FEINART is a University of Wolverhampton-coordinated Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN (Innovative Training Network) Early Stage Reseachers’ (ESRs) programme.

The project is an extensive collaboration between degree-awarding research-centres in political philosophy, art theory/practice and curatorial studies/arts management, and the independent European art sector, as the basis for the first interdisciplinary and holistic investigation of the democratic role and function of socially engaged art in Europe.

In this it will train 11 ESRs in order to provide the relevant academic and non-academic skills to engage with the challenges of this new artistic and cultural landscape. The 11 ESRs will be spread across four academic Beneficiaries (University of Wolverhampton, University of Iceland, University of Edinburgh, Zeppelin University, Germany) and 7 Partner Organizations (Tensta Konstall, Sweden; BAK, Netherlands; State of Concept, Greece; W-Est, Italy; Tranzit.ro, Romania; Biennale Warsawa, Poland, and the Iceland University of the Arts, Iceland).

The training programme will provide invaluable data about the distribution, impact, and role of socially engaged art as a future contribution to funding policy recommendations on state support of art beyond the museum’s traditional functions, and debates on art and public culture.

Start: 1 March 2020

End: 29 February 2024

Funding stream: Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN)

Total grant: €3,046,837.32

Grant number: 860306

More information: Prof John Roberts and Dr Francesco Paradiso

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 860306

The main aim of IT(S) is to develop new audience in theatres, mainstreaming inclusive practices for visually and hearing impaired persons during theatre performances at European Level.

Specific Objectives:

• share good practices for Inclusive Theater between experts through formal and non formal training activities;
• mainstream and scale-up accessible theaters in Countries where support services for visually and hearing impaired persons are provided;
• test and validate pilot actions for inclusive services in Theatres of 6 Countries;
• develop and deploy a Europe-wide Awareness Raising Campaign about the needs of visually and/or hearing impaired persons in theatres, stimulating inclusive policies and community engagement;
• disseminate the project's findings and the EU support to its implementation, ensuring a long-term sustainability.

The project wil involve cultural operators, audio describers, audio translators and audio description service providers; subtitlers, translators in signs language and similar services providers; deaf and hearing impaired people (targeted audience); blind and visually impaired people (targeted audience); policy-makers; media and journalists; general public e local communities.

The Outcomes produced are the following:

• ER1. Improved competences and skills of audio describers, audio translators, subtitlers and translators in signs language;
• ER2. Improved competences of cultural operators (public and private) in management of inclusive practices for hearing and visual impaired audience;
• ER3. New audience developed in the involved theaters, thanks to the empowering of inclusive services;
• ER4. Awareness raised among the regular theater audience and policy-makers about policies and practices of social inclusion through culture.
• ER5. Raised awareness and interest on project's activities and EU Funding Programmes.

Partners

• ATER Associazione Teatrale Emilia Romagna (Italy) (Project coordinator)
• Empresa de Gestao de Equipamentos e Animacao Cultural  (Portugal)
• Fundación Caja Granada (Spain)
• Plavo Pozoriste - Pozorisna Laboratorija (Serbia)
• Theatro Atomon Me Anapiria (Greece)
• University of Wolverhampton (United Kingdom)

Start: 1 September 2019

End: 28 February 2022

Duration: 30 months

Funding stream: Creative Europe large-scale cooperation project

Project number: 607353

More information: Ms Alison Carminke

Health Research-Based Innovative Open Educational Resources and Tools for Lighting Design Students and Professionals (LIGHT4HEALTH) project will establish and deepen a strategic partnership for teaching health research methods and findings to lighting designers at graduate level.

LIGHT4HEALTH partnership brings together six internationally renowned institutions from the UK, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Russia, and the US, to bring together their advanced research and teaching expertise on the intersection of lighting design and health research in a validated cross-disciplinary course offer of excellence, extended with rich and professionally produced open educational materials, and an online Virtual Lab platform aimed at accessibility and fostering implementation across Europe.

Various participants are considered for the pilots and beyond. Students from participating universities, enrolled in on-campus Lighting Design programmes including the released course, are direct end-users of the project outputs. Other participants who enroll on the online version of the course through the Virtual Lab or in replications across Europe will include all types of learners, educators, industry workers, and design practitioners. Four public events at national, EU, and international level will be the main activities of dissemination and communication for relevant stakeholders who are essential not only as the target audience, but also as users of the Virtual Lab, multipliers of the knowledge generated, and a source of valuable feedback.

The project will trigger processes and produce results that are likely to become self-sustaining and develop further, such as the LIGHT4HEALTH teaching community and the Virtual Lab.  The project will help to prepare graduates for the lighting industry and other employers in Europe and around the world, thus contributing to making European economies more research-driven, knowledge-based, and competitive.

Partners

University of Wolverhampton: (United Kingdom) (Project Coordinator)

Aalborg Universitet: (Denmark)

Hochschule Wismar: (Germany)

Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan KTH/ Royal Institute of Technology KTH: (Sweden)

Itmo University: (Russian Federation)

Jefferson Horizon Research, LLC (United States)

Start: 01/10/2018

End: 31/08/2021

Duration: 35 months

Funding Stream: Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships

Total grant: €429,062

Project Number: 2018-1-UK01-KA203-048246

More information:  Miss Natasha George

Media Literacy in the Digitalised Era: Supporting Teachers through a whole-school approach

Digital advances have brought new challenges for Europe’s learners and teachers. Algorithms used by social media sites and news portals can be powerful amplifiers of bias or fake news, while data privacy has become a key concern in the digital society (evidenced by the new General Data Proection Regulation). EU citizens, above all young students, are vulnerable to cyberbullying and cyberharassment, predatory behaviour or disturbing online content. Everyday exposure to digital data, driven largely by inscrutable algorithms, creates clear risks and requires more than ever critical thinking and the ability to engage positively and competently in the digital environment.

The project's pioneering approach is to:

(1) develop pilot-test and evaluate a TOOLKIT which will support schools to establish a ‘WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH’;

(2) strengthen teacher profiles and equip them with essential media literacy skills to deal with digital citizenship issues in their schools;

(3) provide teachers with 100+1 educational tools, resources and tools to upgrade the quality of available resources aiming to empower young students to become responsible, critical, global citizens of the digitalised and connected world we live in.

Partners:

University of Wolverhampton (United Kingdom) (Project Coordinator)

Emphasys Centre (Cyprus)

National Center For Scientific Research "Demokritos" (Greece)

Antenna (Cyprus)

Arbeitskreis Ostviertel e.V. (Germany)

Start: 01 September 2018

End: 31 August 2021

Duration: 36 months

Funding stream: Erasmus+ and Strategic Partnerships

Project number: 2018-1-UK01-KA201-048041

Total grant: €329,975

Project website: http://meldeproject.eu/

More information: Miss Natasha George

It is established that the majority of the participants with disabilities are at least familiar with the use of their 'smartphone' and the social media. The partners want to use this fact to increase in an international context their skills of using digital media. And at the same time enriching their intercultural interaction skills with each other in an artistic context.

Through the joint artistic approach to the social theme, the project aims to improve a number of skills of persons with mental disabilities.

By using the techniques of international mobility events as group formation, the intercultural skills of the participants with disabilities and their arts facilitators will be improved: through teambuilding in an international group of actors/actresses during three more days workshops and in between contacts by using the social media and live stream.

Digital skills are improved through the intense interaction with social media as a 'group of friends from five countries'; working with live streaming events, the 'rehearsals’ that will become artistic video conferences; and finally by processing each other's video images in each other's show moments. To lead this process a specialized informal education organization will be engaged.

Partners

Gc De Zeyp (Belgium)  (Project Coordinator)

Trešnjevka Cultural Centre (Croatia)

University of Wolverhampton (United Kingdom)

ACCAC Global (Finland)

University of Atypical (United Kingdom)

Mediaraven (Belgium)

Start: 1 October 2018

End: 21 March 2021

Duration: 30 months

Funding Stream: Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership

UoW grant: €48,980

Project Number: 2018-1-BE02-KA204-046862

More information: Ms Alison Carminke 

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