ABOUT LEARN EUROPE

The Universitat de Lleida (University of Lleida, UdL) and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya [www.uoc.edu] (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) have joined forces to deliver this educational project whose goal is to promote the study of the European Union through the use of new technologies.

The UdL has participated in this project through its Department of Geography and Sociology. In 1997, this department embarked upon a line of research into the geography and history of Europe based on empirical data and cartography whose objective was to harness the full potential of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in order to perform a spatial analysis of Europe from the middle of the 19th century through to the present day. From the beginning of the project, this initiative received funding from: Spain’s Ministry of Education; the Catalan Science Agency (AGAUR and ICREA-Academia); various Jean Monnet projects (during the last few years); and a European Science Foundation Eurocores programme which, between 2007 and 2010, involved seven teams based in different countries working under the leadership of the UdL, with a budget of € 1.4 million. This scientific activity then led, in 2012, to an interest in disseminating this work within a wider educational context. Jean Monnet project funding offered a unique opportunity to turn this academic work into a series of pedagogical tools that would help students to understand Europe.

The UOC’s Department of Community Initiatives [icommunity.blogs.uoc.edu] has designed and developed the Learn Europe platform from the perspective of User Centred Design. It has contributed its experience to the creation, adaptation and transfer of usable, accessible and multi-device tools which can be used to promote both formal and informal learning and to foster a sense of belonging and proximity within virtual environments.

The UdL team that has helped to develop this website included:

  • Project Manager: Jordi Martí-Henneberg
  • Documentalist: Ignasi Seguí Arnau

Other collaborators involved with map making:

  • Alfons Aguilar
  • Mateu Morillas-Torné
  • Jordi Martin

The UOC’s Department of Community Initiatives has been helped by:

  • Designer: Miguel Mazarío
  • Webmaster: Gemma Pallàs