We are pleased to announce that the Start Now + project gained the honorary patronage of the President of the Opole, Arkadiusz Wiśniewski. We are proud and grateful for the support received from the municipality.
On August 13, we took part in the Summer Discussions at the Forum, organized by the 3rd term of the Youth Forum of the Local Government of the Opolskie Voivodeship.
We had the pleasure to sit down at one of the expert tables and talk to young people about health. Together, we have developed several postulates that can positively affect the health of children and adolescents. The meeting was also an excellent opportunity to present the assumptions of the Start Now + project and to promote the results, on which we are working very persistently. The meeting also resulted in the official partnership that the project received from the Youth Forum.
We finally had the opportunity to meet! During the two hot days, we worked very intensively and very constructively on the first educational modules.
Despite numerous difficulties related to the coronavirus epidemic and the closure of the borders, the first meeting of the partners of the “StartNow +” project took place in Katowice, Poland. After the several online meetings, we finally had the opportunity to see and get to know each other in reality.
The meeting was attended by project coordinators and leaders: Maxim Mukhamodeev and Hakan Ozalp from Norway as well as Martyna Jaros, Agnieszka Zawiślak and Piotr Jaros from Poland. For several productive hours, we have developed:
– scheme of the updated educational module StartNow!
– joint project promotion and communication channels
– agenda for the coming working year
– sources of information on child welfare education, i.e. a set of practices enabling a safe and comfortable educational space for children. Soon you will get to know the list of 10 modules selected to be updated and enriched with new content and graphics. It will be interesting, modern and colorful!
Formal education does not sufficiently include young people with fewer opportunities in educational processes. The use of non-formal tools is at a low level. There is a lack of educational coherence between the formal and non-formal sectors. In turn, health education is ignored in the educational activities of both sectors. Competence to care for your health (physical and mental) is currently the key competence of young people and directly affects their educational opportunities and future life. Hence the need to develop holistic health education tools, including local partners, individual activities and all education sectors. Inclusive education in the project will also be supported by: basing tools on national languages, aspects of mental, social and environmental health as well as stimulation of social activity.
The education sector is not only formal education, but also the entire area of non-formal education for which the use of quality standards is poorly spread. Based on previous experience, we noticed the desire to develop these entities and the need to introduce new, ever higher standards.
“Child welfare education” is a term still very poorly known in Poland, and the principles it promotes are not educational priorities, unlike in Norway. Referring to the holistic approach to health, we believe that ensuring the safety of the educational space is the foundation of the quality and effectiveness of the education process.
Further priorities included in the project are:
– lack of aspects of sustainable development integrating the environmental and social dimension in educational tools,
– insufficient promotion of equal opportunities for men and women in Polish NGOs and poor use of good practices of other countries,
– poor integration of new technologies in education and the use of open resources,
– low substantive level of pedagogical innovations and low effectiveness of training of educators.
Specific priority areas have been highlighted in the Program. Here they are:
For more information, visit the Program page.
