Partners

COORDINATOR
The Cyprus University of Technology (CUT)
The Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) is a newly-established public university, which was founded by law on December 2003 and is a member of Cyprus National Rector’s Conference. It is one of three state universities in Cyprus. CUT has been ranked by the Times Higher Education among the top 350-400 universities in the world and among the 200-250 in Europe. In particular, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, CUT is the youngest university in the list of top universities in Europe; an achievement that highlights the emerging, dynamic and innovative nature of CUT.
The Social Computing Research Centre (SCRC) is an interdisciplinary research unit at the Cyprus University of Technology. The Centre’s projects are typically cross-disciplinary embracing Social Computing in a broad sense and focusing on influencing research strategy, policy and practice. SCRC consists of a highly skilled interdisciplinary team bringing under common umbrella faculty members from the Cyprus Interaction Lab the Microsoft Computer Games and Emerging Technologies Research Lab, the Visual Media Computing Lab and the Network Science and Systems Laboratory. SCRC fosters a rich environment of collaboration between Departments of the University, within Cyprus, Europe, Canada and Africa.
Responsible for the project: Dr. Antigoni Parmaxi, antigoni.parmaxi@cut.ac.cy

ARIS – A Really Inspiring Space
ARIS (A Really Inspiring Space) is a start-up accelerator founded by Deloitte Cyprus and the Bank of Cyprus and managed by Deloitte’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (IEC). It is a non-profit legal entity, which was created for the purposes of supporting high growth technology start-ups and it is located in Limassol, Cyprus. ARIS targets start-ups that want to speed up the execution time of their projects and accelerate their go-to market speed.
The resident start-ups have access to mentors and coaches with a wide breadth of expertise who support the founders in their entrepreneurial journey with an emphasis on commercialization, financial and business areas. Start-ups enjoy the transfer of knowledge, exposure to various stakeholders and access to the start-up ecosystem; also a free of charge co-working area is available, as well as access to office equipment and boardrooms.
ARIS is an important stakeholder in the local start-up community and an important contributor to its development and maturity. The accelerator frequently organises and hosts various important local events targeting youth such as the entrepreneurial battles for University Students, the Summer Boot Camp for High school students and Innovation Competitions/Hackathons. ARIS has a strong network base and close collaboration with youth-led organisations in Cyprus and local universities and schools. The accelerator is also often utilized as a teaching venue for Business students. Through these activities, ARIS aims to cultivate the innovation and entrepreneurial mind-set to young people and provide them with the opportunity to develop their soft skills.
Responsible for the project: Eliza Loucaidou, eloucaidou@deloitte.com

Education Centre Geoss
Education Centre Geoss offers 6 Short-Cycle Higher Vocational Education Programmes: Mechanical Engeneering, Organizer of the Social Network, Logistic Engeneering, Economy, Bussiness and Informatics.
EC Geoss is member of the Association HVC which is a professional Association of Slovene Higher Vocational Colleges on the national level – which means it includes 47 members (94% of all Slovene HVC institutions) all providing EQF level 5 as private or public providers. Members of HVC do not only provide higher vocational education programs, but also contribute to the field of applied research and professional studies as well as directly to the development of local communities and regions.
At their work they follow the local, regional and wider national and European needs. There are approximately 1000 adults included in various educational programmes at centre each year, of which there are between 400 and 500 participants in informal education programmes. Their staff count 88 teachers, mentors and lecturers. Some of them are part of the permanent staff, the others are our external collaborators.
The goals of the organization are to improve learning outcomes through quality teaching and learning process, to train and engage mentors and teachers towards innovative and holistic approach towards learning, to empower and increase the self-esteem of the participants involved in education process, to increase equity and inclusion for all vulnerable social groups with fewer opportunities, to target the socially excluded, early school leavers and less qualified adults, immigrants and intellectually disabled people. EC Geoss is actively involved in social environment and they are going to continue to bring economic and social improvements to their environment through the sustainable development of human resources skills and knowledge on multiple levels, which will be accessible to all people equally.
Responsible for the project: Sandra Katić, prof., sandra@ic-geoss.si

Magenta Consultoría Projects S.L.U
Magenta Consultoría Projects S.L.U. is a consultancy company specialised in gender equality, social areas and European projects. Magenta’s philosophy is based on people and on the idea of contributing to build a better society. For that purpose, we develop different projects targeted to youngsters, women, vulnerable groups and people at social risk in order to promote their inclusion and help develop their skills. Besides the development of European projects in a wide range of areas, Magenta also offers tailored-made training programmes combining training in formal and non-formal education; language courses and mobility programmes including all related activities (trainings, workshops, job-shadowing, internships, cultural activities…). Through our work and programmes we daily invest our efforts on promoting equal opportunities for all and the re-build of an equal and fair society.
Responsible for the project: Sofía Arangüena, sofiaaranguena@magentaconsultoria.com

CESIE
CESIE is a European Centre of Studies and Initiatives based in Palermo, Sicily. It was established in 2001, inspired by the work and theories of the sociologist, activist and educator Danilo Dolci (1924-1997).
Our mission is to promote educational innovation, participation and growth. CESIE’s slogan, the world is only one creature, express the philosophy for which the organisation works: inclusion and equity for all.
CESIE is structured in 6 main units:
- Higher Education and Research: fostering progress, sustainable and responsible research and innovation in Higher Education and Research Systems;
- Rights and Justice: promoting equality, protecting the rights of people, preventing and developing responses to violence and discrimination;
- Adult: upgrading lifelong learning in adult education, boosting innovative practices and developing key competences for adults;
- Migration: developing effective and inclusive approaches for asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants;
- School: improving quality and efficiency in school education;
- Youth: enhancing active citizenship, training, education, and mobility of young people.
Responsible for the project: Dr. Maryna Manchenko, maryna.manchenko@cesie.org

The University of Macedonia
The University of Macedonia is the second and relatively younger University in the city of Thessaloniki, specializing in economic, social, information and education sciences as well as music art. Currently, it has over 12,000 students. The primary goal of the University is to attain educational quality of the highest standard. Quality is reflected in the high level of graduates and faculty members, their contribution to the global academic community with prestigious international publications, innovative teaching methods, modern infrastructure and highly qualified administrative staff.
The SMILE lab is a multidisciplinary research, development and training lab at the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece. SMILE (Smart Mobile Interactive Learning Environments) was officially established by the Greek Government in 2017. SMILE is an incubator of Open Innovative Mobile Learning Technologies, Pedagogies, Interventions, Applications, Resources and Environments aiming at increasing the learners’ learning, knowledge, motivation, and 21st century skills. This demands a broad range of expertise across Education, Information & Communications Technologies (ICT), Media, Foreign Languages and Psychology. SMILE brings together researchers, developers and trainers from such diverse disciplines.
Responsible for the project: Dr. Maria Perifanou, mariaperif@gmail.com