Fostering Collaboration and Inclusive Education: Insights from IES Los Molinos and WP1 Progress

On November 3rd, the team went through the following mobility and one activity:

• A visit to IES Los Molinos, a secondary school in Cartagena
• Work on the detailed report of Work Package 1, T 1.2

IES Los Molinos

Upon our visit to the IES Los Molinos Secondary School in Cartagena, we were witness to the inspiring work undertaken by the D G Makers, a collaborative initiative involving 17 primary and secondary schools dedicated to creating practical projects that contribute to societal welfare. The unit’s unique group methodology focuses on creation, training, project execution, and the sharing of solutions to address real-world challenges. The key highlight is the emphasis on collaboration among students from different institutions, fostering the development of soft skills and competencies.

Three-Stage Methodology:

D.G. Makers has developed a structured three-stage methodology to guide their projects:

• Contextualization:
  • Understand the problems and needs of target schools comprehensively.
  • School teachers and students visit target schools, laying the groundwork for context setting and problem identification.
• Develop and design:Develop and design:
  • Foster co-creation and co-design concepts through team collaboration.
  • Students work in teams, continuously seeking feedback during the development process to create practical solutions for identified problems.
• Develop and design:Sharing:
  • Disseminate technological solutions developed to the wider community.
  • Ongoing feedback is solicited during the implementation phase to ensure effectiveness and meet user needs.

Educational Services for Empowerment:

Targeted Programmes: Columbares offers targeted educational programmes for children between 6 and 18 years old in situations of poverty and social exclusion. These programmes include educational reinforcement, leisure activities, parent-school interactions, socio-educational care, and more.

Caixa Proinfancia: Through partnerships like Caixa Proinfancia, Columbares works towards providing a better life for children and adolescents in disadvantaged environments. This includes educational reinforcement, open centres, summer camps, family workshops, and psychological support.

Social Action and Community Engagement:

Focus on Vulnerable Cohorts: Columbares prioritises vulnerable cohorts, especially children, adolescents, and women. Their projects aim to improve the quality of life for these groups through education, training, health, and social inclusion initiatives.

Social Aid Programmes: Collaborating with entities like Fundación Iberdrola España, Columbares engages in social aid programmes that focus on education, training, and improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Initiatives by D. G. Makers:

• TEACCH Boxes: (TEACCH: Treatment and Education of Autistic and related CommunicatioRelatedned Children)
• Autonomous materials are designed for independent student work.
• Harness applications to facilitate product creation

Following the mobility, our teams worked towards the completion of the various reports as part of Work Package 1 (WP1). The Ganpat University team worked on completing the report for T1.2, the Indian perspective on inclusive and equitable higher education. Multiple chapters were finalised in the first final draft, which included secondary data as well as the data analysed from the surveys conducted for HEIs, teachers, and students.