Vice President of the EC, Mr. Maros Sefkovic honors Future Worlds Center

The Vice President of the EC Mr. Maros Sefkovic met and honored peace pioneers representing the Cyprus civil Society. The meeting was held at the Ledra Palace Hotel on the 31^st of August and it was attended by representatives of key NGOS involved over the years in projects of reconciliation between the two communities. The Slovak Ambassador in Cyprus, H.E Mrs. Anna Turenicova, organized the event in collaboration with NGO Support Centre/Management Centre through the  Engage project. The contributions of Future Worlds Center, and ten other organizations were recognized by Mr. Maros Sefkovic who awarded them a Certificate of Appreciation. 

FWC has a long tradition in organizing activities empowering the civil society in Cyprus. It has envisioned, designed and implemented more than 10 peace projects over the last 15 years. It has been instrumental in strategizing and founding the Cyprus NGDO platform, the Cyprus Community Media Centre and the Cyprus Youth Power network.

On the same day, Mr. Maros Sefkovic also met with representatives of political parties to receive a first-hand impression regarding their peace efforts taking place outside the official negotiations.

In the picture from left to right, Her Excellency the Slovak Ambassador Mrs. Turenicova, Dr. Yiannis Laouris President of Future Worlds Center, His Excellency EC Vice President Mr. Maros Sefkovic, and Mrs Elia Petridou, Head of Global Education Unit of Future Worlds Center during the awarding of the Certificate of Appreciation (credits for photograph: UNFICYP). 

The remaining awarded NGOS are: CYINDEP, NGO Support Centre, the Management Centre Cyprus 2015, CCMC, Youth Power, AHDR, Hands Across the Divide, The Biologists’ Association, Kontea Heritage Project, Bicommunal Choir and the Cyprus Academic Dialogue.

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Ο Αντιπρόεδρος της ΕE κ. Maros Σεφκοβικ, συναντήθηκε και τίμησε τους πρωτεργάτες της ειρήνης ανάμεσα στους εκπροσώπους της κοινωνίας των πολιτών στην Κύπρο. Η συνάντηση πραγματοποιήθηκε στο ξενοδοχείο Λήδρα Πάλας στις 31 Αυγούστου όπου παρέστησαν εκπρόσωποι Μη-Κυβερνητικών Οργανώσεων που ασχολούνται ενεργά εδώ και χρόνια με την συμφιλίωση μεταξύ των δύο κοινοτήτων. Η εκδήλωση διοργανώθηκε από την Πρέσβη της Σλοβακίας στην Κύπρο, κα. Anna Turenicova, σε συνεργασία με το Κέντρο Στήριξης ΜΚΟ, υπό την αιγίδα του προγράμματος  "Engage". Ο κ. Maros Σεφκοβικ τίμησε το έργο του  Future Worlds Center, μαζί και άλλων δέκα οργανώσεων,  και τους απένειμε πιστοποιητικό Αναγνώρισης Έργου.

Ο οργανισμός Future Worlds Center έχει μια μακρά παράδοση στην οργάνωση δραστηριοτήτων για την ενδυνάμωση της κοινωνίας των πολιτών στην Κύπρο. 

Τα τελευταία 15 χρόνια εχει οραματιστεί, σχεδιάσει και υλοποιήσει περισσότερα από 10 έργα και προγράμματα για την ειρήνη. Έχει επίσης συμβάλει στην ίδρυση και το στρατηγικό έργο  της Πλατφόρμας Μη-Κυβερνητικών Οργανώσεων για την Διεθνή Ανάπτυξη στην Κύπρο, του  Κέντρου Κοινονικών Μέσων Επικοινωνίας Κύπρου, και του δικτύου Κυπριακών οργανώσεων για νέους Youth Power .

Την ίδια ημέρα, ο κ. Maros Sefkovic συναντήθηκε επίσης με εκπροσώπους των πολιτικών κομμάτων με στόχο να πάρει μια εικόνα των ειρηνευτικών πρωτοβουλιών που λαμβάνονται στο πολιτικό επίπεδο, πέρα των επίσημων διαπραγματεύσεων.    

Στη φωτογραφία (αριστερά προς τα δεξιά) η Πρέσβης της Σλοβακίας κα Turenicova, ο Δρ. Γιάννης Λαούρης-  Πρόεδρος του Future Worlds Center, o Αντιπρόεδρος της EC κ. Maros Sefkovic, και η κ. Ηλία Πετρίδου - ​​επικεφαλής της Μονάδας Παγκόσμιας Εκπαίδευσης του Future Worlds Center κατά την απονομή του πιστοποιητικού Αναγνώρισης Έργου  (φωτογραφία: UNFICYP).

Τα υπόλοιπα  ΜΚΟ  στα οποία απονεμήθηκε  πιστοποιητικό Αναγνώρισης ‘Εργου είναι τα εξής: CYINDEP, Κέντρο Στήριξης ΜΚΟ, Management Centre Cyprus 2015, CCMC, Youth Power, Όμιλος Ιστορικού Διαλόγου και Έρευνας, Hands Across the Divide, Ένωση Βιολόγων , Πρόγραμμα Κληρονομιάς Κοντέας, Δικοινοτική Χορωδία και ο Κυπριακός Ακαδημαϊκός Διάλογος.

LOCAL CYPRIOT RADIO STATIONS AWARDED FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO BILINGUAL BROADCASTING

Future Worlds Center (FWC) congratulates long-time project partners Radio Astra and Radio Mayis for winning the Kutlu Adalı Press Award in recognition of their bicommunal broadcasting efforts on local radio programmes. The Kutlu Adalı Awards were set up in memory of journalist Kutlu Adalı, who was assassinated in front of his home in 1996. They are awarded every year by the Press Labourer’s Union (Basın-Sen) in recognition of media professionals working towards peace in Cyprus.

“This is a really wonderful achievement”, says Dr. Yiannis Laouris, Director of Future Worlds Center, “it is very gratifying to see the rewarding of efforts that were started years ago to utilise media as an instrumental way in providing a vehicle for all Cypriots who share a vision for the future and that of a unified Cyprus”.

Future Worlds Center, Radio Astra, Radio Pyrgos and Radio Mayis have a long history of working together to encourage positive cooperation between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot journalists with an aim to exchange information about the two main communities in Cyprus. “It was the initiative of Future Worlds Center”, continues Laouris, “in partnership with the Management Centre of the Mediterranean, and the radio stations that launched the first and longest running bi-communal radio show called “Talk of the Island” with hosts Kyriakos Pierides and Hasan Kahvecioğlu”.

The initiative was supported by HasNa Inc., a non-profit NGO based in Washington D.C. whose mission has always been to promote cross-cultural understanding and economic empowerment in culturally divided areas of the world and to encourage individuals and communities in such areas to workhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif together toward advancement and peaceful coexistence.

Over more than 5 years, “Talk of the Island” promoted a culture of peace and displayed balanced news reporting about all island communities about local issues and events not typically covered by the current media. The show also provided a forum for open, island-wide dialogue and direct communication about on-going non-political issues.

For more information on the “Talk of the Island”, please visit: http://www.talkoftheisland.org.

FWC ranks second in prestigious Euro-Med Award for the Dialogue between Cultures

Local Cypriot NGO Future World Center (FWC) ranked second place in the final election
round of the prestigious Euro-Med Award for Dialogue between Cultures and was awarded an Honourable Mention for the highly-esteemed work on intercultural dialogue for the promotion of freedom and citizenship in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

The Euro-Med Award for the Dialogue between Cultures is a very prestigious award given by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures an organization operating in 43 countries having over a 3000 organizational members, founded to honor Anna Lindh for her pioneer work.

The nomination was done by Heiner Benking from PNW, a member of the German Anna-Lindh-Network, and co-founder of the Anna-Lindh-Salon. He based his proposal on the following:

1. The high number of structured democratic dialogues implemented by the organization.
2. Notable projects which promote dialogue, such as Act Beyond Borders, Teach MDGs,
Multicultural Cyprus, Moblang, UCYVROK, Civil Society Dialogue, etc.
3. The world-wide initiatives as well as publications and books by members of its Board Aleco Christakis, Yiannis Laouris, Harry Anastasiou, Kerstin Wittig and Romina Laouri.
4. The (i) Philosophy, (ii) Values, (iii) Good Organization, (iv) Focus on peace, (v) Special focus on vulnerable groups and (vi) The promotion of Cyprus as peripheral center.

Mr. Anthos Shekkeris from the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs, which acts as the Head of Anna Lindh National Network in Cyprus, stated that it is the first time that a Cypriot NGO enjoys such recognition. The Cyprus network comprises of 45 organizations.

Dr. Yiannis Laouris, Chair of the Board of Future World Center, expressed his gratitude to the thousands of NGOs across the region that trusted their vote to the Cypriot NGO. He asserted that his team will now have to work even harder to meet the expectations. He also expressed hope that more “structured” dialogue engaging people from all walks of life, takes place among all the various societies living in Cyprus.

FWC wins another award for Project Management

Future Worlds Center (leg. reg Cyprus Neuroscience & Technology Institute (CNTI) was honored at an Awards ceremony for their Grundtvig project: STELLLA - The Stimulation of E-Learning in Life-Long Learning for Adults - the encouragement of electronic learning in the life long learning of adults. It was hosted by the Institution of Management of European Programs of For life Learning on 26 November 2009 at the Holiday Inn in Nicosia.

The program STELLLA is the result of collaboration of 6 European countries, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, that received financing from the Institution of Management of European Programs Life Long Learning 2006-2009. More concretely, the program falls under the unit Grundtvig.

The success of the program is owed to the irreproachable collaboration of partners, to the high specification technology that was used for the transaction of activities, and to the devotion of partners as well as the separate attribute of each European organism in specific subjects.

The results were amongst other things, the promotion of electronic learning of adults learners and teachers in the all involved countries with various ways as an example the videoconferences, the modern and asynchronous communication via electronic platform, the use of `of Second life' (Second Life) and Facebook. Other results were the distribution of electronic learning with booklets and video clips in YouTube, the web page, posters and briefing in the printed mass media.

FWC was actively involved in the all activities in collaboration with the [TEPAK]. In May 2007 FWC hosted the partners in Nicosia where they had also the chance to learn about our society and culture. During the program FWC had the possibility of visiting the cities and the countries of other partners, as an example Pamplona of Spain, Rostock of Germany, [Marsala] of Sicily and [Olstyn] of Poland.

The success of program STELLLA led the partners to their collaboration to program STELLLA2.0. In this proposal were added still 4 partners, France, Finland, Lithuania and Greece.

If you have any further queries you can visit the web page STELLLA at the address: www.stellla.eu.

Future Worlds Center wins top honours at 2008 Civil Society Awards Ceremony

Local Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Future Worlds Center received the award for the best CSO in the Social Inclusion category at the first annual Civil Society Awards Ceremony held at Chateau Status Restaurant Saturday 7 June 2008.

Future Worlds Center is one of the most active and well respected CSOs in Cyprus. It is a non-profit, non-governmental independent organisation active in programs towards civic education, among others involving the applications of technology towards social transformation and bridging the literacy, economic and digital divides. One main focus of the organisation is the promotion of cultural diversity and global citizenship.

One the outstanding reasons Future Worlds Center was considered for this award was because of its service for Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture. The Unit for Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture is a project funded by the European Refugee Fund and the Republic of Cyprus, through the Asylum Service - Ministry of the Interior. The project has been initiated in 2006 and has since been funded consecutively. The unit supports and promotes the empowerment and rehabilitation of torture victims with a focus on refugees and asylum seekers. URVT’s mission is to assist victims of torture by providing multidisciplinary treatment and rehabilitation services and also to raise public awareness of issues concerning torture and rehabilitation.

Future Worlds Center also has other aims which are to educate and promote diversity among Europeans, build a multi-ethnic and multi-national Cyprus, promote awareness and increase the sensitivity of Cypriot Society on how a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Cyprus serves European values and promotes regional and international peace, identify ways to engage youth in learn intercultural dialogue, foster cooperation between youth NGOs world-wide, foster a peace culture amongst youth in Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East, and empower young people from less favoured areas to improve their intercultural skills.

Future Worlds Center has a long history of experience in activities related to social inclusion both on local and international levels through three operating units: Development Education, Humanitarian Affairs and New Media in Learning Laboratory. Current projects focus on promoting cultural diversity and intercultural understanding among young citizens. Future Worlds Center manages projects and facilitates workshops with teachers, parents and students throughout Europe to develop a joint vision on how to build integrative, multi-communal societies, and to design and implement action plans towards these. Through one of its Development Education project, Future Worlds Center collaborates with schools and the Ministry of Education to add a global dimension to the current lesson plans and to provide access to relevant material for teachers across Europe. Furthermore, projects focus on the challenges that youth with fewer opportunities face in the context of active citizenship and youth participation on European level and on using music as a tool to promote diversity and intercultural communication. It mobilizes young volunteers to actively promote the Millennium Development Goals within the Cypriot society.

Future Worlds Center is a member of the Insafe and the Inhope Network (www.saferinternet.org, www.inhope.org) and of the Cypriot National Network of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures. Together with four NGOs in Cyprus Future Worlds Center has taken the initiative of establishing an island-wide NGDO-platform in Cyprus, linked to the European NGO-conferedation CONCORD (www.cyprusngdos.org). Future Worlds Center is also a founding member of the ‘Multicultural Cyprus for Children and Youth’ Network (www.multiculturalcyprus.org).

At the ceremony awards were given to Civil Society Organisations for their contribution to Cypriot society. The winners of the 2008 Civil Society Awards Ceremony are:

Social Inclusion

Future Worlds Center and Turkish Cypriot Special Education Foundation (ÖZEV)

Education and Culture

HASDER Folk Arts Association and KENTHEA Information and Rehabilitation Centre for Drug addiction

Environment

Biologist Association ‘Bio Der’ and Cyprus Marine Environment Protection Association-CYMEPA

Gender

Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in Family and Mediterranean Sports Association

Health

The Cyprus Association for Cancer Patients and Friends and Help Those With Cancer Association

Youth

Agros Youth Club and AKOVA Women’s Association

Island-Wide Cooperation

Cyprus Dyslexia association and Union of Chambers of Cyprus Turkish Engineers and Architects

Island-Wide Cooperation

Association for Historical Dialogue and Research and Peace Players International Cyprus

For more information please click here

Laouris receives 2008 Award of the Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies

The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies (Ελληνική Εταιρεία Συστημικών Μελετών) presented its 2008 Award to Dr. Yiannis Laouris, Senior Scientist and Chair of the Board of the Cyprus Neuroscience & Technology Institute. The awards ceremony was held in Ioannina, Greece on April 28-31, 2008.

The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies (HSSS) is a new scientific non-profit society whose main goal is to advance and to spread out the Systemic Studies with the development of theoretical systemic approaches which they will be applicable to more than one of the traditional departments of knowledge through the use but also through the development of internationally accepted methodologies - multimethodologies, and to establish the expertise of Systemic Analyst in Greece in the universities, the banking environment, the organizations and generally in enterprises.

Dr. Laouris dedicated the Award to his family and his associates, who for many years supported non-profit initiatives for the benefit of mankind. He also informed us that together with Dr. Christis Charakis (Academic Dean of Limassol Frederick University) and other Cypriot Systems scientists they wish to launch a Cypriot Society for Systemic Studies, something they also initiated over ten years ago, but never came to fruition.

Laouris is a medical graduate of the Leipzig University, Germany. He completed a PhD in Neurophysiology at the Karl-Ludwig Institute with summa cum laude and later also an MS in Systems and Industrial Engineering with GPA 4.0 at the University of Arizona. Together with cyberneticians/systems physiologists Peter Schwartze, H.D. Henatsch, Uwe Windhorst and Douglas Stuart, for over 15 years, he applied linear/non-linear methods to study brain signals in research laboratories in Germany and USA. Laouris has published more than 40 papers and chapters in journals such as the Experimental Brain Research, Neuroscience, Journal of Neurophysiology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, World Futures and has presented more than 110 papers in conferences worldwide.

Currently, he is Senior Scientist at the Cyprus Neuroscience & Technology Institute, where he and his team pioneer in the application of structured dialogue to solve complex societal problems. The current challenge of their team is how to scale up structured dialogues to enable democratic deliberations of up to one thousand people. These dialogue techniques have been applied by the Cyprus team in European networks like COST 219ter: Accessibility for All to Services and Terminals for Next Generation Networks, Cost 298: Broadband for All, in which Laouris is National representative as well as pan-European Safer Internet initiatives, Youth initiatives etc. For the past 10 years they have also been applied to facilitate dialogue among bi-communal groups in the context of the Cyprus peace movement.

The Hellenic Society has honored in previous years systems scientists like: Prof. Maurice Yolles, author of influential books like Management Systems: a Viable Approach (published in 1999), Organizations as Complex Systems: Social Cybernetics and Knowledge in Theory and Practice (2004), and Organizations as Complex Systems: an introduction to knowledge cybernetics (2006). Prof. Aleco Christakis, co-founder of the Club of Rome, Past-President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, with over 100 papers on the management of complexity in refereed journals recipient of numerous awards and distinctions including the “DEMOSOPHIA Award,” and the “Creative Programming Award” from the National University Continuing Education Association. His latest book titled “How People Harness Their Collective Wisdom and Power to Create the Future,” is considered the bible for the scientific grounding and praxis of structured dialogue, known in scientific terminology as the structured dialogic design process