Partners
Integrating partners from 4 countries, this consortium was chosen considering the expertise in fields that are strategic to the project and essential to its objectives: know-how on teachers training; on data literacy & data science; and schools.
Having such diversity allows the project to heavily foster interdisciplinary synergies and networking between institutions that differ in nature and face distinct challenges in a pandemic but that all work with a mission of cultivating education.
The consortium is leaded by Vilnius University and it includes two companies specialised in digital and data training programmes (INOVA+ and Dataninja), and 4 secondary schools from Lithuania, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
Please find below all partners’ descriptions.
Vilnius University
Project coordinator
Vilnius University (VU) is the largest Lithuanian institution of higher education, has deservedly earned the status of a leader in science, research and studies. European university traditions, academic freedom and diversity of opinions, the ability to deal with new challenges in the constantly changing world, and social responsibility are the fundamental values of the University. Established in 1579, the University comprises 15 faculties. VU is co-founder of 4 institutes, 4 university hospitals, 3 interfaculty centres of study and research, 3 parks of science and technology, 4 consultancy centres.
Vilnius Jesuit High School
Vilnius Jesuit School is a part of a network of Jesuit education that stretches back over 450-years, and reaches out around the globe today. School‘s history begins with Collegium Vilnense Societatis Jesu established in 1570 by Austrian Jesuits who were invited to Vilnius by local Bishop. The College later gave start to the Vilnius University, established in 1579.
Nowadays, Vilnius Jesuit High School belongs to the global network of Jesuit schools. Just in Europe, there are 159 Jesuit schools that continue to form more than 150,000 students through Ignatian pedagogy and spirituality. Ignatian pedagogy combines processes of reflection and an active stance against injustice and the pain of others, through the classical curriculum presented in the IPP (Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm), made up of Experience, Reflection and Action.
INOVA+
INOVA+ is the Portuguese leading company in the promotion and management of international projects of Innovation, Education and Training and Research and Technological Development.
The company’s mission is to provide the knowledge, management capacity, partnerships and technical and financial support needed to ensure successful innovation projects to its customers.
Counting with 20 years of experience, INOVA+ employs a highly-qualified team of more than 85 consultants based in offices all over Europe: Matosinhos (headquarters), Lisbon, Brussels, Heidelberg and Warsaw. INOVA+ is also linked to a wide network of partners, which include Universities, Research Centers, Municipalities, clusters, Brokerage Institutions and European Bodies.
Agrupamento de Escolas Sebastião da Gama
The school cluster “Agrupamento de Escolas Sebastião da Gama” is located in Portugal, in the city of Setúbal, which is part of an area called “Costa Azul” (blue coast), characterized by the beautiful mountainous landscapes of the Arrábida Natural Park and the beaches of the Tróia Peninsula. The school cluster comprises a total of seven establishments, with levels of education that are extend from pre-school, first, second and third cycles of basic education, secondary education and alternative curricular paths, professional courses, vocational courses, adult education and training courses and recurrent education. The school cluster has about 3400 students, and 450 employees, of which 300 are teachers.
Escola Virolai
Virolai is a comprehensive school, which was founded in 1959–with four levels of education from kindergarten to Baccalaureate– which is inclusive, open, and respectful of cultural diversity. The School continually learns, reflects and improves to face the new challenges of an ever-changing world. Our main objective is educational excellence to ensure the best education for our students and their families.
Currently there are 1350 students enrolled, mainly from the surrounding districts. Most of our families have a middle socioeconomic status and are highly involved in their children’s education. We have 94 teachers on the teaching staff and 15 collaborators in the administration and services staff.
Since its establishment, 60 years ago, Virolai School has been present in Catalan society offering an educational model developed and enriched over the years, searching for the holistic education of the young. Our goal is educational excellence, in the sense of co-education, linguistic richness, respect and tolerance towards ideas, democratic values, concern for pedagogical renovation and a personalised education.
Virolai School relies on holistic education, which is understood and applied as an effective process to achieve optimal results from each student; to develop a fully rounded persona. This is achieved through effort and with the support and collaboration of families and school.
Dataninja
Dataninja is an award-winning company providing data-driven learning programs and innovative services in the field of data journalism. Since its inception in 2012 as non-formal working group of data-driven journalists, trainers and developers, Dataninja has developed training programs in partnership with Universities, newspapers and NGOs players.
Dataninja also manages the most important Italian community of data journalists with thousands of members. In partnership with the National Research Council of Italy, Dataninja is carrying on a wide research for developing a European-wide curriculum on data literacy. Dataninja has a strong expertise in the field of Education focused on Data Literacy and Data Science.
Since its inception, Dataninja has developed in-presence courses and workshops to teach and spread data-driven competencies in different contexts such as newsrooms, universities and schools.
Istituto Tecnico Economico e Tecnologico “Girolamo Caruso”
The High School “Institute Girolamo Caruso” is located in the area of the province of Trapani, in an urban expansion area of the city of Alcamo. Alcamo is a town in a strategic location because it is in the mid way between Trapani and Palermo and so it is also near to the main airports, which are “Birgi” and “Falcone Borsellino”.
Our organization is the head of the CTRH network of schools and of the Observatory for legality, set up in the school year 2013/2014 whose tasks are to check and study the phenomenon of school drop-out.
The Institute shares with local schools the educational initiatives of inclusiveness and it has organized for several years training sessions involving local, national and international institutions by organizing seminars for thematic analysis and in particular for innovative and experimental teaching methods.