The Slovenian national agency CMEPIUS has approved two Erasmus+ projects involving POU Čakovec, with a combined total value of €310,000.00. POU Čakovec is participating as a project partner in both initiatives—the KA210 small-scale partnership RENEW and the KA220 cooperation partnership BARVALO—thereby continuing its active role in international educational initiatives.
The RENEW project, fully titled Retirees’ Engagement in New Media and Environmental Wisdom, will be implemented over 18 months with a budget of €60,000.00. Its primary goal is to empower retirees over the age of 60 from Croatia, Slovenia, and North Macedonia to participate more actively in modern society through training in digital and green skills. Through intergenerational workshops and the creation of podcasts, participants will exchange knowledge, thereby overcoming digital exclusion and social isolation, and increasing users’ confidence in utilizing digital tools. The project coordinator is the Ljudska univerza – Institute for Adult and Youth Education Lendava from Slovenia, while the partners, alongside POU Čakovec, include the Association for Internationalization of Education and Science from North Macedonia.
The BARVALO project, an acronym for Budgeting, Awareness, Responsibility for Valuable Opportunities, will last 24 months with a budget of €250,000.00. This project is focused on the economic empowerment of Roma community members by improving their financial literacy, reducing economic vulnerability, and promoting long-term financial independence. The plan includes developing modern Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Open Educational Resources (OER), conducting specialized training for Roma mentors, and organizing events dedicated to financial education. The project aims to have a direct impact on social inclusion, economic stability, and lifelong learning. In addition to the project coordinator, Ljudska univerza from Lendava, the partners are the Development Centre Murska Sobota, the Roma Educational and Cultural Community “Romanipen” from Serbia, the Roma Education Association “UZOR” from Croatia, the Association for the Development and Advancement of the Roma Community “Romano Čačipe” from North Macedonia, and the Public Open University Čakovec.
We look forward to the onset of these new challenges and the collaboration with our international partners. We believe that RENEW and BARVALO will bring measurable positive changes to the lives of our learners and open doors to new knowledge and skills that are essential for success in contemporary society.
