Within the framework of the international project NEWAVES, on 28 and 29 January 2025 in Bratislava, Slovakia, the Third Coordination Meeting of the representatives of the project partners (Portugal, North Macedonia, Slovakia and Croatia) was held.
The meeting was organized by the Slovak partner, the Aleksandar Dubček University of Trenčín and the Slovak Radio and Television. The NEWAVES project is a Joint Alliance for the support of local and regional radio stations and for the strengthening of community media in territories with low population density. It is funded by the European Commission’s Framework Programme for Culture and the Audiovisual Sector – Creative Europe Programme (CREA).
Eight partners are participating in the implementation of this project. Four higher education institutions and four media houses, one from each of the participating countries. The lead partner is the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (Portugal), and the other partners are Radio Altitude Guarda Sociedade de Comunicação Lda. (Portugal), Radio Kanal 77 DOOEL (North Macedonia), University “Goce Delchev” – Štip (North Macedonia), Trencianska Univerzita Alexandra Dubceka v Trencine (Slovakia), Slovenska televizia a rozhlas (Slovakia), Academy of Arts and Culture from Osijek and as an associated partner, Croatian Radio – Radio Osijek, both from Croatia. The project started in June 2023 and will be implemented over a period of 24 months.
The two-day coordination meeting brought together around twenty representatives from the partner institutions in the project. The meeting was opened by Roman Bombos, Deputy Director of Slovak Radio, Dr. Martin Šramka, Vice-Rector for Teaching and Education at the “Alexander Dubček” University in Trenčín and on behalf of the lead partner, the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, the attendees were welcomed by Professor Henderson V. Aguiar Engrasio (Portugal). The NEWAVES project is entering its final three months of implementation, and during these two days the participants reviewed the results achieved in the first 15 months, and agreed on the activities for the upcoming period related to the four work packages. These work packages include activities in the areas of Management and Governance (WP1), Development of a Digital Platform (WP2), Training Program for Radio Station Professionals (WP3), as well as a Plan for Communication and Dissemination of Knowledge about the Project Activities (WP4). On the second day of the Third Coordination Meeting, the participants took the opportunity to get acquainted with the premises and work of the Slovak Radio and Television.
The planning and development of the digital platform is one of the main pillars of the NEWAVES project. In this regard, the attendees adopted the information that the testing phase of the platform will end by February 7, 2025, and by that time frame, the project participants will have the opportunity to explore all parts of the platform, the posted materials, its structure, but also to give their opinion on its functionality. After the end of the test period, a trial period will follow. The platform is an instrument that provides radio stations with access to verified and quality information material, which will contain local content that is very rarely processed by national media.
At the coordination meeting, special attention was paid to work package three, in terms of completing the content of the training programs intended for employees of local and regional radio stations. For this purpose, a workshop was organized, from which conclusions emerged for improving the content offered by the e-courses:
- Digital skills
- Ethics and law
- Entrepreneurship and
- Marketing and communications.
It has been agreed that after receiving the final version of the courses, they will be translated into five languages (English, Portuguese, Slovak, Macedonian and Croatian). The translation should be completed by the end of April this year, after which the materials will be placed on the digital platform to serve all interested individuals who want to improve their knowledge and skills. Also, 24 employees of local and regional radio stations from the participating countries will participate in a one-week training process in the domain of the above. The training, as part of the Mobility Program, will take place in the first half of May 2025 in Osijek, Croatia. The Fourth and Fifth Working Meetings will be held at the same time, given the fact that the project is scheduled to end in June 2025.nauнаѕ
Translated by Google Translate
