Author: mara.contardo

This year, Transform4Europe Alliance hosted its first Innovative Teaching Award for all Alliance members. The purpose of this award was to identify, acknowledge and recognize innovative teaching practices and to provide opportunities not only for sharing and exchanging best examples but also to encourage cooperation between the Higher Education Institutions of the Transform4Europe alliance.

The applications were evaluated, and a mixed committee selected the winners. The Selection Committee was composed of 7 representatives (one member per institution) and included teaching staff members, students or independent experts (stakeholders, etc.).

The awards consist of 2500 € each for the realization of innovative or creative teaching projects (4 awards). The next round of applications will be announced in 2023.

The four winners will be presented their awards during the first annual Transform4Europe international Conference-hackathon for Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods in Higher Education on 24 October 2022. You can check the full conference programme here.

Best-rated Innovative Teaching ideas:

1) Educational Escape Room
Monika Frania from the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland

The optional Educational Escape Room course is an example of good didactic practice for teaching adults, where education meets fun. Participants, divided into project teams, deepen their digital skills and social competencies, taking part in an adventure during which they not only solve puzzles but have to create their escape room. For this, one needs knowledge, creativity, and determination. In education, overcoming difficulties is essential, and the escape room is an example of a challenge.

2) Critical Thinking and the Digital Gender Divide: Transforming Students’ Mindset for a Better Future
María D. De-Juan-Vigaray and María Elena González Gascón from the University of Alicante, Spain

The purpose of this good practice is to discover whether Active Learning methodology, using different technologies, contributes to improving the Critical Thinking of the student body, applying it to the Digital Gender Divide. The importance of the practice becomes relevant in the context of European higher transformation to students of the Business Administration programme in their final semester of studies, who are about to become professionals entering the labour market.

3) Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy
Tobias Hüppe and Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy from Saarland University, Germany

“Masterclass: Intensive Care Medicine” is offered synchronously as an interactive live event. The 15 seminars (120 min each) are given by fifteen internationally experienced intensivists and include the topics of Shock and Resuscitation – Cardiac Disease – Respiratory Disease – Renal Disease – Infectious Disease – Surgical – Medical Ethics in ICU. The course includes clinical case scenarios, ventilator curves and biochemistry, blended learning with a video-based visit to the intensive care unit, principles and content of evidence-based critical care medicine and an online final exam. Live demonstrations of intensive care interventions (intubation, bronchoscopy, thoracic drainage installation, cannulation of an ECMO, etc. on cadaver preparations) are intended to convey the practical elements of intensive care medicine.

4) Visible Interactive Speaker for International Best Learning Experience
Marcel Lauterbach from Saarland University, Germany

Programming skills for data analysis are taught in an international online class to interdisciplinary students from six universities. The class uses a virtual webcam to make the lecturer visible in the PowerPoint slides, which creates a personal link with the students. Using a “virtual webcam” that overlays PowerPoint and the webcam, the presenter becomes visible IN the slides, not in a separate small window. Exercises with personal tutoring in breakout sessions give immediate feedback to the students, and in-class discussions with them contribute to community building and inclusion.

A delegation of our University is in Kaunas to attend the conference and taking part to the workshops:

Prof. Giovanni Bacaro gives the lecture: “How to “game” the system through the promotion of inclusive student-built game-based frameworks in STEM subjects.”

Professors Valentina Bologna, Elena Bortolotti, Francesco Longo, Renata Longo, Maria Peressi, Paolo Sorzio are giving the lecture: “Including students with learning disorders in Physics Higher Education.”

And Professors Alessandro Carrieri, Tullia Catalan, Roberta Altin will take part at the Transform4europe International Conference-Hackathon for INNO-METHODS Workshop

We will hold the Trieste Regional Policy Roundtable on 3^rd October 2022 from 5pm to 7pm.The title of this event will be: T4ERI and social inclusion through museums in border areas: the new ICOM 2022 definition.

This roundtable reflects the will to discuss how, and to what extent, our region can implement the new definition of ‘inclusive’, as recently established by ICOM, the International Council of Museums, in Prague.

The content of the roundtable is well illustrated by the following sentence: “A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.”

The event, moderated by Prof. Roberta Altin and Prof. Tullia Catalan from the University of Trieste, will be divided into two parts:

• 1^st part: prof. Catherine Brice of the Paris-Est Créteil University and Dr. Mario Buletic, Curator of the Ethnographic Museum of Istria, in Pazin (Croatia) will introduce the topic of the roundtable;
• 2^nd part:  stakeholders will engage in a debate around the new definition of ‘participative museum’, as defined by ICOM, starting from questions by the moderators.

The following Stakeholders have been invited:

• ERPAC (Regional Body for Cultural and Artistic Heritage)
• AREA Science Park
• Historical Museum of the Miramare Castle Park
• Risiera di San Sabba National Monument and Museum (former concentration camp)
• San Giusto Castle Museum
• Historic and Artistic Museums – Municipality of Trieste
• “Carlo and Vera Wagner” Museum of the Jewish Community

The event will be live-streamed and anyone can participate.

The Transform4Europe Alliance aims to ease the experience of visiting students by establishing the Student Ambassador Programme, which provides them with “buddies” to welcome, foster, and support them during their mobility.

The Ambassadors are outstanding students from the home university, with a good knowledge of the city, the university, the Transform4Europe Alliance, and of more than one language.

Let’s get to know the University of Trieste’s new Student Ambassadors:

Margherita Giordano is a bachelor degree student in modern language translation and the current president of ESN Trieste. She is also involved in ESN Italy and she has had several other international and volunteering experiences. As a language student, she is very keen on getting in touch with different cultures and practicing foreign languages, and she hopes that the Student Ambassador Programme will allow her to do just that.

Solange Lazzaro is also a language student, specializing in Spanish and German. As for her international experiences, she spent some time in England and Spain when she was in high school, while during her university studies she became a member of ESN Trieste. She hopes that the Student Ambassador Programme will help her meet new people and get to know their languages and cultures.

Nurah Omar studies Translation and Law and has two great passions: languages and volunteering. She already speaks six languages, but she is always looking for new ones to learn. She has a rich baggage of volunteering experiences, that range from helping refugee children to assisting victims of domestic violence. At the moment, she also organizes events for the Islamic Cultural Centre of Trieste as well as for ESN Trieste, and she is very excited about her new role as a Student Ambassador!

The Transform4Europe Alliance has developed various innovative training materials as short online training units (webinars).

The training sessions will be launched in May-June 2022.

The webinars will cater to and foster various skills of every academic and non-academic staff member from across the Alliance. The list of available webinars, including the registration form, is below:

Webinars for academic staff

Webinars for academic and non-academic staff

Webinars for both academic and non-academic staff

Participants of the Transform4Europe Professional Development training /webinars will be awarded certificates recognized alliance-wide.

The language of instruction is English. The webinars will be delivered on the “MS Teams” platform.

APPLY HERE

If you have any questions, please contact Transform4Europe@vdu.lt

The Transform4Europe alliance wants to help the actual and prospect European students attending our universities to acquire an entrepreneurial mindset useful to prepare them to face the complexity of the global challenges (digitalization, sustainability, circularity, etc).

To this aim, the alliance is organizing International Visiting Lectureship For Entrepreneurs And Practitioners, where an entrepreneur or a practitioner will present his/her experience at the University of Silesia in Katowice during the first Transform4Europe week. He/She will hold three lectures for different audiences highlighting the different perspectives: a general lecture for the students, a specific lecture for the teaching staff and an open lecture for the citizenship.

The selection of a lecturer will be based on the assessment of the curriculum vitae and an interview also the applicants will submit their application by e-mail within the deadline of April 11^th to the address: transform4europe@us.edu.pl

Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach invites humanists from all over the world to cooperate!

We invite you to watch twelve short movies with elements of animation in which sixteen scientists talk about research conducted individually or in teams at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia in Katowice.

Please take a moment to watch the short videos: the scientists present the latest research conducted at the Faculty and talk about their scientific fascinations. In this way, they want to invite humanists from Transform4Europe universities to cooperate.

They are interested in cooperation with centres, teams and individual researchers representing six disciplines:

• philosophy
• culture and religion studies
• literary studies
• linguistics
• history
• arts studies

The movie material prepared in English, French and German creates the possibility of dialogue and exchange of views, as well as establishing permanent cooperation with centres, teams and individual researchers from around the world.

Contact: wh@us.edu.pl

Below is the list of aid measures in place for academic communities provided by all members of our alliance.

ITALY | THE UNIVERSITY OF TRIESTE

• In collaboration with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Authority, the Universities of Trieste, Udine and SISSA – International School for Advanced Studies are preparing to welcome Ukrainian students and researchers and support them through scholarships. In particular, regional universities make available up to 18 semesters for doctoral students or master degrees for thesis preparation. Additional mobility grants for visiting faculty are available at SISSA :
• The University of Trieste rector wrote a letter of support to Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian students: UniTS for peace | Università degli studi di Trieste

GERMANY | SAARLAND UNIVERSITY

• Dormitory rooms for refugees (in Saarland e.g. 14 rooms directly given to Ukrainian refugees)
• Donations (food and money) -> most used one, collective of big humanitarian organizations: Spendenkonto Nothilfe
• Involve local Refugee Law Clinics, e.g. to help refugees to be part of the society in case they would like to stay for a long period of time or forever
• Lectures about Asylum Law open for every student
• Offering extra and free language courses to Ukrainian Nationals
• Emergency fund open to everyone in need (in preparation)
• Establishing local coordinators (on municipal level and university level)
• Helplines with speakers of Russian/Ukrainian as mother tongue
• Extension of psychological aid
• Joining the “Scholars at Risk Network” and offering jobs for displaced scholars
• International Office is offering “Student Jobs” especially for students of crisis-stricken countries
• Extension of stay and scholarships for exchange students and staff

SPAIN|THE UNIVERSITY OF ALICANTE

The University of Alicante has set up an institutional working group to help Ukraine, made up of the vice-rectors responsible for International Relations, Social Responsibility, Students and Culture, with the aim of joining forces and preparing a global aid programme in view of the forthcoming arrival of refugees from Ukraine to Alicante, given the state of war in the country. More info

ESTONIA|ESTONIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS

• Estonian Academy of Arts offers Ukrainian students free study opportunities at our four faculties of Fine Arts, Design, Architecture, and Art Culture until the situation in their country stabilizes.
• Extended admissions to MA programs
• EKA opened Ukraine student fund, which helps students to get their starting grant 
• It also offers help with the transportation to Estonia, finding a place to stay and food
• There is currently a physical spot open at the Institution where people can donate goods to support those in need

POLAND | THE UNIVERSITY OF SILESIA

• Fundraiser organized by the University of Silesia to help both the students who came to UniSil prior to the war and their families, and those who arrived at the University during the last days and will continue to arrive. Please find the details here: Fundraiser for urgent needs of Ukrainian students and their families | Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach. Here is the direct link to the fundraiser. All of the money is used directly to support the students and their families. I assure you that no penny is lost on the way
• Fundraiser organized by the Polish Humanitarian Action. They support both the Ukrainians who stay in Ukraine and those who left Ukraine and are in Poland. They are acting directly both in Ukraine and Poland. More information
• No semester fees for Ukrainian students at UniSIl
• Flexibility or even suspension of students’ obligations (extension of exam session, excuse of all absences, possibility to participate in classes online, short-term leaves)
• Student volunteers helping the students to deal with anything
• Offering extra and free language courses to all Ukrainian Nationals at UniSil
• Establishing University coordinator
• Joint statement of Transform4Europe alliance
• Offering free accommodation to Ukrainian students at the University dorms
• Offering accommodation and support to students who had been studying in Ukraine before the war started and fled to Poland, Katowice
• Psychological support at the University
• Legal support at the University
• Financial aid to Ukrainian students
• Collecting most essential products at the University (for Ukraine, for refugees, and students: medicaments, clothes for refugees, even products for Ukrainian pets and animals)
• Different kinds of lectures on how we can help our Ukrainian neighbours to deal with the situation

BULGARIA | SOFIA UNIVERSITY DT. KLIMENT OHRIDSKI

• Indefinite extension of stay in university dorms for Ukrainian students
• Canteen and cafeteria offering free food to Ukrainians
• Official information about the situation shared on the University website
• Further information published in the Student Council web page

LITHUANIA | VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY IN KAUNAS

• VMU has admitted new students from Ukraine and provided accommodation in the university dormitories for them or their families.
• Ukrainian students are given scholarships, covering their accommodation, settlement needs, and other expenses.
• Many partner companies and stakeholders of VMU offer jobs and internships to Ukrainian students and/or their relatives.
• The VMU staff organizes various charity campaigns to collect relief supplies for Ukrainian students and tries to support them in any possible way.
• The VMU community, institutionally and individually – students, academic and non-academic staff alike – demonstrate their faith in being “Strong together”, calling for fundraising, organizing relief actions, providing accommodation, offering psychological support.
• Support
• In 2020, VMU established a support fund dedicated to students who suffered from repression by the Belarusian government. Now, this fund will also support students who suffered from military operations in Ukraine. The university is also prepared to welcome students and lecturers who are fleeing from war in Ukraine. More information: support@vdu.lt
• Invitation to sign a petition against war crimes organized by the Ukrainian World Congress. The petition, which aims to stop war crimes, can be found here.
• Complete information

Our students Nicola Russo, Ahmed Moujoud and Riccardo Formisano have attended it: they had been selected by the European University Community to represent the Alliance Transform4Europe.
They have provided their contribution, together with many other students from all over Europe, to make suggestions about the future of Europe.

The inaugural session of the European Student Assembly has just ended in Strasbourg. The works took place in the European Parliament and in the hall of the Université de Strasbourg where the Council of Europe was born.

This is how they tell us about their experience:

Nicola: “I am convinced that this was the first stone of a stronger community between young people in Europe, a community that will give to the students a legitimate say on European polices in the future. I am proud to have been part of it”.

Ahmed: “Young people, as the future citizens of this society, must be part of the policy-making process in our countries. This event was a unique opportunity to make us part of that. I hope that in the future we can promote more activities of this kind that involve and encourage young people to be part of the construction of our future Europe.”

Riccardo: “Inaugurating this ambitious initiative and contributing to the future of Europe in the very same room where the construction of a Europe of peace and unity began was exciting. The opportunity to exchange ideas face to face with nearly 300 students from across the continent has reenergized our consciousness as European citizens and our passion for the European project.”

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