Invitation to the Lisbon GA and Conference Challenges for Parents intheDigital Age - 4/5 April 2014

I N V I T A T I O N

to the General Assembly and International Conference

Challenges for Parents

in the Digital Age

April 4^th and 5^th, 2014
in Lisbon/PORTUGAL

hosted by

sponsored by

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

partners in European education,
friends and members!

It is a pleasure to formally invite you to the forthcoming GA and conference of EPA in Lisbon, Portugal.

Major changes have happened in the lives of people all over Europe around the beginning of the new century. With digital technologies becoming cheaper and more easily available they became part of our lives. Dramatic changes have happened in everyday life as well as learning and communication. The generations of today’s parents and grandparents are witnessing their children and grandchildren already born digital to be very different from them while some parts of the environment, especially schools don’t seem to change causing major problems across the education landscape of Europe. At the same time we are facing new challenges, especially with our children using social networks proficiently. Many parents feel uncomfortable by them while in many cases the first reaction of adults to protect children from new kinds of threats like cyberbullying is the violation of the rights of the child.

The European Commission has launched its Digital Agenda and the Opening up Education initiative, the later issued jointly by the commissioners responsible for education and the Digital Agenda. These initiatives affect not only the lives of children in education but also lives of parents as employees, employers and lifelong-learners.

A fine equilibrium is to be found by learning together and leading each other, hand in hand to a safe digital era.

EPA has decided to choose Portugal for discussing these topics because the Portuguese have set an example to the whole world by initiating their Magellan project – part of their e.escolinha programme - in 2008 aiming at providing children in primary education with their own cheap laptops and offering reasonably priced internet connection to families. Together with training of children, parents and teachers for safe use of computers and the internet without parental control this initiative is still a good framework for the topic of our conference.

We are looking forward to meeting you in Lisbon and hope to proceed on our personal way in Lifelong Learning.

                                                                                                               Eszter Salamon
                                                                                                                EPA-President

Preliminary Programme

The conference is held in English. No simultaneous translation will be organised.

Friday, April 4^th, 2014

10:00                   School visits with a lunch break

14:00                   Registration and Market Place

15:00                   General Assembly with one coffee break

                            Proposed agenda:

                            1. Opening and confirmation of quorum

                            2. Approval of the agenda

                            3. Acceptance of new members

                            4. Approval of minutes (GA in Brussels 7th December 2013)

                            5. Activity report 2013

                            6. Financial report 2013, Discharge of the Board

                            7. Election of auditors for 2014

                            8. Progress report on the working programme 2014 for acknowledgement

                            9. Miscellaneous

                            - raising visibility and activity on national level

                            10. Announcement of the next GA

18:00                   Welcome words and opening keynote of the conference         

                            by Prof. PedroSilva, Vice President of the ERNAPE 2013 Conference:

                            Parents and Challenges in the Digital Age: Some facts and thoughts

18:45                   Roundtable discussion:

                            Education in the digital era: risks and opportunities
                            Cristina Ponte – Assistant Professor with Aggregation, Faculty of Social and Human                             Sciences, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Participates in the projects  EU Kids Online                             (www.eukidsonline.net) and Net Children Go Mobile                                                                               (http://netchildrengomobile.eu); Fernando Ilharco – Professor at Universidade                                     Católica Portuguesa

20:30                   Dinner with traditional Fado music

 

Saturday, April 5^th, 2014

9:30                     Keynote session

Digital Natives and the Predigital Fossils – Dr. Eva Gyarmathy, clinical psychologist/Senior Researcher

Opening up education: a decisive push to the development of European society – Prof. António Teixeira, president of EDEN

Digital Parenting: at the heart of the Digital Agenda – Janice Richardson, Senior Advisor European Schoolnet

e.escolinho and the Magellan project - António Bob dos Santos, Innovation Policy Expert, former Government Advisor

11:30                   Coffee break

12:00                   Workshop sessions

                            1. Digital Skills and Entrepreneurship – Friederike Sözen, Austrian Chamber of                                     Commerce

                            2. The rights of the child in the digital world and prevention of cyberbullying –                                   Martin Schmalzried, COFACE

                           3. Education in the digital era: risks and opportunities – Portuguese speaking                                         workshop with Tito Morais from  “miúdos seguros na net” (Safe kids in internet) -                                         http://www.miudossegurosna.net/

                            4. Training parents for the Digital Age

                            5. Democracy and www 

14.00                   Lunch break

15.00                   Workshop sessions, 2^nd round

                            The workshop sessions will be organised so that everybody can participate at two different workshops

17:00                   Closing of the conference and adoption of the EPA position paper on Minors and social networks

20:00                   Optional dinner

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

(Single rooms cost EUR 63,50 per night, double rooms EUR 72 per night. Participation fee, including dinner on Friday, coffee breaks and lunches, is EUR 120 for a maximum of 3 representatives of full members, 2 representatives of associate members and 1 representative of affiliate members. Participation fee for non-members and additional participants of members is EUR 140. Partners not participating at the conference but joining for meals are to pay half fee.)

Accommodation is booked at Hotel VIP Arts, Lisbon (Avenida D. João II Lote 1.18, 1998-028 Lisboa). From the airport it is best to take a taxi to the hotel, it is a short ride.

Logistics information for those moving around without the group or arriving late:

From Lisbon Airport to the headquarters of Fomento/Colégio Planalto where the GA, the conference, one of the school visit and dinner are (Rua Armindo Rodrigues, 28, 1600-414 Lisboa) – easiest to reach by taxi.

From Lisbon Airport to Colégio Pedro Arrupe where the school visit is going to take place (Passeio dos Heróis do Mar, n.º 100, Parque das Nações, 1990-529 Lisboa) easiest to reach by taxi.

From Hotel Vip Executive Art`s to the Colégio Pedro Arrupe where one of the school visits is (Passeio dos Heróis do Mar, n.º 100, Parque das Nações, 1990-529 Lisboa) – a 15 minute walk

From Hotel Vip Executive Art`s to the headquarters of Fomento/Colégio Planalto where the GA, the conference, the school visit and dinner are - easiest to reach by taxi..

Optional sightseeing programme is to be confirmed for the morning of the 6^th April.

In all organisational questions please contact Brigitte Haider

                            e-mail:       GA@euparents.eu
                            Tel. no:       +43-664 562 4043