Partner UP consortium held a transnational partner meeting and study visit in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday, September 28th, and Friday, September 29th 2023. The meeting was hosted by AONTAS, our Irish partner, at the Digital Hub.
On the first day, the primary goal of the meeting was to complete the national and European stakeholder analyses and begin work with the development groups in the upcoming months. The partners collaborated and designed the workload during the meeting while preparing guidelines for future endeavours, especially because of the ambitious work plan that follows in the next few months. A peer review of the country reports was conducted as a concrete result, providing a foundation for the next tasks.
In the afternoon, a visit took place to the Dublin 8 Community Education Centre (D8CEC), where we met up with two educators, who were previously learners themselves, to discuss their operations. The centre provides a second chance for adult learners. As explained in their website:
“D8CEC is a QQI quality-assured centre: our courses are nationally accredited and of a consistently high standard. They are available part-time and generally run from September to May. Our courses are provided in the community for the community and as far as possible by suitably qualified members of the community. Indeed, many of our tutors have themselves completed courses at D8CEC in the past” (D8CEC).
The courses offered at the Dublin 8 Community Education Centre focus on digital skills, and mathematics with language and literacy. However, they do not impose any time limit on the learners’ learning process. Throughout the year, the centre can accommodate approximately 200 to 300 students with a course duration of approximately 16 weeks where the learners have the freedom to ask and co-create the agenda.
After the meeting with the educators at D8CEC, Conor Thompson, Policy officer at AONTAS, presented the Irish Education System. The presentation focused on the history and the current education reality in Ireland. It provided many topics of discussion between the partners, especially the heavy involvement of the Church and the lack of vocational education and skills in the early school years.
On the second day, the focus drifted from the development groups to general events in the next half a year. The partners discussed the dissemination activities that need to be implemented, the next study visits and peer learning activities taking place online (the first one being an online collaboration between EAEA and eucen on the 23rd of January) and the next transnational partner meeting, taking place in February 2024 in Cyprus.
If you feel the project is of interest to you, you are invited to learn more about it and get involved! You can stay updated by following our project page or feel free to contact us directly for further information. We are excited to have you join us on this journey!
