An International Creative Education Network (ICEnet) is to be launched in Vilnius

On May 22 – 24, the first forum of the International Creative Education Network (ICEnet) is held in Vilnius, attended by participants from ten European countries. The Forum is hosted by the team of the Creative Partnerships project implemented by the Education Development Centre. Creators from Lithuania and abroad are united by an aspiration to develop the creativity of children and young people in formal and informal educational environments.

“I am glad that after long and careful planning, together with a number of European partners, we have brought together ICEnet. The fact that we decided to hold the inaugural meeting in Vilnius proves what an important experience Lithuania has gained in the area of creative learning when implementing the Creative Partnerships programme nationwide. The goal of ICEnet is to support and promote good practice in this area as well as to share experiences and ideas” – said Diane Fisher-Naylor, one of the initiators of the ICEnet network and Director of Programme Development for the UK-based non-governmental organisation Creativity, Culture and Education.

According to Diane, in order for children to be able to learn more efficiently, and to grow to become active citizens bringing change to their local communities, today’s students must not only be provided with knowledge, but also with creative and basic life skills.

Diane also noted that the meeting held in Vilnius encourages the international cooperation and networking of creators, while the ICEnet Forum provides an opportunity for creators to share their experiences, ideas and learn more about the activities of other creators throughout Europe.

About 100 artists and other creative professionals from the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic, Norway, Croatia, Finland, Hungary and Lithuania will take part in the three-day ICEnet Forum which is to be held at the National Art Gallery.

Prior to the start of the ICEnet Forum, a national meeting of creative practitioners of the Creative Partnerships project took part in Vilnius, attended by 80 creators. The main focus of the meeting was to reflect on projects carried out during this school year as well as sharing the experiences of creative practitioners.

Milda Laužikaitė, the Head of the Creative Partnerships project in Lithuania, believes that unique Lithuanian examples of the activities of the Creative Partnerships creators in schools inspires creators from other countries to work in schools.

“In two years, the Creative Partnerships program has brought together a large and unique community of creators. In order to be able to help schools to become creative learning spaces, creators are constantly communicating and sharing their experiences and ideas with each other. Thus we try to provide them with opportunities to grow as a learning community. The ICEnet network gives us an opportunity to expand the limits of that community and share our discoveries with the entire world” – said Milda Laužikaitė.

The organisers of ICEnet are the UK-based non-governmental organisation Creativity, Culture, Education (CCE), the Creative Partnerships project team implemented by the Education Development Centre, as well as other ICEnet partners. The main sponsor of the forum is the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture.

About the Creative Partnerships program

The Creative Partnerships program implemented in Lithuania is based on the Creative Partnerships programme that successfully operated in the United Kingdom. From 2011 to 2014 more than 4000 students from 100 schools of Lithuania have been engaged in the programme. The project is implemented as an initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Lithuania, partially financed from the European Social Fund. The Creative Partnerships programme is implemented by the Education Development Centre.