Regionalni izobraževalni center (RIC) Novo mesto
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ABOUT INSTITUTION

DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION CENTRE NOVO MESTO

Brief description
The Development and Education Centre Novo mesto (RIC Novo mesto) is one of the leading adult education organisations in South-East Slovenia with more than 50 years of experience in working with adults. We are a public institute, established by the Municipality of Novo mesto, the largest city in SE Slovenia. At present, there are 30 people employed at RIC Novo mesto, working together to develop and implement innovative formal and informal education programmes for different target groups:
-    young adults,
-    senior citizens,
-    women,
-    the unemployed,
-    students,
-    Roma population,
-    people with special needs,
-    imigrants,
-    people living in rural areas,
-    etc.

By providing diverse programmes for the above target groups and institutions from different backgrounds (public institutes, enterprises, universities, faculties, schools, associations, etc.), we have been able to establish a wide network of local, regional and national partners as well as exclusive contacts on the transnational level.

Major Fields of Expertise:
Extensive experience in managing and coordinating different projects, especially within the Centre for Lifelong Learning of the Dolenjska region, co-financed by the European Social Fund. As the leading partner of the Centre for Lifelong Learning of the Dolenjska region, we have been managing and coordinating activities, workshops and trainings at 21 points for lifelong learning in larger towns of SE Slovenia. As part of this project, a Consultancy Centre for adults has been established which offers information about computer and language courses, education and training possibilities, etc. at seven branches across the region. A Mobile Advisory Service for the Roma has also been established within the Consultancy Centre and a large number of people have been involved in diverse learning programmes.

With regard to the European partnerships and cooperation, we have gained experiences of management and partner coordination in various projects. We are actively involved in the Et-struct project within the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme, co-financed by ERDF, where we cooperate with 16 other partners from 7 different countries. The Et-struct partnership is aiming to build a Europe-wide network of regional experts and decision makers in the fields of economy and education, and to develop and pilot on-site and online learning systems to educate, train and retrain regional workforces.

Furthermore, we have joined the SRAP project within the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers in order to help prevent drug abuse in the Roma communities. Within this project, we are working together closely with the health care organisations in our region. RIC Novo mesto has also successfully coordinated and applied for the Lifelong Learning projects, such as the Grundtvig and Comenius projects.

We also have close ties with the faculties in the South-East region of Slovenia, i.e. Higher School of Health Science Novo mesto, Higher School of Technologies and Systems, Faculty of Industrial Engineering Novo mesto, Faculty of Information studies Novo mesto, Faculty of Business and Management Sciences Novo mesto and others.

An important part of our activities is the Third Age University which has been operating for 11 years and currently has more than 360 active members. The offer of the university is very widespread and also includes computer literacy programmes, reaching from basic and advanced Microsoft Office programme courses, computers for everyday use, Internet and e-mail lessons etc. In the 2009/10 academic year more than 1850 people attended the educational courses and programmes within the Third Age University and the interest from senior citizens is ever so growing. The educational programmes are set up according to the expressed or analyzed needs of the students, mentors, and the society. Programming, planning, conducting of the programme and evaluation are performed jointly by the Third Age University, the mentor and the students as to better meet the needs.

Further, elderly people were given the opportunity to learn ICT skills in a friendly environment through the project Grandparents and Grandchildren, co-funded by the European Social Fund. RIC Novo mesto has been a partner in the project since 2008 and has encouraged the intergenerational dialogue as well as linguistic diversity and local cultural issues. Within this innovative initiative young volunteer students have the role of 'grandchildren' assisting on a one to one basis to 'grandparents' in learning the very basics of Internet browsing and email messaging.

 

Development and Education Centre Novo mesto

Razvojno izobraževalni center Novo mesto

Ljubljanska cesta 28, 8000 Novo mesto, Slovenia

T: 00 386 7 393 45 50, F: 00 386 7 393 45 67

E: ric@ric-nm.si, W: www.ric-nm.si