The ZeroSei Educational Services of the City of Bologna open up to an international dimension by participating in various projects with other European countries and within the framework of the Erasmus+ Program

Conference at the Erasmus Hogeschool Brussels, Belgium

A pedagogue participated in the International Days in Brussels from 3 to 6 December 2024 to illustrate the 0-6 year Integrated System of the City of Bologna.
Our pedagogue also conducted a workshop that gave the participants the opportunity to address the topic of inclusion using different languages such as body expression techniques and theater

.

The participation in the International Days was an opportunity to organize part of the upcoming international mobility of municipal educational and school services staff scheduled for 2025.

During the International Days, professors, researchers and staff had the exclusive opportunity to:

• exchange good practices and strategies related to internationalization;
• participate in workshops and collaborate on new research ideas;
• participate in networking opportunities in Brussels' rich artistic and cultural environment;
• establish and strengthen connections with international partners, improving the professional network.

The work of innovating educational practices continues

3 teachers, 1 educator and 1 pedagogue went to Sweden to continue the work on the acquisition of innovative practices in preschool services started during previous international mobility.
In particular, they had the opportunity to deepen the use of extensive communication (sign language, CAA, multilingual communication) and documentation addressed to families, to girls and boys, to the entire

work group.

The staff also had the opportunity to gain experience in the nearby town of Vanersborg.

Services involved: Bolzani kindergartens, Fantini kindergartens, Scarlatti kindergartens, Anne Frank kindergarten.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

The work of innovating educational practices continues

3 teachers, 1 educator and 1 pedagogue went to Sweden to continue the work on the acquisition of innovative practices in preschool services started during previous international mobility.
In particular, they had the opportunity to deepen the use of extensive communication (sign language, CAA, multilingual communication) and documentation addressed to families, to girls and boys, to the entire

work group.

Services involved: Andersen kindergarten, Betti 3 kindergarten, Lanzarini kindergarten, Fresu kindergarten.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

Dissemination of the results of the RIEPPS project

On the occasion of the Erasmus Days (14-19 October 2024), the staff of the ZeroSei services involved in Erasmus+ mobility presented the results of the RIEPPS project: Research and innovation of educational practices in children's services during the conference Democratic Education: an international focus during the Pedagogical Weeks 2024 festival.

The staff of the services involved had the opportunity to discuss with the Swedish experts also during a training seminar on current practices and future objectives.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

Meeting in Parma, Italy

The project partners met to work on the contents of the next transnational training seminars for ECEC staff with focuses of interest such as:

• social and green sustainability;
• internationalization of child services;
• family participation;
• diversity and inclusion;
• STEAM education.

The City of Bologna, as an associate partner of the SERN | Sweden Emilia Romagna Network consortium, participates in the INTEC project, which aims to develop an innovative in-service training model for nursery and kindergarten staff.

for setting up projects within the framework of Erasmus+

A pedagogue and a project manager from the Education Area participated from 19 to 25 May in a course dedicated to the study, in-depth analysis and development of strategies regarding mobility projects, choice of possible partners, evaluation of objectives with new work focuses for problem solving practices, communication and dissemination of projects in the Erasmus+ field.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

The exchange group on the practice of open work meets colleagues from Swedish pre-school services

A second group of teachers, pedagogists and educators went to Bergsviken kindergartens in the Municipality of Piteå, located in the Gulf of Bothnia, 900 km from Stockholm and 100 km from the Arctic Circle.

Job shadowing is a particular type of training in which a person follows and closely observes another person while doing their job.

The educational services of this Municipality manage preschool activities focusing on combining the development of students' skills with participation in outdoor activities (Outdoor Education) and in close collaboration with families. This synergy allows for a high qualitative development of the educational proposal.

The municipal ZeroSEI Services involved in this exchange are the Gramsci and Mazzoni kindergartens; the Marighetto and Marsili kindergartens.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

The exchange group on the practice of open work meets colleagues from Swedish pre-school services

Job shadowing is a particular type of training in which a person follows and closely observes another person while doing their job.

5 teachers, 5 educators and 4 pedagogists from municipal child services 0-6 left for the first exchange in three schools from 1 to 6 years old in the Swedish city of Norrköping, two hours from Stockholm.

The job shadowing activity was proposed to a group of representatives of the services involved in the practice of open work and is linked to the predetermined objectives, namely the development of innovative practices for a perspective of change that starts from the daily life of services, where girls and boys are the real protagonists. It is a matter of realizing the concept of inclusion, offering learning environments as a mirror of an open and democratic society, in which anyone can participate and contribute: thus building more flexible and inclusive services, supporting the desire of girls and boys to discover the world through practical experiences in child services, as in a real society.

Teachers and educators took a direct part in school life in Swedish services, experiencing educational work firsthand and were able to share reflections on the pedagogical focuses included in the exchange (democratic education, aesthetic education and participation).

The Municipal Zero Services involved are the Carli, Cavazzoni, Coccheri, La Trottola kindergartens; the Anna Serra 2, Ceccarelli, Don Milani, Flora, Mago Merlino kindergartens; the One-Six Pezzoli Service.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

Visit to the Plesso Grosso in Bologna

A group of 8 girls and boys, accompanied by parents and three teachers, comes from the La Julianita Children's Education School in the city of Aracena, in the province of Huelva in Spain, and for a week they will be a guest at the Grosso municipal kindergarten in the Navile district.

Together with the Grosso kindergarten, with the collaboration of the Grosso nursery school, the Tasso Inventore Children and Families Center and the Parco Grosso Educational Room Territorial Service, together with the collaboration of the families of the Polo Grosso, they will have the opportunity to visit the city and the many opportunities it offers to families.

This is one of the first experiences in Europe of mobility abroad for kindergarten girls and boys within the Erasmus+ mobility program: a unique opportunity for exchange and this first reception experience may lead the way, in the near future, even for boys and girls who attend our services.

Listen to the interview with Alessia Cingolani aired in the episode of Caterpillar on Rai Radio 2 on April 18, 2024.

Preparatory visit in Piteå, Sweden

Three pedagogists from the Municipality of Bologna visited the Municipality of Piteå and its educational services for a discussion on educational models different from the already known Bolognese reality.
An enriching experience that has allowed us to build work focuses on new educational practices, food for thought for innovative thoughts that are contagious in our kindergartens.

The visit also made it possible to better prepare the activities of the teachers and educators who will be mobile to Piteå in job shadowing activities in the month of April 2024.

Job shadowing is a particular type of training in which a person follows and closely observes another person while doing their job.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

Conference in Pamplona, Spain

Creena | Centro de Recursos de Educación para la Equidad Educativa en Navarra, a Spanish organization specialized in educational support, and the City of Bologna have collaborated online for an educational exchange dedicated to:

• experimental models for inclusion;
• reception models and accommodation in educational services 0-6;
• staff training and resource assessment.

The head of 0-6 Services was invited by Creena to participate in a conference dedicated to these issues, focusing the intervention in a specialized and extraordinary way on the methods of inclusion of the Bolognese educational community.

Seminar in Vic, Spain

An educator, a teacher and two pedagogists from the City of Bologna participated in an intensive seminar at the Universitat de Vic with the aim of co-designing 5 innovative training courses aimed at educational and school service personnel 0-6 within a European perspective.

The training courses are aimed at targeted educational plans, the promotion of leadership and positive interactions between adults with boys and girls, the opportunity to experiment with different ways of connecting with boys and girls, their language and their interests.

Visit to Norrköping, Sweden

As part of the research and experimentation of new educational practices, of the analysis of children's languages, the city of Norrköping hosted the pedagogists of the City of Bologna on a preparatory visit to explore various topics:

• outdoor education;
• environmental sustainability practices within educational services;
• inclusion and interculture.

In this framework of exchange and enrichment, activities have been organized in view of the mobility of the staff of the educational services of municipal schools and kindergartens scheduled for the month of April 2024.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

Meeting in Vänersborg, Sweden

The City of Bologna, as an associate partner of the SERN | Sweden Emilia Romagna Network consortium, participates in the INTEC project, which aims to develop an innovative in-service training model for nursery and kindergarten staff.

We had the precious opportunity to attend the first coordination meeting, during which the representatives of the consortium reflected together:

• on the curriculum for the training of the ECEC staff (teachers and pedagogical coordinators of kindergartens);
• on the communication and dissemination methods of the project;
• on the opportunity to ensure transnational continuing training for educational staff.

Course in Tenerife, Spain

The openness to the European dimension as a training tool based on action-research determines the need to combine linguistic strengthening aimed at facilitating communication with the contexts with which collaborations start.

The intensive course aimed to strengthen the English language in the professional field, and placed emphasis on specific language in the educational field and on the development of reading, writing and speaking skills in the language.
The course, aimed mainly at pedagogical coordination and system figures who coordinate international experiences, has made it possible to strengthen language skills in managing networks with international partners and to act as a link with the working group that will participate in the mobility.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.