This  project  has  been  funded  with  support  from  the  European  Commission  

 

International  Conference  

Literacy  and  Society,  Culture,  Media,  &  Education  Ghent  University,  EMPATIC  &  EMSOC  9-­‐11  February  2012  

International  Conference    

Literacy  and  Society,  Culture,  Media,  &  Education    

Ghent  University,  EMPATIC  &  EMSOC    

9-­‐11  February  2012    

 Brief  report  

 1.    Background  

Following  the  political  unrest  and  uncertainty  in  Greece,  the  PMB  took  a  unanimous  decision  to  look  for  a  new  host  country  for  the  EMPATIC  Final  Conference.  

Using  the  stakeholders  database,  two  possibilities  emerged:  an  international  conference      Literacy  and  Society,  Culture,  Media,   &   Education   being   hosted   by   Ghent   University   and   an   event   entitled   European  Meeting   on  Media  and  Information  Literacy  Education,  an  idea  and  proposed  joint  initiative  on  a  number  of  European  bodies  but  at  the  time  had  not  focussed  directly  on  preparing  a  programme.    EMPATIC  was  able  to  bring  substance  to  both  organisers  at  the  same  time  as  opening  both  events  to  EMPATIC  stakeholders.  

Carol  Priestley,  Manager,  EMPATIC  travelled  to  Ghent  to  meet  with  the  Ghent  University,  discuss  ideas  of  mutual  interest  and  offer  a  first  draft  outline  programme.  

2.    Management  and  Organisation  

Ghent  University  was  pleased  to  share  both  administrative  and  programme  roles  and  also  introduce  EMPATIC  to  another  interesting  partner  –  EMSOC  (User  Empowerment  in  a  Social  Media  Culture)    http://emsoc.be/  

3.  Programme  

In   an   age  of   digitality   and  mass  media,   perceptions   about   and  practices  of   culture,   pedagogy   and  educational  systems  are  undergoing  rapid  changes  and  debate.  Among  other  issues  and  developments,  the  impact  of  digitality  results  in  new  perspectives  on  literacy(ies).    

A  copy  of  the  full  programme  is  attached  at  Appendix  1.  

Participants   in  the  conference  were   invited  to  explore  theories,  practices,  and  applications  for  the  study  of  the  interrelations  of  digitality  and  contemporary  society,  culture,  and  pedagogy  in  thematic  sections  of  1)  Media  and  Society,  2)  Media  and  Culture,  3)  Media  and  Education,  and  4)  Media  and  Information  Literacy.    

The  final  day  of  the  programme  (Saturday  11  February)  was  devoted  to  verifying  EMPATIC  recommendations.  

4.  Participants  

Wide  publicity  was  undertaken  to  try  to  ensure  a  fully  represented  participation.    A  list  of  attendees  is  attached  at  Appendix  2.      

Regrettably  there  were  additionally  a  number  of  regrets  because  of  a  viral  infection  sweeping  Belgium.  

5.  Conclusions  

From   the   point   of   view   of   EMPATIC   the   conference   was   highly   successful.       Each   sector   of   EMPATIC   was  represented  and  discussion  was  extremely   lively.        Participants  were  both  interested  in  the  overall  aims  of  the  project  and  also  keen  to  be  activity  engaged  in  discussing  the  recommendations  and  being  involved  in  any  follow-­‐up.  

Recommendations  to  Policy  Makers  by  the  Ghent  conference  participants  included:    

1. The  participants  agreed  that  Information  Literacy  is  vital  for  the  today’s  society  in  Europe  and  as  such  should  be  developed  and  promoted  in  different  contexts  and  by  various  means.  They  also  pointed  out  that  there  exist  a  few  IL  related  projects  going  on  in  local  communities  in  Europe  under  the  names  of  “media  literacy”  or  even  “media  wisdom”.    

2. The   importance  of   Information   Literacy  needs   to  be  publicized  not  only   to   governments,  ministries  and  policy  makers  on   the  national  or  EU   levels  but  also   to   local  authorities,  businesses,   small   social  groups  and  all  citizens.    

3. The   strategy   of   IL   development   should   encompass   two  main   lines   of   action:   IL   awareness   building  among  authorities  and  governments  on  the  national  and  European  levels  

4. Substantial,   real  work,   “step   by   step”,   “project   by   project”   on   the   local   level   by   particular   schools,  universities,  libraries,  etc.    

5. The   most   of   participants   expressed   the   feeling   that   “slow”   strategy,   based   on   “small   projects”  addressed   to   different   target   groups,   communities,   professions,   etc.  would   be  more   effective   than  having   a   central   EU   body   responsible   for   the   IL   development   or   the   formal   European   IL   policy  directives.    

6. Thus,   the   “IL   awareness   building”   and   “central   goals”   approach   clearly   prevailed   over   the   “central  steering”   one.   Also,   having   clearly   stated   Information   Literacy   goals   (national,   European)  may   help  anyone  wanting  to  convince/influence  local  authorities  to  support  IL  development  programmes.    

7. One  of  the  tactical  observations  has  been  that  “incentives  work  better  than  orders”,  meaning  that  IL  development  policy  based  on  incentives  for  those  who  introduce  IL  (teachers,   librarians,  businesses,  local  authorities)  would  be  the  effective  one.  

               

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