Mokomės visą gyvenimąE d u c a t i o n E x c h a n g e s S u p p o r t F o u n d a t i o n n e w s l e t t e r

November 2009, No. 5

The fifth issue of the Education Exchanges Support Foundation newspaper attempts to spread the message that we are working for you and because of you, whoever you were: a child, a teenager or an adult. We stand for those who are striving for progress and have courage to dream and create.

We wish to make this special issue of our publication a reminder that our collaboration is important and together we have achieved impressive results. The projects you have implemented undoubtedly influenced your personal and professional development, and the power of the gained experience can hardly be overestimated. It might, however, take its time to be noticed…

We are assured that especially at this time the decision to act – to teach or to learn – is a wise decision indeed.

Baltic EXPRO: Brief Historical Overview: page 2.

Education Exchanges Support Foundation Quality Competition 2009: pages 6-7.

Special Baltic EXPRO+ Crossword: page 8.

Baltic EXPRO:Brief Historical Overview

The EXPRO tradition was started in Esto­nia, where in the autumn of 2005 the European Union Education Program Socrates celebrated its 10th anniversary. On this occasion, the Archi­medes Foundation organized the exhibition of Socrates 10 EXPRO projects in Tallinn, where the representatives of the Estonian education insti­tutions presented the results of their projects.

The first EXPRO also established the tradi­tion of awarding the institutions which have completed successful projects; also to reward the winners of the Leonardo da Vinci Program Essay Competition. A variety of conventional events came along, such as informational semi­nars, promotional materials on the program op­portunities, and a variety of entertaining activi­ties, such as the minting of the EXPRO coin.

The Leonardo da Vinci Program joined EXPRO in the following year, bringing along more than 300 people interested in transna­tional cooperation.

In November 2007, the event was held for the third time. Our colleagues from the Latvian and Lithuanian National Agencies were invited to participate as observers.

Baltic EXPRO 2008, which was held in Sep­tember of 2008, had already grown into an in­ternational event and was organized together with the Latvian and Lithuanian National Agen­cies. Various handicrafts workshops, candy preparation, pole walking, Scottish dancing and other activities were hosted for the first time at EXPRO. Comenius assistants were at hand and ready to discuss their experience of working abroad. In total, about 500 people at­tended the event.

In 2005, 45 Socrates projects were implemented by 27 Estonian schools and 2 uni­versities, as well as a number of various foun­dations, publishing houses and museums.

In 2006, 40 Socrates and 20 Leonardo da Vinci projects were implemented by 26 Esto­nian schools and 20 vocational education institutions, as well as several universities, training centers, adult education institutions, publishing houses and museums.

In 2007, about 60 Lifelong Learning Pro­gram projects were implemented by 50 Esto­nian organizations.

In 2008, nearly 60 projects were represen­ted by 32 Estonian, 12 Latvian and 10 Lithua­nian institutions.Text prepared by “Archimedes Foundation”

Concluding year of creativity and innovation, the Education Exchanges Support Foundation invites you to the major international education event Baltic Expro+.

On November 12, an exhibition of inter­national projects implemented by the educa­tional institutions from the Baltic States will be held at the Šiauliai Arena (located at 16 J. Jablonskis street in Šiauliai). Important in­formation on the requirements and participa­tion in the Foundation programs of 2010 will be announced during the event, and the win­ners of the Quality Competition 2009 will be awarded.

Baltic EXPRO, which has already become a good tradition, is a joint exhibition of the best educational projects administered by three Baltic States. This year, the representa­tives of 50 projects from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are expected to participate in the exhi­bition. The achievements of Lithuania will be presented by 30 administrators of the exemp­lary Comenius, Grundtvig, Leonardo da Vinci and Nordplus projects. The main theme of the Baltic EXPRO+ fair this year is project creativity and innovation.

The Education Exchanges Support Founda­tion will hold the second annual Quality Compe­tition for the administered programs. The most creative and innovative projects, individual mobility activities and the most active institu­tions, which managed to achieve the highest quality of performance, will be honoured du­ring the 2009 Quality Awards Ceremony.

In addition to the project exhibition and the Quality Competition 2009, there will be informational seminars for the representatives of high schools, vocational institutions, busi­ness enterprises and other organizations. They will have an opportunity to get familiar with the requirements for the participants of the 2010 EU Lifelong Learning Program call and the Nor­dic and Baltic Country Cooperation Program Nordplus tenders.

Comenius Informational seminars will briefly review

the available Lifelong Learning programs and the school partnership opportunities offered by the Comenius program. The bilateral and multilateral Comenius partnership projects will also be discussed. The Comenius part­nership projects are the projects which unite the educational institutions from the Lifelong Learning program member countries. The

purpose of these activities is to strengthen the European dimension of school develop­ment by encouraging the cooperation among European schools. The participants will be informed about the goals, priorities, target groups and sponsorship rules of the Comenius program partners. The informational seminars will also attempt to attract the attention of the Lithuanian educational institutions and to in­terest them by presenting the activities of the Comenius partner schools.

NordplusInformational seminars will briefly pre­

sent the cooperation opportunities between the Nordic countries and the Baltic States in the field of education, which are offered by the joint Nordplus program. Three subpro­grams will be discussed during the seminars, namely: – Nordplus Junior, which is dedicated to the

institutions of general education; – Nordplus Adult, which is dedicated to the

adult educational institutions; – Nordplus Horizontal, which is dedicated to

the institutions of various educational sec­tors.

The participants of the seminars will be informed about the goals, priorities, target groups, activity types and sponsorship rules. Informational seminars will also attempt to attract the attention of the Lithuanian insti­tutions and to encourage them to join the Nordplus program.

Leonardo da VinciThe Leonardo da Vinci program, which is

another Lifelong Learning subprogram, will also be presented during the seminars. This program was established to support coope­ration among the member states of the Euro­pean Union (EU) and to promote and develop primary and continuing vocational education and training. During this seminar we will talk about the possibilities to submit applications for the Leonardo da Vinci mobility, innovation transfer and partnership projects and prepara­tory visits. We will provide general information about the program and project types, set forth the national priorities for 2010, and review the changes of the 2010 call rules. Although this

MOKOMĖS VISĄ GYVENIMĄ�

program has been active for several years, numerous novelties are introduced every year and many changes constantly take place, therefore even the experienced projects co­ordinators will get a lot of new and important information.

GrundtvigInformational seminars will offer the in­

formation about Grundtvig, the subprogram of the Lifelong Learning program family, which focuses on adult education and continuous learning. The greatest deal of attention will be devoted to the Grundtvig learning partnership projects, which concentrate mainly on the adult education management and/or the introduc­tion of adult educators and administrators to the available teaching methods as well as the possibilities of exchanging experience and the information about the new perspectives and methods developed together. The participants of these projects are the educators and stu­dents from the adult educational institutions in no less than three Lifelong Learning program member countries. The participants of the se­minars will be informed about the goals, priori­ties, target groups, activity types and sponsor­ship rules of Grundtvig. Informational seminars will also attempt to attract the attention of the Lithuanian institutions and to encourage them to join the Grundtvig program.

Euroguidance: Informational Se-minar for Career Counseling Advi-sors

During this seminar, career counselors and advisors will learn about the qualifica­tion enhancement opportunities offered by the Lifelong Learning programs. The partici­pants of the seminar will be presented with a new publication dedicated to professional orientation, Methods and Techniques of Ca-reer Counseling II. The Euroguidance 2010 activity guidelines and plans, the new con­cept of the 2010 Career Guide, and other im­portant news on career advising and counse­ling will be discussed during the seminar.

We are grateful to all of those who submit­ted applications to the Quality Competition held by the Education Exchanges Support Foundation. The purpose of this competition is to select and award the most creative and in­novative projects of the Lifelong Learning Prog­ram, individual mobility activities and career counseling specialists who managed to achie­ve the highest quality of performance.

For the Quality Competition 2009, the Education Exchanges Support Foundation re­ceived applications from 93 institutions and 17 individuals. Career Information Centers (CIC) which were invited to present their professio­nal activities for the first time were especially active in this competition. On September 11, 2009, based on the assessment received from the experts, the Quality Competition Selection Committee of the Education Exchanges Sup­port Foundation presented their final decision regarding the award distribution among the participating projects and individuals. When evaluating the applications, the Committee paid a great deal of attention to the quality of the projects implemented by the applicants as well as to their overall performance, the value and efficiency of the achieved results, the effectiveness of their practical utilization, the quality of project administration and to the efficiency of the utilization of the received funds.

The participants of the Quality Competition 2009 competed in 10 categories. • The winner in the category Participant of the

Comenius Qualification Enhancement Course 2008 became Ms. Rasa Stakienė, Teacher of the Panevėžys District Velžis Gymnasium.

• Comenius Partnership Project 2008 award went to the E-Bridge project presented by Jo­nava Neris Basic School.

• The winner in the category Participant of the Grundtvig Qualification Enhancement Course 2008 became Ms. Edita Šatienė, Project Coor­dinator of the Association Senior Initiative Center.

• Grundtvig Learning Partnership Project 2008 prize was awarded to the project Legends of the Past – A Glance to the Future presented

Education Exchanges Support Foundation Quality Competition 2009

by the Public Enterprise State Institution Lan­guage Center.

• Leonardo da Vinci Procedure B Project 2006 award went to the project E-Learning Module: English Language for IT Specialists presented by Vilnius Business College.

• Leonardo da Vinci Mobility Project 2007 award went to the project Professional Competence Enhancement for Hairdressers Seeking Suc-cessful Integration in Continuous Education presented by Vilnius Vocational Training Cen­ter for Customer Service Specialists.

• The winner in the category Participant of the Study Visits Program 2008/2009 became Mr. Audrius Kurlavičius, Principal of Klaipėda Ga­bija Basic School.

• Best Career Information Point 2008 award went to the Kužiai High School Career Infor­mation Center of the District of Šiauliai.

• The special award of the Foundation Quali­ty Competition 2009, which was dedicated to the upcoming year 2010, the year of fight against poverty and social exclusion in Euro­pe, was given to the Public Enterprise SOPA for its successfully implemented 2007 Leonar-do da Vinci Mobility Project Career Counseling for the Disabled: Acquaintance with the Met-hodology and Practice of the Netherlands.

• The best Erasmus Institution 2007/2008 award went to ISM University of Management and Economics for the excellent organization of stu­dies for the exchange students in Lithuania.

• A special award was established by the Edu­cation Exchanges Support Foundation for the Contribution while implementing the Erasmus Exchange Program in Lithuania during 1999­2008. The award was given to Erasmus institution coordinators Dr. Habil. Prof. Angelija Valančiūtė, Vice­President of the Senate of Kaunas University of Medicine, and Ms. Laima Bakienė, Career and External Relations Coordinator of the International Re­lations Department of Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

• An additional award for the Highest Quality Career Counseling in Vocational Schools was given to the Career Information Point of the Public Enterprise Alanta Technology and Bu­siness School.

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Baltic EXPRO + exhibition floor plan and participants

COMEnIuS

1. E­Bridge, LT2. Art from past to future, LV3. Waste management and education in a school, LT4. Johnny‘s seven friends, EE5. Communicating through music – musical sribbles, LT6. Creative lifelong learning for healthy living in Europe, LV7. Respect the differences and appreciate the similarities, LT8. European enterprise – a business full of adventure, EE9. On the tracks of your homeland, LT10. Fresh water – memory and future heritage, EE11. Water – source of life and energy, LT 12. Let’s play together!, LV13. Remove barries to learning, LT 14. Our living environment: Today –Yesterday­Tomorrow, LT15. Outdoor learning – healthy body, healthy mind, LT16. School – better and safer place for our children, LV

17. Euroguidance, Europass, Study visits18. E­Twining19. European Commission Representation in Lithuania20. Europe for citizens

LEOnARdO dA VInCI

21. Butcher‘s competence development during the international industrial practise, LT22. Co­care digital, EE 23. The innovation of the improvement of the training process and preparation of the training

material for the Professional training of the constructor sector specialities in the EU coun­tries, LT

24. MAP:ECVET; VALORIS – TIQSS; CULTOUR (Grundtvig), EE25. Career counselling for the disabled: introduction to methods and practise applied in

the Netherlands, LT26. E­learning module. English language for information technology specialists, LT27. Development of knowledge on REACH, LT28. TRAIN, EE29. VOGS+, EE30. TuCode, LT31. Stop the war on the roads, LT32. The development of strategical individual competencies in the context of European

integration, LT

S T A G E

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33. Career‘s information and counselling as a part of lifelong learning culture, LT34. Experience of EU countries in training of client service sector, LT35. Saldus professional secondary school student‘s mobility in France, LV36. Improvement of production technologies in confectionary industry, LT37. Tradition and innovation in professional art education, LV38. Developing professional competencies for hairdressers successful integration

into continuous studies, LT

GRundTVIG

39. SILELA, LT40. Adults learning languages and intercultural awareness, LV41. PASS, LT42. Together each achieves more (TEAM), LV43. Tales from the past – stories for the future, LT44. Europe needs active seniors, EE45. STRATFORD, LT46. The nature of learning: taking learning outdoors, LT47. Etnographic handicraft workshop in Europe, EE48. SIGNS: seniors input to generations dialog in education, LT49. 10 local arts, LT

nORdPLuS

50. ELECTIONS, EE51. Education through oral history fieldwork, LV52. Sustainable lifestyle: how much does the knowledge cost, LT53. Professions connected with folk art now and then, LT54. Acknowledge the unknown, LT55. National languages and cultures – way of life, LV56. Language on the move, LT

– drawing area – informationINFORMATION

S T A G E

Mainentrance

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In addition to that, we, the employees of the centre, noticed that our consistent partici­pation in these programs since 1998 has really helped us to grow and get heard and noticed. Just like the big trees that can’t help rustling in the wind – they are simply too tall too remain silent... We want to share our achievements with other like­minded people. Perhaps we even want to boast a bit about being a part of the large Leonardo da Vinci family... These are the main reasons that lay behind the decision of our institution to participate in the Leonardo da Vinci Project Quality Competition.

Is it difficult to combine the professional duties of the teacher and the responsibilities of the international project coordinator? How do you manage it?

No, not really. The teacher’s job helps me to achieve better results as project coordina­tor. In both cases we are dealing with a HU­MAN BEING, who is fragile like a plant: it needs warmth and constant attention, it needs to be heard. Anyone who chooses this profession and integrates it into his or her way of life can successfully work with projects because such a person already has sufficient psychological knowledge and individual experience.

I certainly cannot deny that because of the big teachers’ workload, most Lithuanian teach­ers feel deprived of a possibility to prepare and manage projects themselves. For me, however, this work is rather easy because I am directly responsible for the project­related activities at the Public Enterprise Kelmė Vocational Training Center. During the nine years of work at this in­stitution, I learned all the aspects of this kind of work. Having created a network of local and foreign partners, I can now rest assured kno­wing that I can easily manage any unexpected situation, which may occur due to numerous subjective factors, whereas most project ma­nagers would find such situations impossible to resolve. I believe that my success at work is also influenced by my personal characteristics: I am really devoted to my work and to the peop­le around me, I am not looking for personal gain when dealing with the partners, I can ob­jectively evaluate a situation, and am able to efficiently analyze the reasons of my failures. I cannot imagine myself having any other job. Even though sometimes my body tells me „ ... I am tired“, my mind responds „I have not yet written my best project...“. With every implemented project I get new progressive ideas and partners for two or three upcoming projects. And, most importantly, I have fantas­tic colleagues around me: the teachers and the students who work as my assistants. Thus for me it really isn’t hard because I am not alone!

The most unexpected event of the project...So many unexpected and funny events

happened during the past nine years that it would take volumes to list them all...

However, I believe that the most unex­pected and totally unplanned event was the essential change in my personal life which was triggered by our partnership with Austria. I be­came a happy woman…

Interview with Professor Angelija Valančiūtė from Kaunas university of Medicine

Was it difficult to combine teaching at the University and your work as the Head of the International Relations Department? How did you manage it?

It was not easy indeed, first of all because of the large workload at both positions. I was lucky to be a part of excellent and hard wor­king teams both at the International Relations and Study Center, and at the Histology and Embryology Department at Kaunas University of Medicine. Being a university professor and at the university international relations coor­dinator at the same time really helps me to un­derstand both the students and the teachers of the university. When you are a teacher, you get a clear picture of the study environment and can see better what international mea­sures should be chosen and implemented for the best results.

What were the biggest challenges while organizing the activities of the department and trying to spread internationality in your institution?

The biggest challenge in my career as a teacher and the international relations coor­dinator of the university was the implementa­tion of the study program in English. The first foreign students who came to study medicine in English came to the university in 1990. Un­til 1995, an increasing number of clinics and departments kept joining this process: ini­tially those of the Medical and Pharmaceutical Faculties, and later on those of the Dental and Public Health Faculties. While the new institu­tions were joining, we had to do a lot of work communicating with the teachers and encou­raging them. The beginning was very hard: it was difficult to find the necessary textbooks in English, the instructors were not used to working with students with different cultural backgrounds, and the integration of the stu­dents themselves was not simple. Another big challenge was the communication with the officials at the Migration Department trying to find a way to facilitate the immigration pro­cess for foreign students while the immigra­tion laws were extremely unfavorable. Howe­ver, the radical changes in the overall policy of university education, which has turned to support the internationality, and the simplifi­cation of the requirements for student Schen­gen visas, proved that we were working in the right direction.

What most memorable event related to your international activity could you single out?

There were many memorable events. The one that always sticks in my mind is the in­auguration day at the beginning of each new school year: various students, including those who get here through Erasmus or other stu­dent exchange programs and those who come here to take a full study program for a degree and diploma, all get together. This is always a big festive event which clearly reflects the in­ternational character of our studies.

What would you advise or wish your col-leagues who are pursuing international activi-ties in their institutions?

To those colleagues, especially those who are just starting their activities, I would re­commend persistence. It is important to know the people at one’s university really well, to find opportunities to communicate with them. I believe that universities attract many people who are full of initiative and intelligence. The more people will get involved in international activities, the more successful they will be at innovative international projects.

Interview with the Project Manager of the

Public Enterprise Kelmė Vocational Training Center Ms. Aldona Vinčienė

Why did you submit the application for the Leonardo da Vinci Project Quality Competition? Do you believe that this award ceremony is im-portant?

I believe that today the people of Lithu­ania are not only going through difficult eco­nomic times but are also experiencing a deep spiritual disappointment, which has recently intensified. Unemployment, lack of attention paid to the integration of young people into the economic development of the country, devalu­ation of work, including teachers’ work, encour­aged us to look for the bright side of life and inform the nation that there are such programs as Leonardo da Vinci, which provides excellent opportunities for spiritual development, know­ledge increase and professional competence enhancement. The program helps to imple­ment the strategic education plans of the voca­tional schools of the Republic of Lithuania, and simply adds brighter colours to the dull days of an average Lithuanian teacher. We all know the golden rule of life: if you want to give yourself to others, you must first get spiritual strength from the surrounding environment.

Angelija Valančiūtė

Aldona Vinčienė

Education Exchanges Support Foundation Quality Competition has received 93 applications. We thank all the participants of this competition and are presenting the most interesting projects as well as their coordinators

MOKOMĖS VISĄ GYVENIMĄ�

Career Information Points:Good Experiences

One of the award winners in the Educa­tion Exchanges Support Foundation Quality Competition 2009 is Kužiai High School Ca­reer Information Center (CIC) of the District of Šiauliai. This CIC not only provided counseling services for the school and the community but also came up with the initiative to unite the career counselors from all over the country in order to share the good experiences and joint­ly look for solutions to common problems. For this purpose, a national conference on metho­dology and practice for career counselors The Role of Career Counselors in Schools: Experien-ce and Perspectives was held at the Kužiai High School on March 24, 2009.

The employees of the Kužiai High School Career Information Center, the Deputy Princi­pal for Education and CIC Activity Coordinator Edita Brasienė and the Career Counselor Edita Lingaitė told us that the idea to hold such a conference for career counselors and teachers who are also involved in counseling activi­ties emerged during the Education Exchanges Support Foundation Quality Competition 2008 Awards Ceremony, which was held in Vilnius. Ms. Edita Brasienė, who was the winner of the Best Career Counselor award, noted that it would be a good idea for the winners of the competition to meet and share their good ex­periences. The prevailing opinion that schools still do not devote enough attention to career counseling while the role of career counselor has never been clearly defined gave birth to the idea to hold the conference for the tea­chers from Šiauliai District. This conference was really easy to arrange because the admi­nistration and the teachers of the Kužiai High School already had experience in organizing annual pedagogical meetings for the teachers from Šiauliai District.

According to the CIC employees, during this conference for the first time the career counselors had an opportunity to discuss their work at schools and observe a show seminar which focused on self­perception and career planning issues of school students. The par­ticipants of the conference also shared their

thoughts about the diversity and efficiency of the prevailing work methods. The social part­ners of the career counselors from the Šiauliai Youth Employment Center and the Šiauliai Job Exchange were also present at the conference. They told about the services they provide and discussed the possibilities of cooperation with schools.

68 participants from various districts, ci­ties and towns of Lithuania, such as Kupiškis, Kėdainiai, Šiauliai and Telšiai, attended the conference. Numerous questions and meaning­ful discussions showed that such events are useful and necessary, and that our teachers are creative, motivated and capable of provi­ding high­quality career counseling services.

More Interesting Comenius Projects: Education Exchanges Support Foundation Quality Competition 2009 nominees

The project by Plungė Agricultural and Business School PEACE: Concepts for Peaceful Schools in Europe. www.comeniuspeace.com

Project goals:• to promote the concept of the peaceful

school culture; to create an appropriate atmosphere for successful teaching and learning in every organization;

• to gather student groups and prepare staff training courses for the implementation of the ideas of the Concepts for Peaceful Schools in Europe project. 10 institutions from 9 countries collabo­

rated on this project. The participants ana­lyzed new and important ways of violence and conflict prevention. The experts from Germany were invited to share their practical knowledge. A new conflict management program was intro­duced. The final result of the project was a new website dedicated to methodology:

http://www.comeniuspeace.com/web­site/peaceplatform.htm

The project by Zapyškis Basic School of Kaunas District Quality Assurance through the Synergy of Internal and External Evaluation.

http://www.walkwoodms.worcs.sch.uk/Co­menius.htm

This project lasted for 2 years, during which the teachers from 5 countries cooperat­ed during the project­related meetings. They prepared information bulletins about each school and its activities. Each partner school observed the performance of the visited school and shared the experiences, observa­tions and proposals. The observers also intro­duced their school evaluation criteria and the evaluation of the teaching quality.

Project by Klaipėda Nursery/ Kinder­garten Volungėlė Knowing Me Knowing You. www.volungele.lt.

The goal of this project was to introduce the children to different cultural traditions and to help them to get acquainted with rhymes, stories, customs, celebrations and festivals of other European countries.

The project focused on the analysis of the traditions, rhymes, stories and festivals of eve­ry participant country. The project was con­cluded with a book of poems and songs from four participating countries. The book was translated into all participating languages by the project participants and illustrated by an extremely talented child from Kindergarten Volungėlė.

More Interesting Grundtvig Projects: Education Exchanges Support Foundation Quality Competition 2009 nominees

Project by Mykolas Romeris University PASS: Influence on Personal Access to Edu-cation for People with Migrant Background http://www.fresiaprogetti.it/phpgroupware/login.php.

Seven adult education institutions from Austria, Italy, Germany, Turkey and Lithuania partnered in this project.

Project results. One of the most important results of this project was the publication in the English language which described the activi­ties of the project participants and presented

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Dear readers, We wish you luck in answe­ring the questions of this crossword puzzle. Those who solve it successfully will receive a witty and useful prize from the Educational Exchange Support Foundation. We will be wai­ting for your answers during the Baltic EXPRO+ exhibition at the information point, by e­mail at info@smpf.lt or by regular mail at the fol­lowing address: Švietimo mainų paramos fon­das, Geležinio Vilko str. 12, LT­01112 Vilnius, Lithuania. Good luck!

Break Time!

AnSWERS TO QuIz nuMBER 4:1. Rainbow, 2. Yellow, 3. Orange, 4. Raspber­ries, 5. Grundtvig, 6. Mandarin, 7. Gooseber­ries, 8. Cherries, 9. Black, 10. Blue, 1. White, 12. Apple, 13. Wild strawberries, 14. Blueberries.Key ­ innovations

Mokomės visą gyvenimąE d u c a t i o n E x c h a n g e s S u p p o r t F o u n d a t i o n n e w s l e t t e r

2009, november, Nr. 5

Publisher: Education Exchanges Support Foundation 12 Geležinis Vilkas street, 01112 VilniusTel. (8 5 ) 2610592, fax: (8 5 ) 2497137E­mail: info@smpf.lt, www.smpf.lt Circulation: 1.000 copies. © Švietimo mainų paramos fondas, 2009This issue was prepared by Dovilė Rudzenskė, Martynas Šukys, Vytau­tas Pačiauskas, Sigita Remeikienė, Jurgita Budvilaitytė, Anne Hütt.Layout by UAB „Sapnų sala“, published by UAB „Sapnų sala“

This publication was financed by the European Commission. It represents the views of its authors only, and therefore the Commission cannot be held responsible for every usage of the information presented therein.

1. Common name for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia „The ...... States“

2. Prize­giving ceremony for the participants of the competition

3. The name of the city where Baltic EXPRO 2009 takes place

4. In 2008, Baltic EXPRO took place in ....5. Novelty, development, introduction, time­

liness, ...6. Lifelong Learning Program (LLP) devoted to

secondary education 7. An international word describing fair or

exhibition 8. A Latin letter which in arithmetic means

multiplication 9. The winner of a competition gets the ...10. The process of generating new, exceptio­

nal and unique ideas11. Education Exchanges Support ... 12. The sign which signifies the mathematical

process of addition

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the Oral History/ Narrative Interview method. Certain fragments of the inteviews were used to write a theater play script which was then video recorded. These were the main project results which were presented to all the institutions that work with migrants in the partner count­ries. Also, the website www.fresiaprogetti.it was created for archiving the project materials.

A set of intervention tools enabling the cus­tomization of educational career was adapted and approved. The participants of the project created original interactive educational tools which were supposed to stimulate a favorable atmosphere for integration, i.e. assure more possibilities for active participation of the rep­resentatives of the local community and mig­rant groups (the Forum Theater Method).

The results of the successfully implement­ed project are futher utilized. CD­ROM discs with the most important project information are distributed during presentations and lectures.

The project by Soros International House The Importance of Active Citizenship for Young Adults in Education and Training – AcCyEd. www.sih.lt

Adult education institutions from Cyprus, France, Hungary, Poland, Turkey and Lithuania partnered in this project.

Project results. A new Internet portal, www.youngactivecitizen.eu, was created. During the project, six international virtual forums were or­ganized and attracted a large number of young people from all the partner countries. The forum members actively expressed their opinions on all the topics initiated by the forum modera­tors. Their thoughts and ideas stimulated pas­sionate discussions among the representa­tives of various cultures and ethnicities. Also, External Working Groups (EWGs) were formed during the project. They conducted written and oral surveys on the issues of social awareness and actively participated in the international virtual forums. Together with the partners of the project, they organized various events in pub­lic spaces and in their educational institutions (for example, a discussion/seminar dedicated to the Child Protection Day).

A special project summary/guide was pre­pared in CD format. It compiles and summa­rizes the results obtained via oral and written questionnaires in the partner countries. It also provides several good experience examples of active citizenship, reviews the topics of the in­ternational forums and contains the question­naires which can be used in the work of teach­ers or adult educators.

The impressive number of forum members and the variety of opinions inspired the project partners to continue running the international forums upon the conclusion of the project. (The topics of further discussions were considered during the final meeting of the partners).