Partners
Founded in 2017, Convergence International is a coaching, training and multi-media materials development provider that specialises in courses and seminars for in educational, public and private sectors, as well as teacher development courses.
Its two directors have a collective 40 years’ experience in education, working internationally, learning design/writing (both for print and digital), as well as backgrounds in media (radio
and TV)
Convergence also works in collaboration with various publishers to provide learning content, digital learning design and development, as well as consultancy services.
Each of the two Convergence International directors have a wide range of expertise spread over 20 years and can draw on past experience to the benefit of range of projects.
We’re experts in researching and conducting needs analyses to develop targeted learning interventions that have the greatest impact for the target learner.
Communicating successfully with others and supporting wellbeing difficulties they may be facing, such as sadness, anxiety, fear or loneliness requires high levels of emotional intelligence and creativity to respond to specific and individual difficulties and offer suitable support.
Specific topics, relevant for this project, which we’ve previously designed materials and training for include: creativity, social-emotional communication, mental health and wellbeing, empathy and relationship-building, intercultural communication, and other key competencies.
We’ve co-authored 25+ books relating to language, communication and soft skills as well as over 300 online articles addressing similar topics. We also produce podcasts (content, voice recording and production) and videos (talking head and animations) on these topic areas.
The quality of our work is demonstrated by ongoing multi-year collaborations with both the public sector (The British Council) and major international publishers such as Pearson, Macmillan, and National Geographic Learning.
We have also led many learning-related international projects and will draw on this experience to ensure this project runs smoothly and is a success. Our expertise in this area is demonstrated as a case study within the book Leading International Projects (Dignen & Wollmann, Kogan Page, 2016).
Centrul Pentru Promovarea Invatarii Permanente is a Romanian NGO that works in Lifelong Learning since 2005. CPIP is committed to mainstreaming the principle of equal opportunities for all citizens in the public policies and associated practices, as an integral part of democratization and the creation of an open society, to re-define the status of community co-production in all areas related to lifelong learning. We support initiatives and run programs and projects that aim at cooperating and innovating for good practices in this field. This is done by taking part in diverse European initiatives and then mainstreaming in the regional activities the developed products and results.
We have so far worked as leaders and main contributors in:
– CPIP are involved in projects and programes for supporting senior organizations in social activation of the elderly people: Development of Training program on civil media for those seniors who would like to expand their knowledge on basics of civil media, principles of journalism, work in the editorial office, promotion and PR of the press magazine, voluntary work in social campaign Senior Card and Senior Voice Magazine, etc. For seniors and their families. Suport trainers and adult educators working with seniors in delivering the training on editing and managing magazine for seniors (https://sasme-project.eu/
– initial and continuous professional development for teachers & learning professionals in their pre-employment period or that work in kindergarten, primary schools, secondary schools, high school, vocational education, second-chance education, special education.
– EIS3- Develop a generic version of the induction analysis tool and the supporting materials which can be used by SMEs from all occupational sectors and easily customised to meet their own particular needs. Translate this all－sector version, together with the existing sector specific materials on Business and Health Care from the previous project, into the major languages of the European Union.Promote these new products to SMEs across Europe by means of a well planned valorisation strategy and high quality marketing campaign and by linking them to other mobility measures and initiatives, particularly those being introduced in 2006 for the European Year of Workers’ Mobility.The most important aim, and the critical success factor, is to market the product widely across Europe by engaging SMEs through national and European associations and agencies. Before this can be achieved a professional product has to be developed that has been validated by SMEs and recognised by them as being effective and efficient.
– training and education in introducing the “community co-production” concept, especially in topics where the local community needs to take responsibilities for hot topics
– initial and continuous professional development of soft skills for mentors and trainees. A work of appropriation conducted with the three types of stakeholders (small organisations, training centers and trainees), followed by a test phase and an evaluation phase. Further strengthening key competences in VET curricula, promoting work-based learning in all its forms, with special attention to apprenticeship-type training, improve achievement in relevant and high-level basic and transversal competences in a lifelong learning perspective (http://project-janus.eu/)
– produce and develop a competence framework to become a standard for junior job coach skills. Designing a training programme, followed by a piloting test with students in order to finalize the competence framework. This project has three main groups of participants that will benefit from the results of this project and who will be involved from the start: vulnerable students at lower levels of vocational education, higher level (excellent) students, companies, organisations providing work experience (http://juniorjobcoach.eu)
– focused on creating a learning network model to support SEEs (Social Economy Enterprises) and SEOs (Social Economy Organizations) managers and human resources who face challenges in dealing with the recruitment, welcome and retention of vulnerable people, in particular people with disabilities. ( www.sensenet-project.org)
– to promote emotional intelligence skills as means for increasing the levels of employability in a new economic and social scenario. The “interpersonal” and “intrapersonal” intelligences are required, referring to the way the individual manages his own emotions and how he does it with others’ emotions. (www.emotional-employment.eu)
– focused on language teachers and language students using coaching techniques Emotional Intelligence and Neuro Linguistic Programming. The L2 Lifestyle project aims at strengthening the recruitment, selection and induction of the best and most suitable candidates for the teaching profession and actions supporting the promotion of high-quality innovative teaching. (https://l2lifestyle.eu/)
Our organization supports initiatives and runs programs and projects that aim at cooperating and innovating for good practices. CPIP’s main objective is to promote the lifelong learning through all relevant stakeholders. This is done by taking part at diverse European initiatives and then mainstreaming in the regional activities the developed products and results. We have so far worked in the area of:
-social entrepreneurship;
-in social responsibility as part of two national networks;
-in regional development by working in health and safety for agricultural sector and in training rural developers;
-in SME development through collaboration with SME supporting bodies and by developing tools for integration of mobility workers.
We carry out several activities during the implementation of European projects, some of them are training, facilitating, counselling and integrating on the labor market disadvantaged persons, persons from rural and remote areas; creating teaching materials; organizing training sessions, multiplier events, conferences, meetings, etc.; work with youth, disadvantaged groups; promoting, disseminating and exploiting the products and results of projects, during their lifetime and beyond.
– CPIP are involved in projects and programmes for supporting senior organizations in social activation of the elderly people: Development of Training program on civil media for those seniors who would like to expand their knowledge on basics of civil media, principles of journalism, work in the editorial office, promotion and PR of the press magazine, voluntary work in social campaign Senior Card and Senior Voice Magazine, etc. For seniors and their families. Support trainers and adult educators working with seniors in delivering the training on editing and managing magazine for seniors (https://sasme-project.eu/)
– to promote emotional intelligence skills as means for increasing the levels of employability in a new economic and social scenario. The “interpersonal” and “intrapersonal” intelligences are required, referring to the way the individual manages his own emotions and how he does it with others’ emotions. (www.emotional-employment.eu)
– Our organization supports initiatives and runs programs and projects that aim at cooperating and innovating for good practices. CPIP’s main objective is to promote the lifelong learning through all relevant stakeholders. This is done by taking part at diverse European initiatives and then mainstreaming in the regional activities the developed products and results.
We have so far worked in the area of:
– -promotion of entrepreneurship in youth and special needs groups;
– -social entrepreneurship;
– -in social responsibility as part of two national networks;
– -in regional development by working in health and safety for agricultural sector and in training rural developers;
– -in SME development through collaboration with SME supporting bodies and by developing tools for integration of mobility workers.
At European level we have cooperation with at least 2 or 3 organisations from each of the European Member States.
We also have a network of specialists we collaborate on projects, on the field of social welfare, psychology, sociology, social policy, urban security & police.
Due to the complexity of the project work, our team has a core structure with permanent staff and many external experts that work project – based.
Rodica Pana – Central project coordination, Manager and team leader in large scale educational projects in social sector, from 1992. Researcher in adult education and in open and distant learning. Writing and implementing EU projects. The main activities and responsibilities are to representing the institution in international project, developing projects, managing budgetary aspects. Organizational skills: The capacity to run and coordinate a team, organizing seminaries, meetings, conferences, planning and respecting deadlines, negotiation skills, time management. Financial management consultant and advisor in European projects. Fluent in English, Hungarian and German.
Daiana Huber – is a graduate in educational and political sciences, working in adult education field and in project management. Since 2000 is involved in European projects (Grundtvig, Leonardo daVinci, Minerva) and in Structural Funds projects (development of human resources). Her expertise is in public policy education, juvenile and adult justice systems, public safety, gangs & violent youth. Daiana is a trained lobbyist. She worked for 7 years as project officer in the Ministry of Education, under the Structural Funds. Since 2005 is part of the CPIP team in developing and implementing projects under LLP, ERASMUS+, DG JUST, DG HOME, Cross-Border Cooperation. Fluent in English, Spanish and French.
I & F Education is an Irish based organisation working in and from Dublin for the educational development of people of all ages, especially in the areas of entrepreneurship, sport and personal development, youth and schools, language acquisition, inclusion and diversity and rural development. We stress and put the emphasis on lifelong learning as well as adult learning.
We are involved in a number of Transnational European Projects and are part of several European Networks, including The New Ideas for New Opportunities European Network and the EDIN Network, which is focused on diversity and inclusion.
LANGUAGES: The acquisition of a foreign language, especially in the case of English, is an indispensable tool for entrepreneurship, for young people to get opportunities in life and for older people to get a job in a highly competitive market. I & F has developed tourism packages intended for students and adults involved in cultural and learning programmes centered on English language acquisition in Ireland. I & F Education currently offers English and Spanish language courses with full immersion for students in a family and school setting.
SPORT: Sport is a key means to educate people and advance their personal development. Good instruction and individual centered formation is the way for people to flourish. I & F currently runs soft skills programmes through sport in several clubs.
YOUTH: Young people can learn key competences if the educational setting is right. We believe in providing young people with the tools to improve their personal development in many areas, such as emotional intelligence, soft skills, care of the environment, sociability and entrepreneurship. I & F Education runs programmes for young people who wish to develop their soft and presentation skills, emotional intelligence, etc. through our Horizon programme.
ENTREPRENEUSHIP: Our programmes offer everyone a possibility to upskill and learn the abilities to become an independent self-starter, who tries hard to face the obstacles in life with a sporting spirit. We offer courses for entrepreneurs and the self-employed. We give special pride of place to the acquisition of soft skills by personal coaching and mentoring and by providing people with links to companies. We encourage new companies and initiatives and get people to think laterally and positively about their careers and their future.
SOCIAL INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY: In keeping with our supportive approach to programme management, we at I & F promote and support Erasmus+ in the context of Inclusion and Diversity.
The Inclusion and Diversity Programme devised by I & F develops project ideas with an emphasis on inclusion and diversity. It also develops trustworthy partnerships and engages with programmes in a meaningful way
Joe Cabello: Central Project Coordinator. Secondary school teacher with nearly 30 years’ experience as a youth leader and in the area of sports and language teaching. His main area of work has been the integration of life skills in the area of sports. He is involved with Brosna Youth Clubs on Erasmus exchange programmes, Leicester Celtic Soccer Club and he is a coach in the Padel Federation of Ireland, where he is also the President of the association. Joe currently works in Rockbrook Park School in Dublin, where he teaches Spanish,
Information Technology and Physical Education. He has been actively involved working and developing educational projects with I & F over the past five years.
William O’Brien: Educational Researcher. Secondary school teacher with many years of experience as a youth leader in Citywise Education, Tallaght, Dublin. He has worked mainly in the area of social inclusion for youngsters in underprivileged areas. His work has focused on the provision of courses and programmes to give Primary school students a chance to access Secondary School education and support after school hours. His work has also contributed to secondary school students in underprivileged areas to reach Third Level
education and go to university. He has been actively involved working on the development of educational projects and initiatives with I & F over the past four years.
Naomi Nicholl: Educational Researcher. Managing director of the Bushy Park Tennis Club and committee member of the Padel Federation of Ireland. Her work focuses on the integration of life skills in the area of nursing, psychology and early education. She also coordinates student exchange programmes for Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal and other EU countries. She has been actively involved working on the development of educational projects and initiatives with I & F over the past four years. She has helped in the development of
tourism packages for students and adults learning English and studying in Ireland. She currently manages programmes for adults, retired people and couples with the view to keep them active and have a better quality of life.
Jesús Pérez: Educational Researcher. Managing director of Padel Ireland and coach of the Padel Federation of Ireland. His works focuses on the integration of life skills in the area of sports. He also coordinates student exchange programmes for Ireland, Spain, Portugal and other EU countries. He has been actively involved working on the development of educational projects and initiatives with I & F over the past six years. He has developed tourism packages for students and adults learning English and studying in Ireland.
The Association of Almerian Studies (AEA) is a state-run non-profit organization, founded on August 27, 2010, which dedicates its efforts to the help and integral support of the people, through social intervention and integration labor. Its main purposes are the realization of all kinds of activities related to education and training, as well as complementary or accessory operations for these purposes for the full development of employment and training.
The association has an interdisciplinary team formed and specialized in management of training and project management. The technical team is made up of training managers, trainers (experts in different training specialties), project managers, work counselors, a computer specialist and an administrative officer.
We are registered in the Register of Entities, Services and Social Services Centers of the Department of Equality and Social Policies of the Junta de Andalucía (AS / E / 8.079).
From 31/12/15 to 30/06/2016 we have carried out a project of general interest and social generators of employment, with code AL-IGG-0001/15, regulated by decree-law 2/2015, of March 3, urgent measures to promote employment, stability in employment, return to talent and the promotion of self-employment. The project developed is Active and Healthy Aging and comes to collect the activities that have traditionally been developed with elderly and caregivers of people in situations of dependency in order to improve their quality of life by promoting their autonomy and preventing possible situations of vulnerability associated with age.
The main objective of the active aging program is to improve the living conditions of the elderly by initiating actions aimed at improving their healthy life expectancy, preventing and delaying the appearance of age-specific deficits, stopping the aggravation of those that have already appeared and complementing the actions of the system of attention to the dependencies in the beneficiaries thereof, mitigating the effects of the lack of autonomy.
We have prepared an awareness campaign to give maximum diffusion through different means to raise awareness with volunteers about the cognitive deterioration of our elders.
We have prepared an informative day with the objective of publicizing the guidelines or advice to volunteers for the program of active and healthy aging in the elderly.
Milagros Padilla: Legal Representative of Association of Almerian studies. Engineer and more than twenty years working in the Training Sector. Large experience in the implementation of Training Plans for specific sectors. Expert in training in Company.
Valeriia Shchotkina: Project Manager. Two Master degrees: International Relations and International Business Management. Excellent knowledge of English, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian + intermediate level of German. Voluntary experience, 5+ years experience in language teaching, background in communications, PR, marketing, and research.1,5 years of experience in European projects.
She works as psychotherapist and counselor. She is expert in developing innovative methodologies for very specific target groups.
Darío Salguero: Senior Training Consultant. Teacher, educational psychologist, MBA and researcher at the University of Almeria. Coordination at cognitive development program for the elderly, national level of important Training Plans for the number of people, number of teachers and implementation in many places at the same time.
Diversity Hub Foundation was established in May 2015 as a non-profit organisation with initial aim to provide expert support in the field of diversity management. We deliver knowledge, experience and best practices and help business benefit from diversity and in the same time have an impact on social change.
In Diversity Hub we work on projects concerning Diversity and Inclusion, we solve particular problems of employers in area of D&I and we carry out research aimed at providing the most accurate data and increasing knowledge in various fields of diversity management.
The huge part of our activity is Mental Health Center, we have developed the third year. We cooperate with group of experienced psychologist who work on a daily basis on reduction of stress, combat the sadness, fear, loneliness and anxiety. We provide workshops and training on facing the crisis and build resilience in the workplace and private life.
We promote and disseminate the idea of managing diversity in business and we create own, innovative solutions aimed to improve effective implementation of diversity management in organisations in its main dimensions such as: age, gender, (dis)abilities, intercultural differences, etc. We also deal with many other important topics related to, for example, work-life balance, wellbeing, health, including mental health, and finally employee rights (mobbing at work).
We integrate the community of experts around diversity, we seek for practical and effective solutions in this area and we develop practices that proved to be successful. We continue a debate on topics related to diversity involving diverse environments: scientists and practitioners – representatives of business and business environment institutions, public institutions and the media. This way we combine different approaches to the subject, sometimes divergent but always inspiring.
The most important and visible activities of Diversity Hub are:
– Annual international conferences on diversity and inclusion in business (over 200 participants each year)
Subsequent conferences (so far nine conferences were held in Cracow and six were held in Poznań) were attended by representatives of leading companies, universities, NGOs and administration. The expert nature of meetings was successfully maintained – Diversity Hub has become a leading platform for debate among professionals and people who have a real impact on their surroundings.
– Training, workshops, advisory and strategic support for companies: introduction to Diversity and Inclusion, Uncoscious Bias, how to build open and inclusive environment, gender balance in IT, Mental Health – wide spectrum of topics, hiring and introducing people with disabilities,
– Publishing activity: monthly magazine Personel Plus, Business Insider (Onet.pl), books devoted to diversity management
– Campaigns promoting diversity and inclusion in business: Women Leadership Year, many campaigns designed for companies
– National and international projects: eg. EDIN project, constant cooperation with many European countries (from and outside of EU, US)
Diversity Hub’s staff currently includes:
– constant staff – 7 people to manage and coordinate projects but also experts
– experts employed on a project basis – to give insight to particular topic, bringing expertise to the Foundation and its services – 16 people working with us on project, but regular basis
– external staff hired accidently for purpose of the projects – 32 people
– volunteers – 9 people
Diversity Hub employs diverse team, giving priorities to ideas of diversity, equality, work-life balance (for example through flexible working conditions and teleworking.
Our team includes certified managers (PRINCE2, IPMA) specializing in particular aspects of project management and elaborated its own tools and methods of work, what increases efficiency of work and limits operational costs.
a) THE ACTIVITIES AND EXPERIENCE OF ORGANISATION IN THE AREAS RELEVANT FOR THIS PROJECT:
Diversity Hub Foundation is a non-profit organisation with initial aim to provide expert support in the field of diversity management, delivers knowledge, experience and best practices and helps business benefit from diversity and in the same time have an impact on social change.
In Diversity Hub we work on projects concerning Diversity and Inclusion, we solve particular problems of employers in area of D&I and we carry out research aimed at providing the most accurate data and increasing knowledge in various fields of diversity management: http://www.diversityhub.pl/web-aboutus.
The huge part of our activity is Mental Health Center, we have developed the third year. We cooperate with group of experienced psychologist who work on a daily basis on reduction of stress, combat the sadness, fear, loneliness and anxiety. We provide workshops and training on facing the crisis and build resilience in the workplace and private life.
Wellbeing of employees is also our great field of activity: in 2016 we organised one of the one of the first and the biggest conference: WELL… BEING! WHAT WE MISS AT WORK.
Our Staff have many years of experience in managing and implementing international projects, including Erasmus+.
We are also the authors of the press article about organizational wellbeing “Connecting the dots” in Polish HR magazine Personel Plus (03-2019).
b) THE ADDED VALUE THIS WILL BRING INTO THE PROJECT:
Diversity Hub can bring added value to a project through:
• Cooperation with over 150 companies, mostly worldwide brands of BPO and SSC sector as a source of wellbeing benchmark and good practices;
• media patronage and drawn media interest with its activity (the biggest portals Onet, Interia, radios, media for professionals – Business Insider, Personel Plus, HR Polska, HR Standard);
• promotion and dissemination via European D&I Network;
• Cooperation with the Open Krakow strategy together with Krakow City Hall and local NGO’s.
c) THE SKILLS AND/OR EXPERTISE OF KEY PERSONS INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT:
Anna Zaroda- Dąbrowska, Phd – Expert in Lifelong Learning and labor market. Member of Convention of Representatives of the Socio-Economic Environment at University of Economics. Responsible for creating, implementation and managing the training projects and HR advisory projects for business. Certified Expert of Ministry of Regional Development in a field of civil society. At present she is involved in educational and advisory projects considering the development of human resources in organizations. Experienced project manager (PRINCE2). Diversity and Inclusion trainer and advisor. Grant Thornton Global Women in business 2019 Champion for the Action.
Tomasz Dąbrowski, PhD – Expert in Lifelong Learning and labor market. Lecturer at Jagiellonian University at Faculty of Management in the field of diversity management. Has multidimensional experience in business consulting. Managed and implemented research in area of organizational culture, organizational values, communication, business processes mapping. Certified Expert of Ministry of Regional Development in a field of civil society.
Małgorzata Wypych, PhD – psychologist, crisis intervention, implements systemic solutions in the field of mental health in organizations, a specialist in psychological assistance in emergency medicine for 10 years, an academic lecturer. Specialized in the crisis and resilience field.
Adriana Szostak – experienced in the field of projects and international cooperation. Professionally related to education, for 8 years associated with the Erasmus program, also in activities concerning employment and competences development (a. o. coordinator of the KA103 internship program at Cracow University of Economics). Responsible for coordinating several our European projects. Career counselor with completed post-graduate studies in Human Resource Management as well as Journalism and Social Communication; has experience in promotion and advertising Passionate about marketing and HR synergy in employer branding.
GROWTHCOOP is a recent organization but its member have a long experience in European Projects.
The legal form of this organization is a Cooperative and the legal status is a non-profit organization. We are a training provider, offering a range of management training courses.
GROWTH is an organization that design and deliver quality training solutions to enhance team potential and develop new skills.
Our qualified training consultant’s team have passion and experience, ensuring a stimulating and engaging learning environment for our corporate training.
The members of this organization are highly qualified professionals with a large experience in different professional sectors. The members of the organization have a great experience in the field of counselling, training in skills as well as in offering consulting services.
Our passion is developing people skills and competences; we do really believe that the base of the development of our society is the development of people and companies.
We work with people from different social and economic sectors and backgrounds promoting social inclusion.
Promoting values like diversity, social inclusion, entrepreneurship, inter-culturally, sustainability, environment protection, circular economy, and other will make a better life for our future generations.
The main objective of GROWTHCOOP is to bring new ideas with a high significant impact in organizations and therefore having a great impact in our society. We look for new solutions focus in people.
We work with people in the organizations to solve complex problems in different areas with a multidisciplinary team and wide network of participants, with the principles of collaborative economy.
GROWTHCOOP is a recently created organization but the members of this organization have a great experience in the design and development of training programs. This organization was born with the idea of offering training in different sectors of the economy as well as disadvantaged sectors such as unemployed, immigrants promoting social inclusion at all levels.
GROWTHCOOP is an organization that also offers consulting services for entrepreneurs and companies.
The members of this organization have a large experience in different topic areas, Coaching and Emotional Intelligent, training in Tourism and Commerce, and Agriculture and Rural Development.
We provide training and counselling for adults in different socio-economic background in different field like Emotional Intelligence, Soft Skills among others.
We collaborate with two Resident for Elderly people were we provide support to all staff through workshops in Emotional Intelligence.
Nazarena Michelli: Agronomist Engineer, expert in rural education, management and conservation of natural resources. Master in Coaching and Emotional Intelligence, expert in planning rural education, management and conservation of natural resources. Expert in developing training strategies for adults in Emotional Education.
Javier Morales: Graduated in Law. 29 years working in European Projects related with Education and Training. He had participated in more than 100 European Projects in the field of Education and Training, in many different economic and social sectors. Large experience in Rural Development Policy and Agriculture training plans. Expert in Key Competences. External Evaluator of European Project for the Ministry of Education in Spain during 10 years. Master in Project Management. Master in Coaching and Emotional Intelligence. Teacher and Coach and Counsellor. Expert in Emotional Intelligence.
Javier Martínez: Graduated in Law. Master in Human Resources. Master in Human Resources. Master in Work Safety in Risk Prevention. Facilitator/teacher. Trainer of trainers. More than ten years of experience in the Training sector.Counsellor. Expert in European Projects. Expert in Social Inclusion strategies for adults.
Joaquin M González: Economist, MBA from the School of Industrial Organization with more than 20 years in the direction, implementation and management of Leader Rural Development programs financed with European funds. Expert in strategic planning, participatory development and project evaluation. Master’s in project management. Support and promotion of entrepreneurship in different associations and cultural organizations .
