Meeting Report

GRUNDTVIG PROJECT 2011 – 2013

Lifestyles Revisited

 

 

Partners:

• Beypazarı Kız Teknik ve Meslek Lisesi, Ankara, TR
• Club Senior Nordstad, Ettelbruck, Luxemburg, LU
• Escola Secundaria, D.Sancho I, Vila Nova de Famalicão, PT
• Fundacja Pomocy Niewidomym, Lomianki, PL
• Scuola Secondaria di I Grado G.Pascoli, Fasano di Brindisi, IT
• Universidad Permanente de la Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, ES
• Zebra Formations asbl, Hannut, BE

 

Meeting at Fundacja Pomocy Niewidomym, Poland :

17 - 18 January 2013
Partnership meeting report

 

 

Preliminary introduction:

 

- UPUA’s coordinator, Nuria, was unfortunately held in Alicante due to unexpected and straining circumstances. Participants expressed their compassion for her.

- The consortium was informed that our partners from Luxembourg would be unable to attend the meeting due to air traffic cancellations because of wintry conditions in Germany. After several attempts the team was compelled to return to Luxembourg, retrieving their luggage only several days later.

The participants were very sorry for their misfortune.

 

1/ Designating a secretary for the project meeting (who will take notes, write and communicate the report.

 

The partners from Portugal were asked to fulfil this task which they gracefully accepted.

 

2/ Presentation by Turkey of the fourth and last compilation of products in Compendium form referring to the fourth and last lifestyle variable.

 

The compilation was presented in its PDF format by Turkey. All partners used the common template for their compilation, as was requested.

 

3/ Presentations by Partners of their local activities as best practices to be shared (in the form of a Power Point presentation).

 

BELGIUM

 

The results of a broad questionnaire based survey on musical preferences revealed that there is an artistic lifestyle gap between the generations, especially between the “Below 25” and the other age groups. The amount of time spent listening to music decreases gradually with age. Very few young learners have serious knowledge of dance styles and music. In several workshops learners listened to recordings of popular songs, old and new which they had to recognize and to associate with photos of the artists. They were also asked to associate various dance styles illustrated by pictures and the recorded music heard.

A limited number of senior participants had the opportunity of attending a concert given in the church of Ambresin for the inauguration of the new organ. They were able to watch the rehearsal and during the event they were able to mix with younger people and share their impressions about the performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem by the combined choirs of Eghezée and Hannut accompanied by a symphonic orchestra.

Some learners illustrated a research about the history of the Milanollo Stradivarius violin, associating information gathered on Internet and that of Jean Diwo’s book on the subject. This approach enabled them to learn about historical events, musicians and paintings.

The divide between generations in relation to artistic forms seems greater than with other lifestyles variables. There was some lack of interest on behalf of all groups for what other generations like.

 

PORTUGAL Learners were asked to identify various styles of architecture and show preferences regarding their comfort, cost-effectiveness and usability. As a result, it became clear that younger students prefer modern architecture and men generally prefer the traditional style. They were also asked to identify the authors of certain symbolic buildings in Portugal but were mostly unable to do it, younger or older.

As a result of the participation in a modern dance workshop organised by the project team, both younger and older learners and staff realised how difficult it was to follow those dances due to their fast pace. However, the results in terms of conviviality and ice-breaking were extremely positive.

Regarding traditional regional dances, learners and staff from different generations successfully managed to accompany the choreography taught by the trainer and utterly enjoyed the activity, reinforcing the bound that unites them.

Moreover, learners and staff experienced a guided visit to the house of a famous XIX century Portuguese writer. The older generation was able to share with the younger one stories about local life in the past they had heard from their grandparents.

Everyone got a lot more information about the writer’s way of life, as well as about the plot of his most famous novels. Some participants, especially those belonging to the older generation, were curious about the writer’s work and showed interest in reading some of his books.

 

POLAND The target group participated in a workshop where blind or partially blind learners successfully prepared a decorative pendant or brooch. Many of those learners and staff later went on a visit to the Chopin Museum in Warsaw with the intention of assessing its level of security towards disabled people, concluding that the museum is mostly prepared to receive this specific public, although some adjustments or improvements in safety and mobility are still necessary. They also completed the Royal Route in Warsaw, which is a former communication route that led southward from the city's Old Town and now comprises a series of connecting Warsaw streets that feature a number of historic landmarks. The conclusions drawn from the activity bearing in mind the perspective of blind or partially sighted people examined the facilities and their access by those who have some kind of disability. This way and though many of the historic points are already adapted to unsighted people, having, for instance, models of the buildings so people can touch them, there are still improvements to be made in terms of mobility and safety. 

 

SPAIN presented nine activities experienced by a team of 22 participants. Examples of these activities are an intergenerational meeting (preparing the milestones for the questionnaire on ART & LITERATURE); choosing the favourite Spanish artist (participants chose a professional, added a photo and a short description of the artist) and a work of art (participants chose a work of art, added a photo and wrote a short text explaining the reason for choosing it), followed by a debate among the different generations; a cultural visit to La Lonja and two exhibitions: 1. Quico Torres (Sculpture), Solbes Arjona (Painting) and Ramon Vidal Irles (Photography); 2. The daily life of a family from Alicante; a visit to MUA (University of Alicante’s Museum) and some of its exhibitions (“How do you see science?”, Winter Garden (a Japanese Foundation which was created with the aim of promoting mutual understanding between countries through cultural exchange) and Under my skin (to behold realities under a different point of view); an intergenerational debate in which an analysis of the questionnaire data and results was obtained, as well as the summing up of some conclusions; debating on Art and Literature among different generations; analysing the presentations and obtaining conclusions; an analysis of the evolution of The Falles, a regional party (fiesta); a study on Spanish art and literature (from architecture to dance, sculpture, music, painting, literature, cinema, photography and comic strips). From this study many conclusions came out, such as:

• it was surprising to find out how so few people are interested in Literature;
• classical art is preferred by people over 50 and Contemporary art is preferred by people under 50. Women prefer classical to contemporary dance and men are the only group which shows interest in traditional dance;
• academic education influences our tastes;
• classical music is preferred by people over 50 and pop music by people under 50;
• novels have a great intergenerational and gender acceptance. People over 50 prefer paper format, while people under 50 prefer digital format;
• technology is familiar to those under 50 but not to those over 50.

 

TURKEY presented four workshops in handmade crafts with a total of 66 participants:

• silver work, showing young people are more impatient than adults when creating the products;
• rug weaving, which is mostly performed and valued by adults;
• embroidery and knitting which showed younger learners prefer works which are finished in a short period of time while adults are more successful;
• copper work, whose demand has been decreasing. Only old people keep these arts alive and young people are unwilling to learn them.

During the workshops, trainers taught younger and older learners how to work the various materials and as a result of intergenerational collaboration the final products were then exhibited at school.

 

ITALY This delegation worked on local forms of art. Learners and staff took part in a lesson on how to dance the “Pizzica” (a local dance) and had no difficulties in learning it. The same group participated in a papier-maché laboratory where younger and older generations collaboratively built cribs. They also took part in another papier-maché laboratory where they learned how Carnival allegorical chariots are built.

 

LUXEMBOURG (Absent)

 

In the evening partners spent some time together experiencing a “knitting workshop” Turkish style. Some were more agile than others in the production of woollen lady-birds.

 

A complete review of the presentations is available online at:

http://www.proyectosupua.es/lifestyles/

 

 

4/ Evaluation tools (continuous assessment of the progression of the project and partnership)

 

 

 

a) - Presentation by Poland and Portugal of the compilation of results of the evaluation carried out in Fasano (for dissemination on the website).

 

 

The satisfaction enquiry presented with pie charts and graphical statistics revealed once more a high degree of participant satisfaction in all questionnaire items under scrutiny, especially concerning the multicultural perspective which obtained the maximum score from all respondents.

 

The comparative results from one meeting to another (Luxembourg > Turkey > Italy) were particularly interesting showing slight variations for some investigated items.

A general analysis shows there is still room for improvement although minimal.

 

The presentation and results will be communicated to Spain for inclusion in the partnership web site hosted by UPUA.

 

b) - Third evaluation session organised by Poland and Portugal.

 

This was carried out during the meeting in the same fashion as during the three preceding partnership meetings.

 

Poland and Portugal will terminate the on-going joint evaluation task. The next results will be presented in Portugal and debated before concluding the partnership project.

All partners agreed the whole evaluation process had been conducted in a very efficient and collaborative manner. The presentations were clear and results made visually self-evident.

 

5/ Dissemination of products through the partnership website hosted by UPUA: checking the various tasks that were to be completed.

 

(a) Transmission of the structured Compendium file (compilation of products) by Turkey to Spain. COMPLETED (with DVD)

 

(b) Transmission of the evaluation results of the Turkish meeting shown in Italy.

COMPLETED (sent to Spain)

 

(c) Sending translations of the extra two and a half pages of information about the project (Motivation, Objectives and strategy, Impact, Relevance, European added value): BEFORE END OF MARCH 2013. Poland and Turkey still have to accomplish this task.

 

6/ Evaluation of communication between partners via

 

            http://groups.live.com/lifestyles-revisited

            lifestyles-revisited@groups.live.com

 

Assessing:    * the uploading of photos

 

 

Zebra reiterated that “unreadable” files would be deleted and asked partners to make sure that their posted files (such as photos or videos) could be opened. Partners were encouraged to upload photos taken during the partnership days to illustrate the various activities (formal and informal).

 

 

7/ Finalizing the project by considering the European dimension.

 

The practical implementation of Spain’s proposal to envisage the European dimension through a lifestyle theme related to leisure and free time was discussed.

Belgium’s suggestion to exchange “national” photo galleries illustrating the use of free time and leisure in each of our countries was unanimously adopted.

 

This task will not be accomplished in the usual “lifestyle variable” configuration.

Therefore it will be not necessary for partners to create the usual 4 PDF pages.

 

(Note: the collection of products concerning the fourth and last variable for the compendium ends in May 2013  à see point 8/).

 

a) Content of the production

 

Several ideas were proposed to explore the “Leisure and Free Time” theme:

 

- Each country / partner might have a different understanding of what is meant by “free time”

- The theme can be approached along different lines such as differences between genders (men >< women) or ages (old >< young), in professions, under weather, season or climate conditions, from the financial point of view, etc.

 

b) Form of the production

 

Partners will send each other 5 photos (4+1) in jpeg format not exceeding 4-5 MB, illustrating the theme. There will be no centralisation of photos. The exchange will be directly done via emails from one country to all the others.

Four (4) photos should represent how people of YOUR country typically spend free time (in a way that is not seen in the other countries).

 

One (1) photo should represent a free time activity is thought to be similar in all countries (common to all partners).

 

2 examples are excluded as choices: young people listening to music with earphones and people dancing.

 

Partners should also send their counterparts some description or comments explaining the photos. The texts for each picture should be short and not take more than one page (Word file) for the 5 photos.

 

 

 

At the next meeting (Portugal) partners will communicate their learners’ and their own reactions to the photos received.

 

DEADLINE: the 5 photos have to be sent to each country BEFORE 1^st APRIL 2013

 

The partners will be responsible for adding all photos to their Compendium Files.

 

8/ Reminder and review of the specific distribution of tasks, according to the application form and particularly in view of the evaluation and production of the compendium.

 

Partners responsible for collecting and structuring the products for the Project Compendium following a common structure (point 3/):

 

(a) SPAIN (between January 2012 and June 2012) for products done and shared by partners between September 2011 and January 2012.      COMPLETED

 

(b) ITALY (between June 2012 and September 2012- for products done and shared by partners between January 2012 and June 2012.                 COMPLETED

 

(c) TURKEY (between September 2012 and January 2013) for products done and shared between partners between June 2012 and September 2012     COMPLETED

 

(d) LUXEMBURG (between January 2013 and MAY 2013) for products done and shared by partners between September 2012 and January 2013.

 

The proposal of directly sending their already produced 4 PDF pages for the Compendium to Spain was accepted by all partners, including Spain who agreed with this procedure.

 

The DEADLINE for sending the 4 PDF Compendium pages was fixed to 1^st APRIL 2013.

 

 

9/ Calendar of last partnership meeting in Portugal

 

The dates for the last meeting were established and agreed by all partners as follows:

                                   May 2013

                                   Thursday 23/05

                                   Friday 24/05

 

The working time will be concentrated on Friday only.

 

Paula will send Internet links to hotels. Partners are free to choose where they want to stay.

 

 

 

10/ AOB: any other matter:

 

(a) Cooperation for the Final Report

 

Partners were informed that Belgium would propose a draft final report concerning the part that is common to all partners. Partners were asked to cooperate by communicating the requested information to complete the form.

Each partner will be responsible for completing the form concerning their own organisation.

 

(b) Applications for a new partnership

 

Partners were informed that Luxembourg had accepted to coordinate a new project to develop training methods adapted to the different groups with “vulnerable” learners : unskilled, aged, migrants, physically impaired, low income, etc. It will address the issue of creating and using adapted educational games for the above target groups.

 

The partners who expressed their intention of participating were: Belgium, Poland and Portugal.

There will be a preparatory meeting between Belgium and Luxembourg in Ettelbruck on the 29 January to complete the application form which will then be circulated.

 

***************

The partners were grateful to Magda, Robert and Lukas for the work accomplished before and during the partnership meeting, especially in difficult wintry conditions.

 

They were able to visit the special school centre for visually impaired students where they had the opportunity of trying to use a Braille typing machine and to “read” punched texts. The guided tour of the centre was extremely instructive, showing the infrastructures that are specially adapted for blind persons. Partners were impressed by the challenges the young people had to face and the pedagogical methods that were designed for them.

 

Partners were offered a variety of sightseeing possibilities which they were free to choose from according to their interests. The most distinctive were: St. Mary's Basilica, Czartoryski Museum, Oscar Schindler’s Factory, Wieliczka Salt Mine, Oświęcim (Auschwitz) and many others.

 

The original Café Tram tour gave everyone the opportunity of appreciating the cultural and historic character of the town while sipping a warm drink. The Christmas cribs exhibition in the Historical Museum of the City gave a good idea of Polish creativity.

 

There were several occasions to socialize and to enjoy Polish food such as Grandma’s traditional polish cuisine and to hear folk music in typical surroundings.

 

The meeting infrastructure was very convenient and within walking distance to the city centre along the snow covered Długa street.