ECCE conference in Sweden
The European COST action CA 16234 held their last conference of 2019 at Kristianstad University and Backaskog slott outside Kristianstad, Sweden.
The main aim was to discuss how we move forward the action according to MOU, the midterm assessment of the action, introduce a new workgroup leader for group 4 (Felicity Vidya Mehendale) and discuss the training school in Malta. 80 delegates were present. There were lectures on patient-centred care, the Japanese perspective, psychological resilience and different local perspectives in cleft care.
SCR4Cleft kickoff in Rijswijk
The kick-off meeting for a ground breaking new Erasmus+ project has just taken place at the project coordinator’s head office (European Cleft Organisation) in Rijswijk on Wednesday 20 November 2019. 17 participants attended from 9 partner countries including the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Serbia, Norway, Romania, Estonia, Ireland, Italy and Malta. The thee-year project will, for the first time, bring together specialists in speech therapy and psychology to develop an education programme to be delivered by health professionals to parents of children born with clefts. The course will enable parents to identify signs of impairment and offer practical ways of supporting their child who may be experiencing speech and language difficulties and/or psychological challenges associated with their condition. Speech, appearance and psychological adjustment are inextricably linked.
The team were pleased to welcome Danielle Eerenberg of Erasmus+ Netherlands to the meeting which focused on overall objectives, team planning, administrative procedures and monitoring. ECO Executive Director, Gareth Davies, said “I am delighted with the enthusiasm we had around the table from international experts in the field. The partnership is really strong and everyone knows that the real beneficiaries of this project will be the families of children born with clefts” The next meeting will be hosted by the Irish partner in Dublin in May 2020. PARTNERS ARE:
- European Cleft Organisation, The Netherlands
- Associatcia Licevi Anomalii, Bulgaria
- Triskelion, Norway
- Spitalul Clinic De Urgenta Pentru Copii “M. S. Curie”, Romania
- Smile House – Fondazione Operation Smile Italia Onlus
- L-Universita ta’Malta UM
- University of Niš, Serbia
- University of Tartu (UT), Estonia
- Speech at Home, Ireland
News coverage Up&Go Croatia
The Up & Go project
Up&Go project training course in Pula, Croatia
The partnership met in Pula and had a thorough walkthrough of the developed course material in order to get feedback for redesign and finalization. The course intends to teach trainers and volunteers about inclusion of people with down syndrom in physical activity. Local TV station NOVA TV and different newspapers were very interested in the project and was attending.
HI3 training course in Ljubljana
The consortium of the HI3 project met in Ljubljana on the 20th and 21st of September in order to run through a test training of the developed training course. Feedback was collected and the partnership decided how the course should be adapted to local and cultural needs.
Second ACT NOW project second transnational meeting
The second meeting of the EU Erasmus+ funded project “Act Now” was completed at the University of Neapolis in Pafos, Cyprus, on 29 March 2019. The partners from Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Romania and Slovenia presented the National Analyses and the results of their Surveys. The national surveys were conducted based on a questionnaire developed by.
Martin & Gareth -speakers at ECPCA conference
Dr Martin Persson contributed as a speaker at the 14th annual European Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands on 12th June 2019. His talk was “Long term outcomes in cleft care – a European approach”.
Gareth Davies also gave a speech on “The European cleft gateway – a directory of cleft resources in Europe”.
The congress brought together experts, practitioners and companies involved in the treatment of cleft lip palate/craniofacial malformations. Professionals attending this congress benefited from high-level scientific presentations, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities, with the overall goal of promoting understanding and treatment of these diseases.
ACT NOW training course in Ljubljana, Slovenia
The ACT NOW consortium ran a test training course of the first draft of the one-day training developed during the first phase of the project. 21 trainees were present. The training was followed by a one day coordination meeting.
ACT NOW project website
The ACT NOW project website is now up and running. Please see;
Correct-IT: Obesity prevention materials available for download
The Correct it project now has the materials developed in the project available for free download on the project website.
Please see the following link:
Correct-it multiplier event
Triskelion Norway conducted the Norwegian multiplier event in Stavanger with 45 participants on the 6th of July 2019. The event ran smoothly and it was very clear that the participants enjoyed the compressed introduction to the course. Good food and giveaways were presented. The cafe-dialogue type assessment was a very valuable forum of discussing project outputs and usage.
Correct it local training
Triskelion held the local face-to-face
Nichola Rumsey delivered the prestigious B K Rank Keynote Address at the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Congress, Melbourne, May 30th 2019. In the opening presentation of the Congress entitled ‘Don’t Eat the Marshmallows and other techniques for improving standards of patient assessment’. The 500 attendees (plastic and reconstructive surgeons) were informed about the CET project and the link to the project materials was given. Nichola & Alex Clarke also delivered a Body Image workshop for 60 surgeons. The CET website was given to attendees as an illustration of authoritative
At a Keynote Address at the BAPRAS Annual Conference, 26th June 2019, Bournemouth, UK, entitled ‘Between a Rock & a Hard Place: Challenges for Plastic Surgery in 2019′ Nichola Rumsey described the CET project to over 125 plastic and reconstructive surgeons from the UK and overseas. The project was offered as an example of good practice in translating research evidence to clinical settings.
Several partners from CET attended and presented at the European Congress in Utrecht in June. Over 700 delegates from around the world participated in the congress, themed Future perspectives in research & therapy. Professionals attending this congress benefited from high-level scientific presentations, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities, with the overall goal of promoting understanding and treatment of clefts and other craniofacial anomalies
There were dedicated sessions on psychology and opportunities to present the CET project in front of a large audience – indeed the auditorium was overflowing at one point. CET coordinator Martin Person led a session Long term outcomes in cleft care – a European approach, focusing on how we can be sure we are inclusive in terms of providing care to a European population that is not always easy to reach given socio-economic and educational constraints.
Other CET partners spoke on different aspects of cleft care in Europe, including the new directory of resource (European Cleft Gateway) and parents’ experiences of early cleft care which illustrate the need for a much more patient/parent-centred approach to care.
Above all the Congress provided excellent networking opportunities in Europe and beyond with opportunities explores for future collaboration in terms of research, education and sharing best clinical practice.
Triskelion’s partner Kristianstad University just confirmed that we had our application “Body Confident mums” (Erasmus+ KA2) approved by the Swedish national agency. The project will start in late summer of 2019.
The project is based on the work of the Australian team led by Dr
Title is : Body Confident Mum’s, An Innovative Health Professionals Training Program to support maternal mental and physical health
The Correct IT project is coming to an end and the team had the final meeting in the charming city of Iasi, Romania at the end of
Cutting Edge Training meeting in Padova, Italy
The CET team met in Padova on the 28th of June 2019 for the final assessment of the training materials, piloting and Multiplier events.
The external evaluator Alex Clarke was present giving her assessment of the course materials that we have developed. She stated that the materials were state of the art, comprehensive and very useful for the target group.
The project has got an extension since several multiplier events were planned for late summer. Nichola Rumsey and Thomas were attending for Triskelion.
Correct-IT staff training Stavanger
The short time blended learning course of the Correct-IT project was held in Stavanger between 27th. and 31st May 2019. Over 20 participants from Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Lithuania were participating in the training. Triskelion was the host and facilitated the training, which also included a practical part where participants were hiking to the Pulpit Rock. Lectures, reflections, group work, and case solving were used as methods.
