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"snow is cold all over the world. give shelter" reads navreme's season greetings picture. navreme will continue to donate the equivalent of Christmas expenses to those in need. This year our choice is for Junior Achievement Georgia, an NGO dedicated to support orphanes. We visited its coordinator Madona Tsintsade in Kutaisi during a mission, and are convinced of the need for and seriousness of their work. As navreme's executive wrote in his greetings: "May 2007 be for all of you a year full of emotions, empathy and success!" (25 December 2006). Just before the Christmas holidays, Mr Baumgartl dedicated a few more days to consolidating the activities in Turkey. Together with navreme's local programme director, Dr Fatma Mizikaci, they undertook planning for the launch of navreme in Turkey, for expanding the training programme, and for a new programme in Northern Cyprus, to be funded by the EU Office in Levkosa (23 December 2006). On occasion of the conferring of the Hannah-Arendt-Award, sponsored by the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, Mr Baumgartl met the scientist, psycho-analyst and writer Julia Kristeva. Prof Kristeva was born in Bulgaria, and since the 1960s works in France. She was awarded the Böll-Award with a view to her live opus - and her studies on Hannah Arendt (13 December 2006). The first meeting of a new EU/Leonardo project is held in Bremen, at ITB (Institut für Technik und Bildung). It will aim at examine the issues involved in the training and professionalisation of trainers in the European Member States by developing a framework for the continuing professional development of trainers. Partners are from Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania. navreme was charged with the accompanying evaluation of this two-years project (12 December 2006). A networking trip to Odessa (UA) to discuss possible navreme activities in Ukraine was scheduled to coincide with the opening of the Austrian Education Cooperation office there (08 December). Mr Baumgartl has held meetings in Firenze with project partners. Talks are underway to cooperate more closely with Economisti Associati, a consulting company in Bologna (01 December 2006). The ALFA programme of the EU (América Latina - Formación Académica) is a programme of co-operation between higher education institutions of the European Union and Latin America. It has approved a proposal by the INTER project group for expansion of the INTER project to Latin America. The work plan developed by UNED in Madrid foresees a localisation of teacher training materials on intercultural education developed 2002-2005 for Chile (University of Tarapacá), Columbia (Fundación Universitaria Panamericana), Ecuador (Universidad Técnica de Loja) and Mexico (Universidad Veracruzana), starting in early 2007, and involving INTER partners from Austria, Ireland, Latvia, Spain and the UK (29 November 2006). As a guest lecturer, Bernd Baumgartl had been invited by Cyprus International University in Lefkoşa (Northern Cyprus). Mr Baumgartl first briefed the University Management on recent developments in and 2015 scenarios for higher education in Europe. On 24 November, he gave a plenary lecture for 200 students of International Relations on "Who is Afraid of the Turks - and Why? Xenophobia and Public Opinions on Turkey and Northern Cyprus in (the rest of) Europe". Finally, he lectured students of the education faculty on "Grading and Evaluation of University Students". Further meetings were held with management of the new Middle Eastern Technical University (METU) campus in Cyprus, of Near East University (NEU) and with the new The first training of navreme's ABakademi was held in Eskisehir (TR) at the Chamber of Industry (ESO). Three of the Turkish trainers, and Mr Baumgartl as a coach trained participants from enterprises, VET schools and academia on EU programmes between 21-23 November (23 November 2006). The final product of the INTER Project, funded by Comenius, is a teacher training guide on intercultural education. The English version was, amongst others, published by navreme in its publication series. A Spanish version has now been published by the Spanish Ministry of Education in a paper version. It will be also available electronically at the official web-site of the Ministry at www.mec.es (19 November 2006). On 16-18 November, the EU/Leonardo-sponored "DEQU" project (Development of Quality Tools for Technical Universities in Central Europe) held its third workshop in St Florian near Linz (AT). navreme boheme is organising the validation cycle of key processes for improving stakeholder relations with partners from the new EU member states: Bulgaria (Varna Free University), Hungary (University of Debrecen), Poland (University of Kraków), Romania (Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj) and Turkey (METU Ankara) - (10 November 2006). Another session of the Salzburg Seminar - on Higher Education and Demography - took place 07-11 November, with the title "Beyond the University: Shifting Demographics in Higher Education". Dr Baumgartl presented a paper on risks for universities due to demographic decline, written mainly by navreme's representative in Ankara, Dr Fatma Mızıkacı from Ufuk University (12 November 2006). Europe 2020/LEAP, the free Newsletter of the Paris-based think-tank Europe2020 has published Bernd Baumgartl's paper "Scenarios
for European Higher Education and Research in 2015 - Implications for Recognition of Studies". It is delivered to 12,000 recipients representing governments, parliaments, think-tanks, research centres, universities and companies across Europe, and can be seen atwww.europe2020.org/en/section_education/231006.htm navreme has been commissioned a study that maps, analyses and syntheses the pertinent efforts of foundations in Europe, as part of a European Cultural Foundation's "Cultural Cluster Initiative" to underpin the 2008 Year of Intercultural Dialogue from the civil society angle. The lead consultant is Dr Jochen Fried, who will work together with Anna Glass and Bernd Baumgartl, and a network of correspondents. In 2007, in-depth interviews, questionnaires and analytical tools will be used to arrive at an understanding, amongst other, how European foundations are addressing challenges and opportunities of the (new) cultural diversity in Europe (13 November 2006). Together with Bernard Krief Consultants, a consulting Company headquartered in Paris (FR), navreme is applying for a TACIS project in the Russian Federation: "to promote social dialogue in Russia by strengthening the role and capacity of a large number of employees' and employers' organisations" (13 November 2006). Under the lead of B&S Europe, a bid was submitted to the European Union's EuropeAid: Phare multi-beneficiary programme for an interim evaluation facility for EU pre-accession programmes in Croatia and Turkey in 2006. The objective is (1) to provide stakeholders in DG Enlargement and Candidate Countries with independent evaluation findings; (2) to provide a quality management tool and early warning system for programme implementation; (3) provide advisory services by drawing out lessons learned and feeding them as recommendations into the design of future programmes; and (4) help develop monitoring and evaluation capacities in the Candidate Countries. Partners are Hifab (SE), Economisti Associati (IT) and ANKON (TR) - (12 November 2006). A further publication of Jochen Fried, Anna Glass and Bernd Baumgartl was published as a follow-up to the UNESCO-sponsored study in 2005: “Summary of an Extended Analysis on European Private Higher Education” under the title "Growing Legitimacy and Recognition" in Higher Education in Europe. Vol 31, Iss 2006/1, UNESCO-CEPES, Bucharest (12 November 2006). Under the EU SOCRATES PROGRAMME (Minerva – Open Action and Distance Learning) our Transnational Cooperation Project MC-DIP (MultiCultural Diagnostic Information Profiling) a contractual deliverable was sent to the coordinator University of Huddersfield (UK): "E-Learning in Europe: Opening Access to Education" (WP2: EU Analysis Report). It was authored by Anna Glass (08 November 2006). A 24-months Socrates project was accepted by the European Commission, which foresees a series of national and European seminars about the different issues tackled in the project: Globalised Knowledge-based Society, new social risks and universities; European Social Model and national educational policies, specially in Higher Education; The paradigm change from education to learning. The role and the profile of the universities in the Future European Knowledge Society will be analysed, between economic and social imperatives. Coordinator is the University of Barcelona, Department of Human Geography. Further partners apart from navreme are from Italy (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia); The Netherlands (ITS-Institute for applied Social Science in Nijmegen; Hungary (Institute of Sociology); Poland (University of Lodz) and Germany (University of Oldernburg) - (07 November 2006). A full proposal for submission with EuropeAid was handed over to hifab today. Together with Danish and Portuguese partners, the Swedish development cooperation firm has applied for a call for tenders with the title "VET Strategy in Bulgaria". navreme had been charged to prepare the proposal and find a team of 6 key experts. The project foresees the involvement of 3 international and 3 local experts, and a 10-months implementation in 2007 (04 November 2006). Under the lead of Centre for Strategy and Evaluation Services (UK), navreme will be involved in the evaluation of the Preparatory Actions B7-667: Cooperation with Third Countries in the Area of Migration for DG JLS. Our bid was to provide assistance and advice on the work taking place in some of the regions. The following navreme experts were included: Michael Daxner - Afghanistan and Pakistan, Savina Ammassari - Africa, Bernd Baumgartl, Helmut Schramke and Anna Glass - Balkans (02 November 2006). In Belgrade, an ex-post evaluation meeting of navreme's award-winning public administration training project 2002 was held. Participants were Serbian trainers who since run courses in project management and team building. Core success factors, in the opinion of the participants, were the selection process, and the special historic moment of the project after the raise to power - and just before the assasination - of late Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. Moreover, a preparation meeting for a Tempus project was held with the Tempus Coordinator, and navreme experts assisted to an event in the Buglarian embassy on occasion of the Bulgarian national holiday (01 November 2006). Planning, administration and evaluation meetings took place in Skopje (MK), involving professors, trainers and the accountant office of cajtig. Further weekends sessions are planned in Skopje, Ohrid and Strumica, a final ceremony will be held in Rome, with the involvement of our partner n Rome (Learning.Com). Finally, printing of volume 5 of the navreme|publications series was prepared with our typography Makedonska Riznitsa in Kumanovo (MK) - (30 October 2006). In Sofia (BG) the first session of cajtig's fourth semester of courses started on 27-29 October. Students of economics from two different levels assisted to seminars on Leadership and Teamwork, while a professional course for stomatologists addressed questions of Project Management and Health Managment. Trainers were Macedonian, Bulgarian and Austrian experts (29 October 2006). On behalf of hifab (SE), Dr Bernd Baumgartl is preparing a tender for a vocational education and training programme under EU/Phare. In Bulgaria, he met with proposed key experts and collected new documents on the status of education and labour market policies (27 October 2006). Meetings with business partners in Rome (Learning.Com, a NGO for research on education, and CIRPS, Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile) to plan new projects in the EU and South-East Europe are held by Bernd Baumgartl on his way to Torino. There at the ILO Training Centre, Dr Baumgartl will teach "Budget and Planning" to students of a Master course on Cultural Projects for Development (18 October 2006). Today, at the "Haus der Musik" in central Vienna and within the "Week of Social Innovation", short presentations by navreme experts on issues like integration, multiple identities and global citizenship prompted a podium discussion (photo) with researchers, practitioners and journalists: Sabine Aydt (Donau-Universität Krems), Bernd Baumgartl (navreme), Sonja Rauschütz (vienna-partners), Gregor Razumovsky (common sense consulting) and moderator Max Koch from the Austrian League of Human Rights (Österreichische Liga für Menschenrechte). Afterwards, a fascinating informance featured Reinhard Wagnleitner, professor of modern history at Salzburg Unversity, with his piano-playing brother Günter: "Jazz - the Classical Music of Globalisation" (11 October 2006). After three years of existence, and successful implementation of a series of EU-requested evaluations (total value: 2,8 million EURO) under a EU Framework Contract, TEEC has been dissolved recently. This EEIG had been set up exclusively for the Framework Contract, and in 2002-6, a set of evaluation with a total budget of 2,803.827 EUR was channelled to the four TEEC partners: besides navreme also The Evaluation Partnership (UK - www.evaluationpartnership.com), Economisti Associati (IT - www.economistiassociati.com) and Particip GmbH (DE - www.particip.de) - (10 October 2006). The "Week of Social Innovation" took place in Vienna (09-13 October), sponsored by the Municipality of Vienna. It is aiming at the presentation of innovative research in the social sciences to the public. Main organiser is the Center for Social Innovation (ZSI), navreme is responsible for the afternoon of 11 October. See the flyer (09 October 2006). "Culture is Our Focus, Diversity is Our Normality" (the teacher training Guide producd by the award-winning INTER Project), published as volume 4 of the navreme|publications series is already sold out. A re-print will be launched soon, together with volume 5 on e-learning in European SMEs (editor: Graham Attwell, The KnowNet, Bangor, Wales, UK): "Searching, lurking and the Zone of Proximal Development". (08 October 2006). hifab, a Swedish development cooperation firm, has invited navreme to assist in the production of a proposal within the EU's Phare programme. The call for tenders has the title "VET Strategy in Bulgaria", and foresees the involvement of 3 international and 3 local experts. The proposal for a two-year implementation will need to be submitted by end October (04 October 2006). The Donau University Krems has started a new MA programme in "Intercultural Competences" with a focus on EU projects. Bernd Baumgartl was invited to teach in April 2007, within a module on EU programmes, to focus on relevant experience and factors of failure and success. Intercultural factors and competences play a significant role in the implementation of EU work, and thus need to be thought of at the stage of project design. Clearly, cultural factors are NOT limited to ethnic or national stereotypes, but also include notable age, background, attitude, expectations, etc. (04 October 2006). Justus Henke, collaborator at navreme's office in Vienna, has recently finished his M.A. degree in economics. On the same day, he was offered the post of a researcher on labour market issues at the Austrian Central Statistical Office. We wish him all success in this formidable position, and hope he will be available for navreme as well - as a occasional collaborator (03 October 2006). navreme was short-listed by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) to act as educational adviser for their projects. ADA is the Austrian state institution for cooperation with Eastern and South Eastern Europe (OZA) and for development cooperation (EZA). The deadline for submission of futher documents is 12 October (29 September 2006). ASO (Ankara Sanayi Odası), the Ankara branch of the Turkish Industrial Association, has expressed its interest to offer training courses on EU programmes by navremepsilonteknoloji (NET). On 11 October, a first pilot course with 20 participants is planned to be held in Ankara by NET's Turkish trainers. Further contacts have been made with TOBB, the Chamber of Industry and Trade, and KAGIDER; the national women entrepreneurs association (27 September 2006). navreme is sponsoring the set-up of the local group of newropeans, a transnational movement, in Vienna. A press meeting was organised for 28 September. Find more information in German here: at the temporary web-site of "newropeans in Wien", Kontakt, Presse Erklärung, Vorläufige Statuten, Folder, Programm and this link: www.newropeans.eu (26 September 2006). Training of trainers has finished in Turkey, and Certificates were handed over to 9 successful trainees. EU experts from Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Poland and Sweden had delivered interactive sessions and materials on services, supplies and works tenders and contracts. The content of the training curriculum in Turkish language ("Tips and Tricks for EU programmes and tenders") on EU procedures is seen as a prime training need for Turkish companies (22 September 2006). Anna Glass assisted to the final workshop of the EU-funded project EVAL4 in Karkow (PL). On 20-22 September, evaluation specialists from 6 countries met to discuss the results of their testing of special evaluation tools (like navreme's ludovaluate) over the past 2 years. navreme and EpsilonTeknoloji inaugurated their new partnership today in Ankara. navreme, an EU-registered expert network based in Vienna, Prague and Skopje, and EpsilonTeknoloji, a technical consulting company from Ankara, join forces for the establishment of the new EU training academy “navremepsilonteknoloji” (NET). The partnership will focus on the areas of training, consultancy and research. As EpsilonTeknoloji President Nuray Karalar states, “two reasons account for the lack of disbursement of funds: firstly, the limited absorption capacity of the Turkish administration charged with the “De-Centralised Implementation”; and secondly, the lack of high-quality offers from the side of Turkish recipients.” During the Opening Ceremony of the NET training course, the new Austrian ambassador Dr. Heidemarie Gürer stressed in her first public appearance that “there are concrete opportunities for Turkish businesses to access EU funding, including work contracts offered by the European Delegation in Ankara, pre-accession funds aimed at helping Turkey meet the Copenhagen criteria, or education, research, and development grants by the European Commission, for which Turkish enterprises are now eligible.” See the complete press communiqué (4 September 2006). On Monday 4 September the EU training programme in Turkey will start. The joint venture program consists of two modules: Module 1: Training of Trainers (ToT): ToT aims to train Turkish trainers who will teach in Continuous Seminars on EU Projects. This module consists of designing the training courses together with the trainers on the base of questions and needs posed in the context of Turkish Companies and Institutions. EU experts will prepare materials in English, and deliver training to 20 Turkish future trainers. During 2 weeks of training, Turkish trainers will be trained themselves first on the content of EU programmes, develop during their own training the materials for courses (together with EU experts, materials in Turkish language), be trained to train, an densure the materials are understandable and complete for Turkish trainees. The following themes will be contained in this training: EU programmes, projects - general overview; EU funded projects in Turkey (quota, legal considerations, etc); De-centralised implementation of EU funds – pre-accession funds; Supply, works, services contracts; Open, restricted tenders, informal consultation, etc; Calls, longlists and shortlists, contractors; Tenders, bids, tender dossiers, supporting evidence; Eligibility for participation, prerequisites, partnerships, consortia, framework contracts; Project selection and probabilities, contract awarding; The module will ensure European expertise, suitability and uniqueness of courses (3 September 2006). On behalf of navreme, and jointly with Pontydysgu (Wales, UK), Anna Glass was contributing to the co-evaluation of VQTS (Vocational Qualification Transfer System), a project under the Leonardo programme of the European Commission. VQTS aims at (25 August 2006). Volume 4 of the navreme|publications series has been printed by our typography Makedonska Riznitsa in Kumanovo (MK) and is being disseminated intensively. Under the title "Culture is Our Focus, Diversity is Our Normality", the INTER Guide was published by navreme. Co-authros are all partners of the INTER Comenius project (07 August 2006). Today, in Ankara, Mrs Nuray Karalar, President of EpslilonTeknoloji and the Executive of navreme, Dr Bernd Baumgartl signed a formal cooperation agreement, which formalised the cooperation on training for EU programmes in Turkey. The agreement foresees an equal share of both partners in investment and profit, whereby navreme is responsible for the coordindation of EU experts, content and quality of the courses, and Espilon will take care of organisation, logistics, public relations and recruitment in Turkey. Finally, the agreement envisages the registration of a joint training academy, with the name NavremEpsilonTeknoloji (NET). See a photo taken right after the signature on the navreme homepage (28 July 2006). Under the lead of Pontydysgu ("Bridge to Learning" - UK), and with ITB Bremen (DE), Panteion University (GR), Universiteit Utrecht (NL), Academus (PT), IES (RO) - and navreme, a 2-year Leonardo project was accepted by the European Commission: TT+ - A Framework for the Continuing Professional Development of Trainers. As a Reference Material project, it is to examine the issues involved in the training and professionalisation of trainers in the European Member States. Eventually it aims at proposing policies and measures for implementing the Framework for Continuing Professional Development as a key component of part of the European Qualification Framework. Work will start in October (26 July 2006). An advertisement was posted in Turkish newspapers for the Training-of-Trainers on EU Projects in September. Several applications were received and processes for selection. Interviews will be held in Ankara during the last week of July, by a Commission from navreme and EpsilonTeknoloji. Meanwhile preparations are underway for a major Opening Ceremony on 4 September, to which Turkish and Austrian ambassadors, and representatives from Ministries and the European Delegation will be invited (25 July 2006). Final exams and graduation of the two training courses for Macedonian students of economics take place in Prague on 23 July, at the premisses of navreme boheme (www.navreme.cz). The third level-one course ("Through Training to Business Excellence" - TTBE 2), and the first level-two course ("Effective Leadership - LEAD 1), was again offered by CAJTIG, and focused on management of small business. A third-level course is in preparation, and inscription has started: "Teamwork for Successful Enterprises". Trainers are Macedonian experts in business administration and economics (24 July 2006). Jochen Fried, Anna Glass and Bernd Baumgartl co-authored the first European study on Private Higher Education, which is about to be published by UNESCO-CEPES in Bucharest. One of its conclusions is that the "publicness" of private HE must be recognized and acknowledged at the outset of any discussion of the private HE sector and that both public and private HE contribute to both public and private good. The title of the study is "Shades of Privateness: Non-Public Higher Education in Europe", in UNESCO-CEPES: Issues in Higher Education. Vol 11, Iss. 2006/2, UNESCO-CEPES, Bucharest (23 July 2006). On 19 July, Dr del Olmo, researcher in residence at navreme, and Dr Baumgartl will conduct a seminar day during the Salzburg Seminar's International Study Programme (ISP) session 14. Under the title "Colleges as Sites of Global Citizenship" some 60 college faculty from the USA will gather in Leopoldskron Castle in Salzburg. The objective of the programme is for Community Colleges to learn about, and prepare for, opening their campus and curricula to a global dimension. The navreme contribution is on the theme "Our Problem with the Other? European Theory and Practice of Intercultural Education and Policy" (14 July 2006). Substantial work is underway to prepare the EU training for Turkish firms: selection of experts, design of the curriculum for the trainer training, materials, presentations, layout, etc; a draft agreement for the joint venture with our Turkish partner (EpsilonTeknolji); the advertisement for future trainers will be published in Turkish newspapers; during the last week of July selection interviews will take place in Ankara; on 2 September the Opening Ceremony will be organised in Ankara and Ambassador Gündüz Aktan volunteered to be our keynote speaker. Also the EU Delegation, Austrian Embassy and Trade Delegation were invited to be represented. As of 4 September (week 1) and 18 September (week 2) the ToT will start. As of October, these trainers will conduct 2,5-days basic courses for companies in Turkish language, supported by our EU experts (13 July 2006). A series of meetings were held with Dr Mikael Luciak, Prof Hilde Weiss (both University of Vienna) and Dr Jörg Markowitsch (3s). While the former, held jointly with researcher in residence Dr Margarita del Olmo (ES) aimed at finding partners in the future European network on intercultural education (follow-up of INTER project) and a guide on anti-racism which navreme will participate in with UNED in Madrid, the latter served to discuss possible synergies and a action for a rapprochement between 3s and navreme (13 July 2006). navreme associate Dr Jochen Fried is the author of Higher Education governance in Europe; autonomy, ownership and accountability - a review of the literature, a major contribution to the volume: Higher education governance between democratic culture, academic aspirations and market forces. The book is number 5 of the Council of Europe Higher Education Series, edited by Jürgen Kohler and Josef Huber, and was published recently by the Council of Europe (11 July 2006). The "Week of Social Innovation" will take place in Vienna 09-13 October, sponsored by the Municipality of Vienna. This public event aiming at the presentaiton of innovative research in the social sciences is organised by the ZSI, and navreme will cater for a programme on 11 October, with presentations by navreme experts on issues like integration, multiple identities and European evaluation experiences. Moreover, an evening "informance" will feature Prof Reinhard Wagnleitner, professor of modern history at Salzburg Unversity, with his piano-player brother Günter: "Jazz - the Classical Music of Globalisation" (10 July 2006). The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) in Amsterdam, will commission a study to navreme that maps, analyses and syntheses the pertinent efforts of private foundations to underpin the 2008 Year of Intercultural Dialogue from the civil society angle. The aim of the overall project is promoting a better understanding and appreciation of the benefits of cultural pluralism, or, alternatively, of ameliorating the real or perceived costs of diversity. Lead expert on this exercise will be Dr Jochen Fried (09 July 2006). Today the final report on the evaluation of Austrian Science and Research Liaison Offices (ASO) in neighbouring countries was formally accepted by the Minsitry of Science (bmbwk). It recommends a shift of focus towards regional cooperation in science and research, and complementariy to EU activities, and ventures policy recommendations for Austrian foreign science policy in general (08 July 2006). Another invitation for cooperation reached navreme from eptisa internacional, a consulting comany in Spain. The proposal is to jointly file bids for framework contracts on some European Commission evaluation lots, currently in tender phase. navreme would contribute evaluation methodology, and expertise from Central and Eastern Europe (08 July 2006). navreme was invited to cooperate in conducting an evaluation in the field of the European Commission's migration policies by CSES, the Centre for Strategy and Evaluation Services in the UK. The evaluation would look at cooperation with third countries in the area of migration (07 July 2006). Researcher in residence Dr Margarita del Olmo and Bernd Baumgartl had a meetings with Dr Bernhard Perchining and Dr Barbara Herzog-Punzenberger from the Institute of European Integration Research at Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). They discussed the situation of migrants and their children in Austrian schools, and possibilities of future cooperation (06 July 2006). A proposal was sent to day to our partner hifab on behalf of UNDP, to carry out organisational development with MESA, the e-learning association in Macedonia. Lead expert would be Dr Helmut Schramke, together with staff of navreme's Macedonian off-spring cajtig dooel. Workshops are scheduled for the last week of July (05 July 2006). navreme and 3s, a Viennese consulting company in the fields of education and labour market, will move closer to each other. In a meeting with the CEOs, Dr Jörg Markowitsch and Bernd Baumgartl, areas for more intensive cooperation were explored, and a process was agreed, by which collaboration can be enhanced for a mutual benefit (04 July 2006). Together with Christian Muhr and Sabine Dreher from the label liquid frontiers, a brainstorming meeting was held on a project in the field of social design. Liquid frontiers aim at developing ICT tools for the health sector, e.g. to improve attendance and compliance of patients via electronic messaging devices. A proposal will be sent to the Austrian innovation funds in the coming weeks (03 July 2006). In St. Florian near Linz, Mr Baumgartl had a prepartory meeting on logistics and organisation with the seminar facilities of the Augustinian Monastery, where the next workshop of "DEQU", a EU-funded Leonardo Project, will be held in November. The meeting serves as a valorisation meeting of key quality assurance processes in technical universities, and will add universities from Central and Eastern Europe to the DEQU partners (01 July 2006). Zulfiya Tursunova M.A., who was an intern and researcher since February, has left navreme for a position at the University of Bonn. She will conduct gender studies in Uzbekistan, her native country, for the coming six months. At the farewell lunch, navreme staff thanked her for her significant contribution to several projects. Ms Tursunova also is also the FELS fellow 2006, navreme's scholarship for post-graduate students from the EU's neighbourhood (30 June 2006). Until end of July, Dr Margarita del Olmo from the CSIC in Madrid (equivalent of the Academy of Sciences) is in Vienna as a guest researcher of ZSI (Zentrum für Soziale Innovation) and at navreme. She is researching xenophobia and racism, and responses to them in the Austrian school system (25 June 2006). In Erevan (Armenia) Mr Baumgartl met with Mr Tigran Tovmasyan from the User Group Association, an NGO focusing on distance learning and citizenship education, and Mr Saribek Hakobyan at the National Institute of Education. Education for Democratic Citizenship is deer need in Armenia, and European expertise is sought, as most materials are currently made available from US-sponsored organisations. navreme offered to send materials in the field, for further adaption to the Armenian environment (23 June 2006). Mr Baumgartl held meetings in Georgia. In Tbilisi, he agreed on formal cooperation with Ms Maia Gogoladze, a former student at the Central European University (CEU), and her NGO, the Fund For Democracy Development. Further future collaboration will include also Junior Achievement Georgia, an NGO headed by Madona Tsintsadze with headquarters near Kutaisi, Georgia's second city, and ICCN, the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN). Interest for navreme's work was expressed also from the Ministry of Education of the Autonomous Republic of Adjaria in Batumi. According to a meeting at the Ministry of Education, there is an urgent need to complete teaching and teacher training materials for the ambitious education reform launched by the Georgian government after the Rose Revolution, in particular in Education for Democratic Citizenship and the newly established school boards. Moreover, navreme expert Dr Helmut Schramke is leading a EU project on EU learning in all three South Caucasian countries, of which an internal monitoring was carried out (21 June 2006). In Turkey Mr Baumgartl held meetings in Istanbul and Ankara, as negotiations are underway to organise training courses on EU projects. Full agreement was reached on a partnership with the Director of EpsilonTeknolji, Ms Nuray Karalar. Trainer training by navreme experts from the EU will start in September, and roll-out courses in October, the latter to be held by Turkish trainers (17 June 2006). A telephone conference was conducted today with the management of the Non-Violence Peace Force, an international NGO. navreme is shortlisted to undertake an evaluation of peace projects in Sri Lanka. A final decision is due end June (10 June 2006). The Final Report for the Evaluation of the Austrian Science and Research Liaison Offices (ASOs) in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia and the science office in Ukraine (at the Cooperation Office) was sent to the Austrian Ministry of Education Research and the Culture today. It contains comprehensive policy conclusions or recommendations for action (09 June 2006). Das Problem des Anderen - Interkulturelle Theorie und Praxis in EU Projekten (the problem of the other - intercultural communication in EU projects) was the title of a lecture given by Bernd Baumgartl at the University of Salzburg. Invited by the EU-Studies working group, he was introduced by Prof Reinhold Wagnleitner, once a teacher, of Mr Baumgartl who graduated from Salzburg University in 1989 (08 June 2006). A Master Course in International Development is offered by the ILO (International Labour Office of the UN) at its training centre in Turin (IT), jointly with the University of Torino. Dr Bernd Baumgartl was invited as a guest professor to teach a session on a specific project case, on the successful (and price-winning) UNDP project within Serbian Public Administration Reform in late 2002. On the second day he presents evaluation theory and tools, and plays with students navreme's evaluation game: ludovaluate - a testing occasion for our Leonardo Project EVAL4-Testscan. Working Groups and open discussions are integral part of the seminar (30 May 2006). In an internal validation meeting with selected experts, the Interim Report for the Evaluation of the Austrian Science Offices ("ASOs") was presented and commented upon. The report will be finalised in the coming days, and be submitted to bm:bwk, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture (29 May 2006). Petra Jedličková and Bernd Baumgartl met in Prague (CZ) to discuss ongoing and potential projects for navreme boheme. navreme boheme is currently involved in DEQU (a Leonardo project on QA in Higher Education), and in training activities on ESF matters in the Czech Republic. In DEQU it will be responsible for valorisation of the key processes developed, via 2 workshops in Austria and Czech Republic (28 May 2006). Jochen Fried is finalising his trip to the United States. Besides other assignments, he met with our former contractor BEST Associates, a Merchant Bank in Dallas, Texas (USA). For their endeavour Whitney International University System (WIUS), they drew on navreme for contacts, analysis and people in European Higher Educatuion. A continuation of the cooperation was envisaged for autumn 2006 (27 May 2006). navreme's proposal to offer training courses for Turkish companies was further discussed and deepened with Global Teknik in Ankara. The proposal foresees the training of Turkish trainers by navreme experts from the EU, and the joint development of a 2-3 days course on matters of EU projects, tenders and programmes. Discussions started to institutionalise these courses in a training institute on spot (26 May 2006). In Florence (IT), at the European University Institute, Bernd Baumgartl met Antonina Bakardjieva-Engelbrekt, associate professor for comparaitve law in Stockholm and currently a Jean-Monnet-Fellow at the EUI. An assessment of the situation in Bulgaria and other candidate countries was undertaken with a view to joint projects in the future (23 May 2006). Bernd Baumgartl is now a member of the Austrian League of Human Rights (www.liga.or.at), a 1926-founded NGO which promotes the implementation and respect of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (14 May 2006). A seminar with Prof Vamık Volkan, Fulbright/Sigmund Freud Foundation Visiting Scholar of Psychoanalysis, on PSYCHOANALYSIS AND POLITICS. VIOLENCE-AGGRESSION-REGRESSION took place in Vienna on 13 May. Mr Baumgartl and other navreme experts participated, and exchanged with Mr Volkan on future cooperation. Mr Volkan, a specialist in group psychology and identity, had supported the mid-1990s publication on "New Xenophobia in Europe", edited jointly by Adrian Favell and Bernd Baumgartl (13 May 2006). After his presentation at the alternative EU-Latin-America-Summit and a seminar in Schlaining, the founder of modern peace science Prof Johann Galtung briefly met with Bernd Baumgartl. Mr Baumgartl will now be invited to join the Transcend Peace Network, a global network and virtual peace university: www.transcend.org (12 May 2006). The Interim Report for the Interim Evaluation of the Austrian Science and Research Liaison Offices (ASOs) in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia and the science office in Ukraine (at the Cooperation Office) was sent to the Austrian Ministry of Education, Research and the Culture very early this morning. It contains accumulated results of desk research, data collection, electronic questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, field trips to all ASOs, and reports by our national correspondents. However, it does not yet contain comprehensive policy conclusions or recommendations for action, as these will be prepared only for the final report due end May 2006 (11 May 2006). Three more European Intelligence Briefs were sent to BEST Associates, and their education branch Whitney International University System (WIUS). EIB 6 addressed Distance Education in the European Higher Education Area, EIB 7 is on the situation in the South Caucasus countries, and EIB 8 outlines conditions and criteria for engagement in Turkish universities (08 May 2006). Volume 3 of the navreme|print series has been printed by our typography Makedonska Riznitsa in Kumanovo (MK) and is being disseminated. Under the title "Let Nets Work", contributions from navreme network partners are collected on occasion of navreme's fifth anniversary (2001-2006, so far) - (07 March 2006). Helmut Schramke is the candidate Team Leader of a vocational education project in Armenia, put out to tender by the EU. navreme proposed him as expert in a bid on behalf of hifab, within a framework contract with the European Commission. Bernd Baumgartl was proposed as a team leader in Croatia for a labour market project, with the same company (05 May 2006). A series of European Intelligence Briefs in Higher Education was sent to our contractor BEST Associates, a Merchant Bank in Dallas, Texas (USA). For their endeavour Whitney International University System (WIUS), they require contacts, analysis and people in European Higher Educatuion. EIB 2 advises on potential European leaders for WIUS, EIB 3 on on preferred study fields, EIB 4 on opportunities in Ukraine, and EIB 5 addresses ICT and Distance Education in Europe (02 May 2006). At the European University Centre for Peace Studies (EPU), Dr Baumgartl served as a Guest Professor for the Master Course. In a one-week session, he presented project management tools, evaluation techniques, and ways how to apply for funding of peace projects at an international scale. 30 students from all continents participated in simulations, games and group work at the university's headquarter in Schlaining, Austria (01 May 2006). "DEQU", a EU-funded Leonardo Project holds its second plenary workshop in Castelló (ES) on 26-27 April: the project objective is to create a Central European network of practice oriented higher education institutions, quality assurance agencies and political decision makers (partner for accompanying evaluaton is navreme boheme - CZ). Project coordinator is the education company 3s in Vienna (AT). DEQU has started to develop elements of quality assurance in selected “key processes” for practice and professional field oriented higher education under the outlines of the Bologna process as well as the Bruges-Copenhagen process (25 April 2006). navreme's executive Dr Bernd Baumgartl was invited as a guest professor to a student conference at the University of Castelló (ES). On 25 April he held a seminar: "El problema del otro - integración y interculturalidad en Europa". Based on theories by Tzvetan Todorov and Vamik Volkan on integration and identities, he will present project experience across Europe, ranging from intercultural teacher training in the EU to intregration efforts in Crimea (UA). The dilemma outlined spans from "Positive Discrimination" to "De-Ethnicisation" (23 April 2006). The International Study Programme (ISP) of the Salzburg Seminar ran its session No. 12 in April. The title "Global Citizenship: America and the World" reunited 58 college students and their faculty in the Leopoldskron Castle in Salzburg. This time participants came entirely from CUNY - the City University of New York. The objective of the programme is for Community Colleges to learn about, and prepare for, opening their campus and curricula to a global dimension. 4 navreme experts participated: Bernd Baumgartl held a seminar on "Europe - Enter. Understanding Europe in Historical and Contemporary Contexts", Frankie Hutton spoke about "Examples of Global Citizenship", Fatma Mızıkacı participated in the evaluation panel for student projects, and the session director was Jochen Fried, another navreme associate (22 April 2006). Dr Herbert Salaun is holding interviews in Košice and Bratislava (SK) for the evaluation of ASOs (see below). He is also meeting with Prof Juraj Nemec and his collaborators in Banska Bystrica, to prepare for the focus group with ASO stakeholders in Bratislava (12 April 2006). In the framework of navreme's contract with Whitney International University System in the USA, the first "European Intelligence Brief" was sent to headquarters in Dallas (TX/USA). It focuses on general issues of priority sectors and study fields for investment in Eastern European and Turkish Higher Education (11 April 2006). Michael Kummer is meeting with the Bulgarian national correspondent Prof Annamaria Totomanova for the ASO evaluation (see bleow) in Sofija (BG). Their protocols from interviews and focus group, and a country report will provide further material for the analysis of the ASO's performance and potential (10 April 2006). Anna Glass is holding further interviews in Ljubljana (SI) for the evaluation of ASOs (see bleow), together with our national correspondent Manja Klemenčič (27 March 2006). Publication of a further navreme|print volume was agreed with KnowNet, a community software and ICT company in Wales (UK). The book will focus on the use of ICT for learning in SMEs. It will be printed in May 2006 by our typography Makedonska Riznitsa in Kumanovo (MK) - (25 March 2006. Anna Glass and Petra Jedličková are in Brno (CZ) today to conduct interviews for the evaluation of ASOs (see below). They will meet with staff, hosts and stakeholders of the Austrian Liaison Office, and hold a focus group (23 March 2006). The final report of the EU-Phare-Project in Bulgaria has been delivered to the consortium leader CARE Austria. Helmut Schramke of navreme was the Team Leader of this successful 18-months project aiming at lifelong learning and vocational education and training. Project objectives were Interactive Methods of Teaching Adults and Trainees from Disadvantaged Groups; Information & Communications Technology; Management & Strategic Planning. are to improve the adaptability and competitiveness of the workforce through a Lifelong Learning system in accordance with the dynamics of the labour market, and to support the wider reforms of vocational education and training. Dr Schramke in Sofija, brokered cooperation of the Ministries of Labor and Education, ran seminars for trainers and officials, and assisted with procurement of a major grant distrobution and infrastructure envelop (22 March 2006). During a recent trip to Turkey, the need to train Turkish enterprises in the use of EU funds, and public employees in the implementation of these funds was fully confirmed by the EU Delegation, EU embassies, EU trade representations, Turkish universities, Turkish business associations, and Turkish enterprises. To address this need, a training seminar system shall be developed, which draws on the relevant experience of previous enlargement waves 1995 and 2004. The training system will developed and maintained by navreme. It will be implemented jointly with Global Teknik, a technology enterprise in Turkey. The system is built on 5 phases: design of curriculum (in English and Turkish); train-the-trainers course (initially in English, later in Turkish); joint implementation of seminar via roll-out; recruitment, coaching, mentoring of (new) trainers; accompanying quality control, updating, and evaluation of delivery (21 March 2006). Agreement has been reached today in a telephone conference between navreme and BEST Associates, a Merchant Bank in Dallas, Texas (USA), and the founder of Whitney International University System (WIUS). The first contract between navreme and WIUS will have a duration of 3 months. On the basis of a monthly retainer cooperation, in Phase 1 (“Exploration”) as WIUS reaches out to Europe with a focus on Eastern Europe, navreme will provide the following input to this endeavor: Europe-wide intelligence; Country-based analysis; Effective and reliable contacts; Focused recommendations; Policy-informed critique and advice; and Case-by-case guidance (20 March 2006). Field trips and interviews started for the evaluation of Austrian Science Liaison Offices (ASOs) in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The evaluation on behalf of the Austrian Science Ministry is undertaken by Anna Glass, Herbert Salaun and Bernd Baumgartl together with national experts (19 March 2006). The needs analysis of the Comenius INTER Project, investigating existing and missing programmes of intercultural education in 8 European countries was published by UNED, the Spanish Distance University in Madrid. The publication, of which navreme is a co-author is available in Spanish: "Educación Intercultural en Europa" (16 March 2006). As part of the dissemination of the EVAL4 project, an overview of evaluation methods by Bernd Baumgartl was published under the title “Ewaluacja towarzysząca czy proces ewaluacyjny”, in the Polish journal Państwo i Rynek, Vol. 4, Numer 1/2006, published by the Academy of Economic Sciences in Krákow, at www.pir.org.pl. The full text is available here (15 March 2006). The scientific conference on intercultural education, a dissemination event of the INTER Project financed by the EU took place in Madrid (ES) on 15-17 March. Bernd Baumgartl from navreme as a member of the Steering Committee, co-presented the cognisance from the INTER Project, and jointly with Prof Caridad Hernández Sánchez from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, conducted a workshop on "Assessment and Evaluation in an Intercultural Setting". The conference took place at UNED, the Spanish Distance Education University (14 March 2006). A virtual workshop was held on 13 March in the context of the evaluation of Austrian Science Liaison Offices (ASOs), with national correspondents from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The evaluation is commissioned to navreme by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. The contract was signed on 11 March. Meanwhile an inception report, containing the proposed evaluation tools, was prepared and sent today (13 March 2006). ANNOUNCEMENT FOR TTBE COURSE 2006 of CAJTIG IN MACEDONIA: The third edition of our course TTBE has been put on stand-by for the moment due to the amount of work in preparing new curricula. It will be announced at due time when this course resumes! (12 March 2006). Acquisition and networking brought navreme's executive Bernd Baumgartl to Ankara (TR), 09-12 March. Meetings were held at the EU Delegation, Austrian embassy, Austrian trade delegation, hifab (SE) who ran a EU employment project, and with Global Teknik, a company in Defense Industry Manifacturing. Amongst others, navreme was asked to design a train-the-trainer course system for EU project applications (12 March 2006). Dr Baumgartl was invited to give a presentation at the Norwegian Association of Private Higher Education (Private Higher Education in Europe), in Oslo (NO) on 7 March 2006. A paper on the same issue is published by UNESCO-CEPES in Bucharest, based on a series of national case studies and authored for navreme by Anna Glass and Jochen Fried. The presentation in Norway again used an innovative visualisation created jointly with ICASTIC in Firenze (IT) - (06 March 2006). Petra Jedličková is carrying out interviews in the Czech Republic for the evaluation of publications by the European Commission (DG PRES). Apart from the readers of the electronic and paper publications of the EU, also politicians/decision makers, NGOs, Journalists, and Teachers/Academics are asked about their satisfaction and ideas for improvment (05 March 2006). Anna Glass is participating at the third transnational workshop of the Minerva-financed EU project MC-DIP in Copenhagen (DA). The development and testing of a tool for diagnostic information profiling on learning styles is tested throughout Europe in terms of its sensitivity for for culturally diverse and minority groups. Testing in seminars, schools, and universities is planned for spring 2006, results will be presented to the European Commission in autumn 2006 (03 March 2006). Dr Helmut Schramke is finalising his stay in Sofia (BG), as the related EU Phare project on lifelong learning is coming to an end. As the team leader on behalf of CARE International, he is about to submit a final report on training seminars, policy development, and advise to the Bulgarian Ministries of Education and Labour (02 March 2006). Together with the Belgian company Aide à la Décision Economique (ADE, Louvain la Neuve), navreme is applying for a framework contract with the European Commission's DG Education and Culture (DG EAC). ADE and navreme propose a Europe-wide pool of experts in "evaluation, evaluation related services, and support for impact assessment", the policy fields of education and culture. If awarded - we will evaluate related project, programmes and policies of the Commission for the coming two years (01 March 2006). Yesterday Petra Jedličková and Bernd Baumgartl held another planning meeting on ongoing and potential projects for navreme boheme in Prague (CZ). navreme boheme is currently involved in DEQU (a Leonardo project on QA in Higher Education), and in training activities in the Czech Republic. Recently, it launched its own web-site in Czech language: www.navreme.cz (24 February 2006). Zulfiya Tursunova from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, a graduate from the M.A. programme at the European Peace University in Schlaining, has joined the navreme team in Vienna as a research assistant and intern. She is pursuing research on Gender Conflict Resolution, and planning to develop a handbook for the transcend network of peace educators. Ms Tursunova will spend some 10 hours per week in the navreme office for her research and support with project-related tasks. She is also the FELS beneficiary 2006, i.e. the yearly scholarship awarded by navreme (20 February 2006). On 13-14 February, an expert team from BEST Associates, a merchant bank in Dallas (TX, USA), came to Vienna to discuss with navreme major investements in Eastern European Higher Education. BEST has established the Whitney International University System in the USA, and are expanding operations into Latin America, China - and Europe. Their approach is mission-driven (pointing at quality, access, efficiency, career relevance) and thus consonant with navreme’s objectives, meets a high demand in the region, and follows an innovative approach (community college-type of institutions). A three-steps progress was proposed: a) identification of portal(s) in selected countries, b) strategic planning (jointly with local partners), c) implementation and (partial) acquisition. The role of navreme could be to function as lead experts – and eventually become fully-fledged business partners for Europe (14 February 2006). For the upcoming scientific conference on intercultural education, a dissemination of the INTER Project financed by the EU. 60+ papers have been submitted and were revised by the Steering Committee, of which Bernd Baumgartl from navreme is a member. The conference will take place in Madrid at UNED, the Spanish Distance Education University, on 15-17 March 2006 (13 February 2006). In a meeting today at the the Austrian Ministry of Education Research and Culture, it was agreed that navreme will undertake the Interim Evaluation of the Austrian Science and Research Liaison Offices (ASOs) in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The mission of the Austrian Science and Research Liaison Offices (ASOs) is to serve as information and service points in Central, Eastern and Southeast European Countries to strengthen the bi- and multilateral co-operation between scientists, researchers, research groups or scientific institutions such as universities and/or research centres from Austria with new EU Member States, Candidate Countries as well as the “Western Balkan Countries”. The ASOs are located in Bulgaria (Sofija), the Czech Republic (Brno), Hungary (Budapest), Slovakia (Bratislava and Košice), Slovenia (Ljubljana) and Ukraine (L'viv). Experts in this study will be Dr Herbert Salaun, Mag Anna Glass, and Dr Bernd Baumgartl, and national correspondents will support them: Prof Anna-Marija Totomanova (BG), M.tra Petra Jedličková (CZ), Prof Mihály Czákó (HU), Prof Juraj Nemec (SK), M.tra Manja Klemenčič (SI) and M.tra Nina Kolybashkina (UA). Dr Jochen Fried will be responsible for quality control. The timeframe for this taks is end May, and the scope of the evaluation will be on improvement and future-looking (09 February 2006). Jochen Fried, Anna Glass and Bernd Baumgartl co-authored the first European study on Private Higher Education, now published by UNESCO-ECPES in Bucharest. It concludes that the “publicness” of private HE must be recognized and acknowledged at the outset of any discussion of the private HE sector; that both public and private HE contribute to both public and private good; moreover, common discourse perpetuating the reputation carried by the private HE sector should begin to account for the wider variation in profile and quality, beyond the two main categories of elite and access provision (exploitation, motivation, and innovation for the first, and opportunity and exclusivity for the latter. While some private HEIs are reputated as top universities in their countries, many suffer from a perceived or factual low quality provision. Universities are, indeed, as good as their students are – not when they arrive but when they leave the university (07 February 2006). navreme has opened a blog at navreme.blogspot.com. It can be linked with, researched, and commented by readers, and will feature excerpts of this newlog at regular periods (06 February 2006). Another publication is in preparation: navreme will publish its own version of the INTER Guide, the final product of the award-winning INTER Comenius project (05 February 2006). Under the lead of particip (www.particip.de), navreme applied for a major EU project in Serbia. The project should introduce modern project management skills for public administration at municipal level. Other partners are KDZ, a reseach institute on public administratin in Austria, and YUBuild, a consulting and training company from Belgrade - which emerged from trainees of navreme's UNDP project in 2002 (04 February 2006). navreme is five! A pleasant and relaxed afternoon in the innovative gallery Denkraum around the corner (www.denkraum.at) saw the meeting of navreme's partners, experts, clients and friends, from Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Macedonia, Peru, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan, etc. A meaningful speech from former Rector Alfred Ebenbauer was followed by musical interventions, a podium discussion, presentation of our toolkit book and the Festschrifterl, leading to the unveiling of the first product of a-stra - a photo and digital film by Vienna-based painter and conceptual artist Katharina Razumovsky ("at the wrong time in the wrong place"). In the evening, at Fredi's Feuerhalle, certificates were distributed to Macedonian course participants, a Bulgarian folk-song was presented, and intensive socialising and networking continued beyond mid-night. A warm thank-you to all those who contributed to this event! (29 January 2006). Final exams and graduation of the second training course for Macedonian students of economics take place in Vienna on 27 January, at the premisses of the European Institute for the furthering of Democracy (EID - www.eid.at). The course ("Through Training to Business Excellence" - TTBE 2) was again offered by CAJTIG, and focused on management of small business. Trainers were Macedonian experts in business administration and economics (27 January 2006). Tools for Process Evaluation is the title of volume 2 of the series navreme|print. It was finished recently, sent to our publisher in Kumanovo/MK, and will be presented at the anniversary event (see above). This toolkit tries to valorise the investment made, and capitalises on the experience from diverse and transnational evaluations undertaken by colleagues from the navreme network. Learning from a project process is becoming more valued, and corrective action during a project is seen as a better approach to reach project objectives, and to underpin unintended positive outcomes in terms of capacity-building and empowerment. The authors are Bernd Baumgartl with Marco Lorenzoni (Bridges, Brussels/BE) and Fatma Mızıkacı (Ufuk University, Ankara/TR) - (19 January 2006). Dr Johann Schrumpf, Head of Education in Kosovo 2002-2005, is being proposed by navreme as the team leader for a EU VET project in Albania. The bid is launched by a consortium of, inter alia, GET/ICON (DE) and Helsinki Consulting Group (FI) with whom we cooperate. If selected, Mr Schrumpf will lead the vocational education and training project in Tirana from March 2005 - September 2007 (16 January 2006). navreme associate Petra Jedličková, CEO of navreme boheme, is involved in the LLL2010 project, financed by the European Commission (DG RTD, Framework Programme). The project focuses on the contribution of the education system to the implementation of lifelong learning and its role as a potential agent of social integration in Europe. Its aims and objectives are to study the effect of country-specific institutions on access of adults to the education system and to assess the effectiveness of access policies and practices in different EU member, as well as in associated countries and their implications for the creation of European knowledge society (15 January 2006). Quality Management, Validation, and Evaluation is the title of work package navreme has offered to lead in a high-profile Leonardo da Vinci project proposal under Turkish lead. The proposal is lead by the Afyonkarahisar Police, has already been approved at the national level, and aims at production of a training program for police forces dealing with terrorists - but in compliance with Human Rights standards. navreme would undertake a co-evaluation (Accompanying Evaluation) of project activities, including validation and ensuring coherence of project activities with EU policies and standards. The project will be submitted to the EU Commissions DG Education and Culture for the final selection process in February (15 January 2006). Graham Attwell from navreme's partner organisation Pontydusgy in Wales was in Vienna on 13-14 January. His visit coincided with a midterm evaluation meeting of the vqts Leonardo project (on transnational vocational qualifications, anticipating the creation of a European Qualification Framework) that Pontydysgu and navreme are evaluating at present. During planning meetings, it was agreed that Pontydysgu will contribute to the navreme publication series on a permanent basis. The first by Graham Attwell is on "Evaluation of E-Learning", and will be published in April. Moreover, navreme and Pontydusgy will also work towards the set-up of a virtual training academy for young researchers and interns (14 January 2006). Georgian Citizens Discuss European Union’s Distance Learning Project: on 22 December, more than 40 participants, including college professors and students, gathered at the IATP access sites in Khashuri, Zugdidi, Telavi, Rustavi, Gori, Tbilisi, and Batumi, Georgia, to discuss the European Union’s Distance Learning Project (EUDLP) with team leader and navreme expert Helmut Schramke. Moderated by Nino Matiashvili (FLEX 04), the main goal of the one-hour online event was to introduce Georgian residents to e-learning opportunities that the program aims to support in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. According to the EUDLP’s objectives, there will be resource centers in the region within the next six months, which will be equipped with the latest information technologies. In the course of the chat, Schramke talked about the opportunities that the program will provide, including distance learning courses to be developed by local professors. Schramke said that EUDLP will train the educators of interested institutions to develop their e-courses. The program will not support colleges financially, but rather train them to acquire all necessary skills in course design. Later, Schramke answered questions on Information Technology distribution and university selection procedures. “I completely support this program and its objectives. Educational institutions have a chance to sit down and think of how to better implement their intellectual resources,” said Tea Maxatelashvili (CC 99). Thanks to the online discussion, IATP encouraged the educators to take an active part in the effective program implementation in the institutions, and assisted EUDLP in announcing programs to a wider audience. The new project is an excellent follow-up to IATP’s major distance learning development initiative, which was implemented last year and resulted in dozens of new courses posted online (13 January 2006). A proposal was sent today to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, to provide services to the Committee on Torture Prevention on action in Albania, Georgia and Moldova. The proposal under the title "Identification of Needs and Outside Assistance for Implementation of CPT Proposals" was presented by navreme in cooperation with Bridges (www.lorenzoni.biz - Brussels) and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights (http://www.univie.ac.at/bim - Vienna). A core team of two senior consultants (Bernd Baumgartl and Marco Lorenzoni) will be responsible for the final report. They will be supported by three national correspondents (Dr Maya Gogoladze, Tbilisi, IFES - Democracy at Large; Alqi Mustafai, Albanian Institute of Curricula and Standards, Tirana; Vaeceslav Scobioala, independent consultant, Chisinau). The deliverables of the project will be consulted with and peer-reviewed before releasing by Prof Manfred Nowak, the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatme of the United Nations (12 January 2006). For administration and planning purposes, Dr Bernd Baumgartl was in Skopje 09-11 January 2006. He met with Ms Gabriela Krstevska, cajtig project manager in Skopje and the organisers of the training courses for Macedonian students of economics (Thorugh Training to Businsses Excellence - Levels 1, Leadership - Level 2, Quality and Networking - Level 3, Trainer Training Tool - Level 4). The courses are offered by CAJTIG, the Macedonian nod of the navreme network. Printig of further navreme publications on evaluation tools was agreed with our publishing house Makedonska Riznica from Kumanovo (11 January 2006). Session No. 10 of the Salzburg Seminar and its International Study Programme (ISP) took place 01-08 January 2006, as always in the castle of Schloss Leopoldskron near Salzburg. Again under the title "Global Citizenship: America and the World", 55 college students from Community Colleges and their faculty from the USA learned about, and prepared for, opening their campus and curricula to a global dimension. Bernd Baumgartl held a seminar on "Europe - Enter. Understanding Europe in Historical and Contemporary Contexts", Michael Daxner taught "Global Citizenship", and the session director was Jochen Fried, another navreme expert (08 January 2006). Dr Helmut Schramke has started his job as team of leader of a TACIS project in the South Caucasus. The EU-funded project will establish e-learning centres and infrastructure in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Mr Schramke is based in Tbilisi (GE), and his project web-site is www.esocieties.info (02 January 2006). navreme will be five! For that occasion the least we must do is to throw a birthday party, with an animated musical and artistic programme. We will also present our new initiative a-stra, a cooperation with artists for strategy. For this year the cooperating artists is Katja Razumovsky, a Vienna-based painter and conceptual artist (www.razumovsky.at). In addition, we will publish a Festschrifterl, a mini-digest of the 5 past years. We want to invite you all to participate at the party, and/or possibly to send us a short text for inclusion in the Festschrifterl. The programme for the party and instructions for most welcome written contributions to or greetings (until 20 January) can be requested by email: birthday@navreme.net. Please be our guests on 28 January, 16.00h at the Arts Gallery Denkraum around the corner (www.denkraum.at), and later at Fredi's Feuerhalle downstairs! (01 January 2006). Give shelter! Instead of cards, presents, calendars, pens, watches (!), pictures, gadgets or other presents, the equivalent expenses was be sent to Pakistan this year. The earthquake in October has left a whole region of Northern Pakistan in ruins. Apart from the deplorable death of 90,000 people, at presents several millions are facing enormous hardship, lack of food and shelter - and life danger. This is why for Christmas 2005, navreme has acquired an emergency shelter for one Pakistani family to survive the winter, which is starting these days, with snow, temperatures below 0 degrees, and 100s of villages unreachable for several months. Gerhard Schaumberger, a navreme collaborator, is in Muzafarabat now, to organise emergency aid on behalf of Hilfswerk Austria, a relief NGO. He personally guarantees that the money arrives where it is most needed. You can help as well, e.g. via Account Number AT43 6000 0000 0900 01002; Reference: Schutzhütte Pakistan" - Hilfswerk Austria, www.hilfswerk.at (24 December 2005).
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