Challenges for Parents in the Digital Age – 4/5 April 2014 Lisbon
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 4th and 5th, 2014 in Lisbon/PORTUGAL
hosted by
FOMENTO
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 effect 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 4th, 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. Pedro Silva, 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 and Etelberto Costa – Training consultant and Trainer of Trainers, Vice President of EUCIS-LLL, ETDF and APG
20:30 Dinner with traditional Fado music
Saturday, April 5th, 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
- Lunch break
- Workshop sessions, 2nd 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 dinnerare (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 6th April.
In all organisational questions please contact Brigitte Haider
e-mail: GA@euparents.eu Tel. no: +43-664 562 4043
