The openness to the European dimension as a training tool based on action-research determines the need to combine linguistic strengthening aimed at facilitating communication with the contexts with which collaborations start.

The intensive course aimed to strengthen the English language in the professional field, and placed emphasis on specific language in the educational field and on the development of reading, writing and speaking skills in the language.
The course, aimed mainly at pedagogical coordination and system figures who coordinate international experiences, has made it possible to strengthen language skills in managing networks with international partners and to act as a link with the working group that will participate in the mobility.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

The City of Bologna, as an associate partner of the SERN | Sweden Emilia Romagna Network consortium, participates in the INTEC project, which aims to develop an innovative in-service training model for nursery and kindergarten staff.

We had the precious opportunity to attend the first coordination meeting, during which the representatives of the consortium reflected together:

• on the curriculum for the training of the ECEC staff (teachers and pedagogical coordinators of kindergartens);
• on the communication and dissemination methods of the project;
• on the opportunity to ensure transnational continuing training for educational staff.

As part of the research and experimentation of new educational practices, of the analysis of children's languages, the city of Norrköping hosted the pedagogists of the City of Bologna on a preparatory visit to explore various topics:

• outdoor education;
• environmental sustainability practices within educational services;
• inclusion and interculture.

In this framework of exchange and enrichment, activities have been organized in view of the mobility of the staff of the educational services of municipal schools and kindergartens scheduled for the month of April 2024.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

An educator, a teacher and two pedagogists from the City of Bologna participated in an intensive seminar at the Universitat de Vic with the aim of co-designing 5 innovative training courses aimed at educational and school service personnel 0-6 within a European perspective.

The training courses are aimed at targeted educational plans, the promotion of leadership and positive interactions between adults with boys and girls, the opportunity to experiment with different ways of connecting with boys and girls, their language and their interests.

Creena | Centro de Recursos de Educación para la Equidad Educativa en Navarra, a Spanish organization specialized in educational support, and the City of Bologna have collaborated online for an educational exchange dedicated to:

• experimental models for inclusion;
• reception models and accommodation in educational services 0-6;
• staff training and resource assessment.

The head of 0-6 Services was invited by Creena to participate in a conference dedicated to these issues, focusing the intervention in a specialized and extraordinary way on the methods of inclusion of the Bolognese educational community.

Three pedagogists from the Municipality of Bologna visited the Municipality of Piteå and its educational services for a discussion on educational models different from the already known Bolognese reality.
An enriching experience that has allowed us to build work focuses on new educational practices, food for thought for innovative thoughts that are contagious in our kindergartens.

The visit also made it possible to better prepare the activities of the teachers and educators who will be mobile to Piteå in job shadowing activities in the month of April 2024.

Job shadowing is a particular type of training in which a person follows and closely observes another person while doing their job.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

A group of 8 girls and boys, accompanied by parents and three teachers, comes from the La Julianita Children's Education School in the city of Aracena, in the province of Huelva in Spain, and for a week they will be a guest at the Grosso municipal kindergarten in the Navile district.

Together with the Grosso kindergarten, with the collaboration of the Grosso nursery school, the Tasso Inventore Children and Families Center and the Parco Grosso Educational Room Territorial Service, together with the collaboration of the families of the Polo Grosso, they will have the opportunity to visit the city and the many opportunities it offers to families.

This is one of the first experiences in Europe of mobility abroad for kindergarten girls and boys within the Erasmus+ mobility program: a unique opportunity for exchange and this first reception experience may lead the way, in the near future, even for boys and girls who attend our services.

Listen to the interview with Alessia Cingolani aired in the episode of Caterpillar on Rai Radio 2 on April 18, 2024.

Job shadowing is a particular type of training in which a person follows and closely observes another person while doing their job.

5 teachers, 5 educators and 4 pedagogists from municipal child services 0-6 left for the first exchange in three schools from 1 to 6 years old in the Swedish city of Norrköping, two hours from Stockholm.

The job shadowing activity was proposed to a group of representatives of the services involved in the practice of open work and is linked to the predetermined objectives, namely the development of innovative practices for a perspective of change that starts from the daily life of services, where girls and boys are the real protagonists. It is a matter of realizing the concept of inclusion, offering learning environments as a mirror of an open and democratic society, in which anyone can participate and contribute: thus building more flexible and inclusive services, supporting the desire of girls and boys to discover the world through practical experiences in child services, as in a real society.

Teachers and educators took a direct part in school life in Swedish services, experiencing educational work firsthand and were able to share reflections on the pedagogical focuses included in the exchange (democratic education, aesthetic education and participation).

The Municipal Zero Services involved are the Carli, Cavazzoni, Coccheri, La Trottola kindergartens; the Anna Serra 2, Ceccarelli, Don Milani, Flora, Mago Merlino kindergartens; the One-Six Pezzoli Service.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.

A second group of teachers, pedagogists and educators went to Bergsviken kindergartens in the Municipality of Piteå, located in the Gulf of Bothnia, 900 km from Stockholm and 100 km from the Arctic Circle.

Job shadowing is a particular type of training in which a person follows and closely observes another person while doing their job.

The educational services of this Municipality manage preschool activities focusing on combining the development of students' skills with participation in outdoor activities (Outdoor Education) and in close collaboration with families. This synergy allows for a high qualitative development of the educational proposal.

The municipal ZeroSEI Services involved in this exchange are the Gramsci and Mazzoni kindergartens; the Marighetto and Marsili kindergartens.

The activity took place as part of the RIEPPS project | Research and innovation of educational practices in child services.