50 years, 50 destinations, 50 encounters.
The challenges of media literacy know no boundaries. Strategic and political initiatives are organised at local, regional and national levels in very different ways but the objectives converge.
From the year 2000 onwards, Media Animation became involved in an international network and submitted to several calls for proposals from European institutions and organisations. This enabled it to develop new activities, to establish partnerships, to exchange expertise and to obtain additional resources.
Developing transnational projects also means forging links, collaborating with competent partners and pooling our expertise.
On the occasion of Media Animation’s fiftieth anniversary, the team would like to celebrate these partnerships through this map which positions 50 destinations, and therefore 50 encounters in the framework of media education projects.
It also wishes to thank the partners for the trust they have placed in us.
1. University of Vienna
Vienne, Austria
The University of Vienna was one of Media Animation’s partners on the Erasmus + MEET - Media education for equity and tolerance project which ran from 2016 to 2018. The MEET project aimed at promoting a critical and inter-cultural understanding as well as an aware use of media among young citizens in multicultural public schools and democratic societies. The Media Animation team worked closely with the University of Vienna and visited them for a transnational (and snowy) meeting in December 2017.
2. Media Literacy and Human rights, Council of Europe Seminar
Graz, Austria
This was the question discussed in Graz (Austria) at the European Centre for Modern Languages in the early 2000s by various trainers from media education organisations across Europe following an invitation from the Council of Europe’s Pestalozzi Network.
3. Mediawijs
Brussels, Belgium
Mediawijs is the flemish centre for digital media and media literacy. Media Animation has been working with Mediawijs since 2015 in the framework of the European project B-BICO - Belgian Better Internet Consortium. This collaboration makes it possible to place the issues of a "Better Internet for young people and children" at the level of federal Belgium, by involving both linguistic communities and by adapting some of our respective educational tools in both languages, French and Dutch. Recently, Media Animation and Mediawijs have co-constructed the survey on the digital practices of young people called respectively #Generation2020 and Apestaartjaren in order to obtain, for the first time, data on a national scale. Mediawijs and Media Animation also collaborate in the framework of the BELUX Hub of EDMO - European Disinformation Monitory Observatory.
Belgian Better Internet Consortium
4. Media Meets Media Literacy in Sarajevo
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The second Media Meets Literacy (MML) conference, organized in September 2017 by the Evens Foundation and its partners has focused on the question of information, disinformation and post-truth. Media literacy professionals from all over Europe and thus Media animation team have participated.
5. Eduk-Media
Yaoundé, Cameroon
Eduk-Media Cameroon is the Cameroon Media Education Association. Eduk-Media joined IAME - the International Association for Media Education - and exchanged with the members of the association during a webinar. Media Animation has collaborated with Eduk-Media by intervening in one of their seminars. "
6. Exchange of practices with the TELUQ University
Quebec, Canada
Great collaboration took place between Media Animation Team and Normand Landry, professor of communication at the Université TÉLUQ in Quebec, Canada in 2019. He participated in the first IAME (International Association for Media Education) Summer School as a speaker but also he shares his expertise on e-learning process during a internal training and practices exchange with M-A team.
Chaire de recherche du Canada en éducation aux médias et droits humains
7. Sherbrooke University Sherbrooke
Canada
While 9 European countries (including of course Media Animation for Belgium) put their efforts in common for making a transnational survey about the media appropriation by the young people (Mediappro, 2005-2006), a similar survey is carried out by the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. This complementary approach allows for comparison and a better understanding of the situation in Europe and North America.
8. MEDIANE - Thematic Encounter in Nicosia
Nicosia, Cyprus MEDIANE – Media in Europe for Diversity Inclusiveness - was a the joint European Union (EU)/Council of Europe (CoE) programme which took place in 2013 and 2014 and for which Media Animation was a partner. It focussed on the media’s abilities and capacities to include diversities of European societies in the production process as well as in the designing of media content, in particular of news that contributes to inform the public opinion. During the project, several thematic encounters were organised. Media Animation joined the encounter held in Nicosia, Cyprus, in June 2013.
9. MKC Multicultural Center
Prague, Czech Republic
The Multicultural Center Prague is non-governmental organization which primary aim is the promotion of respect for human rights, political equality and the reduction of social inequalities. They were partner of M-A in the Media4us project (2013-2014) and in the BRICKS project (2016-2018) about online hate speech. They welcome the BRICKS consortium in Praha for a transnational meeting.
10. Center for higher education - Copenhagen and North Zealand - Denmark
Copenhague, Danemark
The ambition of the Centre for Higher Education - Copenhagen and North Zealand is to develop and offer the very best further education and training offers for the teachers and pedagogues in the Metropolitan areas. They were partner partner on an applied research project for media education called Mediappro (“media appropriation”, in 2005-2006). They have co-designed a study to explore how young people between the ages of 12-18, appropriate digital media, including networks and portable media, such as the Internet, mobile phones and video games.
11. Robert Schumani Prantsuse Uuringute Keskus - Estonia
Tartu, Estonie
Robert Schuman Centre for French Studies is an interdisciplinary unit inside the Faculty of Philosophy, Tartu University. This department was partner on an applied research project for media education called Mediappro (“media appropriation”, in 2005-2006). They have designed a study to explore how young people between the ages of 12-18, appropriate digital media, including networks and portable media, such as the Internet, mobile phones and video games.
12. Finnish Centre for Media Education and Audiovisual Media
Helsinki, Finland
The Finnish Centre for Media Education and Audiovisual Media has hosted a Media literacy encounter in Helsinki in June 2013. Various media educators, teachers, trainers and media professionals met for two days in order to co-design media education activities related to diversity inclusiveness in media.
13. University of Tampere
Tampere, Finland
From a first collaboration in the eMEL project (2014-2017), the department of communication studies was often ready to collaborate on transnational initiatives. Sirkku Kotilainen, professor at the University of Tampere testimonies : "Almost ten years ago we started collaboration in the ERASMUS+ project for developing e-learning modules on media literacies. Media Animation provided the highly professional way of production for us academic partners, us talking about definitions, theories etc… Learned a lot from Media Animation on how joy followed by motivation push you to proceed in the project."
14. CLEMI - Centre de Liaison et des médias d’Information
Paris, France
"CLEMI is one of M-A’s oldest international partners. In the early 2000s, the first collaboration took place around Educaunet, a project born in the framework of the European Commission’s ""Safer Internet"" action plan. TBut let’s discover the Evelyne Bevort memories, former delegate director of CLEMI : ""We met very quickly on the occasion of an international survey of media education structures within the framework of UNESCO launched in 1986. We thought we (CLEMI) were being very innovative, but we were interested to see that Belgium had many dynamic media education structures, three of which were linked to the country’s different educational systems.
Média-animation was one of these three poles and our relations quickly developed around our mutual discoveries and above all around the sharing of projects, such as the Council of Europe seminars in Donaueschingen at the end of the 1980s.
As soon as the first calls for tenders from the European Commission on media education were issued, it seemed obvious to us to join our efforts, our reflections and our skills : let’s remember Educaunet... and all the others. We loved to go to the old house occupied by the lively Media team : each one had his own room and common rooms for meetings. This space generated a lot of good humour and I liked to go there in the morning from ’Botanique’.
I will spare you all the meetings, all the projects, so many and so varied, but above all I will remember the incredible pleasure of the shared reflections, the close debates and above all the work together. Média-animation is a media education structure that is particularly serene and pleasant in its operation - this has been the case since the mid-1980s - where all our projects ended happily thanks to the multiple musical talents of its team : accordion, flute, piano, voice were all there.
Isabelle Stengers is so right, it is so good to think together ! and to continue this path together."
15. Fréquence écoles
Lyon, France
"Dorie Bruyas, Director of Frequence Ecoles, a media Education resource center in Lyon (France), testimonies : "Almost 10 years ago, I took part in a conference on digital media literacy in Brussels. It was one of our first European meetings, and I was surprised to see the maturity and understanding of the subjects we had in common with Media-Animation. I knew very quickly that we would eventually find a space to collaborate. Our collaboration is rich in discussions, meetings and projects. For all these years, we have been learning from the Média animation teams and we often admire the quality of their work and their commitment."
Any anecdote or a memory to share ?
"Dozens of them. However, I don’t think I would forget our many trips for the Tandem and Myappeduc projects that were really demanding but also with great pleasure in exchanging and discovering another way of doing media education."
16 .La Fabulerie
Marseille, France
La Fabulerie is one of Media Animation’s partners in the Erasmus + project "KIT - Keep in Touch". KIT aims at the implementation of innovative practices in the digital era in early childhood and runs from 2021 to 2023. The Media Animation team visited La Fabulerie and its "media museum" in June 2022 for a transnational meeting.
17. Council of Europe
Strasbourg, France
Média Animation actively participated to educational and media projects co-financed by the Council of Europe. The last ones aimed to foster the inclusion of diversity in media thanks to collaboration between media education approach and journalism professional trainings (MARS, Media Against Racism in sport, 2011-2012 and MEDIANE, Media in Europe for Diversity Inclusiveness). Concrete media education ressources to use in media professionals and journalist trainings were co-designed with participants and accross encounters and transnational activities.
18. Institut de Journalisme Bordeaux Aquitaine
Bordeaux, France
IJBA welcomes the final european encounter of MARS project in November 2012. The goal was to encourage pairings of media professionals at European level with a view to co-produce and co-disseminate high-quality and professional written or audiovisual media reports on sports’ issues, even if not exclusively, including non-discrimination and expression of diversity as an angle of media coverage.
19. JFF – Institut für Medienpädagogik in Forschung und Praxis
Munich, Germany
JFF – Institut für Medienpädagogik in Forschung und Praxis - is a close partner of M-A in Germany. They are even older than M-A. Since 1949, the JFF has been investigating how younger generations deal with media through research and practical experience. Recently, they are partner with Media Animation in the KIT - Keep in Touch project (2021-2023) which aims to implement innovative practices in the digital age in early childhood.
20. Medien+bildung.com
Ludwigshafen, Germany
medien+bildung.com gGmbH among other collaborations, were the german partner of the MEET project (2016-2018) whose the main challenge was to to video-document the pedagogical process and the participation of young people in this media expression project for more diversity inclusiveness. Before that, they coordinated MyMobile project which aimed at developping guidelines and scenarios for mobile learning in adult education and in which Media Animation was partner too.
21. Grimme Institute
Marl, Germany
The Grimme institute was the german partner of BRICkS aiming at exploring the opportunities offered by modern technologies for empowering young people to use the information disseminated by online media and social networks in a critical way and to promote their active role in the struggle against online racist and xenophobic speech.
BRICKS
22. GMK Forum
Frankfurt, Germany
In 2017, Media Animation team was invited to the GMK Forum in Frankfurt. The Association for Media Education and Communication Culture (GMK) is a nationwide professional association for education, culture, and media. It stands for the advancement of media education and media literacy. The association brings together interested and engaged people in Germany from research and practice, and ensures the exchange of information.
23. Athens Lifelong Learning Institute
Athens,Greece
"ALLI is a research and education institute, based in Athens, Greece. It has the mission to foster and enhance innovation processes mainly in the
areas of education and lifelong learning, human capital development, knowledge society and social inclusion. The Institute exhibits an active interest in a number of social issues such as social exclusion, discrimination and suppression of human rights and has attempted through the implementation of innovative learning methodologies to moderate their impact.
Ourania Xylouri, director of ALLI , testimonies :
"For a number of years, and before the start of a strong and fruitful collaboration, I kept randomly encountering Media Animation– as an expert in the field of media education in Europe. Our first encounters were over the phone in an effort to involve them in a number of projects, which was followed by random encounters in big network events and a series of common acquaintances. "
Any anecdot or souvenir to share ?
"I will always cherish in my thoughts, not only the times of hard work and effort, but also the moments we relax between our meetings holding a glass of wine. "
24. MEDIANE - Thematic Encounter in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Greece
MEDIANE – Media in Europe for Diversity Inclusiveness - was a the joint European Union (EU)/Council of Europe (CoE) programme which took place in 2013 and 2014 and in which Media Animation was partner. It focused on the media’s abilities and capacities to include diversities of European societies in the production process as well as in the designing of media content, in particular of news that contributes to inform the public opinion. During the project, several thematic encounters were organised. Media Animation joined the encounter held in Thessaloniki, Greece, in October 2013.
25. Karpos
Athens, Greece
The contacts between Media Animation and Karpos on the web, a greek NGO of media education and specifically media production are regular but without having the chance to concretely collaborate through a transnational project. In 2022, they’ve introduced a Erasmus+ project that aims at empowering vulnerable adults’ media education skills and in particular media production competences in order to give them the opportunity of speaking up for a better diversity inclusiveness.
26. Media-Educ Congress in Belfast
Belfast, Ireland
"In 2004, in Belfast, M-A co-organised a European congress which brought together more than 150 participants. It led to the creation of a network and launched the Euromedialiteracy charter proposing a common definition and objectives and aiming to influence national and European political decisions. More than 6,000 individuals and organisations joined in the following years."
27. University of Florence
Florence, Italy
The University of Florence and Media Animation have been working closely together for more than 10 years. Maria Ranieri, professor at UNIFI, testimonies : "I started my collaboration with MA in 2010 within the framework of a EU project on Media Education addressing adult people : MyMobile. I was in Bellaria where I met Ben Bachmair who introduced me Medien & Bildung, that launched MyMobile involving both me as UNIFI and Media Animation. Since then, a fruitful and rich collaboration started and continued with big projects on media literacy education such as e-Engagement against violence, eMel, Media Education for equity and tolerance. We developed several digital tools for media literacy education, including innovative visual materials on media and intercultural education."
28. COSPE
Florence, Italy
The italian NGO COSPE invited Media Animation to join the BRICKS project (Building Respect on the Internet by Combating Hate Speech) running from 2014 to 2016. BRICkS aimed to explore the opportunities offered by modern technologies for empowering young people to use the information disseminated by online media and social networks in a critical way and to promote their active role in the struggle against online racist and xenophobic speech. THe BRICkS team, including people from from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Spain.
29. EuroMeduc Congress in Bellaria
Bellaria, Italy
In 2009, Media Animation co-organized the EuroMeduc Congress in Bellaria, Rimini, Italy. This congress gathered more than 350 practitioners, researchers, policymakers and media professionals from 30 countries. Participants took up the main themes of media literacy in Europe at a time when this field has achieved genuine recognition. Following this congress, 70 recommendations were written and a resulting book “Media literacy in Europe : controversies, challenges and perspectives” was published.
30. Zaffiria
Rimini, Italy
"Zaffiria is one of the first european partners of M-A. Zaffiria organises media education workshops from kindergarten to high school, in partnership with parents and teachers. Media Animation and Zaffiria have been partners in several European projects like TANDEM (2016-2019) and MyAppeduc (2019-2022) projects which study the media environment of children aged 6-12 at school and at home, in order to propose and concretely test good media literacy practices to be implemented in school-family duo and KIT - Keep in Touch project (2021-2023) which aims to implement innovative practices in the digital age in early childhood. Alessandra Falconi, director of Zaffiria testimonies : "This collaboration with M-A is among the most reliable relationships we have : exchange, debate, cooperation, sharing of visions has accompanied us for 20 years".
An anecdote or a memory to share ?
"Full of memories : the joyful complicity in work as in conviviality, jokes and human and personal exchanges. An anecdote is not enough."
31. University of Palermo
Palermo,Italy
The University of Palermo, Italy, is Media Animation’s partner in the European project Emerge (E-Media Education about Representations of GEnder). The Media Animation team has the chance to go to Palermo for a transnational meeting in March 2022.
32. Internet Festival in Pisa
Pisa, Italy
Media Animation was partner of The BRICkS project (Building Respect on the Internet by Combating Hate Speech) running from 2014 to 2016. BRICkS aimed to explore the opportunities offered by modern technologies for empowering young people to use the information disseminated by online media and social networks in a critical way and to promote their active role in the struggle against online racist and xenophobic speech. The BRICkS final event took place at the Internet Festival in Pisa on 9th October 2016 with the conference "#Silencehate - When hate speech is on the web".
33. IAME Summer School in Lucca
Lucca, Italy
The very first event of IAME, International Association for Media Education, was a Summer School held in Lucca, Italy, in July 2018 thanks to the collaboration with the italian media education network. This event brought together around 40 media education professionals from all over Europe, including several Media Animation members.
34. Università Cattolica del Sacre Cuore di Milano
Milan, Italy
The Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan has been a european partner in the early 2000’s . In 2005, with 7 other European countries, they collaboratively set up a survey, entitled Mediappro. It focused on the appropriation of the Internet and mobile technologies by young people aged 12 to 18 and led to an international conference organised in Brussels. A similar survey was also carried out in Quebec during the same period, providing a better understanding of the European situation compared to North America.
35. Second European Media And information literacy forum of UNESCO
Riga, Latvia
In June 2016, Media Animation director participated to the Second European Media And information literacy forum organized by UNESCO at the National Libary of Latvia, in Riga.
36. CIJ - Centre National d’information pour Jeunes
Luxembourg, Luxemburg
The CIJ has invited Media Animation team in 2018 to participate to their European Day of Youth information. It was the opportunity of presenting all the media education analysis and activities about conspirancy theories and fake news. This was born thanks to meetings and previous exchanges with ERYCA, European Youth Information and Counselling Agency.
37. Mira Media
Utrecht, Netherlands
Miramedia media based in Utrecht (Netherlands) is now wound up. But in 2011, they involved Media Animation in projects (Media4me , 2008-2010 and then Media4us, 2011-2013) which aim to promote intercultural dialogue, social cohesion and citizenship through the coherent use of social networks in multicultural neighbourhoods. In Belgium, Media Animation had developped a participatory neighbourhood media project in Brussels, entitled "Médiatisse ton quartier", in partnership with Les Halles de Schaerbeek and the non-profit organisation AMOS. This initiative was still pursued in other neighbourhoods in subsequent years.
38. Media Meets Media Literacy in Warsaw
Warsaw, Poland
In Spring 2015, M-A participated to Media Meets Literacy conference in Warsaw. Organized by the Evens Foundation, it was above all a learning and networking event taking place in a pleasant atmosphere. It was aimed at 200 Media and Information Literacy (MIL) professionals from all over Europe – from policymakers and researchers to academics and, in particular, practitioners.
39. University of Minho
Braga, Portugal
"Universidade do Minho was one of the key partners of eMEL project ! Their team succeed to implement these online training module in the Portuguese context. Manuel Pinto, who was at that time professor at the University, reminds : "I have known Media Animation for a long time, mainly through the interest that several of its publications have aroused in me. More recently, direct collaboration has been possible in a European project (e-Mel, 2014-2017), coordinated by Media Animation. The aim was to create a collaborative environment for teacher training in media literacy and the work done has been rewarding and in my opinion useful for education systems in Europe." He testimonies then : "What delighted me most was to find an independent institution dedicated to media education, working in a professional way, with social and cultural sensitivity and committed to networking. Moreover, its proximity and interaction with different educational institutions and actors, even basic and applied research institutions. In addition to this, I found in the people who run Media Animation a commitment to the quality of the work and a strong sense of humanism, simplicity and teamwork. "
40. Agrupamento de Escolas de Santo Antonio
Lisbonne/Barreiro, Portugal
The grouping of schools in Santo António, near Lisbon, Portugal, is one of Media Animation’s partners in the Erasmus + project "KIT - Keep in Touch". KIT aims to implement innovative practices in the digital age in early childhood and runs from 2021 to 2023. The Media Animation team will travel to Santo António in September 2022 for a transnational meeting.
41. EuroMeduc Congress in Faro
Faro, Portugal
Media Animation co-organized a Congress in the context of the European project EuroMeduc in Faro, Portugal, in February 2009. This seminar was dedicated to the subject “Media Literacy and Appropriation of the Internet by the Youth”.
42. Mediawise Society
Bucharest, Romania
Mediawise Society is a Romanian association for media literacy and education. They are M-A partner in european initiative since more than 10 years as Nicoleta Fotiade, founder of Mediawise society, summarizes : " It started about 10 years ago during the MARS project - Media, Diversity and Racism in Sport. We were two of the local partners in a Council of Europe international project. But by then, I would have crossed paths with some of the team members in other learning situations. And ever since we met and worked together in many other circumstances. One of them being our collaboration as founding members of the International Association for Media Education (IAME). The biggest and most important partnership, I would say, happens right now in the form of the eMerge project, in which we are developing some high-quality and important learning resources and online training facilities" (about gender representations in media, eMERGE, 2020-2023). Nicoleta Fotiade goes on : "I remember that, even from the early interactions, I was very impressed by your fresh approach you were displaying in your media education activities. That you maintain to this day. I appreciated your focus on reflection and your respect and interest for the target groups well-being and learning results. You were using (and still are) a friendly and accessible language, which is so important in conceptual forms of learning like media education. I must say I have learnt a lot from my interaction with you, my colleagues at Media Animation, and I hope that you can say the same about our collaboration. "
43. The Peace Institute
Ljubljana, Slovenia
The Peace Institute is a independent and non-profit research slovenian institution founded in 1991 by individuals who believed in peaceful conflict resolution, equality and respect for human rights standards. They have collaborated in Media Literacy projects with Media Animation in this perspective of citizenship and fight against human rights threats : e-engagementagainstviolence ( 2013-2014) and Media Education for Equity and Tolerance (MEET, 2016-2018).
44. Kick off meeting in Piran
Piran, Slovenia
To meet partners for the first time in a seaside town like Piran (Slovenia) is already giving a first good feeling about the project and the consortium ! The kick off meeeting of the e-EEAV project was hosted by the Peace Institute (Slovenian) in Piran in September 2013. Media Animation was in of course !
45. BRICKS Kick off meeting in Sevilla, hosted by AFIES
Seville, Spain
In January 2015, the kick off meeting of BRICKS project took place in Sevilla, hosted by the partner AFIES - Fundación Asistencial para la Formación, Investigación y Estudio, Seville (Spain). It was one week after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, seen as a threat against freedom of expression. How can this current event be addressed in the classroom ? How can we raise awareness of freedom of expression as the foundation of our democracies ? The lack of media education resources on the mechanisms and issues of caricature was a call to action within this project. This is how the resource "Dessine-moi la Liberté d’expression" (Draw me freedom of expression) was created in the heart of this project fighting against hate speech. It combines critical reflection on the issues of cartoons in democratic debates with analysis and production activities in a pedagogical context.
46. Unesco Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2019 Feature Conference in Gothenburg
Göteborg, Sweden
Media Animation attended the Unesco Global Media and Information Literacy Week Feature Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, in September 2019. Media Animation presented its tool "Conspiracy Theories" as well as "Criticize the news : 5 approaches to media literacy".
47. Summer School of Media4US
Sollentuna, Sweden
Media4us is a European project that aims to give migrants the possibility of learning about and creating media content (2O13-2014). One of the project’s activities was a summer school, which took place in Sweden and gathered around 40 migrants from the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, Hungary and the Czech Republic. This project was organized by the Dutch organization Mira Media and hosted by Glocal Community Voice in Sweden.
48. FIFAK Festival
Kelibia, Tunisia
Media Animation has participated in 2007 at the Festival International des Films Amateurs of Kelibia with a delegation of young film makers.
49. University College of London - Institute of Education
London, United-Kingdom
UCL – Institute of Education and specifically the departement of Culture, Communication and Media have worked with M-A in the framework of different projects and initiatives. Recently, it was through the Erasmus+ project , e-Media Education Lab (2014-2017) that they have brought their experise in common. John Potter, professor of media in education at UCL testimonies "I thoroughly enjoyed working with Media Animation and getting to know the team during the E-MEL project, and beyond. They are a fantastic group of people to work with and have given me many things to think about in relation to media, media education, media literacy and all related issues. I look forward to a day when I can collaborate with Media Animation again. And, of course, for a day when this country I live in becomes close, once again, to Europe."
50. Media Education Summit in Boston
Boston, United States
When the European projects cross the Atlantic... in 2015, the eMEL project results were presented by M-A team at the "Media Education Summit" organized in Boston by the CEMP, the Emerson College and the Nataional Association of Media Literacy Education in US.