NEMESIS, an Update

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17 Dec 2020

NEMESIS, an Update

By ILI-FAU

 The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everybody’s lives and businesses and it has noticeably affected education at all levels. As a result, NEMESIS has also been affected, especially because the NEMESIS schedule was intertwined to the schedule and work taking place in schools, all across Europe. Nonetheless, NEMESIS did not stall, the consortium did not stop working but rather had to become creative and innovative to advance the work and extend its reach. To do so, we had to shift the focus of the project to tasks that could be continued despite the pandemic, to implement new tools that will support and increase the impact of the project, and to support tasks that do not require physical contact or can be sustained virtually. Such tasks include academic dissemination, a NEMESIS Serious Game, a NEMESIS MOOC, lesson series, and pilot 2 with online support.

Regarding the dissemination activities, NEMESIS had a very strong dissemination period.  Six papers were presented in various conferences and journals reaching thousands of people. The conferences were:

  • 12th The International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC 2020)
  • 8th International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD 2020)
  • 14th European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL 2020)
  • 13th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI 2020)
  • Open classroom Conference 2020 (EDEN OCC 2020)
  • European Journal of Sustainable Development (EJSD Journal)

NEMESIS also develops a Serious Game to introduce the notion of Social Innovation to its young audience and especially continue the NEMESIS legacy well beyond the completion of the project. The serious game will be available in three formats, web-based, android and IOS, and in all partners’ languages.

The game logic is based on a combination of the elements of adventure and open-world games, meaning, interactive stories about a protagonist character who is played by the player. Storytelling and exploration are essential elements of the NEMESIS game.

The storyline of the game brings the player into the game world of NEMESIS City, his mission, in the sense of a superhero, is to increase the well-being and happiness of the inhabitants of this city with his social innovation power. This will be achieved by implementing social innovation actions/tasks, which are rewarded with happiness points. As more tasks are solved, the happiness level of the city increases. This is intended to demonstrate the value of social innovation in society and thus illustrate the importance of the learning activity. The story gives the game its framework by recreating reality as much as possible. Through a nonlinear course, the player becomes aware of the influence of his actions, e.g. in relation to the game history.

The game will be evaluated and we will examine the effect on achievement emotion and demonstrate how this can be achieved in the sense of a game of Social Innovation Education (SIE).

Dr Aristidis Protopsaltis

Institute for Learning Innovation

 

09 Dec 2020

NEMESIS in Edumeet, Transfers for Innovation and Pedagogical Change

By ASOCCE / ZEMOS98

On December, 4th, NEMESIS was presented in Edumeet, the International Congress on Transfers for Innovation and Pedagogical Change. Congress was designed under the idea that many present realities mean valuable conditions for improving future learning, and that these useful experiences can be transferable.

The Edumeet Conference was thought a space-time to share transferable experiences that allow us to rethink the future of education and the university, establishing a new contract with the world. In its first edition, Edumeet proposed to look at our reality, in search of contexts where research and innovation are generated from any field: technology, science, design, collaboration or entrepreneurship, from any formal or informal practice.

The experience of NEMESIS appeared as an example of new teaching-learning methodologies: trends, tools, agencies and contexts that can anticipate the future of education. Berta Lázaro, one of the speakers, highlighted from NEMESIS the importance that collective responsibility takes within the project, as a learning instrument for social transformation.

Edumeet is an initiative led by the Architectural Design Department ETSAM – UPM. The current edition of this congress is organized in collaboration with the Javeriana University of Bogotá.

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30 Nov 2020

NEMESIS in The Network of Teachers for the Sustainability and the Circle Economy

By Nikos

Nikos Amanatidis, the Educational Coordinator in Northern Greece, presented the NEMESIS project on an e-conference regarding Sustainability in Schools and the Cycle Economy. It was organized by the 3rd Regional Centre of Educational Planning of Central Macedonia in Greece for new action on the commence of the new network for the Sustainability in Education.

 

20 Sep 2020

8TH ICSD 2020 International Conference

By STIMMULI

Partners of the NEMESIS consortium (Stimmuli, ILI-FAU) participated in the International Conference of Sustainable Development organized by the European Center of Sustainable Development (ECSDEV). Through a virtual presentation (available at the link: https://ecsdev.org/virtual) Stimmuli presented the results of the first pilot period of the NEMESIS project through a recorded video narration entitled: “Assessing the impact of Social Innovation Education on student’s engagement”.

13 Sep 2019

Teachers’ Training Event in Thessaloniki

By STIMMULI

Some days before the official start of the academic year 2019 -2020, the NEMESIS team organized a teacher’s training workshop in the premises of the 9th high school of Kalamaria in Thessaloniki, Greece. The aim of the workshop was to introduce to new schools and the 56 participating teachers the NEMESIS educational philosophy and set the ground for their involvement in the second pilot year of the project.

The training focused on different aspects of the projects:

i) concepts around social innovation and social entrepreneurship,

ii) the key principles guiding the NEMESIS educational model, namely: the student-centred approach, co-creation and transformative social action,

iii) the project mechanisms that will be utilized in each school to facilitate the pilot implementation such as the co-creation labs and the NEMESIS SI open learning platform.

To avoid long theoretical discussions, teachers from the three Greek schools that participated in the first pilot year of the project shared their experiences and helped the new schools with practical tips and guidance. Also, the Greek SIP Alexander Theodoridis from Boroume helped the participants to better understand concepts around social innovation and social entrepreneurship and the role of the SIPs in the NEMESIS co-creation labs.

Overall, the discussions held during the workshop enabled the new teachers to get to grips with the NEMESIS model but most importantly brought to surface some “expected” challenges for implementing the NEMESIS model in the new academic year. As anticipated, the challenges that were pointed out relate to

i) teachers established teaching practices and the need to change their instructional style, step back and let students lead the way,

ii) difficulties in understanding the wider concept of social innovation

iii) existing attitudes and narrow perceptions towards linking entrepreneurship and school education.

However, the valuable experience and the lessons learned from the first pilot year will help the NEMESIS teams to better address teachers concerns and challenges ensuring an even more successful and enlightening second pilot year whereby more than 30 schools around Europe will try to implement the NEMESIS model in their contexts.

Dr. Aristidis Protopsaltis (ILI-FAU) giving a presentation during the training

 

The NEMESIS team would like to thank all participants and wish them a creative and successful school year.

 Do you want to learn about other schools projects in NEMESIS? Click here.

Are you a school willing to learn more about NEMESIS or thinking about joining the project? Feel free to surf the web and drop us a line (hello@nemesis-edu.eu) or fill our contact form.

Are you a social innovator who – as those mentioned here- would like to collaborate with the schools in your area? Click here for more info on how to become a mentor.

10 Sep 2019

NEMESIS in the 7EMES International Research Conference on Social Enterprise

By STIMMULI

In 24-27 June 2019, the NEMESIS team participated in the 7EMES International Research Conference on Social Enterprise which is one of the world’s central meeting places for all researchers that are involved in social enterprise, social entrepreneurship and social and solidarity economy research across the globe. 

The first day of the Conference was launched with a Transdisciplinary Forum and NEMESIS was presented during three sessions. In the first session, a fishbowl technique was used and the 20 participants had the chance to get information about the project and reflect upon social innovation in education. In the second NEMESIS session, the OPERA technique was utilized enabling people to reflect upon how could education help society in the 21st century. In the last NEMESIS session, Catherine Brentnall (SEI) gave a presentation on NEMESIS as an alternative to competitive Enterprise Education. 

Figure 1: NEMESIS session 1, facilitated by Catherine Brentnall (SEI) and using the fishbowl technique to discuss about Social Innovation in Education

In the second day of the conference, NEMESIS was presented through two research papers by the project partners Stimmuli and ILI-FAU, focusing on discussing the Social Innovation Learning Framework and the Social Innovation Open learning platform developed by the project.

Figure 2: Presentation of the research paper: “Towards a Social Innovation learning framework” by Irene Kalemaki (Stimmuli)

Figure 3: Presentation of the research paper: “Social Innovation Open Learning Platform” by Dr. Aristidis Protopsaltis (ILI-FAU)

The novelty of the NEMESIS project, as well as the first research findings that were presented, attracted the attention of the audience and fruitful discussions were held on how social innovation education can impact the wider education domain.

 Do you want to learn about other schools projects in NEMESIS? Click here.

Are you a school willing to learn more about NEMESIS or thinking about joining the project? Feel free to surf the web and drop us a line (hello@nemesis-edu.eu) or fill our contact form.

Are you a social innovator who – as those mentioned here- would like to collaborate with the schools in your area? Click here for more info on how to become a mentor.

18 Jul 2019

NEMESIS participation in the Scenario Workshop on the Future of Social Innovation in Education

By NEMESIS

On 10th July 2019, a future policy scenario workshop was organized in the premises of the European Commission, DG for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC). The aim of this workshop was to stimulate a debate in order to generate new, forward-looking policy ideas in the field of Social Innovation and Education. The workshop was implemented within the framework of a specific study conducted by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna (IHS) investigating the trends and drivers for future visions on policymaking for education with regard to social innovation. Participants were policymakers, education and social innovation researchers and experts as well as representatives of European associations in the field of education.

STIMMULI, one of the NEMESIS partners, participated in the workshop in order to present and disseminate the project’s results and discuss how the project can contribute to the future of education. NEMESIS presents the only consolidated attempt of explicitly embedding Social Innovation in primary and secondary education and therefore the evidence that is gathered can contribute significantly to the future developments of Social Innovation Education.

Our partner explained to the workshop participants how NEMESIS has managed to implement Social Innovation Education in different schools around Europe while also shared some first evaluation findings of the NEMESIS impact on student’s learning and behaviours. These evidence-based insights fed well into the discussions held during the workshop and hopefully, they will contribute to the design of future policies in the field of Social Innovation Education.

Are you a school member and do you want to implement Social Innovation Education in your school? Feel free to surf the web and drop us a line (hello@nemesis-edu.eu) or fill our contact form.

Are you a social innovator who – as those mentioned here- would like to collaborate with a school? Click here for more info on how to become a mentor.

02 Jul 2019

It’s time for better schools: NEMESIS partners meet in Sheffield

By NEMESIS

In June 2019 the pilot schools, along with the rest of the partners involved in NEMESIS, met in Sheffield (UK) to put in common the experience with those pilots schools that have been implementing NEMESIS. The meeting was held in The Chimney House, a part of Sheffield’s important historic industrial heritage that once housed an elephant named Lizzie during World War One. 

Children guiding us towards a new school model

During our first day, we visited Herringthorpe Junior School, a beautiful school located in Rotherham, part of the Willow Tree Academy. Jane, their Headteacher, gave us the welcome and introduced us to the children who would be our tour guides. As part of NEMESIS, Herrinthorpe’ pupils have been developed a large variety of projects, form a renovation of a caretakers house, to a second-hand clothes market. After their pilots, they are now looking at how they can roll this out across the academy, looking at using the NEMESIS framework in all classrooms and in all year groups from September.

The link with real-life experiences

The NEMESIS educational model was co-designed and tested over a period of 3.5 years by primary and secondary students, teachers, social innovators, businesspeople, researchers and members of the community in France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Holland and the United Kingdom. As well as offering us an important opportunity to reflect on the NEMESIS’s educative model, this meeting also provided us with a chance to ponder its potential to be extended to a larger number of new schools. Teachers from all our pilot’s schools presented their projects, talking about their challenges, unexpected outcomes and advice that they would give to future schools. 

This meeting was the time to see, after all the theory, how NEMESIS is actually changing the realities of the schools. As part of the expected and also unexpected outcomes of the pilot, hierarchical relationships between children and adults are being transformed.  As one child of the Albares School said: “It is like getting out of the classroom, it’s more real. We are not treated as simple kids but as persons.  It’s very interesting to collaborate with people of different ages […] if I think about the future that’s the kind of situation we will be facing […] dealing with different kinds of people that you may not know very well, but with whom you’ll need to collaborate anyway.” 

“We are not treated as simple kids but as persons.” 

Co-creation labs are safe spaces to identify and ponder social problems, but also are processes that allow students to have a comprehensive view of their connection with the others, which motivates them to engage in social action and increase their civic engagement. Students participating in co-creation labs have increased their confidence and sense of belonging and feel more empowered. This empowerment is manifested in underlying psychological processes such as increased autonomy, belonging or connectedness.  Moreover, this empowerment can also be seen also in the rise of self-confidence and more articulate discourse of their needs and interests, especially in those children with a tendency toward shyness or with relationship problems. 

As one the NEMESIS community members, Catherine Brentnall, said, language constructs reality, and those kinds are testimonies that show what is in the core of the NEMESIS educational model: to put the children at the centre of everything so that the become the changemakers of tomorrow. 

And now, what? 

With all the experience gained, the time has come to move on to pilot two, in which new schools are invited to participate. NEMESIS now not only have a tested pedagogical framework, but also the experience of other teachers, parents and social innovators who may have never heard of the term “Social Innovation Education” before and ended up immersed in a process in which their students become more socially aware and innovative.

NEMESIS is a Horizon 2020 project bringing together education and social innovation to empower the changemakers of tomorrow. The project started in 2018 and it will continue until 2021. At the moment there are ten schools involved from five European countries and a second pilot will start in September 2019, for which we invite more schools.

Are you a school member and do you want to implement Social Innovation Education in your school? Feel free to surf the web and drop us a line (hello@nemesis-edu.eu) or fill our contact form.

Are you a social innovator who – as those mentioned here- would like to collaborate with a school? Click here for more info on how to become a mentor.

31 Jan 2019

Social Innovation in Schools. A proposal for the future of education.

By NEMESIS

For the last 30 years, students have been taught the same way. We keep teaching them how to acquire and memorise knowledge, even if what they need in this era of ‘information overload’ are skills and tools that allow them to make sense of that information  – and act accordingly. That is part of what we’re going to discuss in this NEMESIS event in Zaragoza.

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28 Jun 2018

Developing the entrepreneurial citizen

By NEMESIS

How can the incorporation of democratic citizenship, entrepreneurial competences and social innovation practices in education contribute towards the empowerment of students as active citizens and drivers of positive social change?

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15 Feb 2018

NEMESIS partners meet in Seville

By NEMESIS

What is social innovation? Is it about finding imaginative solutions for social problems? About subverting power relations? About bringing systemic change? Is it the same that social entrepreneurship?  Trying to define social innovation was one of the challenges NEMESIS partners faced at our second project meeting, held in Seville.

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