With the relaunch of the community portal also the blog url has changed.

In the time to come you will find three different blogs at www.eucu.net:

1. The official EUCU.NET blog with all the relevant information open to public.
2. A members only blog for registered members of EUCU.NET dedicated to informal exchange of ideas.
3. The work in progress blog of the Mentoring Partnerships.

(Photo: “Diversion” from Get Down at Flickr)

We are looking forward to welcome you at our new weblogs and are curious about your incoming comments.

Come around to see what’s the news and subscribe us via RSS!

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If you are interested in the establishment of a Mentoring Partnership within EUCU.NET please forward us your application as soon as possible or contact us if you have got any questions.

Contact: mentoring [at] eucu.net

Essential files for Mentoring Partnership Program can be downloaded here:

1. Application Form: EUCU.NET Mentoring Application Form (pdf; 290 kb)

2. Guidelines for Mentoring Projects: EUCU.NET Mentoring Guidelines (pdf; 59 kb)

3. The Memorandum of Understanding: EUCU.NET Mentoring MoU (doc; 420kb)

For graphical decision guidance please refer also to the map of interested institutions at the EUCU.NET blog.

By showing kids at early age that learning is exciting and relevant to their lives, the Children’s University represents a new way to reveal that even for a very young age-group a broader horizon of education could appear.

Before the creation of the concept in 2002 in Tübingen, lost of universities had already similar outreach activities, but the children’s university goes beyond allowing children to get to know their local university and to establish a relationship with it.

During the 1st International Conference on Children’s Universities in Tübingen, we had the opportunity to discover different types of children’s universities sharing same aims: to inspire a new generation of young scientists and to stimulate children’s curiosity and give them a better understanding of the world they live in. Moreover, the children’s universities initiative is able to combine the curiosity of children with the curiosity of working researchers.

All over the world, Children’s universities are diverse in shape and size. In most cases, the CU represents a summer’s flexible program of fun and learning on the university campus. For children, the planning of the day recreates an exciting dive in student life, changing for a day children into junior students.

Organisers of children’ s universities bet on ingeniosity and diversity to propose new activities. Some examples:

-    The Vienna University Children’s office organizes the Children’s University on tour composed of mobile auditorium, info point, hands-on experiments. It stops in various public spaces in the suburbs to reach children from periphery and underperforming groups;
-    The Kinderuni of Karlsruhe offers bilingual classes on science in French and German ;
-    The UA summer academy, a program of the University of Aveiro, combines academic enrichment with social activities such as sports or games…

More information on: http://eucu.net/childrens-universities

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Project Proposal Nr. 2 - The critical friends

We’ve already experienced a lot of established projects within Europe. Projects with a lot of tradition and with well approved if not seasoned form of organization.

Yet I think we are all followers of the lifelong learning and there is always room for change and adaption of point of views. At the end of the day often the necessities of project funding demand revisions of our concepts.

The Mentoring Partnership Program invites also established organizers to search for reviewers or “critical friends”. Look out for a questioning mind to evaluate your project in an amicable atmosphere.

Project Proposal Nr. 3 - The study visit

You are looking for new inspirations to improve your project and broaden your horizon? Search for different approaches. What can we learn from each other? Are there aspects you never thought of? How are target groups addressed? Are there the secret recipes to widen the participation we have always searched for?

Form your own opinion and search for your congenial partner. Write in your application why you have chosen your Mentoring Partner and what both parties are expecting to gain from their study visits.

Project Proposal Nr. 4 - The didactical approach

There are definitely “stars” teaching at Children’s Universities - not only “science celebrities” but also really good teachers. Such as those that are able to awake enthusiasm and make children bright-eyed. In the majority of cases this will be a mixture of personal fascination and natural talent.

Nonetheless some Children’s University organizers may have collected important hints for teachers or provide important training for their lecturers. In other cases this is sheer impossible because of the mass of lectures and involved teachers, but the quality of the performances is still very high.

Are there essential rules? How can the organizational institution facilitate the best general framework for didactical rookies - especially in relation to science communication with children?

Learn new ways of didactical approaches and take a lecturer with you.

These proposals are only few suggestions that came into my mind - please be creative! EUCU.NET is the community network and the Mentoring Partnerships will help you to extend your own personal network.

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Application deadline is coming closer - we have only three weeks left - and maybe some of you are still keen to establish a mentoring partnership but don’t have the right idea as to what to do. To stimulate some brainstorming I would like to propose a couple of sample “mini projects”. (All names and locations are fictional : ))

(Brainstorming with notebook and cup of chocolate; Photo: Lost in Scotland)

Project Proposal Nr. 1 - The traditional mentoring partnership

Well, this touches the very heart of the program. Of course, one of the basic ideas of EUCU.NET was the support of newcomer Children’s Universities. There is a lot of experience within the established projects and it’s definitely not necessary to reinvent the wheel a hundred times.

So let’s invent Borin Poolarms, staffer at the public relations department of the University of Moria who read a lot about the phenomenon of Children’s Universities. He convinced his magnifice rector to start his own project with the precondition of a concept that makes sense. Before stepping into the various pitfalls he luckily discovers the EUCU.NET Mentoring Partnership program and searches for an adequate partner to help him develop a conclusive concept.

Jane Loge on the other side, member of the PR-department of the University of Hicksville and practised organizer of the Hicksville Kids University, searches for new inputs for her heart’s blood project.

Borin and Jane met at the EUCU.NET conference in Tübingen and have now decided to help each other: Borin is going to Hicksville to learn as much as possible about the local Kids University. As a counter performance mentor and mentee discuss both projects organising a mini workshop at Moria. Issues will mainly cover the going to be Children’s University of Moria but there should also be room for discussion about the time-proven project structures of Hicksville too. This will help both partners.

Coming tomorrow in the EUCU.NET blog: Part 2 of “What can I do in the Mentoring Program?” with three more project proposals.

EUCU.NET map of Children’s University organizers interested in establishing a Mentoring Partnership

If you found an institution that draws your interest please contact me at mentoring[at]eucu.net and I will connect you promptly.

The Concept

Since we all tend to loose contact quite fast - I would like to remind you on the aims and possibilities of our Mentoring Partnership program:

• Transfer of Knowledge between the Mentoring Partners
• Informal Guidelines for those who want to establish a Children’s Universities project
• Role Modelling
• Encouragement to start with an own project and to be curious oneself

EUCU.NET wants to widen and intensify the already existing network with this project. We want to provide insights into other approaches for those who are interested. This shouldn’t be limited to impulses for starting projects but also to help reflect the own aims and methods.

The Terms

The European Children’s Universities Network will support such Mentoring Partnerships with funding of travel and accommodation expenses. Applying persons must act as part of an institution, follow our reporting and accounting conditions and sign a Memorandum of Understanding. Partnership projects have to be developed by partners from different countries and with different native language.

Application deadline is the 14th of April 2009. All documents have to be submitted in English. Projects period shall between 1st May and 30th November 2009.

If you are interested in building a Mentoring Partnership or if you are searching potential cooperation partners contact your “Mentoring Turntable” to receive more information via e-mail:

mentoring[at]eucu.net

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All pictures taken by Antonie Knierim and Ruth Soppa for EUCU.NET

The Diversity of Children’s Universities

The overriding aim of EUCU.NET is to look beyond one’s own nose and to make Children’s Universities more visible. During the conference, it became obvious again that there is no one model of a Children’s University but a broad variety of approaches - depending on local conditions and requirements, on institutional backgrounds and most of all on the overall aims and goals.
Evidently after the pioneer era of Children’s Universities a survey of existing concepts is absolutely essential. First results were presented during the EUCU.NET conference and showed almost nearly 200 projects in a running state. It would be a pity to not share those experiences: successful conceptions and the pitfalls likewise.

Children’s Universities all over the world

One success of the conference in Tübingen was the international attendance. Contributors from all over the world participated and learned from each other. This affected a very broad spectrum of issues to be discussed.
Most remarkably is the fact that the community of Children’s Universities organizers never had contacts to this extent. Even within countries some new contacts could be established.
Already now we can say that these two days impressively showed the importance of an information network for Children’s Universities as EUCU.NET shall be.

What will be next?

The conference in Tübingen was the official launch of the EUCU.NET community portal and the start of manifold contacts within the network partners. During the next days and weeks we will fill the community forum with all those pieces of information generated or presented throughout the conference.
Certainly there was a lot of fruitful discussion and there should be room for more. Since the next EUCU.NET gathering is not until December 2009, most of the communication will happen on the community portal. If you haven’t done it already don’t forget to register and use all the existing and forthcoming features to stay in touch with all the others interested in the idea of Children’s Universities.

Thanks to the organizers

The conference was exeptionally well organized by Patricia Götz and Michael Seifert of the University of Tübingen, who cared with their team not only for the basic conditions a conference needs but also for an inspiring and friendly atmosphere.

Many thanks to all speakers, contributors and rapporteurs, who have helped to make this event an well-received starting point of EUCU.NET networking activities.

Written by Chris Gary and Cyril Dworsky for EUCU.NET

As a multi-disciplinary and international body, the Scientific Board will support the consortium members over the course of the project with exchange of ideas and feedback. Their thoughts will accompany EUCU.NET. The Scientific Board is called upon to formulate current questions and to offer stimuli for all members in the network.

International Expertise

The five members of the Scientific Board possess expertise in the areas of knowledge and science communication and science events and function as external monitors and counsellors for EUCU.NET.

Anja C. Andersen is an astrophysicist with a specialization on cosmic dust particles. She works in the Dark Cosmology Centre hosted by the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen. Anja Andersen is winner of the Descartes Science Communication Prize and published books about astrophysics for children.

Ulrike Felt is professor of social studies of science at the University of Vienna. She is a researcher in the field of science communication, public engagement with technoscience as well as governance and public participation. She already evaluated projects of science communication.

Hans-Ulrich Grunder is head of the center of school as a public education area and professor at the University of Applied Sciences North-western Switzerland. His main fields of study are amongst others school pedagogy, general pedagogy, evaluation research in education research and media pedagogy and didactics.

Phillippe Guillet is Director of the Museum of Natural Science in Orleans, General Secretary of ICOM France, specialist of scientific mediation in museums and science communication with children. He is also in charge of a French network “museums and society”.

Tricia Jenkins is head of the widening participation team at the University of Liverpool. There she concentrates on developing innovative ways of enabling the University to maximise its role in developing the potential of young people and adult learners, who traditionally would not have gone onto higher education.

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