Period: 05/2018 - 08/2019

Coordinators: Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School of Tallinn University (EE)

Partners: University of Tampere (FI), the Latvian Academy of Culture National Film School (LV), the Animation Workshop VIA University College (DK), Estonian Film Institute (EE), Estonian Film Museum (EE), Vilnius University (LT)

Media literacy in today's society is as important as ever. It is required by both the rapid development of technologies and their presence in our everyday life, as well as by the fact that with every new generation children get acquainted with media at an ever-younger age. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of a common understanding among educators about the importance of media literacy education and its use in the study process, especially in primary and secondary education. As with cultural education, media education should be integrated into the school curricula for children, in order to better familiarize them with the conditions, opportunities and challenges of the media-based world. This is also something that corresponds with the peculiarities of the perception of the world of young people nowadays.

Such an interdisciplinary approach in the formation of educational programmes is in line with the competency-based learning, which is being introduced in Latvia at the moment. Integration of media education into literature, history, or math, for example, can already be found in several education programmes in museums. Good examples are also found in the institutions of general education across countries of the Baltic Sea Region; however, as already mentioned before, many educators still lack the knowledge and motivation of using media into the content of their curricula. Similarly, there is a lack of a common overview of good practices that are already being implemented both within and across countries, which could inspire even more educators to take over the best examples. We are in need of a systematic approach that would bring together the teachers of the region together and develop a common approach to the introduction of media in educational programmes.

The international cooperation project 'Media Literacy, Reuse and Heritage in Education', is being implemented into two directions:

• Firstly, to identify good practices both of the integration of media literacy into the school curricula, as well as of the use of media as teaching method and a tool for learning different subjects and topics.
• Secondly, to create a collaborative network and a bridge between experts in the field of media communication and audiovisual arts and educators, who would transfer the skills and knowledge further to our children.

The long-term goal of the project is to enable as wide a circle of the educators of the region as possible to be acquainted with the knowledge acquired during the project on media literacy and the use of media in education and to provide the opportunity to use the material and methods for their own needs and at their own discretion.

The key event of the project is the practical research conference, which will take place in January 2019 in the Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School of Tallinn University. The conference will kick of its first day with creative workshops and demonstrations of the best practice examples in the use of media for educational purposes. The second day, however, will mainly focus on reflections and discussions on the results of the practical work during the first day, as well as on the importance of the professional development of contemporary educators.

The primary target audience of the conference are teachers, educators and creators of educational programmes from the countries of Baltic Sea Region, but mainly Estonia. The secondary target audience of the conference are experts in the fields of audiovisual art, cultural heritage, primary and secondary education and media communications, cultural and educational policy makers, as well as potential investors who would be willing to invest in the further development of the project. The conference will thus serve as meeting point for all the parties involved for exchanging experiences and for training each other in media literacy and the use of media for educational purposes.

The conference will result in the creation and distribution of informative material on the interdisciplinary approach to curriculum development, as well as the use of media as a teaching tool and method, which will also serve as the basis for the following creative workshops in the partner countries, starting from January 2019 until the end of June, thus strengthening the network of cooperation in the countries of the Baltic Sea Region.

For addition information about the project and conference: kristine.bramberga@lka.edu.lv