Dear friends: This is my first posting, an invitation to participate in a Congress we are arraning in Barcelona next april. Hope you find it interesting and see some of you in Barcelona. Feel free to forward it. David Casacuberta Philosophy Dpt. Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona Transit Projectes ============================================================ Call for Papers First International Congress : E-Learning for Social Inclusion Barcelona: April 15-16 2004. Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona (CCCB) Transit Projectes (www.transit.es) E-Learning for E-Inclusion (www.el4ei.net) Introduction Our transition from an industrial society towards an informational one has clearly modified a series of social practices. Specific needs for the labour market, new forms of democratic participation, or access to education and culture are only three examples of how work, politics and education are changing due to the influence of ICT. These new possibilities also strengthen certain exclusion mechanisms, while creating new ones. This is why the term e-inclusion appeared, to describe all those practices which try to reduce digital divide and assure that information society, besides being economically profitable, includes the values of justice, equality and solidarity. On the 15th and 16th of April, Transit Projectes will try to gather in Barcelona all those people within the European Union which are investigating the social possibilities of ICT, inviting them to describe their methodologies and specific experiences, analysing them and assessing the existing actions and practices. At the same time, the two more relevant results form the project E-learning 4 E-inclusion (www.el4ei.net) will be presented: The European Charter for Social Inclusion using E-learning and a Digital Library specialized in social uses of e-learning. This European Project is leaded by Transit Projectes, and the consortium includes ten more partners from France, Greece, Italy, Holland and Spain Call for papers The steering committee invites both researchers in social sciences and humanities as well as active agents and organisations in digital inclusion to present research papers which analyse these phenomena, present case studies or good practices towards social inclusion by means of ICT. Papers will be published in a collective volume and the more relevant will be also selected to be presented in parallel sessions during the International Conference in Barcelona. People interested in this call can send their papers and proposals related to any of the following topics: 1. Social solutions to social problems Social practices define how technology is finally used, and not the opposite. If we want to have a really inclusive information society, we need to address the social problems that have turned people into digitally excluded, and not only consider the ones derived from lack of structure. 2. Community and awareness ITC offers us with social software which can be used in original ways to help real communities to expand their political, social and cultural horizons. Isolated communities can use digital technologies to be better known and respected among our society. 3. Towards the transparent computer Computers and software get more improvements and new features each year and therefore become more difficult to use. This may be fine for users that are familiar with ICT. However, it makes things worse every year for the digitally excluded, specially when elder people or handicapped are considered. We have to develop strategies and technologies to turn them more intuitive and easier to use. 4. Problem solving methodology for e-learning Because our target has specific needs, we need to avoid academicism, and to construct courses that are useful, practical, and motivational. This surely implies something that is usually neglected when thinking about e-learning strategies: the specific social and cultural context. A general course on how to use several graphic edition software is of little use, but a problem solving course on how to make flyers for clubs is both a good motivator and even a job opportunity for an unemployed young in a challenging neighbourhood. 5. Internet for everybody Software technologies are plastic enough to be adapted to any specific need an special collective may had. Unfortunately, very few companies, administrations or individuals use that characteristic. We need to raise awareness on that topic among software and hardware producers, web designers and educators. 6. Digital empowerment If we want an information society which is really inclusive, digital technologies should be presented with values embedded in them, as social instruments able to improve democratic participation and improvers of people s lives. In parallel, experts are invited to participate in the development of key conferences: half an hour speeches in which an expert reviews today situation related to the six key subjects we have selected for the conference, and indicates the more probable future development, plus the more desirable one. People interested should send a description of the main topics to be analysed in their speech plus a CV which stresses his/her experience in the subject. Finally, we are also interested in receiving workshop proposals, arranged as knowledge capsules of two and half hours in which an expert helped by one or two more experts- present a series of key knowledge for a team of social educators, pedagogues, and so on in order to organise e-learning systems based on the criteria defined in this conference. Those interested in organise a workshop should send a program indicate the topics plus a CV of the organisers. Transit Projectes (the organisation in charge of the Conference) will take care of travel and hotel expenses in Barcelona for the six speakers in charge of the six key conferences and the two or three people in charge of the workshops. However, the people whose papers have been accepted for the parallel sessions should pay for their travel and hotel expenses. Deadlines Key conference proposals and CV: January the 25th Workshop proposals and CV: February the 15th Abstract for parallel sessions: March the first Full articles to be published: March the 20th International conference: April the 15th and 16th Contact e-mail: coordination@el4ei.net Postal address: EL4EI International Congress Transit Projectes C. Bòria 17 Principal 08003 Barcelona Spain Phone: 0034 93 319 47 50 Fax: 0034 93 319 58 13 Languages: Spanish, Catalan and English Organising Committee David Casacuberta Trànsit Projectes/Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Barcelona) Joan Pedregosa ITD (Barcelona) George Soulos Wegre (Grecia) Pierre Carrolagi Greta du Vélay (Francia) Federica Collinetti A.Gio/Commune di Biella (Italia) Rosie Chaharlangy International Training Center for Women (Holanda) Who is Transit Projectes (www.transit.es) Transit brings together professionals from cultural and educational fields, placing them at the service of territorial development. We seek to provide the means and mechanisms by which educational and cultural projects are made accessible by all. In short, ours is a Public Vocation. We consider it necessary that the private and public sectors work together, in coordination with social initiatives. Towards this end, we pursue opportunities for such cooperation and consensus, developing strategies based on regional specifics. Our activity takes place in five basic areas: Training, ongoing education and the improvement of organisations Management of services and facilities Studies and projects Cultural events and programmes Design and communication We carry out projects throughout Spain, having offices in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Madrid. Furthermore, we have a broad network of associated organisations all over the country and engage in activities in the rest of Europe and Latin America.