Author: Niels Hexspoor

We would like to invite you to an online meeting with our colleague dr. Mireia Campanera Reig from the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain, which will take place on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 from 1 p.m.

Dr. Mireia Campanera Reig came to the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Palacký University in Olomouc as part of a joint international project “Active aging – a healthy lifestyle”, which is part of the AURORA project, guaranteed by the Palacký University in Olomouc. The main researcher of the project is the Department of Preclinical Subjects at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Olomouc. Dr. Mireia Campanera Reig will have an online presentation on the topic: Current research in Anthropology and Social Work at University Rovira i Virgili. Strengthening collaboration with Palacký University. The goal of this lecture is to present the pedagogical and scientific focus of her department (Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work) as well as of the University Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain.   She will present the possibility of establishing further cooperation with other departments at Palacký University in Olomouc. The lecture will last about 15 – 20 minutes, followed by a discussion.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/98748431834?pwd=cHd3SG9yVXBUM1BVV1ZZQ1hnalZkdz09

Meeting ID: 987 4843 1834
Passcode: 144487

On 30 June 2022, two workshops titled ‘Developing a Peace Education Programme for Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine’ and ‘Removing barriers to Higher Education for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers’, were organised and moderated by Dr Spyros Themelis (UEA) and Dr Selma Porobic (Palacky University Olomouc) at the University of East Anglia (UEA). The two workshops, implemented under the framework of the Culture: Identity and Diversity pilot domain were a great success and will produce concrete outcomes in the future.

‘Developing a Peace Education Programme for Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine’

One of the developing features of Aurora support to Karazin Kharkiv National University is peace education programme. Peace education is an emerging field focusing on peacebuilding efforts through education in situations of collective trauma such as war, mass displacement, and genocide. This pedagogy focuses on the creation of safe environments for teachers and students to foster dialogue and reflection by enabling sharing of their own traumatic (and often conflictual) narratives and supporting perspective-taking.  

Under the guidance of Dr. Selma Porobić, this workshop brought together 14 experts from over 9 different institutions, and aimed to  explore a collaborative model focusing on the development of peace education programme for Karazin Kharkiv University. During the group discussion two set of questions were addressed. Group A focused on how to develop Peace education (PE) as integral part of general competences for academicians at Karazin, while Group B focused on researching PE in the ongoing war situation in the city of Kharkiv and in the Eastern Ukraine.

Among the most significant outcomes of this workshop, are the establishment of the International Expert team for peace education platform at Karazin University and initial planning of peace education programme including timeline for different components, research methods, staff training and COILs.

Thanks to the SPACE Network, represented in the workshop by Elke Kitzelmann (UIBK), an initial donation was made towards the realization of the Peace Education platform and further Aurora collaborations with Karazin University. In addition, collaborations with UIBK’s new MA Peace Studies program, under prof. Andreas Oberprantacher were initiated as well.  As part of International Summer School in Refugee Law and Rights, co-organized by Palacky University and Karazin University, on August 24th, students from UIBK’s Peace studies  program will engage with Karazin University’s MA students in the plenary session ‘ Prospects for Peace Building, Recovery & Reconstruction.’

We look forward to engagement from more Aurora universities. Enquiries about the PE program at Karazin University can be sent to Dr. Selma Porobić, coordinator for Aurora support to Karazin University.

‘Removing barriers to Higher Education for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers’

Gypsy, Roma and Travellers (GRT) are the largest ethnic minority and at the same time the most marginalised in Europe. It is little surprise, therefore, that they are also one of the most, if not the most, underrepresented group in higher education.

This workshop explored the types of barriers facing Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students in accessing Higher Education and experiences of inclusion and exclulsion. In total 15 participants attended the event, including academics, practitioners, reseach students, as well as inclusion leaders in schools and local councils. Participants were of Roma and non-Roma origin and they shared perspectives from a variety of European countries (including Germany, Greece, Iceland,  Sweeden, the Czech Republic, Romania and the UK) and institutional contexts, including, schools, universisties, musuems and local couincils.

One of the outcomes of this workshop, was the decision to create a network of Roma inclusion research in higher education. It was also agreed that this network will aim to map national and international policies of inclusion and examine national and international reports relevant to the topic. Finally, it was agreed that the network will explore the possiblity of setting up courses on Roma education across the Aurora network and more broadly, and work with outreach officers to explore innovative practices on access.

Dr. Spyros Themelis, who led the workshop, will explore options for hosting a face-to-face meeting at the start of the new academic year. If you have any suggestions or would like to get involved, please email Spyros at: s.themelis@uea.ac.uk.

We welcome contributions from across all Aurora universities.

On the 30^th of June, 2022, Aurora was present at the Campus of European Universities, organized in the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Palacký University was represented by a strong delegation, consisting of Rector Martin Procházka and the Vice-rector for Science and Research, Lucie Plíhalová.    

The Campus marked the final Higher Education Event organized under the French Presidency before handing this role over to the Czech Republic. Radka Wildová, Czech Deputy Minister of Higher Education provided one of the closing speeches for the event, further highlighting the importance of European Universities alliances during the Czech tenure of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The event aimed to “promote the European Universities alliances and transnational cooperation in the fields of higher education, research and innovation,” inspired by the Council Recommendation on “building bridges for effective European higher education cooperation.”

The event featured both plenary sessions and workshops, in addition to the “Village of Alliances”, an exhibition space where each of the 41 European University alliances was represented with a dedicated booth.

Aurora President Jon Atli Benediktsson stated that the Campus proved a great opportunity “to share our experience and discuss the future with other delegates and alliances”.

More information on the event can be found here.