologies. The eLearning platform will be developed using emerging facilities and technologies for cloud computing to provide easy access and easy use to data and open source software, courses and training materials for water resources applications.