FILMEU_RIT brings together four European Higher Education Institutions: UL - Lusófona University from Lisbon, Portugal; SZFE – University of Theatre and Film Arts, from Budapest, Hungary; LUCA School of Arts from Brussels, Belgium; and IADT - Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology, from Dublin, Ireland. Together, these institutions collaborate around the common objective of jointly promoting high-level research, innovation and educational activities in the multidisciplinary field of Film and Media Arts and, through this collaboration, consolidate the central role of Europe as a world leader in the creative fields. FILMEU_RIT will increase the Alliance’s competitiveness and reinforce its ability to develop activities that span all the areas of the knowledge square: education, research, innovation, and service to society, while helping the creative sector to affirm its potential for innovation and resilience in a post COVID-19 context. FILMEU_RIT will develop a common R&I agenda for artistic research supported by common resources and joint structures that will increase talent attraction and the impact of the research developed amidst the alliance. Such impact seeks to promote greater engagement of society and business with art and creativity in order to increase European competitiveness and its artistic R&I profile. FILMEU_RIT’s main objective is the capacitation, in Research and Innovation terms, of the individual HEIs that integrate the Alliance via the joint design of strategies and action plans that ensure the transformation of the future European University into an Institution that puts Research and Innovation in the fields of Film and Media Arts at the centre of its activities and operates as a highly valuable critical cultural intermediary.

<< Background >>The Digital Mythologies – Mythical Digitalities (DIMYMYDI) has two starting points – firstly, the Covid-19 situation forced all educational institutions to take a leap into the deep end of online teaching and secondly, the cultural, social and political environment is at present churning with mythological ideas and images, In the fields of Art, Design and Media, moving tuition over to the net was without complications – ordinary platforms and tools are not enough for planning, producing and above all exhibiting artistic and design work, not all teachers are very well versed in the use of more sophisticated tools in their teaching and the experience of learning and teaching over the net can feel impoverished. Mythology, on the other hand has been used and abused in the current cultural, social, and political discussion and its interpretations have been shallow, divisive, and often nationalistically motivated. However, mythologies reflect our shared experiences and ideas on a less complicated level and can also be used to build understanding and sense of wider communality.<< Objectives >>The main objectives of the project are:- to develop a toolkit to support online teaching of media and visual communication- to instruct teachers on how use new digital tools to enrich their own teaching- to introduce new digital tools to students for planning, implementing and exhibiting their own work- to improve the media literacy of students vis-à-vis mythology-related issues- to introduce students to use of mythology in their own artistic work - to compile a mythology compendium for anyone to use as source material for mythology related courses/workshops and unitsWe acknowledge that there is a wider interest in working with tools introduced in education, professional and entertainment activities, thus dissemination and distribution of project results is taken seriously. Therefore, we are also planning on exhibiting work done in different events and in collaboration with various media, museum and societal partners – online and hybrid exhibitions and events are seen by many people, and they are a good forum to introduce new technical and artistic tools and messages.<< Implementation >>The project carries out the following activities:1.Four different Project Results to be produced: Toolkit (PR01), Mythology compendium (PR02), Curated Exhibition Series (PR03) and Project Publication (multimedia) (PR04)2.Ten Learning, Teaching and Training Activities, 6 for students and 4 for teachers, where different tools are tested and taught, mythologies, its cultural meanings and uses are studied and intertwining the two, they produce design/art work to be used in dissemination and building impact, and feedback for the Product Results group on the success of their work and how to improve it. 3.Four Multiplier Events with parts directed to professional audiences and parts (exhibitions, events, printed matters, physical objects etc.) are targeting wider audiences4.Individual student LTTA work will be exhibited in either in connection of workshops or other relevant events organized by project partners or embers of their contact networks (e.g. museums, festivals, or urban events)Even if we have planned each activity to take place onsite, we are prepared to arrange them online in case the situation so warrants. During the last year we have realized that working and teaching online opens unforeseen possibilities for collaboration – with activities planned to take place online, we can involve more people than otherwise is possible and bring in also experts, who would otherwise be unavailable.<< Results >>The outputs (results) of the project are:-Toolkit to support drafting, realizing, sharing and exhibiting rich visual content online and in hybrid formats. In addition to information on software and its availability, the kit will contain tutorials, examples of work done during the pilot workshops, user experiences and evaluations. The kit will also contain suggestions on software that make collaboration and communication easier at different stages of the design and display process.-Mythology Compendium consists of collection of mythological materials relevant to the topics of the workshops (Play, Spirituality, Identity, Materiality Body, Nature) covering Nordic, Celtic, Belgian, Finnish, Polish and Lithuanian mythologies. Even if the materials are specific, they also form a compilation, which tackles several issues culturally, socially, or politically important in the current European discourse.-Series of Curated Exhibitions in hybrid formats to show what new technologies can achieve in creating artwork. However, to have the most impact with the work, there is a need for choosing collaborators, perspectives, works and venues, create texts and other additional materials to make the most of the results.-Project Publication (multimedia) is compact collection of best of the project with interesting case studies, examples of work and texts on pedagogical inventions and technical best practice - in this case in a multimedia format. It also preserves the ephemeral works and serves as inspiration to people interested in producing art and design themselves.The outcomes of the project are:-international body of research/development and outputs that encourage discussion and dialogue between transnational cultural, educational, political, and industrial stakeholders on questions of national and European identity. -Introduction of new ways of supporting media-based online study and work to HEIs in art, design, and media education, teachers (and students) of those institutions, and those interested in producing enriched media content for their own purposes.-Giving ne knowledge and insights on a wide variety of topics dealing with mythology and building bridges with the past and the present culture by showcasing the relevance of improved awareness on media literacy and how to interpret connotational level of communication industry.-increasing understanding of art/design work produced by digital means (and supported by physical artefacts such as zines and objects) among the professional and general audiences through conferences, exhibitions and events.

"InterAct is a project to promote and validate the development of Intercultural Action Competences (IAC) for participants in international youth projects. It spans the entire length of international projects, including the initial project design, web tools to practice and deepen the learning result and digital group work to integrate the learning into the daily life. To react to the Corona pandemy, InterAct will also include virtual encounters such virtual volunteering or online workcamps.What is IAC?IAC is the competence to adeptly navigate complex environments marked by a growing diversity of people, cultures and lifestyles, in other terms, abilities to perform “effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself ” (Fantini & Tirmizi, 2006). According to the UN universal declaration on cultural diversity (2001), intercultural competences complement human rights as a catalyst for promoting a culture of peaceful and harmonious coexistence. In that sense, they play an important role in achieving the goals of international youth work both on a global and European level. The competences that will be acquired not only contribute to the successful cooperation in international youth work, but also contribute to the role of intercultural dialogue as a positive narrative (report 2015/2139(INI)) as necessary facilitator for the integration of third country migrants. ""There is a real urgency – in many aspects of our lives – for education, which can help citizens live together in our diverse societies. For this reason we all need to develop intercultural competence. The ability to understand each other across all types of cultural barriers is a fundamental prerequisite for making our diverse democratic societies work."" (https://book.coe.int/en/root/4943-intercultural-competence-for-all-preparation-for-living-in-a-heterogeneous-world-pestalozzi-series-n2.html)What is InterAct?InterAct is a very ambitious project that will develop a complete collection of tools organised around a web based app, that offers an approach to IAC, that is both well researched and fun to use. It will allow• the young participant to dive deeper into the world of interculturality, to monitor, practice and validate their own learning progress (IO1),• the youth worker to easily integrate practical exercises, games and reflective elements into the creation of international projects, such as Erasmus mobilities (IO2),• include a policy paper to be used by decision makers to help promote and support funding of IAC and mobility projects (IO3)Why InterAct?InterAct makes intercultural action competence (IAC)• Understandable, • Measurable and• Validable.The main goal of InterAct is to transform the concept of IAC from theory to practice, to make it easily understandable for youth workers and participants alike and to make it fun to work with. ""In multicultural societies one of the central aspects of education for democratic citizenship with its emphasis on “learning and living together democratically” must be education for intercultural competence if our vision of sustainable democratic societies is to come true."" (Josef Huber, CoE 2012). The A in IAC stands for the attitudinal and behavioural component of the learning process and is crucial for the practical relevance of intercultural experiences in societies. It'sOn an individual level, it will increase the effect of mobillity participation on perceived self-efficacy, employability, self-esteem and openness to diversity. The combination of the encounter with our learning tool will deepen the learning effect on the cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral dimension.On a societal level, the dissemination of IAC will lead to an improved level of international cooperation, which is a key element for the future of the European Union and the Sustainable Development Goals. It makes our society more resilient against xenophobia and chauvinism and increases our capacity to integrate migrants.Who will use InterAct?IAC is a key competence that is required for and practiced in every international youth encounter. It contributes largely to the Competence in Cultural Awareness, but also to many other key competences. Although IAC is central to youth mobility, it is often not sufficiently understood, and learning progress in this field cognition-focussed andnot properly evaluated and recognized. Gender mainstreamingInterAct is a project that promotes equal opportunities for all. In the context of IAC, gender issues are particularly important as they help to understand, analyse and deconstruct genderrelated cultural stereotypes, that frequently get in the way of intercultural mobilities with participants of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. As InterAct starts with amodule to integrate IAC in the project development, it will make sure that these aspects are part of the project design from the very beginning."

The unemployment rate for youth in the EU under the age of 25 is at staggering 22.9%. Such extreme unemployment has a negative effect on their future employability and self-esteem, increasing their risk of poverty, deskilling and social exclusion. It affects the role the young people have in the society and presents an economic burden on state finances, producing a negative effect on economic growth and productivity. As one of the key issues in the EU, youth unemployment is often discussed without sufficient participation of the young people themselves, which adds to the feeling among the youth that their situation is given, and that the causes and the scale of the problem are too great and too far removed from their sphere of influence. This feeling leads to a loss of motivation and active participation in the society, further increasing the threat of cultural, economic and social exclusion.Through an innovative training program in mobile journalism, the project from the beginning has been trying to contribute to the empowerment and active citizenship of young people, increasing their capacity for political and social participation. Through the creation of the European Youth News Exchange (Y-NEX) service, the project enables young people to connect with the general public, express their opinion and have an influence on the political and social processes affecting their lives. The first project objective was to develop a new training program in mobile journalism and MOOC in mobile journalism.The MOJO program consist of six modules: 1) Media Literacy and Human Rights, 2) Mobile Journalism Technology, 3) Mobile Journalism Storytelling, 4) Mobile Journalism Production, 5) Intellectual Property Rights, 6) Digital Entrepreneurship. Each module present a 16-20 hour learner workload in blended learning format, with maximum total program duration of 120 hours. The second project objective was developing the European Youth News Exchange (Y-NEX) as a service which draw on the news-gathering and production resources of all the youth trained in mobile journalism, and is used for dissemination and exchange of news in text, photo, audio and video formats - created by the youth, for the youth. The first project target group of the project includes youth workers and staff active in education, which were trained as trainers and act as multipliers in youth empowerment.The second project target group includes high-school pupils, students, trainees, volunteers and unemployed young people who were trained in mobile journalism. The project aims at training 18 trainers who have been included in pilot the mobile journalism program with 150 youth participants in partner countries. The project consortium has been formed by civil, private and public sector organizations from Croatia, Belgium, Ireland and Spain, including a national public broadcaster and three higher education institutions. As such it was good combination of experience in education and training, youth-work, project management, media and information literacy, audio-visual production, information and communication technologies and cross-media publishing. The planned duration of the project was 24 months. The whole project has been implemented in 3 stages.Stage 1 focused on the production of the Mobile Journalism Curriculum.Stage 2 was dedicated to training the trainers and the production of the Mobile Journalism MOOC. Stage 3 focused on launching the Y-NEX service and piloting the program with the youth, who were included in news production and dissemination through the Y-NEX service and social media as the final learning outcome. Implementation of the project empowered young people for participation in society and active citizenship. The developed training program is being used by the project partners in their regular training activities, while the developed MOOC is available to the general public, both promoting and fostering citizen journalism. The new Y-NEX service enabled youth to create, publish and disseminate news, providing an open service for citizen journalism and cultural exchange. After the project implementation is completed and the funding from the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes ends, all three intellectual outputs will continue to exist and be functional. The promotion of European Youth News Exchange was through a final project conference in Croatia with three multiplier events in Belgium, Ireland and Spain. These forums hosted more then 155 participants (due to approved budget for event organisation) interested in mobile journalism but also exploitation of MOOC and the European Youth News Exchange. Youth/student media and national public broadcasting services in project countries were included in dissemination of the project results, as well as distribution through the European Broadcasting Union’s Eurovision network and European Association of Regional Television, reaching millions of viewers throughout the EU.