Consortium

Based in the midst of the Norwegian Fjords at Haugesund/Stord campuses, HSH accommodates 3000 students and 250 staff members. Stord is the administrative centre. R&D Unit administers significant research portfolio including programs funded by the Research Council of Norway (approx. 11M Euro since 2007). HSH has extensive experience with international relations and organization of R&D activities.
The Faculty of Education and Culture (ALK) specializes in graduate and postgraduate programs in teacher education with specializations in math, physics, music, and aesthetics as well as broader programs. Studies at Stord have for many years emphasized modern ICT. Faculty have taken part in 15 EU funded Lifelong Learning Programs, of which HSH has been or will be coordinator: HSH's new research project, "Improvisation in Teacher Education: Curricula and Practice in Dynamic Interplay (IMTE)", which received 1.9 million Euros from the Norwegian Research Council, will explore the improvisation concept in a variety of educational settings. MECPOL - Models for European Collaboration and Pedagogy in Open Learning, and MENU - Model for a European Networked University for e-learning (2003). HSH has a well respected national as well as a regional role in providing in-service programmes and courses for practising teachers, and has since the 1990ies played an important role in national curriculum reform processes and in the production of learning resources of many kinds. Also, HSH provides a master programme in ICT and learning. In recent years HSH has developed a cooperation with the EU R&D unit based at the University of Stavanger, a joint initiative between the University of Stavanger (UiS), International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), Stavanger Hospital University (SUS) and HSH. The unit provides administrative support, proposal writing, contract negotiation and project administration services in order to support owners‟ increased success in FP7 proposals. HSH has for the past years focused on development of knowledge regarding creative processes and has recently hosted an international conference on the topic.
HSH is the concept developer of the Write a Science Opera (WASO) that will be one of the main case studies of the CREATIT project, together with other education and art institutions in its network. It also provided the know-how for the first WASO projects which were inspired by Norwegian researchers and industry. The first WASO project, realized by Bergen National Opera, received much positive media and policy-maker attention.
In CREATIT, HSH will coordinate the project and will be responsible for WP1 activities: Management and coordination, whereas it will be leader of the activities implemented in terms of WP 3: Developing the CREATIT material and user's communities, under the collaboration of the other partners involved ( EA, EXETER, FORMASCIENZA, RESEO, SCIENCE VIEW AND CPN). HSH will be involved in providing input for WP2, especially for the case of WASO approach and it will be take part in the implementation activities (WP4), coordinating the national activities in Norway and providing assistance for the implementation activities in the other participating countries, especially for the case of WASO approach. Its role is expanded in the rest of the Workpackages, so as to contribute in Evaluation WP (WP6) with data derived from the Norwegian case study, in Dissemination (WP5) by promoting the outcomes of CREATIT to its networks beyond Norway and by organizing activities with the WP leader (Science View). As a project coordinator, it will also provide input and real case studies for the exploitation of the project.

More info: http://www.hsh.no/english.htm

The University of Exeter is the leading research-led university in the South-West peninsular of the UK. Exeter's Graduate School of Education (GSE) is one of the largest and best known in the UK, embracing a considerable variety of internationally recognised research activity, from large-scale externally funded programmes to small-scale collaborations with local teachers. The School is in the top five research ranking from the? 2008 UK Research Assessment Exercise. The research group, CREATE (Creativity Research AT Exeter) to which all of the staff in the Exeter team belong, undertakes conceptual and empirical studies of creativity in and beyond the arts. In addition Prof Craft and Dr Chappell also belong to the interdisciplinary Systems Creativity Research group which encompasses researchers from Maths, Computing, Politics, Law, Business Studies and Medicine as well as Education.
The research team has extensive experience of working with young people, teachers and other educators, and with partner professionals exploring creativity in the arts as well as STEM subjects; these include Science Education for Diversity (2010-2012) http://science-education-for-diversity.eu/ , funded by EC (involving partners across Europe and also in Malaysia, India and Lebanon, and highlighting gender and cultural diversity in engaging young people in science education), creativity in early years science and mathematics (2011-2014) again EC funded through the Open University where Craft also works) http://www.creative-little-scientists.eu/ and music and the arts with numerous music and dance projects including a Music Education Network, (2006-9) with Comenius funding developing learning outcomes for European music teacher training, mapping music education in schools and teacher training in 19 countries of Europe http://menet.mdw.ac.at/menetsite/english/index.html .

Key concepts developed by the team using qualitative methodology in relation to creativity in education are Possibility Thinking, Creative Systems Transformation, Dialogue and Difference, developing Wise, Humanising Creativity through living dialogic space and the recognition of digital environments as inherently creative and involving 4 P's (pluralities, playfulness, participation and possibilities). These five key areas are discussed below, together with a further key area of participative research.
Four P's of digital engagement. Emerging from conceptual work by Craft (2011, 2012) and being applied in C2Learn, an EU project focusing on fostering creativity through digital games 2012-2015 in which Craft is involved, http://www.c2learn.eu/ . The four P's of pluralities, playfulness, participation and possibilities are offered as characteristics of interactions in social networking, content generating and gaming digital environments. A key approach shared by the team is participatory research methods involving learners, teachers and partners in co-researching practice (see notes and references on Aspire above, also CHAPPELL, K., ROLFE, L., CRAFT, A., JOBBINS, V. (2011). Close Encounters. Trentham Books).
In its contribution to CREATIT the Exeter team would seek to develop and theorise new approaches to continuing professional development, exploring the implementation of dialogue and difference, living dialogic space and the four Ps at the level of professional development. These would foreground pupil creativity and as well as creative pedagogy in Science Education in primary and secondary schools that integrate arts and culture through music. Whilst Write a Science Opera is an established classroom methodology it is not yet highly theorised as a tool for science education and nor is it integrated with ethical dimensions of science and creativity. The Exeter team will lead through the empirical work in researching the pedagogical approach and implementation that conceptualises this ethical dimension through a focus on wise, humanising creativity in science education which we argue is vital to responsible creativity in a world characterised by radical uncertainty. We also anticipate a participatory methodology in the implementation in line with our shared perspective. Couching the approach to creativity using the theory of possibility thinking will also enable us to further build this theory and to attend to how teachers might enquire into its enactment through the integration of science and music.

More info: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/

Ellinogermaniki Agogi (EA) is an educational organization of private law, officially recognized by the state. It is an institutional member of EDEN (European Distance Education Network) and of STEDE (Science Teacher Education Development in Europe) network. Since 1995, the organization has established a devoted department, the Research and Development (R&D) Department, for the design, development and implementation of research activities in education, expanding the collaboration with Universities and Research Institutions across Europe. The work of the R&D Department which currently employs 17 full time researchers focuses on the following areas: a) development of methodologies and empirical research to investigate processes of learning and knowledge acquisition in various subject matter areas (physics, mathematics, biology, history, etc); b) collaboration with computer science departments and artificial intelligence labs for the development of computational models and AI learning systems; c) collaboration with Universities and private companies for the development and testing of educational software; and d) design of technology‐supported learning environments. EA successfully took on the role of designing and leading the implementation of proposed activities in real school environments in a number of European (ICT-PSP,SiS in FP7, IST in FP5 and ACT in FP6, LLP-ICT, Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci) and National projects, establishing and sustaining a wide network of collaborating schools and practitioners, as well as continuously refining dissemination channels and strategies to ensure expected impact and further expand the number of collaborating individuals and institutions. The R&D Department has extensive experience in the management of research and demonstration projects focusing on teacher training, particularly in the field of promoting ICT related innovations and inquiry-based education (Science Centre to Go (www.sctg.eu), Kicking Life into Classroom (www.klic-project.eu), SimAula (www.simaulaproject.eu) having successfully coordinated large scale implementation of innovative methodologies in school environments across Europe. Furthermore, EA brings its rich expertise and experiences in educational design and the requirements elicitation procedure gained from coordinating the European Commission study on the impact of Comenius Multilateral Projects and Comenius Multilateral Networks, which evaluates the European dimension and impact of the two Comenius centralised actions.
Adding to past experience, EA is currently participating in a number of EU projects focusing on effectively introducing innovation in schools. In Open Discovery Space (www.opendiscoveryspace.eu) EA is leading the tasks of coordinating Communities of Practice, as well as organising meaningful participatory engagement activities for 2000 schools across Europe contributing towards a new approach to stimulating, incubating, and accelerating user-driven innovation. EA is coordinating C2Learn (www.c2learn.eu), a project aiming to introduce innovative digital gaming and social networking environment incorporating diverse tools, connected to assessing the impact of game-based learning applications by carrying out focused experiments while closely involving users in continuous participatory design and evaluation within stakeholders' communities of practice. EA team is working on developing guidelines, curricula and exemplary materials which foster creativity-based approaches to science and mathematics learning as part of Creative Little Scientists (www.creative-little-scientists.eu), an FP7 project which sets out to shed light on the intersection of science and mathematics education and IBSE methodologies for young children (up to the age of eight) with creativity.
In the CREATIT project, EA will be the leader for WP4 (Implementation activities) including trainings and demonstration activities at schools. It will also coordinate the National activities in Greece. It will be a member of the Academic Steering Group (WP2) providing great experience from previous projects for the pedagogical framework of CREATIT, whereas it will contribute mainly to the development of the users' communities (WP3) and will be actively involved in the evaluation of the Greek activities (WP6). EA will disseminate (WP5) the outcomes of CREATIT in its networks, groups and collaborating institutions. It will also work closely with HSH and the rest of the consortium for the success of the management and the coordination of the project (WP1), whereas it will provide input for the exploitation (WP7) of the project in other areas of interest collaborating with Science View, which will be WP7 leader.

More info: http://www.ea.gr/

The "Hellenic Association of Science Journalists, Science Writers and Science Communicators - Science View" is an Athens-based, non-profit organization. It is a member of the European Union of Science Journalists' Associations (EUSJA), which is established in Strasbourg and has members in more than 25 European countries.
Its mission is to develop communication activities between the scientific community and society so that scientific knowledge related to science and technology is communicated to the public as well as establishing contacts among the members of Science Unions, scientists and journalists. Science View is a meeting point for Greek science journalists and their EUSJA colleagues. Its main goal is to gather scientific information and develop a forum in which discussions concerning scientific themes, journalism and European issues can take place. Science View is accessible to journalists, writers and communication specialists. Working groups deal with the dissemination of specific scientific matters, provision of e-learning services, such as the online training web platform, delivering of Comenius and Grundtvig training activities and research the best way to create a scientific information distributing network resulting in diffusion of knowledge - emitted by scientists - to the society. Science View's main goal is to reach reports, methods and guidelines indicating how it is possible to make scientific issues easily accessible and popular to the public, through large scale events, articles and specialized activities. Two main projects that Science View is currently leading are the Dissemination activities of the Discover the COSMOS project funded by the EC under the FP7 Infrastructure Programme (www.discoverthecosmos.eu) and the content enrichment of the official Greek web portal for Research and Technology under the supervision of the General Secretariat of Research and Technology and the Ministry of Education.
Science View has elaborated science cafes based on specific scientific areas: such as Music Art and Science (http://en.scienceview.gr/news/14), Music Art and Medicine (http://en.scienceview.gr/news/20).
In the CREATIT project, Science View will be leading the dissemination activities (WP5), aiming at communicating the scientific and educational outcomes of CREATIT to a great number of networks. It's role as a member of EUSJA will enable the dissemination of CREATIT in all the science journalists' networks all around Europe. It will also distribute the results of the project to a multichannel net. Science View will also be WP7 leader, establishing an exploitation plan that will describe all the activities for expanding the target groups involved in CREATIT in European level. Also, Science View will be a member of Academic Steering Group (WP2) and will cooperate with WP3 leader for the development of the CREATIT material.

More info: http://en.scienceview.gr/

FormaScienza is an association that works with the aim to explore new methods to diffuse the idea of scientific thinking as a part of people's basic culture through action-research methodologies. The activities of the association deal with the science as a cultural phenomenon and not with its specific contents. FormaScienza designs, tests, develop and implements innovative methodologies to teach and communicate science.
Among the activities there are workshops for schools, trainings for teachers, Science Cafe night events, Science festivals, Science and Art events.
The researchers of FormaScienza have a strong background of scientific research activity and a long experience in education and communication of science.
Our organization can provide the know how on writing the scenarios and the scripts to an opera.
We want to explore new methods like theatre and science and want to compare our activities with the other groups that do similar things in Europe.
http://www.formascienza.org/en_curriculum.asp

FormaScienza will provide a person in charge for the WP leading and the contact with the WP coordinator, the Project office and the rest of the partners. This person will be in charge for the delivery of financial reporting to the PC and internal monitoring. FormaScienza will participate to WPs: 2,3,4,5, in paricular 2 and 4 in the CREATIT project, involving 10 schools, about 20-30 teachers, about 2 classes per school total about 400 students.

More info: http://www.formascienza.org/

The Center for the Promotion of Science in Serbia (CPN) is a public institution established by the Law on Scientific Research, with the task to promote science and technology. The Center, according to its legal mandate, cooperates with research and educational institutions (universities, research centers and schools) in Serbia and worldwide, works closely with the government ministries, as well as with the media and the private sector.
The Center cooperates with the wide public and has an excellent network for cooperation with schools and pre-schools all around the country. With them we have already worked on many national projects to promote science and raise awareness of the importance of science and innovation in everyday life. The Center has also organized teacher's trainings and trainings for science communicators and science journalists, through which has developed extensive network of partners for science promotion.
The Center for the Promotion of Science has already organized Teacher Training programs at our premises. Teachers from schools from Belgrade and other cities and towns in Serbia have attended these training programs and have implemented them throughout the country. We have so far organized training programs together with professionals in the required fields for mathematics, robotics, biology, science promotion, science basking, etc. After training teachers from all over the country in Belgrade, they have used and taught what they have learned in their schools by teaching it to their students. As well, they have been working as the Center's representatives in many workshops, trainings, festivals and events that others or we have organized out of Belgrade and close to their hometowns.
CPN is also organizing large scale events, such as: 1. " May Month of Mathematics" - a month long exhibition with a large number of workshops organized by local and international mathematicians; 2. Days of the Future - Robotics" - same as above & 3. CERN exhibition in Serbia. CPN holds also a Communications department with three science journalists and a PR that have plenty of experience in disseminating the work of the Center.
CPN participation in the CREATIT will provide the further communication of the project's outcomes and activities in Serbia and in all the networks of the organization (WP6). A wide dissemination campaign in National level will provide added value to the project's exploitation all over the country. CPN as a public organization responsible for communicating science in the public and providing trainings for teachers under the collaboration of professionals (scientists, artists, researchers) will bring the idea of Creativity in Education more closer in other countries of South east Europe as well.
CPN will provide training activities for teachers, so as to be involved in the utilization of the CREATIT pedagogy in their classroom activities (WP4). CPN will be responsible for the implementation activities at schools in Serbia. It will lead the Evaluation and QA activities of the project (WP6).

More info: http://www.cpn.rs/

For over 15 years, RESEO has been the unique European network for education, participation and creative learning in opera and dance.
From large opera organisations to small companies, our members are driven by the desire to widen access, awaken curiosity, and create a connection with opera and dance for everyone!
Spread across 20 countries in Europe and beyond, RESEO's members form a diverse yet coherent network, experimenting with new concepts, sharing ideas, learning and working together. The network supports them in their overarching aim to firmly anchor opera into their local contexts and enhance their communities' sense of ownership.
A catalyst for development in the sector, RESEO creates a unique European working space, providing tools such as thematic conferences, invitations to innovative projects, specialist trainings, promotion of opera for children, research studies and publications.
RESEO is also active in the field of advocacy for opera and dance education and audience development towards the European institutions.
A non-profit organisation with offices in La Monnaie / De Munt opera house in Brussels, RESEO receives financial support from the European Commission's Culture programme since 2008.
RESEO has been receiving project funding as well as, in the last 6 years, structural funding via the European Commission's Culture Programme. It is currently completing the third year of its on-going three-year structural grant which currently covers approx. 35% of the organisation's budget. All other costs are covered by annual membership fees and conference registration fees.
The network employs two Co-directors. A list of all members can be found on www.reseo.org. The Directors are supported by the RESEO Steering Committee, which represent opera organisations throughout Europe as well as external co-opted advisors (communication and finance).
In CREATIT, RESEO shall contribute the experience and working contacts of a successful European network, providing links to its over 70 members, their education departments, and their knowledge of opera education methods and programmes. It will coordinate trainings in Belgium under the collaboration of HSH on teachers' involvement in experiencing the WASO approach at schools, introducing creativity activities in science education. It will organize also large scale activities at schools.
It shall disseminate information on process, methodology and results towards its members and contacts in the cultural field via its monthly newsletter (over 3000 recipients), website (12000 visitors/year) and in its specialist conferences Europe-wide. It will also exploit the WASO case, based upon the UK method of "Write and Opera in different cultural contexts integrating it into the future work of participating opera houses and schools.

More info: http://reseo.org/