The 2nd Annual International Symposium “Education and City: Participation Practices” was held at MCU from May 16 to 18, uniting researchers from 17 countries: Russia, Albania, Algeria, Belarus, Hungary, Israel, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, China, Costa Rica, Lithuania, Mongolia, Poland, the US, Taiwan, and Sweden. The co-organizers of the university were Dublin City University, Ireland, and University of Taipei, Taiwan.
The objectves of the Symposium included exchange of experience and ideas on contemporary education and urban development, discussion of current issues and search for collaborative solutions, sustaining integration of the cutting-edge Russian and international experience for participatory development of cities and universities.
The Symposium opened with a welcome word by MCU Rector Igor Remorenko, Director of the Institute of System Projects Professor Svetlana Vachkova, and the report by Professor Joe O’Hara, Dublin City University, President of the European Association of Education Researchers, titled “Converging towards co-professionalism: challenges and opportunities in school evaluation”.
Professor Asa Morberg from University of Gavle presented the report “Participatory practices at the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE)”. Theater critic Claudio Facchinelli talked about the project creative activities at Italian schools. Yaacov Hecht, founder & head the first Democratic School in Hadera, Israel, talked about the role of schools in the city life.
The topics raised at the Symposium featured both broad issues, such as education quality, education and health, role of universities in city development, and specific cases, such as school theatre or daily movement of students within the city.
The participants of the Symposium attended various workshops and section-specific discussions, trainings conducted by MCU teachers and students. There were creative events, such as the Intellectual battle “Design vs Education” where MCU Master’s students presented their projects in the pecha-kucha format.
The lecture by Yaacov Hecht “Education 2.0 as driver for city development” was one of the highlights of the program, offering a fresh view on the school education system, and stating the importance of the cities in the upcoming revolution in education.
The discussion “University and City: Growth Areas” curated by Professor Igor Shiyan, deputy director of the MCU Institute of System Projects and head of the Laboratory of Child Development, introduced different points of view on training teachers and experts in arts and humanities in small and big cities, prospects of development of university environments in megalopolises, evolvement of universities and the impact they exert on cityscapes.
The Symposium offered events of interest to a great number of researchers, teachers and students. The participants, enjoying the success of the initiative, decided to meet again in one year at the 3rd International Symposium “Education and City”.
To browse through the workshops and reports presented at the Symposium, please visit the official page or view the Program.