The First Transnational Training Activity was planned for the beginning of the project (September
2018) but only occurred at the beginning of May 2019. The reason for that is the same explained
before in the Transnational Project Meetings item, which led to a delay in starting up the entire
project: the withdrawal of two partners (Agia Varvara Municipality and Almada Municipality) and
their replacement to other new two partners (Murcia Municipality and Torres Vedras Municipality),
and, mainly, the late decision to withdraw of Almada Municipality and consequently the late
integration of Torres Vedras Municipality in the partnership. We planned and developed this activity
accordingly to what is in the approved application form. Murcia Municipality hosted the First
Transnational Training Activity about the online educational games on May 7-9, 2019. So, we had
two days to specific training sessions, half-day to visit the two preschools that are participating in
the project and the other half-day to work on learning methodology for gender equality and to do a
brief coordination meeting about the next project steps. At the beginning of the working programme,
we had a formal reception by the City Hall Counsellor responsible for the European Projects. All the
training activity was very well organised: we had identification cards; we always had meals together
– lunch and dinner – in different and previously booked restaurants; during the training sessions, we
had nice coffee breaks; we had a minibus reserved for the study visits to the two preschools; all the
speakers used the same presentation PowerPoint template with the city hall, project and Erasmus+
logos; the Spanish team video recorded all the activity. About the specific training sessions, it was
half-day to learn about gender equality – main concepts –, and a day and a half to learn about how
to do an online educational game, specifically about how to do a GDD (Game Design Document –
the document where we define everything about a game). We did group exercises during the
training sessions, to practice and to critically think about what we were learning. So, in groups, we
answered different questions about gender equality, and we practised different moments and steps
about how to do a GDD. The speakers were experts, having Mirta Sánchez Carrera a master in
gender equality and being Eduardo Saldaño the owner of “Sons of a Bit” – a Spanish company that
created a very famous online game in Spain “Isla Bomba”. What the kindergarten teachers
participants liked the most was the study visits to the two preschools that are participating in the
project. We had a full guided tour in each preschool, we saw the dynamics of classrooms with
children, and we had in each preschool a beautiful musical presentation powered by children.
Regarding the learning methodology for gender equality, Härryda Municipality did a presentation
about the main and common concepts (gender equality, gender mainstreaming and critical thinking)
and explained the next steps to build the learning methodology. To finish, Associação igualdade.pt
presented the three evaluation questionnaires to be validated by the participants, explained the next
steps of the project, mostly the dynamic of the local workshops and remembered the deadlines to
create the online educational game. In the end, all the participants filled an evaluation
questionnaire. With a brief analysis, we can say that the evaluation of the transnational training
activity and the project are extremely positives. It was a profitable moment of learning and sharing
teaching experiences. Everybody that participated in that training activity is excited to energise the
local workshops and to start designing/creating the online educational games.
Due to the withdrawal of two partners (Agia Varvara Municipality and Almada Municipality) and their
replacement with two new partners (Murcia Municipality and Torres Vedras Municipality), and also
to the late withdrawal decision of Almada Municipality and consequently the late integration in the
partnership of Torres Vedras Municipality, it all led that the first transnational project meeting
planned in the application form to occur at the beginning of the project (September 2018) only took
place in February 2019, but already with the final partnership composition, this is, with the
participation of the two new partners.
The first transnational project meeting was delayed, but it was a perfect moment to know each other, to better explain and know the project, activities, intellectual outputs, evaluation process, timetable and budget and to decide on how to do precisely the intellectual outputs and other activities with a timeline for specific tasks and attribution of partners’ responsibilities. From each delegation, the following persons have participated in the meeting:
- Associação igualdade.pt – President of the Board (also IT Technician) and the Project Coordinator;
- CIEG-ISCSP-ULisboa – The main evaluator;
- Torres Vedras Municipality – one person from the education department and other from gender equality office;
- Ravenna Municipality – one person from the European projects office, the pedagogical coordinator and two kindergarten teachers;
- Härryda Municipality – 3 persons from the education department (one is the leader) and two
preschools directors; - Murcia Municipality – the responsible of gender equality department, one person from the European projects office and other from the Youth office, one preschool director and a kindergarten teacher.
The agenda items were: – Welcome; – Partners and Participants presentation; – Project presentation – Project, Schedule and Budget; – Common understanding and perception of central concepts; – Project Evaluation presentation; – Partnership Agreement accordingly the Grant Agreement, the Application Form and the Budget; – Equality Gender practices already are done at preschools – Kindergarten Teachers Presentation; – Communication processes definition – Logo, Collaborative Platform Microsoft Teams, eTwinning, Website, Social Networks; – First Transnational Training Activity preparation; – Conclusions and next steps.
The main decisions/conclusions of the first transnational project meeting were:
Project Main Responsibilities: - Management – Associação igualdade.pt
- Evaluation – CIEG-ISCSP-ULisboa
- Dissemination – Ravenna Municipality + Associação igualdade.pt (logo, website, social networks)
- IO1 – Online Games – Murcia Municipality
- IO2 – Mini-books – Torres Vedras Municipality
- IO3 – Learning Methodology – Härryda Municipality
Evaluation Process: - The partner teams will promote focus groups with children to collect their opinions about the project Shared understanding and perception of central concepts:
- Gender Equality – definition by Lisbon University – Gender Mainstreaming – definition by European Commission – Non-judgemental thinking – Non-judgemental and positive reinforcement to generate a helping collaborative environment with safe and secure circumstances that promote critical thinking and dialogue towards understanding and problem solving to achieve gender equality.
Partnership Agreement accordingly the Grant Agreement, the Application Form and the Budget: – Associação igualdade.pt to present a Partnership Agreement Proposal (deadline Apr/19)
Transnational Meetings: – Ravenna Italy, 2020 – 5,6 March – Lisbon (University), 2021 – 29,
30 June
Transnational Training Activities: – Murcia Spain, 2019 – 7, 8, 9 May – Torres Vedras
Portugal, 2019 – 22, 23, 24 October – Härryda Sweden, 2020 – 8, 9, 10 September
Communication processes: - The partnership will use for internal communication the Microsoft Teams collaborative
platform. - Härryda and Ravenna to start the eTwinning project.
- Associação igualdade.pt took
responsibility for the webpage and social networks – creation and contents. - Ideas for the website
1st Transnational Training Activity at Murcia: – 2 days of training – 1/2 day learning methodology –
1/2 study visits to preschools – Training: 1. Gender equality preschool applies to gender equality
tools, concepts, … 2. Game design for children, how to design a game, gaming methods, how to
engage, being fun.