COFACE Families Europe

Incluso - A training and resource centre for professional staff in non-formal education
2022-03-22 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Brussels)
Download the presentation slides of this webinar here.
Date
22nd March 2022 from 9.30-11.00 CET
Title
Incluso – A training and resource centre for professional staff in non-formal education
Speaker
Carole Greiveldinger, Incluso Programme Coordinator. APEMH, Luxembourg.
Description
The Incluso resource centre in Luxembourg offers advice and support on inclusion to non-formal education professionals and parents, as well as to anyone interested in the subject, in order to promote and develop inclusive early childhood education and child care services. The UNCRPD principles are fully embedded in Incluso’s everyday work in so far as they consider them to be universal pedagogical/educational principles for professionals when working with children/families (with or without disabilities). Hence, they are fully integrated in the wide range of services they offer such as trainings, workshops, evaluations, coaching, meeting spaces.
The goal of Incluso is to encourage the development of inclusive approaches and practices to increase the number of childcare services implementing such an approach. It aims to raise awareness of education professionals about the subject of including children with special needs in mainstream childcare services, supporting them in working out projects for children with special needs, and finally developing the professional skills of childcare providers to meet the individual needs of every child (with or without disabilities) in an inclusive setting. The UNCRPD is one of the guiding documents for these trainings. For Incluso, the basic principles of an inclusive approach to education are the following: the child as actor of their own competences, the environment adapting to the needs of the child, and finally equality of opportunity and equity of means, in line with the objectives of the UNCRPD as specified in the General Comment number 4.
More information
Incluso webpage
Download the presentation slides of this webinar here.
_______________________
After a great year 2021 connecting with the COFACE Family Lab community through regular breakfast byte webinars looking at different types of supports to families (a support service, a campaign, a policy, a project, and more) we launched a new breakfast byte series again in 2022.
It again focuses on diverse types of family supports across the EU, including campaigns on inclusive education, cross-border recognition of familial ties, family leadership for an inclusive life, employment supports to adults with disabilities, tips for child safety in the home, training of non-formal education staff for working with children with and without special needs, building energy systems which put families before profits and more.
With these breakfast bytes, we aim to increase critical thinking and understanding of family support systems. The target group of the webinars is especially professionals working with families and children but is open to all (researchers, policy-makers, teachers, health workers, families, and more). It is more important than ever to connect professionals through transnational exchanges in order to tackle the social impacts of COVID-19 on families and children.
Did you miss our breakfast Bytes series or you would like to re-watch it? You can find it on COFACE TV, our Youtube channel.

European expert meeting: The position of larger families with children in society. Strengths and barriers
2022-03-15 | Ljubljana, Slovenia
Using the COFACE Child Compass as a starting point, this European expert meeting focused on the features of large families and the challenges they experience in Europe today, taking stock of the situation in different countries and collecting good practices. The reflections were based on the premise that all children must have equal opportunities and be treated equally regardless of their family settings, and modern 21st-century family support systems should be able to factor in this diversity of needs without discrimination. This European expert meeting was held in hybrid format (offline/online) for COFACE members, local participants in Slovenia, and EU stakeholders working on similar goals.
The objectives of this expert meeting

Connect the Slovenian and European realities on families;
Build on the findings of the 2020 COFACE expert meeting on single parent families and large families;
Collection of information on changing patterns in large families of today, including blended and recomposed families;
Consulting national/regional/local level of the civil society on innovative practices in supports to large families;
Encourage knowledge transfer across EU countries on promoting the rights of families and children;
Develop common actions and positions, to mainstream the family perspective in EU policy discussions on the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, the EU child guarantee, the transposition of the EU Work-life balance directive, the EU Child Rights strategy and more.

About the hosts
COFACE Families Europe is a European civil society network representing families (all types, without discrimination), through its 50+ organisations across 23 countries, shaping EU policy and legislation which impacts families: www.coface-eu.org. We monitor a wide range of policies which impact the lives of families and children including worklife balance, disability, education, consumer policy, migration and digitalisation.
The Family Initiative is an association for a family-friendly society that connects primarily parents and other people who consider for family’s needs. We have combined knowledge and influence since 1998 to make Slovenia as family-friendly state. We monitor what the government does or not in the field of family policy and inform the wider community about families and their needs. We also work with government to improve family policy on national level. The Family Initiative is a full member of COFACE.
Programme
Check out the full programme in English
Working languages
English and Slovenian
Meeting report
Key reflections and findings
Presentations
Interrelated well-being of children and their families by Dominic Richardson, Chief, Social and Economic policy, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti
Families with more children in the education system by Anton Meden PhD, a father of five and former president of Association of Parents’ Council Working Groups of Slovenia, Slovenia
Family-friendly policies in Trentino by Luciano Mafer, Director, Agenzia per la Famiglia, Tento, Italy
Large families: demographic relevance and targeted measures by Balázs Molnár, Vice-President of Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families, Hungary

#FacturasImposibles - A campaign calling for an energy system that puts families before profit
2022-02-15 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Brussels)
Download the presentation slides of this webinar here.
Date
15th February 2022 from 9.30-11.00 CET
Title
#FacturasImposibles : A campaign calling for an energy system that puts families before profit
Speakers
Daniel Alvarez, Projects manager. Isadora Duncan, Spain.
Kieran Pradeep, Climate Justice and Energy Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe.
Description
This breakfast byte will focus on a campaign of Isadora Duncan which highlights how rising energy prices are affecting families in Spain and across Europe, and the need to launch public debates on access to energy as a basic citizenship right. Their campaign #FacturasImposibles puts the focus on the over-indebtedness challenges generated by the “bono social” in Spain, a social discount for energy provision provided by the Government which is flawed in its design. Isadora Duncan calls for families to participate more actively in shaping the policy tools that prevent or tackle energy poverty. A representative from the Right To Energy Coalition will respond to this campaign highlighting actions which can be taken at EU level to address this and related challenges.
More information
It’s impossible – Family Management (gestionfamiliar.es)
El impacto de la subida de la luz en los hogares vulnerables – EPIU (getafe.es)
Right to Energy Coalition | Take Action to End Energy Poverty in Europe

_______________________
After a great year 2021 connecting with the COFACE Family Lab community through regular breakfast byte webinars looking at different types of supports to families (a support service, a campaign, a policy, a project, and more) we launched a new breakfast byte series again in 2022.
It again focuses on diverse types of family supports across the EU, including campaigns on inclusive education, cross-border recognition of familial ties, family leadership for an inclusive life, employment supports to adults with disabilities, tips for child safety in the home, training of non-formal education staff for working with children with and without special needs, building energy systems which put families before profits and more.
With these breakfast bytes, we aim to increase critical thinking and understanding of family support systems. The target group of the webinars is especially professionals working with families and children but is open to all (researchers, policy-makers, teachers, health workers, families, and more). It is more important than ever to connect professionals through transnational exchanges in order to tackle the social impacts of COVID-19 on families and children.
Did you miss our breakfast Bytes series or you would like to re-watch it? You can find it on COFACE TV, our Youtube channel.
Download the presentation slides of this webinar here.

A Closer Look at Single Parenting – every day challenges and solutions
2022-01-25 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Brussels)
Date
Tuesday 25th January 2022 from 9.30-11.00 CET.
Title
A Closer Look at Single Parenting – every day challenges and solutions.
Speaker
The online talk will be given by Anna Nagy, Single Parents’ Centre, chairperson of the board.
Description
This breakfast byte will start by addressing key questions in relation to single parenting namely the main challenges when raising a child on your own; what are the areas in parents’ and children’s life influenced by living with only one parent; and what are the main sources of conflict in single parent families.
This will be followed by a presentation of different ways to help these families, the kind of programmes run by the Single Parents Centre in Budapest providing a wide range of supports (eg single parent clubs, digital parenting, summer camps for children, respite services, support for single fathers and more).
Whether you are a parent or professional, join us for this deep dive into the world of single parenting with a specific focus on Hungary.
For further information visit https://www.egyszulo.hu/english

_______________________
After a great year 2021 connecting with the COFACE Family Lab community through regular breakfast byte webinars looking at different types of supports to families (a support service, a campaign, a policy, a project, and more) we launched a new breakfast byte series again in 2022.
It again focuses on diverse types of family supports across the EU, including campaigns on inclusive education, cross-border recognition of familial ties, family leadership for an inclusive life, employment supports to adults with disabilities, tips for child safety in the home, training of non-formal education staff for working with children with and without special needs, building energy systems which put families before profits and more.
With these breakfast bytes, we aim to increase critical thinking and understanding of family support systems. The target group of the webinars is especially professionals working with families and children but is open to all (researchers, policy-makers, teachers, health workers, families, and more). It is more important than ever to connect professionals through transnational exchanges in order to tackle the social impacts of COVID-19 on families and children.
Did you miss our breakfast Bytes series or you would like to re-watch it? You can find it on COFACE TV, our Youtube channel.

Family mediation: addressing conflicts between parents and children in adolescence
2021-12-14 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Helsinki)
Speaker
By Gregorio Gullón, Mediator and Family and Couple Therapist. Expert in Psychological Disorders in Children and Adolescents.
Working language
English
Description
Adolescence in children can be a time of crisis in the family. They get stuck in their life cycle, and it is important that we professionals can help them grow. At UNAF we know that there is a relationship between the behaviours presented by adolescents and the particular modes of communication and family relations. The mediation professional will try to help family members to modify these communication models in order to unblock their difficulties and achieve a relationship that allows them to grow as individuals and as a system. At present we are faced with new realities that generate situations of great vulnerability in the family, such as the reunification of minors with their migrant families after years of separation, adopted minors who, on reaching adolescence, present difficulties in their process of individuation and construction of identity, adolescents coming from difficult divorces, or trapped and triangulated in marital difficulties with their parents…which all require specific interventions. Moreover, we understand that new forms of intervention are necessary, where the training of the family members is the main resource on which we, the professionals of family intervention, can count on.
In this same line, mediation will allow parents to move away from inherited, rigid educational patterns that will not allow them to adapt to the needs and uniqueness of their children, providing a regulatory and validating environment. The SMFHA (Mediation Service for Families with Adolescent Children) will try to help parents to be containers of their children’s emotions, to generate validating environments, encouraging appropriate responses. In our presentation we will talk about the model of intervention carried out by SMFHA, which is a model of systemic mediation with the whole family group, understanding the behaviour of the adolescent as a symptom of difficulty in the family. Our work follows an epigenetic model, focusing on reconstructing a belonging, a healthy dependence of the adolescent on his significant figures in the family, which generates safe attachment models so necessary at this time in the life cycle of the adolescent and the family. We are backed by a history of 15 years and more than 700 families served.
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More information about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.

Parent-child relationships in the digital era
2021-11-22 | Online
This policy and advocacy session took place online with 70 stakeholders present from a variety of backgrounds (children, parents, family professionals, teachers, ICT industry, researchers, national and EU policy-makers and more) from 29 countries. A couple of key topics were discussed with key messages and recommendations emerging, providing some of the latest research and listening to the opinions of children, families and professionals, on challenges and solutions.

Policy and advocacy session on parent-child relationships in the digital era

22nd November 2022 – 14.00-16.15 CET
Full programme
The role of families in supporting and guiding children in the realisation of their rights and in harnessing the opportunities of the digital environment will be the focus of the online COFACE policy and advocacy session on 22nd November 2021 for World Children’s Day.
Participants and objectives of the online session
We are delighted to welcome speakers from the Horizon 2020 research project DigiGen and Better Internet for Kids Youth ambassadors for this online session, together with key stakeholders for the discussion including COFACE members, researchers, policy-makers, NGOs, children, families and any stakeholders interested in the impact of digital transformations on parent-child relations. The objectives of the session are multiple:

Consult a wide range of stakeholders on ICT and the impact on family life about key measures needed to support parent-child relationships in the digital era;
Encourage knowledge transfer across EU countries on the impact of digitalisation on family life;
Present results of the DigiGen Horizon2020 research on the impact of digital transformations and families;
Promote lifelong learning, to keep up with the rapid changes that digital technology is bringing to the world;
Ensure child rights are respected in the online world, with a focus on building a safer internet and online participation.

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ICT use and its impact on family life
The parent-child relationship has changed significantly in the last two decades with the advent of the digital age, even more since the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, and the general perception is that technology has caused a deterioration of family relations. But fresh evidence from European research shows that the picture is more nuanced. A recently published DigiGen review indicates that the ways families engage with digital technologies are complex and have varying effects. On the one hand, ICT offers unique opportunities for all family members. On the other hand, children – and adults – face online risks and challenges. It shows that the ways families engage with digital technologies are complex.
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Background and EU context
A year ago, COFACE Families Europe adopted its Child Compass 2030: For a Europe which invests in shaping a healthy society, environment, and economy fit for children. It is a comprehensive, integrated, and long-term strategy to develop appropriate 21st-century policies to support both children and their families. The Compass offers a conceptual framework situating the child and their family at the core of a system with 5 priorities and interlinked spheres of influence on individual child and family health and well-being: Education, Community, Digital Technology, Economy, and Environment. Since then, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has adopted general comment 25 on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment and the European Commission has published an EU strategy on the Rights of the Child which covers many of the dimensions covered in the Compass, including strong recommendations on tackling child rights in the digital environment. Additionally, the European Commission’s Strategy for a Better Internet for Children is currently under revision, and will contribute to set new ambitious goals, covering emerging digital technologies. Finally, the European Pillar of Social Rights is addressing the digital divide and inequalities in access to digital hardware and services.
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Photo: ©Fertnig via Canva.com

Discover the world through the eyes of a child at the House of Giants in Brussels
2021-11-10 - 2021-11-20 | Brussels, Belgium
Imagine walking through a giant-sized house, each object has been tripled in size, allowing you to see it through the eyes of a child aged 0 to 5. As you walk through the rooms, you discover the risks and the best ways to prevent accidents for your own children. That’s what the House of Giants is all about and much more!
COFACE Families Europe is supporting the Brussels opening of this immersive exhibition on the 10th of November which aims to bring awareness to the importance of safety for children in the household.
Inside the House of Giants, parents are put at their child’s height and invited to wander through the different rooms where all the volumes have tripled in size. The public is thus playfully invited to climb on the toilet, to carry a frying pan, to grasp a false knife, etc.
The House of Giants will take place in Brussels from 10 to 20 November 2021 at Basilique Koekelberg (more here in Dutch and French).
Book your spot here for the opening on 10th November at 9.30am (see the full programme).

Building peer support to family carers of persons with disabilities
2021-10-12 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Date
Tuesday 12th October 2021, 9.30-11.00 CET
Speaker
By Chantal Bruno, co-president of COFACE Disability and member of the RePairs Aidants Steering group
Marielle Rolinat, mother and caregiver of a child with multiple disabilities, and peer-trainer for RePairs Aidants
Working language
English, French
Description
Several million family caregivers regularly help, by default or by choice, one or more people around them for health or disability reasons. This help/support may be provided on a permanent or temporary basis and may take various forms, including care, educational and social support, administrative formalities, travel, coordination, psychological support or domestic activities.
Since 2017, APF France handicap has been offering an awareness-raising/training action called “RePairs Aidants” so that these caregivers are supported in their need for information and sharing, but also so that they know how to take care of themselves.
“RePairs Aidants” has the particularity of relying on caregivers from its conception and in its management. In the same way, it is carried out by caregivers, called “peer trainers” and professionals, called “pro trainers”. Once trained, they work in pairs with groups of family caregivers on one or more of the 10 proposed themes.
1,321 family carers have already benefited from these awareness/training sessions free of charge throughout France.

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More information about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.
Missed it? You can watch the talks of the 2021 Breakfast bytes on our COFACE TV.

Family Group conferencing – a right and opportunity for every person and every family”
2021-09-14 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Date
Tuesday 14th September 2021, 9.30-11.00 CET
Speaker
By Maria Petkova is an executive director of Tulip Foundation since its establishment in 2004, and trainer on the Rights of the child and Family Group Conferencing.
Working language
English
Description
Each family is unique with its own culture, personalities, history. Each family has its happy moments and difficult times. Families are usually able to cope with various problems with children, young people, and parents by themselves. The family is a natural protective system. Humans need to be part of group / community, in which they receive support and contribute while having control on their lives. There are also cases when professional help from institutions or services is necessary.
Family group conferencing makes the bridge. It is a way to find solutions to various problems as children, parents, members of the extended family, friends come together to make a plan. It allows people to restore and strengthen relationships and build practical support schemes for their children, parents, communities. The problems could be related to health, poverty, unemployment, child care, social exclusion, relations, racism, domestic violence, education, crime, mental health, care for older people etc. Tulip Foundation introduced the approach in Bulgaria a few years ago. The presentation includes the principles and the practice of Family group conferencing, the fields of life in which it is used as a powerful tool in prevention, early / crisis intervention and the effects on children and families. It is rights based model in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
More Information: www.tulipfoundation.net
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More information about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.

How babies influence the boardroom: supporting both parents and their employers with maternal & paternal wellbeing at work
2021-06-15 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Date
Tuesday 15th June 2021, 9.30-11.00 CET
Speaker
By Joyce Knappe, CEO Managing Director Pro Parents, Parent & Family Therapist & Organizational Anthropologist, The Netherlands
Working language
English
Description
“No one has ever asked me if I was comfortable being a full-time breadwinner and the fact that I was missing important milestones in my children’s lives. The fact that the new generation of men is no longer willing to sacrifice… committed themselves to being present in their children’s emotional space, next to their wives – is basically fantastic”.
Organizations & society need to press the ‘refresh’ button on Gender Equality. Women don’t need fixing. Men don’t need blaming. Empowering women is not about excluding men. It is about a life well lived. Both genders suffer from ‘the pressure to be it all’, especially the ambivalent relationship dads may feel between childcare duties and societal views of masculinity. Fathers increasingly want to be part of their children’s ’emotional space’ and this actually brings them a healthy partner- relationship and a life well lived.
This webinar will talk about supports to both parents and their employers with maternal & paternal wellbeing at work.
More here: www.proparents.nl
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More here about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.

Housing and other connected support for single mothers
2021-05-18 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Date
Tuesday 18th May 2021, 9.30-11.00 CET
Speaker
By Michaela Marksova, Consultant, Women for Women
Working language
English
Description
In case of Czech Republic, there is no system of public housing for single parents and their children (and no system of public housing in general, only system of social benefits some of which are used for rents). One of the challenges is, that for renting an accommodation on the market you have to pay caution for 3 months’ rent, which the single families cannot afford.
Women for Women is a private organisation focused on single families. One of its project is to help single parents with accommodation. In many cases it is sufficient to pay the caution and then single families can already live without further support. Some of the families, however, can also be offered free one-year-accommodation. For single parents, who struggle with other issues (domestic violence or finding a job), W4W also offer help in a complex programme including psychotherapy and training for job skills. To take part in the therapy and training is a condition to get the yearly free accommodation.
So far the website https://women-for-women.cz/ is only in Czech language.

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More information about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.
Missed it? You can watch the talks of the 2021 Breakfast bytes on our COFACE TV.

S.H.I.F.T.: JOIN our online session on the transition towards meaningful inclusion in Europe
2021-05-11 14:00 - 16:15 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
From words to actions – shedding light on the S.H.I.F.T. towards meaningful inclusion in Europe

11th May 2021
14.00-16.15 CET
Online
The S.H.I.F.T. guide for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their families, adopted end 2019 by COFACE, was the result of a long co-production work with the COFACE Disability Platform for the rights of persons with disabilities, their families and their carers.
It is composed of 5 objectives, 15 tools, and 45 actions in the areas of Support, Human rights, Independence, Families and society Transition to achieve meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities and their families.
We are keen to bring S.H.I.F.T to the next level, to reflect on the framework and to launch of a European collection of good practices. The shift towards inclusive societies for persons with disabilities, their families and their carers, is not a dream, but happening already in many countries and communities across Europe. With the recent adoption of the 2021-2030 European Disability Rights Strategy, the EU commits to fulfill the promises of the UNCRPD, COFACE wants to show how our guide S.H.I.F.T. can be used to advance this agenda and how actors all over Europe are already putting S.H.I.F.T. into practice for the meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities, their families and carers.
With this webinar on 11th May with COFACE Disability and COFACE members, partners and friends, we aim to unlock the potential of our guide S.H.I.F.T. to:

Trigger the meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities, their families and their carers, all over Europe.
To launch a European collection of existing S.H.I.F.T. good practices.

Join us to learn more about S.H.I.F.T., hear reactions from key stakeholders, and help promote a whole society approach to inclusion of persons with disabilities, their families and their carers.
The S.H.I.F.T. guide is available here: EN FR PT ES IT
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Working languages: English and French
Closed captions available in English.
Programme
14.00-14.05 Video message by Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner For Equality
14.05-14.15 Welcome – by Chantal Bruno, COFACE Disability Platform Co-Chair
14.15.-14.35 Presentation of S.H.I.F.T by Camille Roux, COFACE Policy and Advocacy Officer
14.35-15.35 Debate based on one key question: How can we drive the S.H.I.F.T towards the meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities, their families and their carers?

Gerard Quinn, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
Florence Jablonski, NousAussi, France
Robert-Jan Uhl, Policy Analyst, Institutional Cooperation and Networks Unit, Fundamental Rights Agency
Ulrike Neufang, Vice-chair of the EU Social Protection Committee

15.35-16.00 Q&A with audience
16.00-16.15 #BeTheShift: Launch of European collection of good practices. – by Annemie Drieskens, COFACE President
Download programme

Follow our speakers:
https://twitter.com/helenadalli
https://twitter.com/SR_Disability
https://twitter.com/EURightsAgency
https://twitter.com/aussi_nous
https://twitter.com/apfhandicap

Webinar: Unlocking new economic thinking for a sustainable future
2021-04-21 09:00 - 16:30 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
This conference will be held online for COFACE members and EU stakeholders on building a caring economy which works for families and children, especially important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic during which families acted as the main social safety net. We will start with a reality-check of the new needs of families of today in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, followed by a discussion on the social and environmental sustainability of the current economic system, and try to trigger actions to sustainably reduce social inequalities, building an economy that works for society.
Taking a holistic economic and societal approach, using the Doughnut economics model as a starting point, we will look at three key dimensions of the economy: households, the market, and the State. The discussions and proposals will serve to build key COFACE recommendations for EU and national policy-makers to unlock new thinking for a more social, environmental and economic future.
Register
Register here to receive your individual zoom link.
The working languages will be English (with EN-FR translation for session 3).
Programme
09.00-9.30 Welcome address & Presentation of COFACE-Families Europe’s work in the field of economics
9:30-11:00 Session 1: Households: family associations’ role and perspective in the aftermath of COVID-19
11:30-13:00 Session 2: Market: making the economic environment more sustainable
14:00-15:30 Session 3: State and local administrations: Policy leadership of public administration in reducing inequalities
15:30-16:00 Conclusions and recommendations
16:00-16:30 The world in 2042: an inspirational tale from the future
Download full programme
Follow our speakers:
https://twitter.com/isadoraduncan
https://twitter.com/proparentsnl
https://twitter.com/JoyceKnappe
https://twitter.com/forfinancewatch
https://twitter.com/Green_Europe
https://twitter.com/Youth_Forum
https://twitter.com/DeSchutterO
https://twitter.com/mirzhadma
https://twitter.com/barbaratrachte

https://twitter.com/KatyWieese

How to build parents’ communication skills with children, so as to prevent and combat bullying behaviours
2021-04-13 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Date
Tuesday 13th April 2021, 9.30-11.00 CET
Speaker
By Dr Antonia Torrens – Educational psychologist – Creator of the Live Without Project in Greece and responsible for its management and running
Working language
English
Description
There is extensive literature showing the great influence of parental involvement not only on children’s educational attainment, but also in the modes of behavior that children develop with peers and other persons. In this first webinar which is addressed to professionals working with parents, we are going to discuss how parents can recognize the signs of bullying and ways through which parents respond to bullying so as to help their child face it, or even better prevent it when possible.
The webinar is divided in 5 sections. The first section is about helping professionals understand what exactly is bullying and the importance of not confusing it with teasing and mockery, as well as about the characteristics of a bullying behavior. The second section aims to help parents understand how to react when they realize that their child is involved in incidents of bullying. The third section refers to the significance of parental behaviors so as to raise the self-esteem of their children so as to react against bullying in an appropriate/suggested way. The fourth section is about how parents can better communicate and collaborate better with the school so as to help their child overcome the difficulties they face. The fifth and last section aims to encourage parents of children who exercise bullying on others, not to be afraid to talk to a specialist and receive help, so as to become able in turn to help their child understand the reasons for not doing so.
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More information about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.
Missed it? You can watch the talks of the 2021 Breakfast bytes on our COFACE TV.

Looking beyond COVID-19 – Strengthening the role of Family Support Services
2021-03-30 15:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Launch of OECD study – Looking beyond COVID-19: Strengthening the role of Family Support Services
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for many families: in addition to health and economic issues, policy measures such as lockdowns, school closures and teleworking from home out considerable stress on families. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted immediate needs such as regarding financial resources or education supports for many vulnerable families who are likely to be most affected by the long-term economic, educational, health, and well-being consequences of the pandemic and Family services can play a key role in helping families cope with this situation. In that sense, the pandemic underscores previously existing challenges for family support services as identified in the new OECD study on Family Support Services across the OECD.
This 2-hour webinar launched a new OECD study on family supports, presenting the overall conclusions of the study, and inviting reactions from different world regions. Participants from across Europe and beyond are invited to tune in and reflect together on how to operationalise the findings to boost the effectiveness of two-generation family support services.
This report is useful for policy-makers, family professionals and researchers from OECD countries and beyond.
The working languages: English&Spanish.
Programme: EN/ES
Programme
15.00-15.10 Welcome by the moderator Monika Queisser, Head of Social Policy, OECD
15.10-15.30 Presentation of the OECD study findingsOlivier Thévenon, OECD
15.30-16.15 ReactionsAndrea Torres, Programme Director, Bernard Van Leer FoundationPetra Mackroth, Director, Ministry for social and family affairs, GermanyDr Alina Turner, Co-President at HelpSeeker, and Fellow at the School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, Canada.
16.15-16.45 Q&A with participants
16.45-17.00 Closing and next stepsCOFACE President, Annemie Drieskens

Loving long-distance
2021-03-16 09:30 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Date
Tuesday 16th March 2021, 9.30-11.00 CET
Speaker
By Heli Vaaranen, Ph.D.in social sciences, psychotherapist, divorce mediator. Vaestoliitto, Finland
Working language
English
Description
Long-distance relationships have been growing in numbers for the past decades. Your loved one may not live in the same district, city or even country as you. What to do then? Research tells us that long-distance couples are great communicators, because they have to be. At the same time, they suffer from seeing each other too seldom, always waiting for and missing the other. They lack closeness and ordinary life as a couple, whilst living a more romantic life than the average couple – every time they meet it may be like a romantic dream. Couples suffer also from arguing. There are difficult things to solve, for example where to live once we move in together? Long distance couples suffer also from the major difficulty of fitting together two very different lives, and from the disappointment that after all, the romantic partner is not what you expected.
The Family Federation of Finland has gathered together useful research, free of charge on-line therapy sessions and information services, such as podcasts, about the challenges of long distance relationships. Unfortunately, this material exists so far only in Finnish. This webinar includes a description of these services and our experiences with long distance couples’ reality in the times of the pandemic, as well as an overlook into the long distance couple relationships today.
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More information about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.
Missed it? You can watch the talks of the 2021 Breakfast bytes on our COFACE TV.

Policy & advocacy session on gender inequalities in care and pay in the EU
2021-03-09 | Online
International Women’s Day 2021
This Policy and Advocacy session on gender inequalities in care and pay on 9th March organised by COFACE Families Europe came in a crucial moment of social developments within the EU. The Study Session immediately followed the International Women’s Day (8th March), came after a year of the adoption of the European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy (GES), a few months after the EPSCO Council conclusions adopted under the German Presidency of the EU with guidelines aiming at closing the care gap and the European Parliament voted its own report on the GES, and finally in the middle of the transposition of the EU Work-life balance directive adopted in 2019.
Different reports have stated that during the pandemic of Covid-19 the gender care gap is on the increase, with women taking up a disproportionate share of additional household and caring tasks, despite the fact that many men have been teleworking as well.
The study session therefore gathered different stakeholders (researchers, policy makers, civil organisations) to analyse how to tackle different gender gaps (care and pay), exchange good practices and challenges, and how to build bridges within the different stakeholders involved.
Our family of Emperor Penguins accompanied us throughout this Study Session. The Emperor Penguin is a perfect example that nature provides us of gender equality and co-responsibility. The Emperor Penguin tackles too the stereotypical vision of “traditional” and old-fashioned distributions of roles, where women are caregivers and men are the breadwinners, just as COFACE Families Europe has always been promoting.

PROGRAMME
9th March 2021, from 9.15-11.15 CET online
9.00-9.15 Virtual coffee
09.15-9.30 Welcome
Annemie Drieskens, President of COFACE Families Europe (speech)
9.30-10.00 Gender inequalities in care and its consequences on the labour market: state of play (full presentation)

Speaker: Blandine Mollard, Researcher, European Institute for Gender Equality.
10.00-10.20 German Presidency Council Conclusions on tackling the gender pay gap: Valuation and Distribution of Paid Work and Unpaid Care Work (full presentation)

Speaker: Thomas Fischer, Head of the Labour Market Unit in the Gender Equality Directorate of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Germany
10.20-11.00 Exchange with key stakeholders
Taking the two keynote presentations as a starting point, we will focus on the following key questions for discussion (with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in mind):

What are the main reasons for the predominant sharing patterns and the links between the gender care gap and the gender pay gap?
Why is a more equal sharing of care responsibilities important, and what are key recommendations for closing the gender care gap?
How to make real a greater involvement of men in divisions of work and care at home?
How to use the research to build policies and campaigns?

11.00-11.15 Conclusions and next steps
Pascual Martinez, COFACE Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer

Participants:
COFACE family organisations, EU Work-life balance alliance, Violence against women coalition, EU and national policy-makers, researchers.
Working language:
English
Objectives of the session
-Connect research, policy and practice of organisations working on gender equality from different perspectives.
-Consider ways to strengthen advocacy and policy to close the gender care gap.
Programme here
Key findings here

2021 Communication Seminar: Diverse representation
2021-02-25 | Online
Diverse representation in Communication
– COFACE EXPERT SEMINAR – co-hosted by COFACE and UNAF Spain
Background
The images and photos of people in any communication campaign or media affects how people think about the world, however photos barely represent the whole range of diversity in society. We don’t want this limit us and continue to ensure an adequate representation of society in our in our member’s outputs. In order to support the campaigns of COFACE and its national members, we would like to collect photos representing families in all their diversity with different colours, abilities and family types.
Societal diversity should not only be transmitted through visual materials but also through language as language similarly forms our image of society. With our members we would like to reflect on the barriers of languages as well as discuss existing and new strategies. Together with an external trainer, we will look at how to best craft message and create storytelling keeping the focus of diverse representation in mind.
Objectives of the webinar

Exchanges on different national campaigns, with a focus on Spain, to encourage learning between COFACE members on national campaigning
Discussion on coordinated European campaigns and projects, taking diversity (family, ethnic, disability) as a starting point, bringing members together around common projects.
Train experts in crafting messages and storytelling

Language of the meeting
English
Status
For COFACE and UNAF members only.
Programme

Morning: Virtual study visit of UNAF Spain
1.Introduction to UNAF: vision, goals, actions
UNAF is a pioneering NGO in Spain working to improve the rights and wellbeing of diverse families. During our more than 30 years of experience, we have promoted the visibility and rights of all types of families in Spain.
Click here for the Presentation.
2.UNAF Media education on female genital mutilation
Communication is key to achieve our goals, but it is also a very important tool that NGOs have to change people’s perceptions and attitudes. UNAF runs a campaign aimed at media professionals, with the objective to show them how to use language and images when they refer to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), in order to empower women survivors, and not stigmatize them or other migrants. Click here for the Presentation.
3.Diverse forms of communication: spotlight on sign language
Deaf people are a diverse collective, and CNSE took us through how they address this in all their communications, with practical examples of campaigns and activities, including some they carried out during the pandemic. Click here for Presentation 1 and Click here for Presentation 2.
Afternoon: Focus on Europe
Working together for more diverse representation in communications
Introduction to the idea of building an online bank of stock images to be used in communication tools (newsletter, webpages, social media, videos, etc) which represent the full diversity of society, as well as discussing diverse language is messaging and storytelling. Click here for the Presentation.

The Flemish SafeOnline Initiative: How to deal with digital media in your family
2021-02-16 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Date
Tuesday 16th February 2021, 9.30-11.00 CET
Speakers
Michael Op de Beeck (educational scientist) and Astrid Van Roy (education scientist), Gezinsbond, Belgium
Working language
English
Description
The Flemish SafeOnline Initiative (a joint initiative of Gezinsbond + Child Focus) organises trainings for parents, focusing on media-education. The training offer consists of five different modules regarding five topics: ‘Social media’, ‘Gaming’, ‘Internet and privacy’, ‘Cyberbullying’ and ‘Online relationships and sexuality’. In each programme, testimonials from youths, parents and experts are the central point. Via a quiz and a game of propositions, the participants are invited to think along and share experiences. Through all of that, they receive a lot of concrete, educational tips. With 200 trainings per year, the programme is very successful. Since 2020, an Erasmus Plus project is aimed at developing similar training sessions several European counties.
Flemish website with compete training modules: www.veiligonline.be
Project website about the Erasmus Plus project: https://europeansafeonline.eu (available in different languages)
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More here about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.
Missed it? You can watch the talks of the 2021 Breakfast bytes on our COFACE TV.

Building an online platform to engage with teenage parents: challenges and successes
2021-01-19 09:30 - 11:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Date
Tuesday 19th January 2021, 9.30-11.00 CET
Speaker
Silvija Stanić, psychologist, psychotherapist, child rights specialist. Parents Association Step by Step, Croatia
Working language
English
Description
Teenage pregnancies are mostly unplanned and associated with a number of risk factors such as early sexual initiation, accidental sexual contact, changing sexual partners, and inconsistent use of protection. According to data for 2019, Croatia records a rate of 8.7 / 1000 girls aged 15 to 19, which corresponds to the European Union average (8.9 / 1000) (World Bank, 2019). Teenage pregnancies and parenting are also associated with numerous health and social risks, both for teenage parents and for their children. Pregnancy and childbirth abruptly change the normal lives of teenagers, confronting them with a range of problems, from rejection in the family, dropping out of school, leaving a partner, to difficulty adjusting and accepting their new life role – the role of parents.
Through different activities, Parents Association Step by Step is preventing risky sexual behavior among young people, providing psychosocial assistance, and supporting teenage pregnant girls, parents and their families. Information, education and counseling seek to reduce the vulnerability of teenage pregnant women and parents, and empower them to take an active and responsible parental role.
The online platform MALOLJETNI-RODITELJI.NET is the first and only platform in the Republic of Croatia intended for teenage parents and young people at risk, which brings informative and educational interactive content and provides free online counseling by psychologists, social workers, lawyers and a gynecologist. This platform is highly visited by young people at risk who face doubts and fears of unwanted pregnancy, and teenage parents who face the challenges of growing up and early parenthood.
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More information about the other webinars in the Breakfast Byte series.
Missed it? You can watch the talks of the 2021 Breakfast bytes on our COFACE TV.

BREAKFAST BYTES Webinar series 2021 on Family Supports
2020-12-10
Family support in COVID-19 times – 10 Family experts – 10 European countries – 10 webinars – Meet & Connect
We launched our Breakfast Bytes webinar series on family support in January 2021, with monthly webinars throughout 2021 to spread knowledge, to put the spotlight on the work of COFACE members who provide a wide range of family supports, and grow our international community of family support practitioners. The target group of the webinars is especially professionals working with families and children but is open to all (researchers, policy-makers, teachers, health workers, families, and more). It is more important than ever to connect professionals through transnational exchanges in order to tackle the social impacts of COVID-19 on families and children. This Breakfast bytes series focuses on diverse types of family supports in 10 countries, aiming to increase critical thinking and understanding of NGO-driven family support systems. Meet and connect with family professionals every month in 2021, for a 90-minute online webinar (from 9.30-11.00 Brussels time) to learn about family support and put your questions to our experts. See different webinars below and full programme here.
Context. Family supports are an essential part of making social rights a reality, and civil society has grown over decades to create a wide range of supports for families and children to ensure health and well-being. Now, more than ever, it is important to connect professionals in real-time through transnational exchanges in order to tackle the social impacts of COVID-19 on families and children. We believe the European Family Lab can be the place to connect them, serving as an innovation incubator for ideas and cross-country knowledge transfer to help family professionals deliver the best possible supports for Europeans.
Target group. In this first phase, we are launching the first stream of the European Family Lab: a breakfast bytes webinar series on family support to help family professionals meet and connect, aiming to build their capacity through transnational exchange and innovative solutions to ensure effective responses to families, all types without discrimination. Family professionals can be adult and child educators, policy-makers, researchers, teachers, nurses, psychologists, and many more. In a second phase, we plan to target families and children more directly to make the Lab user-friendly and directly useful in their daily lives.
Values. We hope to pool the great expertise out there in family support via the Lab to foster a great community of family practitioners who adhere to the values of COFACE of gender equality, non-discrimination, social inclusion, human rights, empowerment, and intergenerational solidarity, working for the health and well-being of all types of families.

Full programme here.
Missed them? You can watch the talks of the 2021 Breakfast bytes on our COFACE TV.

COFACE expert meeting: Spotlight on single parent families and large families
2020-10-26 09:00 - 15:50 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
FAMILIES IN VULNERABLE SITUATIONS: FROM CHALLENGES TO SOLUTIONS
Although the EU economy recovered from the last recession, it has suffered another shock as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with inequality again on the increase and some families facing multiple challenges. Single-parents’ families, large families, migrant families and families where members have disabilities or long-term conditions face high risks of social exclusion and material deprivation.
This expert meeting put the spotlight on single parent families and large families, taking COFACE virtually to the meeting hosts in Budapest where members Single Parents Foundation and NOE will provide insights into the situation in Hungary, as a starting point for discussions with counterpart organisations from other EU countries.
We examined the situation of these families in the following areas: housing, income support and work-life balance, and family care. The two main questions will be addressed in the discussions are the following:

what are the challenges identified for single parents and large families?
what solutions exist to address these challenges?

Objectives of the meeting:

Foster exchange between NGOs supporting families in different countries of the COFACE network;
Improve understanding of the specific needs of one-parent and large families;
Collect the information into a policy brief for publication.

Full programme here
Full meeting report here
Presentations from the meeting:
Welcome and introduction of the host organisations

Annemie DRIESKENS, President of COFACE Families Europe
Anna NAGY, Director of Single Parents Foundation Hungary
Kinga JÓÓ, Vice-President of NOE

Session 1: Housing

Country spotlight: Hungary: András PÁRI, Assistant Professor, Pázmány Péter Catholic University

Session 2: Work-life balance and income support

Introductory contribution about the Hungarian situation: Balázs MOLNÁR, vice-president, Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families
Country spotlight: Belgium
Elke VALGAEREN, Policy adviser, Gezinsbond, Belgium

Session 3: Family care for different care needs

Introductory contribution about the Hungarian situation: Réka Hegedüs, Home Start Hungary
Country spotlight: Spain
Daniel ALVAREZ, Projects manager, Isadora Duncan, Spain

Working language: English
Venue: Zoom
Meeting status: for COFACE members only
For more information, contact secretariat@coface-eu.org

The Child Guarantee: A tool to tackle family poverty?
2020-09-29 | Berlin, Germany
COFACE wants to shape a healthy and safe environment fit for families and their children and has the ambition to build a child compass 2030 to better respect the rights of children and better respond to the needs of both children and their families. One key dimension to be examined as part of this child compass is poverty reduction and support children living in families in vulnerable situations.
In 2017, the European Parliament requested that the European Commission implement a preparatory action on establishing a possible child guarantee scheme. In this context, the Commission has commissioned a Study on the feasibility of a child guarantee to ensure that all children in Europe who are at risk of poverty, social exclusion, or are otherwise disadvantaged, have access to essential services of good quality. The results of this feasibility study were presented and discussed in a European Expert Meeting hosted by COFACE and AGF on 29th September 2020 in Berlin.
During this seminar we analysed the proposals of the feasibility study, trying to contribute to the shaping of the Child Guarantee from a family perspective, integrating the two-generation approach to ensure that both children and families receive support. The results of the discussions fed into the European Commission public consultation on a European Child Guarantee. (which ended on 7th October).
Overall, the objectives of the seminar were the following:

Presenting the plans for the Child Guarantee
Contribute to shaping the Child Guarantee from a family perspective and provide input for EU public consultation on a European Child Guarantee
Rethink and reframe the Child Guarantee through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath
Foster cross-country exchanges on national family policies and how they reduce poverty
Bring together NGO and government reps on family policies
Develop a roadmap for action to implement the Child Guarantee

See here the full programme.
Presentations by speakers:
Session 1: What can the Child Guarantee look like?

Keynote presentation by Hugh Frazer, co-author of the Feasibility study on the Child Guarantee
Reaction by Natalie Picken, European Platform for Investing in Children
Reaction by Olivier Thévenon, OECD

Session 3: Family policy levers at national/local level to implement the Child Guarantee

Annemie Drieskens, Board member, Gezinsbond, Belgium
Antonia Torrens, Director, KMOP, Greece

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For a summary of the discussions, see here.

Back-to-school WEBINAR
2020-09-14 09:15 - 12:15 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
Full programme

Not all children are going back to school in August and September. This webinar aims to raise awareness on the exclusion of children with disabilities from education and from mainstream education, structurally and in COVID-19 times.

Session 1: actions and realities in different EU countries, with a focus on Italy, Belgium, Spain and France
Session 2: panel discussion between COFACE and key European stakeholders on triggering a shift to fully inclusive education, with a view to building partnerships with and between different education and disability stakeholders.
Using article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a starting point, this webinar is part of our #BeTheSHIFT campaign launched end 2019 to achieve meaningful inclusion for persons with disabilities and their families.
Objectives of the webinar:

Collect and exchange information on this issue in a selection of European countries.
Present and discuss the COFACE Disability Platform key recommendations to ensure the right to education for all children through a shift towards inclusive education, as stated in article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Use the COFACE Families Europe S.H.I.F.T Guide proposals and approach as a compass for inclusion of persons with disabilities and their families in education and in society.
Foster dialogue and mutual exchange between COFACE Disability members and other actors in society.
Acknowledge the perspective of and join forces with different stakeholders in society, including public authorities, civil society, mainstream education sector, staff and trade unions.

Participants:
– COFACE Families Europe, staff and members
– Representatives of national/EU public authorities
– Representatives of civil society organisations
– Representatives of the mainstream education sector
– Self advocates (parents/children with disabilities) and DPOs
– Representative of workers of education
The event had English/French interpretation and closed captions/subtitles in English.
_________________________________
Programme
9.15-9.30 Introduction
9.30-10.45 Session 1: Back-to-school for all?

UNAPEI, France: Back to school campaign, Back to school campaign, a citizen mobilisation on inclusive education
Gezinsbond, Belgium: The role of parents, of the children involved and of classmates in the equal access to inclusive education for all special needs children
FIAPAS, Spain: Inclusive environments to access education in equal conditions in the COVID-19 context and beyond

10.45-12.00 Session 2: Triggering the S.H.I.F.T.

COFACE S.H.I.F.T COFACE Families Europe. COFACE Disability Platform S.H.I.F.T Guide and Recommendations on Inclusive Education

Reactions and discussion with:

Kamil Goungor, Development Officer, European Network on Independent Living
Rossella Benedetti, Chair of the Standing Committee for Equality, European Trade Union Committee for Education
Mary Kyriazopoulou, Project Manager, European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
Hans Martens, Head of Digital Citizenship, European Schoolnet
Géraldine Libreau, Policy Officer on Early Childhood Education and Care, European Commission

12.00-12.15 Conclusions and next steps
Chantal Bruno and Sylvie Hirtz, co-chairs of the COFACE Disability Platform for the rights of persons with disabilities and their families.
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Recommendations on Inclusive Education, based on the COFACE Disability S.H.I.F.T. guide for a meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities and their families
Media release: No more time to waste to shift towards inclusive education

Speakers and organisations on Twitter
@COFACE_EU
@irenebertana
@ENIL_EU
@kamiloulis
@ETUCE_CSEE
@eu_schoolnet
@GeraldineLibrea
#EASNIE
@UNAPEI_infos
@clara_alibert
@Gezinsbond
@FIAPAS
@APFhandicap

Toy Stories survey: Results, reactions and looking to the future
2020-06-15 | Online
COFACE Families Europe invites you to the presentation of the “Toy Stories” survey results. With more than 2000 responses from Europe and beyond, the collected results give a glimpse into European consumers’ thoughts and behaviours when it comes to toys and diversity.
The toy itself is neutral. It is the marketing around the toy that is not neutral. The only difference between a Ken figurine and an Action Man is the marketing that is done around it. – Belgium, female, aged 26-35
When?
Monday, 15th of June, 3 – 4:40 pm CEST
Language: English + closed captions
What?
Tune in to:
-Listen to the presentation of the survey results based on 2000 responses from Europe&beyond;
-Hear reactions from the Toy industry, the Advertising industry, family organisations and the European Commission;
-Put your questions to the speakers in the chat.
Where?
Re-watch the discussion below

Our children must be what they want, including the so-called stereotypical views on girls or boys, if they want to. – Finland, female, aged 36-45

Background:
Each child is born without stereotypes and predefined (gender) roles. But early in life, cultural and societal norms play an important role in the assignment of stereotypes. COFACE Families Europe runs an annual social media campaign on Toys and Diversity to promote equal opportunities and to highlight gender, disability and ethnic stereotypes in toy production, marketing and shops. In 2019, COFACE Families Europe decided to collect the stories of families in Europe and beyond, to explore what determines and influences their choices when they buy toys.
On the 20th of November 2019, Universal Children’s Day, we symbolically launched “Toy Stories”, the first Europe-wide survey on Toys and Diversity, developed and translated by COFACE members into 13 languages. The data collection took place until Christmas Day. The survey gathered more than 2,000 answers from all EU Member States and beyond. The survey, which contains some 20 questions, aims to analyse specific issues pertaining to the world of toys such as how consumers/buyers are confronted when purchasing toys, the way toy shops are organised and how this is perceived by consumers, and the role of media and marketing on toys.

I used to have “Action man”, my sister Barbie dolls. I had the blue toy, she had the pink toy. I had the castle, she had the princess castle. That didn’t stop us from swapping toys and playing with them by mixing them, and I had more “girlie” toys myself, but the split was real and became more pronounced with age. Concerning the ethnicity of the toys, the playmobils were far too all white. – France, male, aged 18-25

Webinar series: Digital Citizenship Breakfast Bytes – 11th-20th May
2020-05-11 - 2020-05-20 | Online
From 11th-20th May, enjoy a cup of tea/coffee accompanied by a Breakfast Byte of digital citizenship. Each “byte” is a short 90-minute online session (from 9.30-11.00 Brussels time) aiming to increase critical thinking and understanding of the digital world.

Full programme

Families want a healthy environment for their children to thrive and develop their own wings, this includes a healthy digital environment. Our approach is to promote education and empowerment of families to harness the full potential of technology, and our vision is set out in our 13 Digitalisation Principles. This is why COFACE Families Europe, for the International Day of Families 2020, organised a series of eight short webinars highlighting multiple layers of digital citizenship. These took place between 11th and 20th May 2020 every week day from 9.30-11.00 (Brussels time).
The onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic has plunged all of us, families, children, workers, consumers, into the digital age with imposed and recommended lockdowns meaning that digital tools are slowly but surely becoming the norm for schooling, working, socialising, gaming, staying connected with family members. This makes digital citizenship and critical thinking ever more urgent. Our original plans for an offline meet-up in Zagreb through a one-day study session on 12th May have now been shifted online in the form of 8 short webinars which will allow you to listen in to speakers talking about different layers of digital citizenship, connecting the dots between different stakeholders, sectors and policy fields. The speakers come from different horizons, and will cover topics such as child safety online, cyberbullying, digitalisation in schools, gaming, digital marketing and more.
At a European level, many different actors are contributing to creating a better digital environment for children. The European Commission’s Strategy for a Better Internet for Children is currently under revision, and will contribute to set new ambitious goals, covering emerging digital technologies. In this regard, civil society, among which COFACE Families Europe, has a major role to play to operationalize the general objectives and priorities set by European Institutions. In recent years, the concept of “digital citizenship” has been used more and more in order to capture the growing complexity and importance of the digital space. Digital citizenship extends beyond the traditional “safety online”, and encompasses many different aspects such as human rights (online and offline), security, privacy, participation, and many more. The webinar series provided opportunities to explore the concept of digital citizenship and how useful it can be to contribute to creating a positive digital environment for all families without discrimination.
We kicked-off with a video address to digital citizens by Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager.

_________________________________
View the full webinar series on our youtube channel and
check out the presentations here below

Breakfast Byte 1
Monday, 11th May from 9:30 – 11:00:
Digital citizenship – myth or reality?
By COFACE Families Europe and the ICT Industry coalition

Breakfast Byte 2
Tuesday, 12th May from 9:30 – 11:00:
Video games and civic engagement – state of play
By FOr’J (+links) – Fédération de maisons de jeunes et organisation de jeunesse, Belgium
Breakfast Byte 3
Wednesday, 13th May from 9:30 – 11:00:
European Safer Internet Strategy post-2020: key trends and priorities
By the European Commission (DG CNECT) & Better Internet for Kids
Breakfast Byte 4
Thursday, 14th May from 9:30 – 11:00:
Using ICT skills to transfer human values in schools
By eTwinning
Breakfast Byte 5
Friday, 15th May from 9:30 – 11:00:
SELMA Hacking Hate toolkit: Games to empower young people online
By European schoolnet
Breakfast Byte 6
Monday, 18th May from 9:30 – 11:00:
Key steps to creating a bully-free zone offline and online.
By Parents Association Step by Step, Croatia
Breakfast Byte 7
Tuesday, 19th May from 9:30 – 11:00:
Critical thinking about the predominant online business model: advertising
By COFACE Families Europe
Breakfast Byte 8
Wednesday, 20th May from 9:30 – 11:00
Are youth all natural digital citizens?
By BIK Youth ambassadors

For more information : secretariat@coface-eu.org
_____
Speakers and organisations on Twitter
@COFACE_EU
@vestager
@ICT_Coalition
.@lk_june
@saferinternetday
@SabrinaVau
@BIK_youth
@eTwinningEurope
@eu_schoolnet
@JulienAnnart
@khopwood
@wenglishgeek
@insafenetwork
@loncic85

“Shaping a healthy environment fit for children” conference was a success – All details around the event available!
2019-10-03 - 2019-10-04 | Helsinki, Finland
Families want a healthy environment for their children to thrive and develop their own wings. This year, we celebrate the 30 years of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. For the occasion and with Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) in mind, in Helsinki on 3-4th October 2019 under the Finnish Presidency of the EU, COFACE Families Europe and Vaestoliitto (the Family Federation of Finland) hosted a gathering of family professionals on the topic of shaping a healthy environment fit for children. This is an open conference, and we gathered 80-100 key stakeholders from Finland and more than 25 European countries.
Taking a holistic family perspective and multi-generation approach as a starting point, we used the opportunity to:

Consider different areas (education, nutrition, early childhood education care, environmental risks, child-friendly cities, family circumstances) which impact the health and well-being of children;
Bring to the fore the expertise of the COFACE network and consider together how to strengthen the child health perspective in different policy areas;
Use the conference as an Open Space for family professionals to meet, exchange, network, collaborate, and build transnational dynamics;
Use the brainstorms and exchanges to develop the first elements of a 2030 compass to guide the work of COFACE and partners to ensure we can develop measures to build a healthy society, environment and economy fit for children.

This meetup started on 3rd October with a Spotlight on Finland : Round table on evidence-based methods on family work. There have been sustained national efforts to compile evidence-based methods on family work, which can be found on the “Early Intervention” online platform. Similar approaches exist in Sweden and Norway but this is quite a new trend in support programmes for families. A representative from the European Platform for Investing in Children also took part in this session to bring a European perspective to the discussions.

Presentation by Piia Karjalainen, Scientific Editor, Kasvun Tuki (“Early Intervention Platform”)
Presentation by Barbara Janta, Senior Analyst, European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC)

On 4th October, we opened the conference with a triple welcome:

Annemie Drieskens, President, COFACE Families Europe
Eija Koivuranta, Managing Director, Vaestoliitto
Katarina Ivanković Knežević, Director, Social Affairs, DG Employment, social affairs and inclusion, European Commission

We then had a Keynote session with high level speakers on the new Finnish Child Strategy and an overview of child well-being across the EU.

“The new Finnish child strategy: an integrated system to better respond to the needs of children and families” Maria Kaisa Aula, State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Former head of the Finnish government programme to address child and family services, Finland
“Child well-being across the European Union in a broader socio-economic context: applicability of the IRSSV child well-being index, financed by UNICEF” Dr. Urban Boljka, Inštitut RS za socialno varstvo/Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Then the learning and networking happened through two channels: Open Spaces and Networking Hotspots.

Open Space 1
Age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education for children in Finland: Delivery, advocacy and building support

Presentation by Raisa Cacciatore, Doctor MD, Child psychiatrist and specialist in sexuality education, Vaestoliitto, Finland
Presentation by Drashko Kostovski, Lead on youth work and sexuality education, International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network

Open Space 2

Building child-friendly spaces and cities for well-being

Presentation by Sue Rumbold, our Chief Officer for Partnerships and Health in Leeds Children’s Services, Leeds City Council, UK

– Video – Hello From Leeds SEND 2018
– Video – The City Centre Project 2018

Presentation by Sissi Potzinger, Member of the city council, Graz, Austria& Ira Custódio, Senior Advisor, Central Union for Child Welfare, Finland

Open Space 3

Inclusive early childhood education and care – a great start for children with disabilities

Presentation by Michèle Racke, Deputy Director, APEMH Luxembourg
Presentation by Frazer Goodwin, Expert on Early Childhood Development, Eurochild

Open Space 4

The health impact of environmental risks for children with special focus on air quality and endocrine disruptors.

Presentation by Elke Valgaeren, Policy advisor, Gezinsbond, Belgium
Presentation by Anne Stauffer, Director for Strategy and Campaigns, Health and Environment Alliance

Open Space 5

Nutrimedias: a training on the impact of advertising on the food and nutritional choices of children

Presentation by Martin Schmalzried, COFACE Policy and Advocacy manager
Presentation by Sabrina Vorbau, eSafety Label Project Manager, European Schoolnet

Open Space 6
A family environment at risk of poverty: the economic, social and health consequences for well-being of children

Presentation by Silvija Stanić, Director of Parents Association Step by Step, Croatia
Presentation by Dorota Sienkiewicz, Policy Coordinator, Eurohealthnet

Find here pictures of the conference.
For more information : secretariat@coface-eu.org
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Speakers and organisations on Twitter
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COFACE Disability Platform meets in Luxembourg
2019-06-13 - 2019-06-14 | Luxembourg
Created in 1967 by parents concerned by intellectual disability in Luxembourg, APEMH is the member of COFACE Families Europe which hosted the last meeting of the COFACE Disability Platform on 13th and 14th of June.
During the first day, COFACE members and staff could visit many of the structures and services that APEMH developed in order to respond to needs related to the accompaniment of people with intellectual disabilities. In the beautiful surroundings of Domaine du Château at Bettange-Sur-Mess, participants visited different workshops where people with disabilities work in a number of fields including agriculture, breeding, gardening, and butchery, with the support of the APEMH staff. In the afternoon, it was the turn of Kokopelli, an inclusive early childcare structure, working around the principles of open pedagogy, and which aims at including a 25% of children with special needs. Kokopelli is designed and conceived to be a model for other childcare structures willing to be inclusive and innovative in their methodologies, which are collected and shared via Incluso, a resource centre on inclusive pedagogy. The visit ended with the “Parc Merveilleux” of Bettembourg a fairground amusement park for children, fairy tale illustrations, a zoo and catering, which is also offering training and work to persons with disabilities.
Day one provided not only with practical tools, but also with food for thought: independent living was at the centre of the discussion of the afternoon roundtable focusing on the state of play, challenges and successes of the implementation of UNCRPD article 19 in Luxembourg. Contributions on the topic came from the COFACE network, APEMH, the Luxembourg Ministry of Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region, and Info-Handicap, the National Council of Persons with Disabilities. The transition towards independent living and full citizenship of persons with disabilities needs a shift in the mentality of the services sector, where the specialised services need to foster the right to choice and participation of persons with disabilities and the mainstream sector needs strong investment and know-how to be fully accessible and inclusive. To make this happen political will and partnership are key factors. Co-production of services, an inclusive working practice between service users, public authorities, families and other stakeholders was highlighted as promising practice, close to prevention, autonomy, life-cycle and person-centred approaches. APEMH is actively contributing to the innovation in this field by developing an incubator methodology based on co-production, in the framework of the IN-CUBA (Incubators for CO-productive Enterprises and Social Inclusion) project.
During the second day of meeting, the members of the COFACE Disability Platform had fruitful discussions on the key activities, and planned the future actions of the network.
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Here you can find our presentation on Independent Living in Europe
For more information, contact Irene Bertana COFACE policy and advocacy officer: ibertana@coface-eu.org

COFACE Round Table on family policy in Spain
2019-05-08 | Barcelona, Spain
The 2019 General Assembly of COFACE took place in Barcelona, Spain, hosted by COFACE member L’Associació Salut i Família (ASF). The meeting was the occasion to collectively take stock of the impact of 2018 actions (advocacy, campaigns, innovation, study visits, conferences, expert meetings, position papers, assessments and much more), preparing key actions of the next six months of 2019, and brainstorming on key priorities for 2020 and beyond. In combination with the General Assembly, our hosts organised two key meetings which helped COFACE civil society organisations get more insight into the realities of their Spanish colleagues: a study visit of local ASF programmes, and a public round table on family policy in Spain.
The study visit of ASF programmes was themed: Mosaic of services for vulnerable women and families. ASF is an independent, private and non-profit organization working in Catalonia, Spain and Europe, based on principles of impartiality, equity and pro-choice. ASF maintains active collaboration with public administrations and also develops a sustained advocacy to make the needs of families and vulnerable people a subject of general interest and public investment. They run several programmes for families in vulnerable situations, and on the occasion of this visit focused on the following programmes:

Care for maternity at risk, providing information on maternal and reproductive health, maternal health promotion and abortion prevention based on pro-choice principles;
Mothers between two cultures, including intercultural health promotion and family planning;-Integration and employability for vulnerable mums of migrant origin, connecting women with professional training opportunities;
Childhood is essential, supporting mothers in the early childhood years through nutrition, health advice and more;-Multiculture, assisting vulnerable women and families in escaping from isolation;
Time banks, to support community-building and exchange in local communities across Spain.

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The public round table hosted by L’Associació Salut i Família focused on Family policy in Spain in a European perspective. This round table brought together COFACE members and key Spanish stakeholders including representatives of family-friendly companies, the Ministry of social affairs, family carers and more. The round table started with a warm welcome by the presidents of ASF (Asumpta Baig) and COFACE (Annemie Drieskens), followed by a presentation by ASF Director, Elvira Mendez: “Overview of family policy in Spain: challenges and solutions”. This led to an exchange with COFACE members on challenges and solutions in their different countries, and ended with an update on the EU work-life balance directive by COFACE policy and advocacy officer, Pascual Martinez.
In the afternoon, COFACE members then continued their discussions focusing on transposition strategies for the EU worklife balance directive, different types of ECEC services provided by COFACE members (inclusive ECEC by UNAPEI and out-of-school services for children of single mothers by FAMS), the needs and work-life balance of families of children with disabilities and family carers in the sandwich generation, and finally the work of ProParents and Gezinsbond to strike up a dialogue with businesses and family-friendly workplaces.
For more information, contact secretariat@coface-eu.org

Building sustainable and future-proof education systems: How can families contribute to a paradigm shift?” 4-5 October, Austria
2018-10-04 - 2018-10-05 | Graz, Austria
A COFACE Families Europe conference, co-hosted with KFÖ, the City of Graz, the Province of Styria under the Austrian EU-Presidency

Concept
The starting point for the conference is to explore education in a holistic way and bring the family perspective to debates on education, including the core values of COFACE Families Europe: social inclusion, equal opportunities, solidarity, empowerment, human rights and non-discrimination. COFACE Families Europe considers these essential for building inclusive, diverse and sustainable communities in Europe.

Context

The Right to Education has been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 26), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Articles 13 and 14), and the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 28) which recognises a right to free, compulsory primary education for all, and includes an obligation to develop secondary education and higher education accessible to all. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) defines and guarantees the right to inclusive education.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030. SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. Education is the key that will allow many other SDGs to be achieved. Inclusive and quality education must therefore be placed as a priority in both policy and practice.
Child rights and well-being is a priority for COFACE Families Europe, and this includes in the field of education. Member organisations of COFACE Families Europe provide different types of services to families to help them support the well-being of their children, including support in addressing challenges linked to the education of their children.
Education is a hot topic at EU level, with principle 1 of the recently proclaimed European Pillar of Social Rights focusing on Education, training and life-long learning: “Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.”

Conference objectives
The combination of international human rights obligations, the momentum around the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the newly proclaimed European Pillar of Social Rights, and the importance of education for COFACE Families Europe, means the time is right for us to contribute to promoting education where children without discrimination can take part in quality and inclusive education, so they can have a good start in life and access better opportunities across their lifecycle.
This conference will look at education holistically, and namely:

Mainstream the core values of COFACE in discussions on education;
Examine the role of families as first educators and their support needs;
Explore the role of families in building sustainable and future-proof education systems;
Ensure that inclusive and quality education is placed as priority in both policy and practice;
Contribute to shaping the future education landscape in Europe.

Thematic workshops
Different experts on education will gather from Europe and Austria to examine practical examples of along the following four topics:

Making education inclusive and accessible for all;
The role and limits of digitalization in schools;
The importance of childcare, at a crossroads between education, family and social policy;
Supporting parents to tackle different forms of discrimination in schools.

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Speaker’s presentations
Welcome speeches
Video message from Marianne Thyssen, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility
Keynotes
“Placing the child at the centre of our education systems”
Irmeli Halinen, Director for Educational Innovations, Metodix Oy. Former Head of National Curriculum Development, Finland.
WS 1: Inclusive education from right to reality: is legislation enough to empower families?
Michèle Racke, Deputy Director of APEMH, Luxembourg.
Gaetano Santonocito, Managing Director of A.I.A.S. Città di Monza Onlus, Italy.
Isabel Amaro (Psychologist) and Maria José Lorena (Occupational Therapist), Fundaçao Liga, Portugal.
WS 2: The transformative power of digitalization in schools: where to draw the line?
Claire Morvan, Communication Manager, eTwinning, Europe.
Julien Léonard, Expert, Union Nationale des Associations Familiales, UNAF, France
WS 3: Childcare in the 21st century: at a crossroads between education, family and social policy?
Kurt Hohensinner, City Councellor for Families, Youth, Education, childcare and social affairs, Member of the City Government, Graz, Austria.
Sven Iversen, Director of the Association of German Family Organisations (AGF), Germany.
WS 4: Parental support services to address discrimination against their children: how can education contribute to building inclusive societies?
Livia Járóka, Member of European Parliament, Hungary. (video speech)
Astrid Ebenberger, KFÖ-Vice-President
Antonia Torrens, Director of KMOP (Family and Childcare Centre), Greece.

More information
To see the programme of the conference click here.
To see the biographies of the great international line-up of speakers click here.
To see the info pack, click here on INFO PACK GRAZ CONFERENCE 4-5.10.2018.
Questions? Contact secretariat@coface-eu.org
