Category Archive News

On November 28th, the Third Meeting of the Executive Council and the Second General Assembly of the Education Inspiring Peace Laboratory (EIP Lab) took place in an hybrid form at Villa Ormond, Sanremo (Italy), hosted by the Institute.

In both meetings, the team presented of the active projects of the EIP Lab (CITIZED, Peace Games, Must-A-Lab, PERFECT, Arguing at school, LICEAL) followed by the introduction of the latest project approved (GO TALK) and of those who are in the workings, stressing the importance of creating new synergies among the different projects.

The members of the Executive Council discussed the seat of the Laboratory, and focused on brainstorming around the Research Capacity consolidation, the promotion of Innovative practice, the support for Policy implementation to be provided by the Lab and the organizational development. During the session, a new membership opportunity for school was approved, and the members cooperated in the organization of an EIP Lab event, which will be held in February 2023. 

Stay tuned!

On November 29, the International Institute of Humanitarian Law hosted the 5th class of the Dante Alighieri primary school of the Almerini Foundation of Sanremo, for a visit dedicated to the discovery of the work of the Institute and the Education Inspiring Peace Laboratory, of which the Institute is a founding member together with the Municipality of Sanremo. 

The visit opened with the presentation of the activities of the Institute and the EIP Lab by Gian Luca Beruto, Deputy Secretary General of the IIHL and Director of the Laboratory. The young students were able to learn about human rights and peace by getting to know the EIP Lab as an international center for the promotion of projects on peace education and citizenship. 

The meeting was also an opportunity to experience some games that inspire peace, selected from the catalogue – available here – produced within the European project Peace Games. 

The moment of play with children was coordinated by some students of the last year of Liceo G. Cassini, accompanied by Professor Walter Scavello, in order to strengthen the exchange of transversal skills between students of different ages. 

This activity was part of the pilot actions of Peace Games, aimed at launching innovative learning paths for primary and secondary school students, starting from experimenting games that contribute to the development of civic, communicative, intercultural and conflict transformation skills. 

In particular, children were involved in four different games: Peace-War-Peace, The Mind, Feelinks – the game of emotions and Hellapagos.

A final collective reflection was carried out on the appreciation of the activities and the notions learned thanks to the games, and it showed a significantly high level of appreciation and enthusiasm from each side! 

The MUST-a-Lab project Capacity Building for future Policy Labs’ facilitators took place in Sanremo (Italy) from November 23rd to November 25th. 

Facilitators selected by partner cities – Mechelen (Belgium), Vienna (Austria), Livadia (Greece), Modena (Italy) and Fuenlabrada (Spain) – attended the three-day Capacity Building in Villa Ormond to deepen their knowledge about the facilitation cycle, its management and a Policy Lab’s success factors.

Participants shared their city’s chosen challenges, their objectives and previous experiences and practiced the participatory method and facilitation techniques through group works, guided brainstorming, analysis of materials and plenary discussion. 

At the end of the training sessions, facilitators had the chance to start planning their own Policy Labs, laying the groundwork for the future project actions.

The Policy Workshop “The challenges to Citizenship Education in Malta” took place in La Valletta, Malta, on November 18. Education officers, teachers, and stakeholders gathered to attend the workshop which included a World Cafè discussion on 5 challenges to Citizenship Education identified by the project. Thanks to the guests contribution, the policy workshop represented a step forward in the development of the CITIZED policy recommendations, which will be available from 2023. 

The policy Workshop in Malta represents only the first of a series of policy workshops which will take place also in Italy, France and Austria.

On November 17, the CITIZED partnership gathered in La Valletta, Malta, to discuss the development of the project.

Among other issues, the CITIZED Whole School Approach Toolkit was discussed, alongside the creation of a training module for teachers.

Both tools will be soon made available! Stay tuned!

The Multiplier Event “Methodological Framework about children arguing at school” took place in Malta in November 15, 2022, as part of the activities of the ERASMUS+ project Arguing at School. 

For the event, teachers, educators and education officers gathered together to attend the event. The day started with an introduction to the Maltese Educational System by the guest speaker Mr. Patrick Decelis. Afterwards, the partnership and the project were presented. 

Then, Mr. Stephen Camilleri, Education Officer, discussed the topic of conflict resolutions in school, and Mr. Joanathan Portanier Mifsud presented the case study of the Naxxar Induction Hub and the issue of dealing with conflicts in migrant schools.

Afterwards, the partners presented the three methods to deal with conflicts in schools included in the project: Friendship Cards, Litigare Bene, Peer Mediation. The presentation was followed by an analysis of similarities, differences and benefits, leaving also some room for questions and debate. Finally, the meeting ended with a groups session on the challenges of conflicts at school, also enriched by the contributions of invited guests.

On November 14, the partners of the Arguing at School project attended the third Transnational Project Meeting, which took place in Bugibba, Malta.

During the meeting, the partners finalised the last details of the Multiplier Event of November 15 and went through the first project result: a methodological framework about quarrelling children (2 to 18 years old). The Framework will be soon available on the EIP Lab and project’s website!

The consortium also discussed the other project results development and planned the next meetings. 

UNESCO MGIEP in collaboration with UNOCT, UNAOC, and UNESCO organised the Digital Games for Peace challenge. In the past eight months, 22 young gamechangers were trained to conceptualise and design digital games aimed to promote peace and prevent violent extremism.

The four games conceptualized are:

1) SLATE: a choice-based narrative adventure, where the player takes the role of three different individuals, each living very different lives, however interconnected through a series of events. The game can be used in support of training interventions addressing powerful stakeholders around the theme of prevention of violent extremism. 

2) All Here: a choice-based narrative social-adventure set in a city that was created to embody a dream. Players solve activities that are based on real-world problems and encourage diversity and inclusivity, inter-generational dialogues, and taking action to promote a culture of peace. 

3) DiverCity: an edutainment multiplayer digital game that helps players engage in an experiential learning journey and explore their own emotions and perceptions. By building a city full of diversity and respect for each identity and belief system, players are invited to develop their own world narratives based on the intercultural and inter-religious understanding they receive through in-game interactions. 

4) Reverse: an adventure game about a young girl belonging to a marginalized community who wishes to change her future for the betterment of humanity by proactively countering different conflicts in her present.

Curious about the games? Click here to find more information!

Interested in discovering more games about peace education? Check our Peace Games Online Catalogue here!

On December 1st, the 5th European Education Summit will be hosted. This summit, entitled Bright Young Minds, puts youth and education at its center, giving bright young minds the opportunity to contribute to shaping the future direction of education and training in Europe.

The European Commission believes that young people are the future of Europe and to have them play a central role in shaping its future, European education systems should adapt and change, allowing youth to develop the skills and competencies they need to thrive and innovate.

The summit will include speeches from the President and Vice-President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and Margaritis Schinas, roundtable discussions and panels. The event will be hosted online, on December 1st 2022, from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm CET. No registration needed, but make sure to check more information about the summit here!

On October 24 and 25, the partnership of PERFECT was hosted by the Romanian partner Colegiul National Sfantul Sava in the city of Bucharest for its 2nd Transnational Project Meeting!

All partners gathered in the Romanian capital to share the work they implemented so far with the students involved in the project. From the young dancers of the Filelfo High School (Italy), to the community map created by the students of Borg Dreierschützengasse (Austria), to the theatrical rehearsals of the students of the Colegiul National Sfantul Sava (Romania), to the script created by the Maltese schools involved in the project, partners had the possibility to share through pictures and videos what they are implementing thanks to the project PERFECT. 

The meeting also represented an opportunity to further develop the other Project Results expected, in particular the Conceptual model and competence framework for intercultural cooperative cultural production, the Handbook for School Team Leaders and the Guidelines for schools, teachers and students. 

The website of the project is also work in progress…stay tuned!

The partnership will meet again in person in Graz, Austria in March 2023. 

To get more information on the project, feel free to contact us at sanremo@eiplab.eu!