“The Smile of the Child” hosted the Board of Directors and General Assembly meetings of the European Antibullying Network at the premises of its Panhellenic Operational Center in Aghia Paraskevi, Athens
01 December 2021
PRESS RELEASE
Athens, 1 December 2021
“The Smile of the Child” hosted the Board of Directors and General Assembly meetings of the European Antibullying Network at the premises of its Panhellenic Operational Center in Aghia Paraskevi, Athens
The meetings of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly of the European Antibullying Network (EAN) took place in Athens, Greece, and more specifically, at the premises of the Panhellenic Coordinating Operational Center of Direct Social and Medical Intervention ‘ANDREAS YANNOPOULOS’.
Despite the continued challenges of the past year and the particular conditions posed by the covid-19 pandemic, EAN remained focused on its goals and continued to make significant efforts, thus making important progress in key areas as the only pan-European network working to prevent and address the bullying phenomenon.
The actions undertaken during the reporting period comprise, among others:
● The expansion of the Network to include 5 new members,
● The organization of 3 online events to honor the late Professor Dan Olweus, with the participation of speakers from around the globe,
● The presentation of the anti-Bullying Certification Standard (European Antibullying Certification – EANCert) which will begin implementation in the beginning of 2022, with the aim to evaluate and certify schools and non-educational organized structures.
“The Smile of the Child”, which holds the Presidency of the Network, hosted at its Panhellenic Coordinating Operational Center of Direct Social and Medical Intervention ‘ANDREAS YANNOPOULOS’ the representatives of the European member organizations on Tuesday, 30 November 2021. The meetings were of a hybrid nature, featuring the in person presence of those who could travel, as well as the online participation of those who could not travel due to the special circumstances.
With regards to issues related to governance, the Board of Directors elected in June 2020 continued to meet regularly during 2021, online, and held four (4) meetings including the last meeting of 30/11/2021. Moreover, members of the Board lead and/or participate in Working Groups established in 2020 with the goal of a targeted review and dynamic promotion of the key areas of focus of the Network, namely, membership, project acquisition, communication and advocacy.
With regards to membership, today the Network features twenty-three (23) members from fifteen (15) European countries.
During 2021 three (3) new organizations joined the Network (REACTION/ Cyprus, Risorsa Cittadino/ Italy and Educators’ Centre Association/ Hungary), while two (2) new applications for membership, from Vermont Youth Center/ Bosnia and Herzegovina and Fondazione Carolina Onlus/ Italy, were approved by the General Assembly during the meeting of November 30th. The two new members are included in the 23 total.
At the same time, efforts continue in reaching out to new organizations with the purpose of engaging them in the work of the Network.
With regards to project implementation, EAN began its participation in the project SAFER - SociAl competences and FundamEntal Rights for preventing bullying, a three-year Erasmus+ project led by Villa Montesca (EAN member), which started in December 2020. EAN is mainly responsible for the Work Package on sustainability and exploitation, which it leads, and in whose framework it will produce among others a key strategic document (position paper) and will organize the final conference in Brussels.
With regards to communication, the Network activated a new website and a LinkedIn account, to complement its existing Facebook and Twitter accounts. In the spring of 2021, EAN organized a series of 3 online events to honor the late Professor Dan Olweus, honorary member of EAN. The events were extremely successful, as they brought the Network in contact with highly respected academics and specialists, while they also helped make EAN better known to the greater public, attracting participants from Europe and beyond (USA, Australia, Asia, Latin America). In parallel, in cooperation with EUROCERT, the Network completed the process of registering the Anti-bullying Certification Standard and organized an online event to present the Certification Standard and the ‘EANCert’ (European Antibullying Certification) Certification Logo in Greece.
18 members participated in the General Assembly meeting.
