Discovering the New Place of Learning

The book explores the potential of learning outside the traditional classroom when students gain real-world experiences in a variety of contexts and public spaces such as built, natural and virtual landscapes, museums, heritage sites, science centres and community venues. The authors of the book promote and put the flexible and ‘plastic’ concept of a place of learning into action by including physical geographical location, digital, virtual and textual spaces into the analysis. The book illuminates the importance of innovative educational strategies in connecting formal, non-formal and informal education – experiential learning in museums, heritage places and communities, inquiry-based pedagogy, digital storytelling, environmental online games, narrative geographies, and the use of geospatial technologies

Mid-term Evaluation of the Cultural Heritage Sector Under the EEA Grants 2009-2014

The EEA Grants in the current period have been allocated to programmes defined at national level, instead of to individual projects. These programmes have been implemented according to the Regulation and after a process of negotiation between the donors and the European Commission and then between the donors and the beneficiary countries. This negotiation has concerned, first, the Memorandum of Understanding and, second, the specific Programme Agreements. The process of negotiation and of preparing open calls for proposals has taken significantly longer than expected. This has led to severe delays in the allocation of funds and significantly reduced the time available to implement projects. However, there is broad support for the programme-based approach, as it could further improve the strategic focus and simplify the management arrangements. Given the time and effort that has been expended in setting up the programme-based approach, consideration should be given as to whether this approach should be retained for the next period. Stakeholders from the donor and beneficiary countries should consider whether negotiations can be concluded much more easily the second time round and whether programme management capacity can be retained. Where this is the case, the programme-based approach should be continued. There would be potential benefits from extending the end-date for completing expenditure and/or extending the programme period from 5 to 7 years. Monitoring indicators are appropriate, although many outcomes do not easily lend themselves to measurement and quantification. Qualitative reporting therefore remains important alongside monitoring of quantitative outputs

THINK4JOBS TOOLKIT Ten work-based learning scenarios

The current report is the first Intellectual Output (Output 1) of the THINK4JOBS initiative, which aims at improving students’ CT skills and dispositions by promoting collaboration between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Labour Market Organizations (LMOs). This is the case since according to relevant research findings, LMOs seem to expect employees to acquire CT skills in order for them to successfully address the needs of their work positions. Under this rationale, partners of the two aforementioned fields have decided to redesign and ameliorate HEI curricula by blending both HEIs and LMOs’ experience, knowledge and recommendations, while instilling this evidence into students’ apprenticeships. Apprenticeships offering practice in professional skills can actively lead to students’ understanding of their working environment and simultaneously scaffold CT development with the employment of mentoring. For this reason, the THINK4JOBS initiative exploits apprenticeships as a means of CT exploration and learning through which bridging the gap between HEIs and LMOs can be attained. Therefore, it is considered that in this fashion, students will be acquainted with the concept of CT and also be in the position of transferring it into their work settings, when entering the workplace. It should be noted that partners of the THINK4JOBS project are representatives from five disciplines (teacher training, English as a foreign language – EFL, business economics, business informatics and veterinary medicine), who formed teams between HEI and LMOs for each of these disciplines in order for ideas to be pluralized and CT to be explored across a variety of domains. The current report has a twofold aim: · to trace and map the methods and/or techniques that CT is currently employed in HEIs and LMOs’ apprenticeships and apprenticeships focusing on any possible convergent or divergent points; · to thoroughly describe and suggest work-based, learning scenarios that could bridge the gap between HEIs and LMOs’ curricula and simultaneously attempt to safeguard the requirements for graduates’ CT development and improvement. Mapping the Gap Regarding the first aim of the report, three research methods (observation, focus groups and documentary analysis) were employed in combination with three instruments (observational matrix, focus group rubric and documentary analysis rubric). Each research instrument includes a set of variables, which are majorly organized in three categories: I. Pedagogical aspects of CT development (including class objectives, teaching strategies/methods, tools/materials and evaluation regarding CT) II. CT aspects (including the ways CT is nurtured, triggered and explicitly taught during instruction) III. Implementation of CT (including elements of CT presence in these disciplines) For each variable, a set of indicators, drawing on CT and pedagogical theory was also developed in order for the aforementioned research instruments to be constructed. Stakeholders (HEI students and instructors as well as LMO tutors, employers and employees) participated in the mapping process. Data were collected during the winter semester 2020-2021 and a total of 134 participants from all partner countries participated in the focus groups discussions. Regarding the other two research methods, observation was carried out in at least three apprenticeships or courses, with at least four observation sessions for each of them. As far as it concerns the documentary analysis, documents supporting the courses/apprenticeships, which were observed, were analyzed according to the relevant rubric. Findings from each research instrument were triangulated according to each discipline and are thoroughly described in the current report in separate sections. However, some general conclusions seem to derive from a holistic approach to data analysis. Initially, it was suggested that even though a definitive “gap” between HEIs and LMOs does not seem to exist, there is a different context in CT approach since universities usually employ different learning activities focusing more on career preparation with long-term goals while LMOs follow compact and short-term, learning and teaching strategies. Additionally, findings suggested that CT is a newly-added requirement for the workplace and that HEIs and LMOs do not opt for the same terminology when referring to the concept –meaning that HEIs usually select scientific terms. Another element, which is evident is that CT in HEIs is commonly expressed through a declarative manner, while in LMOs application to specific cases follows the procedural manner. Learning Scenarios Regarding the second aim of this report, each team of HEI and LMO constructed two learning scenarios according to the findings, the sets of recommendations and the already identified educational needs. From the ten work-based scenarios developed, one from every discipline was organized in a syllabus form so that it can be further utilized for the CT blended apprenticeship curricula. This information highlights the importance of the scenarios, since they will set the stage for introducing CT at programme and course levels by utilizing Intellectual Output 3 activities to design work-based curricula for each country and dynamically enhance collaboration between HEIs and LMOs. Under this rationale, this scenario includes descriptive information about the themes, concepts, aims and learning outcomes, the duration, the teaching approach, the learning environment and the evaluation regarding both domain specific and CT related elements. First Intellectual Output Impact The current report is of major importance for the continuation of the THINK4JOBS project since it sets the stage for a sequence of activities carried out during the Second and Third Intellectual Outputs aiming at the successful application of the blended apprenticeships curricula. Besides the report’s importance for the project continuation, it may also stand as a useful Toolkit for teachers, students and employers regarding the development of CT in the workplace. In general, according to research findings, HEIs and LMOs are differently goal-oriented regarding CT and the reason for this divergence lies in the very nature and general context of the two organizations. In other words, HEIs intend to prepare students for all jobs related to a domain, while LMOs aim at preparing an employee for a specific job in a specific organization. This conclusion seems to indicate a paradox: the two organizations work in parallel but they do not share common understanding. This is the reason why the First Intellectual Output may be an invaluable means in the exploration of CT through different perspectives; actively supporting HEI and LMO collaboration in the quest for common ground

Innovation, Internationalization and Entrepreneurship

Over the past years, businesses have had to tackle the issues caused by numerous forces from political, technological and societal environment. The changes in the global market and increasing uncertainty require us to focus on disruptive innovations and to investigate this phenomenon from different perspectives. The benefits of innovations are related to lower costs, improved efficiency, reduced risk, and better response to the customers’ needs due to new products, services or processes. On the other hand, new business models expose various risks, such as cyber risks, operational risks, regulatory risks, and others. Therefore, we believe that the entrepreneurial behavior and global mindset of decision-makers significantly contribute to the development of innovations, which benefit by closing the prevailing gap between developed and developing countries. Thus, this Special Issue contributes to closing the research gap in the literature by providing a platform for a scientific debate on innovation, internationalization and entrepreneurship, which would facilitate improving the resilience of businesses to future disruptions

Minorities in the Post-Soviet Space Thirty Years After the Dissolution of the USSR

When the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, the Russian Federation and the newly independent republics of the Baltics, the Caucasus and Central Asia engaged in redefining their national identity in a challenging regional and global context. The stances and policies towards the minorities living in these countries became part of the striving towards national independence and identity formation. Despite vastly different post-Soviet nation-building trajectories, the development and implementation of state policies towards minorities had similar relevance and importance across the region. Thirty years after the end of the USSR what is the situation of minorities and minority issues in the countries that emerged from that multi-ethnic state? How have the former republics – including Russia dealt with their minorities and minority affairs? To what protection and rights are minority communities entitled to? Studies of the dissolution of the USSR and of nation-building in the independent post-Soviet states have flourished over the past decades. However, despite the relevance of the theme, there is a dearth of specialist publications which address the many issues related to minority communities in the post-Soviet space. This volume attempts to fill this gap by providing a collection of essays covering some of the most relevant aspects of the contemporary status and situation of minorities in the area

Evaluation of the region-specific risks of accidental radioactive releases from the European Spallation Source

The European Spallation Source (ESS) is a neutron research facility under construction in southern Sweden. The facility will produce a wide range ofradionuclides that could be released into the environment. Some radionuclides are of particular concern such as the rare earth gadolinium-148. In this article, the local environment was investigated in terms of food production and rare earth element concentration in soil. The collected data will later be used to model thetransfer of radioactive contaminations from the ESS

Improving Inclusive Education through Universal Design for Learning

This open access international scientific study provides an analysis of how the educational strategy of Universal Design for Learning can stimulate the process of inclusive education in different educational-cultural contexts and different areas of the educational system. The findings of the research deepen the conception of inclusive education and present an analysis of factors that are significant for developing the educational system as well as providing evidence-based recommendations for educational practice. The research for this work was done in four European countries with various historical-cultural contexts: Lithuania and Poland underwent a transformation of the educational systems at the turning point in their political system, shifting from a strictly centralized Soviet policy to a liberal and democratic education system; Austria has experienced changes in social stratification and a need for cultural harmonisation arising from active national migration processes, whereas Finland has been gradually developing a socio-democratic model of national welfare. The analysis of the educational processes in the four countries has been performed using a qualitative action research method. The researchers, in cooperation with the teachers from the selected schools in their country, have implemented the strategy of Universal Design for Learning and assessed its transformation indicators in terms of the quality of inclusive education components

ЕВРОПЕЙСКИЙ И НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫЙ КОНТЕКСТЫ В НАУЧНЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯХ

В настоящем электронном сборнике «Европейский и национальный контексты в научных исследованиях. Гуманитарные науки» представлены работы молодых ученых по гуманитарным, социальным и юридическим наукам, спорту и туризму. Предназначены для работников образования, науки и производства. Будут полезны студентам, магистрантам и аспирантам университетов.=In this Electronic collected materials “National and European dimension in research. Humanities” works in the fields of humanities, social sciences, law, sport and tourism are presented. It is intended for trainers, researchers and professionals. It can be useful for university graduate and post-graduate students