Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN University) was established 01.01.2017 as a merger between the former Lillehammer University College (first established 1970) and Hedmark University College (established as a merger in 1994). This was approved by the Cabinet of Norway in 2016 and effective from 1st of January 2017. INN University operates on six campuses in south-eastern Norway, and have approximately 13000 students and 950 employees.
Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL) has 20 employees. CLL offers open courses and study programmes, commissioned teaching, conferences and seminars. CLL includes a production unit which makes learning materials (video, audiovisual presentations, web pages, games and other interactive productions etc.) and e-learning solutions (including LMS, MOOCs). The centre also undertakes research and evaluation in these areas.
Associate Professor Brit Svoen is project manager at Centre for Lifelong Learning, INN University, and member of the research group “Media, Technology and Lifelong Learning”. Her background is in Informatics and Media Education, and she has extensive experience in developing audiovisual learning resources, as well as on-line and campus-based programmes. Before Svoen joined INN University (former Lillehammer University College), she worked for 10 years in the business sector with ICT and multimedia and 5 years as an assistant professor. Brit Svoen is the coordinator for the LIDA research project, and was also coordinator for the previous ReGap and Advenus Erasmus+ project.
Professor Stephen Dobson, guest professor at the Centre for Life Long Learning, INN University, and Dean of Education, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Dobson was born in Zambia (1963), grew up in England and has previously lived for many years in Norway. Prior to entering higher education he worked for thirteen years with refugees as a community worker. His research and teaching interests include assessment, professional development, refugee studies, bildung, inclusion and classroom studies. He has published one collection of poetry. Dobson is fluent in Scandinavian languages and a member of the Teacher Education Expert Standing Committee for the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). Stephen Dobson is the Chief Scientific Officer for the ReGap project, as he also was for the Advenus project.
Associate Professor Espen Stranger-Johannessen has a PhD in Literacy Education from the University of British Columbia, Canada. His PhD research dealt with teacher identity and the African Storybook, a website with African children’s stories. Based on this work, together with colleagues he developed websites for several countries with children's stories in 140+ languages, which LIDA Stories is based on.
Assistant Professor Anne Stine Bakmann
Lars Teppan Johansen is a project manager with focus on graphic design, web, video, interactive and rich media. Lars began working at INN University in October 2007 and has a diverse background within ICT with developing websites, video, photo, audio, animations, prints and interactive media. Lars is keen to adopt new technology into educational models.
Gunn Heidi Holme supports project managers with finance and administration in externally funded projects. Gunn Heidis other tasks at INN University is management support, follow-up of purchasing and agreement regulations, handling travel invoices and invoices.
LUMSA University, Italy
LUMSA University was founded in Rome in 1939 and it is characterized by its openness to the idea of universal human citizenship. LUMSA is one of the most important non-state universities of central Italy, with about 9000 students and 800 teachers and professors; it has three Faculties situated in neighbouring locations, and other branches operating in Palermo and Taranto. The university is located in the historic centre of Rome and in one of the most beautiful and historically rich areas of the whole city. It thus provides its students with the opportunity to avail themselves of the advantages that Rome has to offer. In particular, LUMSA strives to promote an overall education of the person and for this reason, the university devotes especial care to its students and their professional and human education through the employment of constant services of direction and tutoring, and of procedures designed to give full expression to their right to be engaged in study. LUMSA University offers four main subject areas of teaching and research activities: Economics, Humanities, Languages and Law.
Gabriella Agrusti, PhD, is full professor and teaches Multimedia learning,Educational research methods and Assessment in Education at LUMSA University (Italy). She is a member of the Joint management committee that runs the IEAICCS study on civic and citizenship education since 2009. She was senior scientific advisor for the coordination of Lifelong Learning Program KA3 – ICT Multilateral projects, with LIBE – Supporting Lifelong Learning with Inquiry-based Education project (24 months). She is co-director of Cadmo. An International Journal of Educational Research (Indexed in SSCI Scopus). Her research interests are in the areas of civic and citizenship education, inference processing and assessment practices.
Valeria Damiani has a PhD in Education and is Associate Professor at LUMSA University in Rome. She worked as a researcher for the second cycle of the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016 and is currently a member of the Joint Management Committee of the third cycle of the study (ICCS 2022). She took part in several EU-funded projects about the social inclusion of migrants and refugees in Europe and was a member of the Learning Metrics Task Force 2.0 – Global Citizenship working group convened by the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, the Youth Advocacy Group and Unesco. Her research interests are related to civic and citizenship education, global citizenship education, education for sustainable development, educational research, social inclusion of vulnerable groups.
Andrea Ciasca Marra. Born and raised in Rome, Andrea graduated first in Cultural Anthropology and then in Philosophy. In 2013 he was awarded a PhD in Cultural Anthropology. From 2015 to 2017 he held a Postdoc position at the department of Education Sciences of Roma Tre University. Andrea collaborates with the LUMSA team since 2019 and currently teaches as Adjunct Professor in a number of American Universities in Rome.
Elisa Muscillo, Psychologist, psychotherapist, expert in forensic psychiatry and child development, and PhD student in educational sciences. She has always been interested in educational psychology, particularly in risk factors and linguistic skills.
University of Porto, Portugal
The University of Porto, founded in 1911, it’s the second largest university in Portugal and the highest ranked Portuguese university in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (QS World University Ranking 2015/2016), among the 150 best universities of Europe and the world top 400. It has approximately 32,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students, 2,300 academic staff and 1,500 administrative staff. UPORTO provides an exceptional number of courses, covering the whole range of disciplines. It is made up of 14 faculties and a business school, along with 16 libraries and 14 museums distributed over 3 campuses. Currently, UPORTO is involved in 784 projects, from which 465 are nationally funded projects with a focus on S&T research. Internationalisation is also one of the strategic pillars of U.PORTO, allowing the development of existing collaborations, as well as the establishment of innovative cooperation activities.
Susana Coimbra, Assistant Professor at Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of University of Porto (FPCEUP). Holds a PhD in Psychology – Self-efficacy and resilience during transition to adulthood, focusing on gender and SES differences. Co-coordinates the implementation of a mentoring system at the FPCEUP, aiming to improve academic integration among disadvantaged students. Her research and publications regard self-efficacy in adults and adult education, discrimination of young adults, social competences of young adults.
João Caramelo, Assistant Professor at Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of University of Porto. Holds a PhD in Sciences of Education – Adult Education and Community Development. Between 2013 and 2015, chaired the CIIE’s research group “Innovation, Creativity and Local Development in Education” and integrated the Board of Directors. Has experience in in-service teachers training on formative assessment. His research and publications regard institutional evaluation, learning and literacy, adult education, non-formal and informal education, local development and community work.
Ana Costa, Research Assistant at Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of University of Porto. She is currently attending the PhD in Psychology focusing on the role of professionals towards an effective integration and active civic participation of refugees in Portugal. She worked for the last 8 years at APDES coordinating and collaborating in national and European research and intervention projects working with vulnerable communities (drug users in party settings, national and migrant sex workers).
Elsa Guedes Teixeira, invited assistant and researcher at CIIE-FPCEUP in projects involving youth and socio-educational inclusion, EduTransfer - Learning from diverse educational settings: transferability of promising practices and Mind the Gaps - Media literacy towards youth social inclusion. Holds a European PhD in Educational Sciences, on the intersections of socioeconomic, educational, and affective inequalities in women’s lives and their strategies to cope with poverty. Has acted as research fellow in REGAP - Reducing the Educational Gap for migrants and refugees in EU countries and Code-IWP - Commitment to Democracy through Increasing Women’s Participation, both Erasmus+ funded projects, and as a sociologist at a Social Action and Inclusion Municipality Department, for ten years. Main research interests are social inclusion of vulnerable and socioeconomic disadvantaged groups, gender, social justice, and qualitative and participatory methodologies.
Marta Pinto, Post-doctoral researcher at University of Porto. Holds a PhD in Multimedia in Education, focusing on the use of ICT in teaching and learning practices in Higher Education and information visualization. She is a member of the research group CIIE. Her research and publications are in the areas of e-learning in Higher Education, Adult Education, Online courses for young adults and Technology Enhanced Learning. She is also involved in research about the use of Serious Games in Higher Education. With experience in participating in national and international granted research projects.
Pip Hardy is a co-founder of the Patient Voices Programme (www.patientvoices.org.uk), one of the longest-running digital storytelling programmes in the world, designed to use stories to catalyse change in healthcare. Pip has a BA in English literature, a Master’s in Lifelong learning and her PhD looked at the transformative potential of digital storytelling in healthcare. For many years, Pip has worked to develop accessible educational programmes online and text-based, that use stories to promote reflection. Pip is also a qualified counsellor and humanist celebrant.
Tony Sumner is a co-founder of the Patient Voices Programme (www.patientvoices.org.uk), one of the longest-running digital storytelling programmes in the world, designed to use stories to catalyse change in healthcare. Tony has a BSc in Physics and a post-graduate diploma in astronomy and astrophysics. His professional career spans working for British Aerospace and Acorn computers, developing the first micro-computers; his ease and familiarity with technology enables him to demystify technology to digital storytellers so that they can concentrate on the stories they most need to tell!
Burcu Simsek, Ph.d., is an associate professor at the Hacettepe University, Turkey, and the founder and leader of the digital storytelling workshop unit at the university. She has been facilitating workshops in digital storytelling since 2009. Her project portfolio includes stories without visa and “Food and Food Cultures for Social Cohesion: Together in the Kitchen”.
Colin McGregor has just completed a 5 year term as the Director of the peak body for Adult Education in NZ - Adult and Community Education (ACE) Aotearoa. During this period he has managed to raise the profile of the ACE sector in New Zealand and secure significant additional funding for the ACE sector from central government. He has significant experience in relationship building with educational stakeholders across the country. He has been Private Secretary to the previous New Zealand’s government’s Associate Minister of Education and has experience as Programme Director, Treaty Settlements, Ministry of Education. His commitment to his own ongoing education is reflected in the three masterates he has completed (Psychology, Business Administration and Public Administration). He is also a Registered Psychologist.
Fabio Dovigo, ph.d., is a professor at the Danish School of Education, Denmark. His research interests includes education and lifelong learning, social inclusion and integration of 3rd country nationals.
Laura Mazzoli-Smith, Ph.d., is an associate professor at the Durham university, UK, and has a multi-disciplinary background. Her work primarily focuses on educational identities and progression across the life course, with a focus on inclusion and wellbeing. She has a particular interest in narrative and auto/biographical approaches to educational questions and digital storytelling for research and pedagogy.
Paula Cruz is from the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), Portugal, department of research and projects. EAPN is the largest European network of national, regional and local networks active in the fight against poverty and social exclusion.