Author Archives: imessalas

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The DAISSy Research Group of HOU participated at the International Event ALL DIGITAL Summit 2024

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The DAISSy Research Group of Hellenic Open University (HOU) participated at the 17th ALL DIGITAL Summit 2024, which was held in Madrid, Spain, on October 15th, 16th, and 17th, 2024. The International event AD Summit is organized annually by the European organization ALL DIGITAL (AD), a pan-European Network based in Brussels representing member organizations from all over Europe. The AD network collaborates with 25,000 digital skills development centers with the aim of ensuring that every European citizen can benefit from the digital transformation. The DAISSy Research Group has been a member of the AD Network since 2016. 

The theme of the 17th AD Summit 2024 was “Engaged Digital Citizenship: Connections for an informed and conscious society”. The programme included keynote speeches, panels, workshops and informative sessions with over 400 in person participants representing 100+ organisations from 30+ countries, and an even larger number of online participants through live broadcasts. The novelty of this year’s AD Summit was the Digital Village, an open space that hosted exhibitors and makers that was organized in 4 main quarters, which reflected the 4 thematic streams of the Summit, each focusing on a distinct aspect of engaged digital citizenship:

  • Fostering a Digital Society,
  • Educating on Media Literacy, Data, and AI,
  • European Digital Rights, Online Safety, and Wellbeing: Guiding Policy Principles, and
  • Empowering Digital Social Innovation.

HOU Professor Achilles Kameas, Director of DAISSy research group chaired the Summit organizing committee and, with the assistance of Ms Phoebe Kamea, was responsible for the conception, planning and implementation of the Digital Village. Together with a representative of the Municipality of Madrid, he inaugurated the Digital Village, and he was awarded the honor to be its first Mayor!

HOU-DAISSy “inhabited” the Digital Village with two stands, in two different “neighborhoods”: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Empowering Digital Social Innovation. Dr. Theodor Panagiotakopoulos, Mrs Eleni Georgakakou and Mrs Ioanna Marini, members of DAISSy, presented the numerous relevant projects and their results that DAISSy has implemented throughout the years.

Moreover, DAISSy participated at the sessions:

  • Panel discussion with experts: “ALL DIGITAL Academy Panel – Integrating emerging technologies in education”, on which Prof. Achilles Kameas, presented the MOOC on IoT that DAISSy members developed for the project “ADA – All Digital Academy” and discussed the future of Education in the era of AI,
  • Workshop “The ALL DIGITAL Academy: AI, IoT and GenAIEdu courses”, during which Dr. Theodor Panagiotakopoulos, Senior Project Manager and Researcher of HOU-DAISSy, presented the pilot delivery details and results of the All Digital Academy MOOC on Internet of Things.
  • Three lightning talks on which,
  • Achilles Kameas gave two presentations on “Fostering social innovation through inclusive entrepreneurship” and “Inclusive STEAM educator competency framework”, in which he presented some of the results of projects Reinser and SpicE, and
  • Eleni Georgakakou, Senior Project Manager and Researcher of HOU-DAISSy, gave a presentation on “Countering online hate speech with an online game”, in which she presented the results of project LEAD Online and further discussed on the use of online games as educational tools.

Overall, the participation of DAISSy-HOU in the 17th ALL DIGITAL Summit was extremely successful. Not only the DAISSy group, but also HOU were promoted to all participants and stakeholders, especially after the great success of the Digital Village. Moreover, the members of HOU-DAISSy had the opportunity to get to know fellow AD members and establish collaborations. At the end of the event, in recognition of the excellent collaboration in organizing the Summit, Prof. Achilles Kameas presented an honorary gift to Víctor Hugo Martínez Buixeda, General Director of Fundación Esplai, a large Spanish network of third sector organizations.

The Summit sessions were attended by European Commission and Council of Europe representatives, policy makers, stakeholders in digital education, trainers, educators, representatives of civil society, and market representatives, who were actively involved and contributed experience, ideas, tools and policies. Its main findings and outcomes are summarized in the white paper Goals and recommendations for Engaged Digital Citizenship, which will be presented to the members of the ALL DIGITAL network, EC officers and other stakeholders in a special event that will take place in Brussels on December 9th.

For more information on the 17th ALL DIGITAL Summit 2024, as well as the recorded speeches, you can visit: https://all-digital.org/all-digital-summit-2024/.

For more information regarding the projects and actions of DAISSy:

  • Website : http://daissy.eap.gr/en
  • Facebook : @DAISSyResearchGroup
  • Linkedin  : https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
  • X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/daissy_research
  • Instagram : @daissy_researchgroup

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Invitation to the hybrid multiplier event of the LEARN.INC project, by DAISSy-ΗΟU

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logo-learnIncThe DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) invites you to take part in the multiplier event on “Days of Open Education and Society”, which will take place on Friday, 18th October 2024 at 18.00 (“My Way” Hotel, Patras-Greece), with the possibility of online participation, through the zoom electronic platform.

The event is addressed to higher education institutions, local research and training institutes, postgraduate and PhD students, researchers, academic staff, civil society organisations and local stakeholders and is open to all.

  • Participation is free of charge and open to all, at international level.
  • Registration to online participation is done by submitting the corresponding form
  • Online participation is possible using the following link
  • A certificate of attendance will be issued to any interested party who wishes for it.

The event regards the dissemination of the results of the “Learning Incubator for Project-based Teaching and Training through Research (LEARN.INC)” European project, which is implemented by DAISSy-HOU as the Greek partner. In particular, “VOCIS” an online platform will be presented, about the collaboration between students and university teaching staff, offering a preparatory course for challenge-based learning.

Furthermore, the “PROTINC” will be presented, an online incubator that highlights sustainable projects from VOCIS, developing courses according to the priorities of the European Union (G.I.F.T. / Green, Inclusive, Fit for Digital, Transparent.

Finally, the “OPENARC” methodology will be analyzed, regarding the creation and implementation of an open access digital archive, including the LEARN.INC platform as well as the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in video format, ensuring high quality teaching.

LEARN.INC is a three-year project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and implemented by a consortium of five (5) partners from four (4) countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey), with the DAISSy Research Group of the HOU as the Greek partner.

For more information on the LEARN.INC project and other activities of DAISSy:

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The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University participates in the international closing conference of the “LEARN.INC” European project

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logo-learnIncThe DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU), participates in the international conference on “Knowledge for Community Action”, marking the completion of the European project “Learning Incubator for Project-based Teaching and Training through Research (LEARN.INC)”, which is implemented by DAISSy-HOU as the Greek partner. The conference takes place online on 24-25 September 2024 (9:00-17:00 CEST) and is organized by the Research & Training Point Foundation (Bulgaria), and co-organized by the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (Romania), the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia (Bulgaria), and the Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University (Turkey).

Specifically, the final LEARN.INC conference is addressed to higher education institutions, local research and training institutes, postgraduate and PhD students, researchers, academic staff, civil society organisations and local stakeholders. The aim of the conference is to explore the role of challenge-based education in academia, putting emphasis on the dissemination of the results of the LEARN.INC project. In this context, the two-day conference will address important issues in academic education, such as the impact of challenge-based methodologies on students, innovative pedagogical methods and paradigm shifts in research and teaching, and the role of communities and partnerships in building socially responsible Universities.

In particular, the international conference will include a thorough presentation of the LEARN.INC project results and deliverables. More precisely, the “VOCIS” online platform for collaboration between students and university faculty, offering a preparatory course for challenge-based learning, will be presented. Next, “PROTINC”, an online incubator that highlights sustainable projects from VOCIS, developing courses in line with the priorities of the European Union (G.I.F.T. / Green, Inclusive, Fit for Digital, Transparent) will be analysed. Finally, the “OPENARC” methodology will be presented regarding the creation and implementation of an open access digital archive, including the LEARN.INC platform as well as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in video format, ensuring high quality teaching.

It is noteworthy that:

  • Representatives of the partner Universities will be speakers at the international conference, as well as participants of the Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition, who will share exciting experiences from the research field.
  • The official language of the conference is English.
  • Participation in the conference is free of charge.
  • Registration is compulsory and can be done by submitting the corresponding form

LEARN.INC is a three-year project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and implemented by a consortium of five (5) partners from four (4) countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey), with the DAISSy Research Group of the HOU as the Greek partner.

For more information on the LEARN.INC project and other activities of DAISSy:

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Educational Programme for Inclusive STEAM Education with the support of DAISSy-HOU

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logo-spiceThe DAISSy Research Group of Hellenic Open University (HOU) announces the launch of an Educational Programme about Inclusive STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math), starting on 9th  September 2024 by offering a related Massive Open Online Course-MOOC!

The Educational Programme was designed and will be delivered in the context of the “Special Education STEAM Academy (SpicE)” European project, coordinated by DAISSy-HOU under the Scientific Supervision of Achilles Kameas, Dean of School of Science and Technology, HOU.

Within the first stage of the programme, a MOOC entitled «STEAM education for all learners: Incorporating STEAM and Inclusive education practices in everyday teaching» will be offered by SpicE. The educational content of the MOOC has been exclusively developed by the project consortium and was founded on the innovative educators’ competences framework for inclusive STEAM education and the related professional profiles.

More specifically, SpicE MOOC:

  • Has a duration of fifty (50) hours / five (5) weeks, is offered through distance asynchronous education and covers the common competences needed for the application of Inclusive STEAM Education to students with mild disabilities.
  • Starts on 9th  September 2024 and is offered through the Lifelong Learning Center of the HOU.
  •  Is available in English, with all educational material also translated in Spanish, Bulgarian, and Greek.

Participation in SpicE MOOC is free and the pre-registration form is available [here].

Detailed information about the content of the SpicE MOOC is presented at: https://spiceacademy.eu/spice-platform/

All trainees who will successfully complete the SpicE MOOC will receive 2 ECTS and a Certificate of successful completion from the project and from the Lifelong Learning Center of HOU, according to European and national standards and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System.

 

SpicE educational programme is modular, and the MOOC can be complemented with:

  • The blended learning programme, of fifteen (15) hours duration, which will deepen the trainees’ competences for Inclusive STEAM education.
  • The teacher mobility scheme, where selected educators will travel abroad to participate in practical applications of Inclusive STEAM education.

_ SpicE is a three-year project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme (Teacher Academies) and implemented by a consortium of ten (10) partners from five (5) European countries (Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Bulgaria, Belgium), with the DAISSy Research Group of the HOU being the Coordinator.

So far, SpicE is the only project to combine STEAM Education with Inclusive Education.

For more information about the project SpicE and other activities of the DAISSy-HOU:

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Learn about the Online Study Visits and Register to the Platform of the GREELCO project, by DAISSy-HOU

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logo-greelcoWithin the framework of the “Green Learning Community (GREELCO)” European project, the DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) has designed and developed the GREELCO online platform addressed primarily to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) professionals across Europe and everyone interested in the topic. The platform is a deliverable of the GREELCO project, currently undergoing by DAISSy-HOU as both the only Greek and the only Academic partner.

More specifically, the GREELCO online educational platform is offered for free and it is accessed easily, through a simple registration. Up to now, it has been utilized by more than one thousand (1,000) registered users, including education professionals. A series of tools, such as a Training Webinar, practices and Online Study Visits are available to the registered members. Therefore, the platform is highly accessible and open to everyone, functioning already as a highly visited online communication and collaboration tool that links ECEC professionals throughout Greece, Europe and beyond.

Furthermore, from January 2024 until mid of October 2024, a series of eight (8) Virtual Study Visits has been planned by respective project’s kindergartens, from eight (8) European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia), one for each unit. The Virtual study visits are designed interactively, a fact that makes it easier for participants to get to know each other, connect and cooperate, as well as exchange knowledge, experience and examples of good practices, which can contribute to increasing the level of connection between kindergarten professionals from different countries.

There is a number of reasons why registering to the GREELCO platform is important, namely:

Connect and Collaborate

GREELCO is more than just a platform; it’s a hub for connecting and sharing ideas. Collaborate on projects, exchange insights, and join a dynamic network that values collective creativity.

Access to Webinars

Participate in the GREELCO Webinar to gain essential knowledge, guidelines, and technical instructions for creating videos of pedagogical practices. These webinars cater to the needs of kindergarten teachers, educators, preschool managers, and ECEC professionals across Europe.

Exclusive Opportunities

Enjoy exclusive access to events and opportunities. Stay informed about the latest trends, participate in online study visits, and lead in innovation. Attendees can access both live and on-demand study visits and stay updated on future events.

Learn About Diverse ECEC Systems

Gain insights into various preschool and early childhood education systems, including teacher profiles, department sizes, organizational structures, funding, national curricula, and more.

Explore Pedagogical Practices

Learn about daily routines, quality interactions, inspiring learning environments, and inclusive practices from kindergartens in different countries.

Enhance Reflective Competence

Increase your ability to reflect on pedagogical practices, improving your professional competence in evaluating and refining educational methods.

Raise ECEC Practice Quality

Improve your competencies in ensuring high-quality ECEC practices, with a special emphasis on inclusion.

More precisely, registering to the GREELCO platform is a pre-requisite for accessing it, and creating a private account. Verifying a private email address, allows the launch of collaborating and innovating in the GREELCO forums. Evaluating the platform by completing an anonymous questionnaire, is precious since, it provides the users with the possibility to suggest improvements.

As we enter a new era of collaborative possibilities, every professional in early childhood education is encouraged to join by registering on the platform and becoming a part of the dynamic GREELCO community!

The GREELCO is a two-year project, co-funded by the ERASMUS+/ KA220-HED programme of the European Union. Its consortium includes three (3) main partners from three (3) EU member-states, namely the: Educational Research Institute-ERI (Slovenia), the International Step by Step Association-ISSA (Netherlands), and the Hellenic Open University-HOU (Greece). In addition, it involves eight (8) Kindergartens, from eight (8) European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia). The DAISSy Research Group of the HOU is involved in all project deliverables, having the responsibility for the design, development and the effective operation of the GREELCO platform, ensuring active collaboration of the participants and providing technical support (whenever needed).

For more information on the GREELCO project and other activities of the DAISSy-HOU:

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Call for proposals about Online Courses and Video Lectures within “Learn.Inc” project, by DAISSy-HOU

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logo-learnIncThe DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) invites you to participate in the creative redesign of new course content, conducted in the framework of the “Learning Incubator for Project-based Teaching and Training through Research (Learn.Inc)” European project, currently undergoing by DAISSy-HOU, as the Greek partner, which aims at advancing teaching and learning innovation in the partner HEIs in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey. This will be achieved through cross-institutional collaboration, knowledge sharing and networking which extends beyond academia.

More specifically, Learn.Inc focuses on fostering creativity and redesigning learning spaces through Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) for graduate-level students (MA and PhDs). Therefore, it will promote innovation in student-centered learning and teaching, with students co-designing flexible and modular e-learning formats that are developed in response to pertinent societal issues.

Within this concept, Learn.Inc seeks to transform the way that University courses are developed and taught, ensuring the course content responds to societal needs and that it encourages active learning, recognizes students’ own research and excellence in the co-design and delivery of teaching. A Knowledge database was developed in the previous stages of the project, containing a list with societal challenges, identified based on the discussions with stakeholders from partner countries and also results of the projects proposed and developed by students with support from project teams.

Currently, the Learn.Inc call is addressed to faculty and students, inviting them to creatively redesign and conceptualize the research and results from the experimentations in the previous steps of the project, in order to develop new course content (short online courses, seminars, workshops) and pilot new learning resources.

Participation is open to all, by completing a respective form, using the following link. Important dates:

  • 22 – 25 July 2024: collecting applicants’ proposals
  • 26 July 2024: proposal evaluation
  • 29 July 2024: final results

The Learn.Inc is a three-year project, co-funded by the European Union, in the framework of the “ERASMUS+/Key Program Action 2 Sector: Partnerships for Cooperation in a field of Higher Education” program. It is implemented by a consortium of five (5) partners from four (4) countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Greece) with the DAISSy Research Group of the HOU being the Greek partner, responsible for the implementation of all actions at national level and participating in all project intellectual outputs.

For more information about the Learn.Inc project and other activities of DAISSy-HOU:

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Invitation by DAISSy-HOU to join the “Tour-X Graduate Students’ Tracking System (GSTS)” online survey!

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tou-x-logoThe Hellenic Open University (HOU) and the DAISSy Research Group invite students and graduates of the tourism sector to join the “Tour-X Graduate Students’ Tracking System (GSTS)” online survey! The main objective of the Tour-X GSTS is to collect feedback from Vocational Education and Training (VET) as well as Higher Education Institution (HEI) students, graduates and final-year undergraduates. The system aims to provide insights into the effectiveness of educational programs, improve communication between education providers and employers, and support the continuous improvement of training programs and services, particularly in the tourism sector.

More specifically:

  • The data collected from the Tour-X GSTS survey is intended to facilitate communication between VET/HEI institutions and the labor market.
  • The respective questionnaire is available in English and can be easily accessed by using the following main link: https://gtsts.tour-x.eu/, and then continue by choosing one of the three categories as follows:
    • TOURX – EQF 3-4: The online questionnaire prepared targets undergraduates, students and graduates of secondary and upper secondary school in vocational and general education and training. Indicative examples of studies/training equivalent to Level 3-4 European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and access to the questionnaire: https://gtsts.tour-x.eu/tourx-eqf-3-4/
    • TOURX – EQF 5: The online questionnaire prepared targets undergraduates, students and graduates of upper and post-secondary school in vocational and general education and training. Indicative examples of studies/training equivalent to Level 5 European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and access to the questionnaire: https://gtsts.tour-x.eu/tourx-eqf-5/
    • TOURX – EQF 6-7: The online questionnaire prepared targets Higher Education students, graduates and postgraduates at bachelor and master level. Indicative examples of studies/training equivalent to Level 6 – 7 European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and access to the questionnaire: https://gtsts.tour-x.eu/tourx-eqf-6-7/

The Tour-X Graduate Students’ Tracking System (GSTS) Tool is available in English and in all partner languages (Greek, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese). It is offered free of charge and registration is a pre-requisite for accessing it, by using the following link: https://gtsts.tour-x.eu/register/

TOUR-X is a four-year (June 2022- May 2026) Center of Vocational Excellence (COVE) Project for the Tourism Industry, that envisions to create excellence in this sector, through a bottom-up approach where the Education providers of the partnership will enhance their ability to adapt skills provision to everchanging economic and social needs. The TOUR-X project, co-funded by the ERASMUS+ program of the European Union, is led by a Consortium of twenty-three (23) experienced partners representing the most prominent VET providers, the Tourism sector and Regional Authorities of the seven (7) countries (Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and China) that the project brings together. The DAISSy-HOU is a Greek partner, involved in all project deliverables and in charge of the “Quality Box for the increase of the quality in VET through feedback loops and develop graduate tracking systems” and the “Creation and maintenance of a Watch Tower for regional skills needs in the Tourism Sector”.

For more information about the Tour-X project as well as other activities of the DAISSy-HOU:

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Successful organization of the 3rd Transnational Partners’ Meeting of the EDIFY-EDU project, by DAISSy-HOU, in Athens, Greece

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The 3rd Transnational Partners’ Meeting (TPM) of the «Equality, Diversity, Inclusion For improving the qualitY of Management EDUcation, training and professions (EDIFY-EDU)» project was successfully organised on 26th  and 27th  June 2024 by the DAISSy Research Group of Hellenic Open University (HOU), the Greek academic partner. The TPM was hosted at the organisation’s premises in Athens (Greece) and provided the project partners with the opportunity to discuss and exchange on the progress of the Deliverables and results of the project.

EDIFY-EDU is a three-year project running from 01.09.2022 to 31.08.2025, co-funded by the ERASMUS+ program of the European Union (EU). It is implemented by a consortium of twelve (12) partners from six (6) EU member states, which, in alphabetical order, are: Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland (Coordinator) and Italy, as well as three Associated Partners in Belgium, Germany and Italy.

DAISSy-HOU actively participated at the third (3rd) TPM represented by, Mr. Achilles Kameas, Professor at HOU and Director of DAISSy, Ms. Eleni Georgakakou, Senior Project Manager, Ms. Panagiota Polymeropoulou, Senior Researcher and Mr. Anastasios Papadopoulos, the project’s Technician.

Overall, representatives from all the project’s partners took part in the 3rd EDIFY-EDU TPM and the scope of work included, the presentation of the EDIFY-EDU Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) E-learning platform and its promotion, the terms of registration and the ways of encouraging participation emphasizing on professionals and business representatives. It is noteworthy that DAISSy-HOU is responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance and evaluation of the E-platform as the educational tool for facilitating the learning and exchanging among the project’s trainees.

Furthermore, the evaluation framework of the MOOC as well as the implementation plans for the national Specialisation Courses at the project partner countries, were presented. The already produced educational material was analysed and the required forthcoming deadlines were set. In addition, the content of the MOOC, including proposed candidates for presentations in online webinars, was discussed.

The 3rd TPM of the EDIFY-EDU was completed with full agreement on the next project steps and by confirming the upcoming deadlines linked with the respective Deliverables as well as the respective roles of all partners.

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Stay tuned and find out more about the EDIFY-EDU project and other activities of the DAISSy Research Group at:

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Civic Hackathon “Media Literacy and Gender Disinformation” organized by DAISSy-HOU, in the context of GenderED Coalition project

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logo-genderedThe DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) announces the Civic Hackathon on “Media Literacy and Gender Disinformation” to be organized within the framework of the “GenderED Coalition – A cross-country coalition against gender disinformation for equitable societies” European project, currently undergoing by DAISSy-HOU as the Greek Partner. The Hakathon will take place on 25th to 27th September 2024, in Perugia, Italy.

The main goal of the Hackathon is to create a campaign against gender disinformation, enhancing awareness and promoting an equitable society. Thus, it is addressed to activists, content creators, professionals, and students specializing in Media Studies, Gender Studies, or Journalism. It is part of the GenderED Coalition project and it involves participants from four countries (Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, and France), who are expected to collaboratively develop communication actions to highlight the impact of gender disinformation. This widespread, both on-line and off-line, phenomenon reinforces stereotypes, distorts truth, and hinders equality.

More specifically:

  • Registration is open and free of charge, by submitting the respective form, using the following link.
  • Deadline for registration: 8th July 2024
  • Travel and accommodation costs are covered by the GenderED Coalition project.
  • Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the date of submission, the complementarity of the applicants in terms of covering the requested fields of activity and the justification of their motivation to participate.

The GenderED Coalition is a two-year project, co-funded by the CREA European program and implemented by a consortium of four (4) partners. It addresses media literacy and gender equality, aiming at shedding lights on the phenomenon of gendered disinformation and violence in social media. The project tackles the misogyny that stands beside this online phenomenon, through two intertwined actions: educating and campaigning and intends to raise the awareness and empower all social media users – girls and women who feel unsafe or attacked, but also boys and men and any person – to react to gendered disinformation.

For more information about the GenderED Coalition project, and other activities of DAISSy:

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Completion of the training programme and results of the WINBIZ project of DAISSy-HOU!

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logo-winbizAfter a 4-month period, a 115-hour asynchronous and a 35-hour synchronous training, the journey of the training programme of the WINBIZ: Women’s Innovative Business Incubation Zone European project, was completed for the 67 participating migrant women, residing in Greece, one of the six (6) project partner-countries (Greece, Portugal, Italy, Romania, North Macedonia and Germany). The training programme was part of the WINBIZ project deliverables, which was implemented by the DAISSy research group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU), as the Greek partner.

The WINBIZ business competition was the culmination of the completion of the training programme, where all trainees in the partner-countries, were invited to take part. More specifically and with regard to the WINBIZ activities in Greece, after applying for participation and receiving the extensive support of the trainers i.e. Elena Tzamouranou, Maria Britzolaki and Sofia Melissourgou, the contestants designed their business plans and presented their ideas on Monday 20th  May 2024, in a dedicated  online event through the zoom online platform.

Their hardships were many. The multiple roles (mother, wife, employee) and the stereotypical treatment they have been experiencing due to their migrant background, could have been an obstacle to the completion of this journey. However, in all the “obstacles” they saw business opportunities with multiple social benefits. Specially, Natalia, Irina, Sabrina, Vilma, Olesia, Kira, Ira and Kletia shared their entrepreneurial vision and the ways in which they aim to turn it into an innovative business with social impact, before a three-member jury, with representatives from DAISSy-HOU, InterMediaKT and MOSAIC, as follows:

  • Adessa Zadia, Education & Youth Officer- InterMediaKT
  • George Sarlis, Co-Founder- MOSAIC
  • Konstantinos Potsis, Project Manager-DAISSy Research Group & Founder of iNNOVact Business Consultants

Subsequently, the jury evaluated the business ideas, based on criteria related to Innovation, Feasibility, Value Proposition, Target Market Analysis, Scalability, Resources-Budget Allocation, and Potential-Impact and selected the three (3) winning ideas, those of Vilma, Ira and Sabina & Irina.

It is noteworthy that the “prize” for the winners is their participation in a specially designed transnational business incubation workshop (WIZ-Women’s Incubation Zone), which will take place on 3-9 July 2024, in Bevagna (Italy). An additional twelve (12) migrant women from the other five WINBIZ project partner countries will participate in it, with the aim of receiving further entrepreneurial support and guidance not only from professional mentors, but also from female migrant role models, in the light of their successful entrepreneurial journey, in their countries of residence. The workshop is planned so as to coincide with the successful Social Ηackathon Umbria, and thus to give the opportunity to participate in it, also to the female migrants who will take part in the WINBIZ workshop.

DAISSy-HOU wishes to thank all the contributors of the above long journey in the WINBIZ project, especially the participating migrant women, as well as the organizations InterMediaKT, MOSAIC, Dock and iNNOVact Business Consultants, who supported the whole initiative.

It is noteworthy that the WINBIZ project focuses on business training and support for migrant women from non-EU countries with medium-high levels of education, aiming at the acquisition and development of personal, horizontal and specific skills, necessary for their full integration and reintegration into the European labour market, thus creating prosperity both for themselves and for the society they live in.

The WINBIZ is a three-year project co-funded by the ERASMUS+ European program and implemented by a consortium of six (6) partners representing six (6) European countries (Greece, Portugal, Italy, Romania, Republic of North Macedonia and Germany), with the DAISSy Research Group of the HOU, being the Greek partner.

 

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For more information on the WINBIZ project, and other activities of DAISSy: