Archive for Chris

UMAC take-off!

IMG_20150422_162034The first meeting of the Erasmus + Understanding Media for Active Citizenship project was hosted by the project coordinator organisation, Near FM, in Dublin, Ireland on 21-22 April 2015.

It was attended by representatives of all the partner organisations which include Wüste Welle from Tubingen in Germany, Radio Expert from Brno in Czech Republic, Radio Kultura from Hasparren in Basque Country and Tilos Radio from Budapest in Hungary.

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UMAC: Understanding Media for Active Citizenship

Preparations are on the way these days for the first meeting of the ‘understanding media’ follow-up project: UMAC
This stands for “Understanding Media for Active Citizenship” and will serve as a new project, that is supposed to bundle everything learned through ‘understand media’ and put it in online tool boxes.
The first meeting will take place in Dublin this month and we are very much looking forward to keep working on the topic of critical media literacy, that we think is absolutely essential for the future of media education in Europe.
More info to come soon!

‘understanding media’ project comes to a close on July 31st 2014: Looking backwards and ahead

At the final meeting of ‘understanding media’, a cross media project looking at adult education, specifically critical media literacy education at alternative educative bodies across Europe, partners talked in Turku, Finland, about the project organisation, efforts, effectiveness and dared looking to the future of common work on the topic.
The project content and organisation was overall well received with some partners who would have wished to get more deeply into some details. All the partners are willing and interested in working together in the future. Below you can read more about the idea of a general media literacy toolkit to use for cross media training in Europe…

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“A successful project”: Final meeting of ‘understanding media’ took place in Finland

The final meeting of ‘understanding media’ saw Turku as a meeting place. From the 17th through the 18th of May 2014 partners met at ‘Radio Robin Hood’ to learn about their “Organic Radio Courses” and to reflect on the work done as well as look to the future and how to continue…

First of all: There have been community media in Finland for a quarter of a decade now and none of them are recognised as media in their own right, not to mention any state funding whatsoever. So community radios in Finland broadcast under private licenses, but don’t broadcast commercials – so there are a number of financial problems there already.

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In Between a national conference: Partner meeting in A Coruña, Spain

In the framework of the radio conference of the Spanish National Federation, partners from understanding media met in A Coruña in the north of Spain to talk about media education and media literacy courses in Spain, particularly Madrid.  The meeting in A Coruña was set for the 11th and 12th of April 2014 to suit the dates of the national conference of community radios in Spain. The partners discussed the meetings and mobilities so far. Attendees were invited to the Craol Media Literacy Conference to be held in Dublin, the next meeting will be in May in Finland. The partners learned about the workshops they do in Madrid. Due to the economic crisis the lack of funding and support they have used in training as an alternative way to make up funding for the stations. Due to the financial situation it is better to do this work as a collective. In the last few years the community in Madrid have tried to find alternative to this lack of funding, they look to local elements in response to the crisis. Read more

Preparations underway for the meeting in Brno

The next meeting of the project partners of ‘understanding media’ will take place alongside the CMFE General Assembly “Media Diversity for Democracy” in Brno, Czech Republic from the 4th through the 5th of October 2013.

Participants will arrive on the 3rd and leave on the 6th, so we have enough time to discuss our topics as well as the future administration of the learning partnership itself. We are looking forward to the meeting, since there are also “leftovers” to discuss from the Strassbourg meeting, which dealt mostly with dissemination of results.

In deliberation with European MPs: The Meeting in Strasbourg

EP-logo-2-JPEGThe partners met in Strasbourg, France on invitation of SNRL to learn about ORCEL, the training body attached to the federation and get in contact with members of the European Parliament to disseminate results of media education efforts by Community Media across Europe in general and specifically the results of the “understanding media” learning partnership.

EP-logo-2-JPEGThe partners met in Strasbourg, France on invitation of SNRL to learn about ORCEL, the training body attached to the federation and get in contact with members of the European Parliament to disseminate results of media education efforts by Community Media across Europe in general and specifically the results of the “understanding media” learning partnership.

EP-logo-2-JPEGThe partners met in Strasbourg, France on invitation of SNRL to learn about ORCEL, the training body attached to the federation and get in contact with members of the European Parliament to disseminate results of media education efforts by Community Media across Europe in general and specifically the results of the “understanding media” learning partnership.

EP-logo-2-JPEGThe partners met in Strasbourg, France on invitation of SNRL to learn about ORCEL, the training body attached to the federation and get in contact with members of the European Parliament to disseminate results of media education efforts by Community Media across Europe in general and specifically the results of the “understanding media” learning partnership.

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“TRANSradio” – The Meeting in Montpellier“TRANSradio” – Das Treffen in Montpellier

"TRANSradio" – Das Treffen in Montpellier">Freies Radio Wüste Welle :: www.wueste-welle.deAbout 100 Community Media, Free Radios and other citizen broadcast outlests came together in Montpellier, France to hold the General Assembly of AMARC Europe and a meeting on media literacy and education work by CRAOL in Ireland in the context of the European learning partnership ‘understanding media’

Plenary sessions and workshops were held on the following topics in the surroundings of mediterranean, yet sadly rainy Montpellier:

Transradio: How to challenge binary stereotypes in the current media landscape
How to deal with binary stereotypes in the educational efforts of Community Media around Europe and how to achieve a more open and inclusive approach in our societies in general – and specifically in the national and supranational media landscapes of the European Union and it’s international partners.Rund 100 Bürgerradios, Freie Radios und ‘Community Media’ kommen an diesem Wochenende in Montpellier, Frankreich zusammen, um die Hauptversammlung von AMARC Europe abzuhalten und über aktuelle Vorgänge rund um den europäischen Bürgerrundfunk zu sprechen… Read more

Meeting in Montpellier started

Freies Radio Wüste Welle :: www.wueste-welle.de

Conseil Regional Languedoc Roussillon

The third meeting of “understanding media” is underway at the Conseil Regional Languedoc Roussillon in Montpellier, France. There are different events and discussions planned, one of them being

“Certified Community Radio and Media Literacy courses in Ireland”Community radio training is recognized and certified in Ireland. This workshop will look at the module descriptor in Ireland and allow participants to discuss the possibilities of achieving certification for their training in their own countries. There will be also a practical workshop with media literacy activities that participants could then adapt to their own needs. The workshop will be held bilingually in English and Spanish. It will be moderated by Sally Galiana and Jack Byrne from CRAOL, Ireland.

Participants are looking forward to that session as well as others in the coming days and are hoping for better weather in the meditteranean in the middle of may.

‘What’s a journalist?’ – The meeting in Tübingen

– The understanding media meeting in Tübingen –

Experts on media education from nine European community radio stations and associations came together at Freies Radio Wüste Welle in Tübingen on February, 18th and 19th to talk about media and media literacy training. A fruitful and informative exchange on media training tools and approaches ensued and set the stage for a promising learning partnership in the coming 18 months… What is media literacy and in what way are it’s basic principles incorporated into the advancement work of German community radio stations in general and especially  of Wüste Welle Tübingen? The meeting provided some input on theory and practice of media training and was designed to leave lots of room for discussion and exchange. Ronald Senft, the training co-ordinator for the alternative educational association of Bildungszentrum Bürgermedien (BZBM) talked about media education in Germany and the work of the BZBM. He focussed on the consolidation of cross-border training co-operation between media educators in different states. The BZBM is supporting media training in community media in four south-western German states including Baden-Württemberg. Senft had some exemplary numbers to illustrate the way means for education are distributed in the sector.

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