CyberEthics at the MedSchool, Larnaca

Lawrence Kalogreades of the Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline gave a presentation about Internet safety to an audience of concerned parents and educators at the MedSchool in Larnaca, Cyprus. The lecture resulted in a lengthly discussion about how to keep children safe, the legal concerns of Internet activities, as well as examples of legislative actions taken by other EU nations. The event lasted for about two hours, one hour over the estimated time-span, indicating the high level of interest on behalf of the parents and school representatives.

Join our Online Survey about Development Issues!

Are you working with a civil society organisation or a local authority in Cyprus, Greece or Malta? Are you interested in development issues? Then please take 10 minutes of your time to complete the online survey for the Mediterranean Development Network!
The survey is part of the EU funded project "Capacity and Synergy building among Development NGOs and Local Authorities in Greece, Cyprus and Malta for Development".

The overall objective of the project is to enhance cooperation of NGDO platforms and Local Authorities in the three countries, Greece, Cyprus and Malta in order to become efficient agents of development and to participate in the planning of and the debate over EU development policy.

Throughout the durtion of the project, we will offer a set of trainings and workshops on topics related to development issues and policies, an international Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Programme for CSOs, a study visit to EU institutions in Brussels, and an international Partnership Fair. For more details about the project and its activities, please check the project website at www.MeDevNet.org.

The project is implemented by the Development Education Centre European Perpective (Greece) in partnership with Future Worlds Center in Cyprus, KOPIN (Malta), the Valetta Local Council (Malta) and the Local Union of Municipalities & Town Councils of Attica (GREECE).

For further information, please contact the project coordinator.

FWC represented at The European Network of Rehabilitation Centres for Survivors of Torture Conference

The European Network of Rehabilitation Centres for Survivors of Torture is holding its annual conference from 18 - 21 May in Copenhagen, Denmark. For the first time in its history an NGO from Cyprus has been invited to attend. FWC, which operates the only rehabiitation for victims of torture in Cyprus, is that NGO.

Rehabilitation Centres for Survivors of Torture from around Europe are represented at the conference and many themes will be discussed. This year’s theme is “Right to health and rehabilitation” and RCT together with OASIS is hosting the conference.

The overall theme of the conference is the rights based aspects of health and rehabilitation; how does this issue play out in terms of policy and practice? What are the health professional and political perspectives on the issue? What obligations do States have vis a vis the health of torture survivors? To what degree have States met these obligations?

About the network
Within the boundaries of the Council of Europe about 100 centres and programmes provide assistance to victims of human rights violations, either asylum seekers and refugees in host countries, or victims of past or current regimes.

Considering the political developments in Europe and in particular the fall of the Soviet regime, the enlargement of the European Union and the development of a common EU asylum system, there was a strong need for more cooperation and a sharing of experiences and expertise between the regional organisations providing support to victims of torture and also the appeal of facing new international challenges together.

Therefore, in 2003, the organisations created an informal network: The European Network of Rehabilitation Centres for Survivors of Torture.

The network presents three levels of activities:

* Large networking conferences
* Workshops and groups focusing on specific issues
* A clinical discussion group
* Ongoing dialogue and coordination through use of internet

Participants include psychotherapists, doctors, psychologists, social workers, lawyers and administrators.

CyberEthics on NTV's noon news programme

Lawrence Kalogreades of CyberEthics and coordinator of the Safer Internet Helpline was hosted by Dimitris Souglis on NTV's noon news programme. The two discussed the recent events in Cyprus regarding Internet related crimes and how the public has reacted to them, as well as the perceived causes of the increase in such events. Lawrence then explained to the viewers how to keep themselves and their children safe by changing some simple things in the way that they behave online (you can find out more at www.cyberethics.info). The issue received considerable attention as indicated by the fact that the number of people dialing in to address their concerns on the issue was so high that it was not possible to address each caller individually. That being said, CyberEthics and its associates have been invited back and will soon be featured more extensively on NTV.

Panel Discussion on the Millennium Development Goals and the role of the Cypriot Society – more collaborative efforts needed to achieve the MDGs

A panel discussion addressing the role of Cyprus to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals was successfully held Monday, 3rd May at the European University Cyprus with the participation of high-level guests from the European Parliament, Cyprus government, NGO members, academics and university students.

The discussion was opened by Dr. Kostas Gouliamos, Vice-Rector Research and External Relations, and moderated by Mrs. Petra Daniel, Senior Instructor at the Department of Social and Behaviour Sciences of European University.

Mrs. Frances-Galatia Lanitou-Williams, Head of Department of Development and Humanitarian Aid of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cypriot MEP Ms. Antigoni Papadopoulou, Dr. Petros Stathopoulos, Professor of Social Work from School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the European University Cyprus and Ms. Kerstin Wittig, Head of the Global Education Unit at Future Worlds Center were members of the panel who discussed about the contribution of Cyprus towards the Millennium Development Goals, the role of the Cypriot Official Development Assistance, Cyprus’ participation in international efforts especially with regards to gender related poverty alleviation, as well as the role of civil society and the educational sector in contributing to the commitments of the MDGs and a globally responsible society.

Guest speakers celebrated Cyprus’ contribution as a donor within the European Union, but agreed that further initiatives should be taken to raise awareness on global responsibility of citizens and ensure sustainability of actions in this area. Panelists pointed out the important role that Media and Education play towards achieving these aims and stressed the necessity of establishing further collaboration between different stakeholders involved in the MDGs.

The discussion was attended by a variety of university students, educators, diplomats and civil society representatives from different backgrounds who contributed by raising their own questions and offering their comments. The event is expected to contribute to a stronger cooperation between governmental bodies, civil society and academia in actions promoting the MDGs in Cypriot society. The event was jointly organized by Future Worlds Center and the European University Cyprus in the framework of the EU-funded project “TeachMDGs” which is currently being implemented by Future Worlds Center.

This event is supported by the EU funded project ‘TeachMDGs’. The main aim of the project is to increase awareness and public support for the Millennium Development Goals through actively engaging teacher training institutes, teachers and pupils in developing local oriented teaching resources about the MDGs with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa and promote these through comprehensive teacher trainings. TeachMDGs is coordinated by Future Worlds Center in partnership with Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria and Scotland. The views expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of Future Worlds Center and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

Safer Internet presentation at Ayia Fyla Lyceum

On the 14th of April 2010, members of the Cyberethics team, Dr. Yiannis Laouris and Mrs. Georgina Shitta together with the Head of the Cyber Crime unit of the Police Mr. Markos Nikolettis, had the opportunity to give a presentation to the students of the Ayia Fyla Lyceum, in Limassol. Around 250 students were present, who eagerly participated in the discussions after the presentations were over and in fact had many valid points and questions regarding Internet use and their own perceptions about how to use the Internet properly.

Cyberethics Parent’s Association presentation in Limassol Primary

After being invited by the Parents’ Association of the 10th Primary School Xalkoutsa in Limassol, Mrs. Georgina Shitta, Cyberethics coordinator, Mr. Panikos Iakovou from CYTA and Savvas Simaiou from the Cyber crime unit of the Police, gave a presentation regarding Internet safety on the 28th of April 2010.

The teachers, parents and their children listened on as the presenters explained how to keep themselves and their children safe while surfing online. This generated much discussion at the end of the presentations since most people consider the Internet to be a source of danger rather than as a source of knowledge and democratic expression, which the parents agreed with and wanted to become more informed about how to keep their children’s Internet use productive rather than harmful.

The school’s officials extended their gratitude for the presentation and want to organize such a presentation again to the pupils of the school.

Safer Internet Day 2010 Conferences

On February 9th, Safer Internet Day 2010, the Cyprus Safer Internet Center organized a conference in Nicosia to celebrate the day. First presenter at this event was Mrs. Goula Frangkou, delegate of the office of Commissioner for personal data collection, which discussed about personal data, laws, rights and obligations. Second presenter was Dr. Michael Vafopoulos, coordinator of the post-graduate program in Web science at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki that discussed about social networks, options and opportunities in real life. Following Dr. Vafopoulos was Mr. Nikos Vasilakos, reporter and counselor for www, representing Internet Now! and president of the Association of Hellenic Internet Users. After the presentations followed a discussion between the presenters, the audience and a panel of six students (2 from the Cyprus children parliament) coordinated by Mr. Yiannis Laouris that led to a very interesting and productive discussion. In detail the children that took part in the panel discussion were: Christos Dimitrof (B’ Technical school Limassol), Stefania Charalambous (Gymnasium Kokkinochorion), George Charalambous ( Lyceum Dasoupolis), Dimitra Katechaki (Gymnasium Faneromenis Larnaca), Anthoulla Fella (President of the Children’s Parliament) and Tasos Stylianou (Children’s Parliament member).


On February 10th an English speaking Safer Internet Day conference took place at the CYTA amphitheatre. First speaker was Dr. Michael Vafopoulos, coordinator of the post-graduate program in Web science at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki that discussed about social networks, options and opportunities in real life. Following Dr. Vafopoulos was Mr. Michalis Kitromilides from the office of Commissioner for personal data collection, which discussed about personal data, laws, rights and obligations. After the presentations followed a discussion between the presenters, the audience and the children’s panel coordinated by Mr. Yiannis Laouris that led to a very interesting and productive discussion. In detail the children that took part in the panel discussion were: Charalambos Mouzouris (GC School), Melissa Soukiouroglou (GC School), Rania Kouros (English school), Maria Kountouri (Pascal English school), Savvas Kourtis (American Academy Larnaca), Nicholas-Stafenos Helas (Children’s Parliament member) and Fay Wonepfer (Children’s Parliament member).

CyberEthics meet with the pupils of the Aradippou Primary School

Georgina Siitta, coordinator of the CyberEthics Internet Awareness Center, and Lawrence Kalogreades, coordinator of the Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline, were invited by the Aradippou Primary School in order to give a presentation about various issues regarding Internet safety and ethical behaviour. About 70 children listened on as Lawrence and Georgina explained the benefits and hazards of the Internet, and how the children themselves can learn to behave safely and responsibly while interacting online. The children were excited by the subject matter and had alot to say about their own usage of the Internet and their own concerns or experiences while online. The concluding comment was that in the case of the children, it is their responsibility to behave sensibly and respectfully while on the Internet, and also to be willing to act as teachers for their parents some times in order to get their parents better acquainted with their own children's changing world and social attitudes.

CyberEthics at Radio Pafos 93.7FM

Lawrence Kalogreades, coordinator of the Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline, was invited to discuss safer Internet issues on the Radio Pafos program 'Προχωράμε Μαζί', hosted by Olga Ioannou. The two discussed the importance of understanding the Internet as a beneficial tool which however can contain hidden hazards for the inexperienced. With this in mind, the program focused on the responsibility of the parents to become educated in ICT in order to be capable of giving proper advice and guidance to their children, as well as avoiding hazards themselves. The discussion attracted the attention of the audience who called in and asked questions and also challenged the position that parents can make a difference when it comes to a child's behaviour on the Internet. As a concluding remark, Lawrence stated that parents should not turn a blind-eye to their children's activities on the Internet, but should not spy on their children either. With that in mind, a spirit of collaboration and mutual understanding should be developed in order for the youngsters to feel comfortable discussing these issues with their parents, not only because they feel that it is acceptable but also because they need to feel that their parents are also knowledgable in the subject.

Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline coordinator at Aradippou Primary School

After being invited by the Parents’ Association of the Aradippou Primary School, Lawrence Kalogreades, coordinator of the Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline, gave a presentation regarding Internet safety.

The parents listened on as Lawrence explained how to keep their children safe but also how to give them enough liberty in order to not be suppressive. This view generated much discussion since most people consider the Internet to be a source of danger rather than as a source of knowledge and democratic expression, which the parents agreed with and wanted to become more informed about how to keep their children’s Internet use productive rather than harmful.

The school’s officials extended their gratitude for the presentation and have already invited Lawrence back in order to give the same presentation directly to the pupils of the school.

Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline coordinator at Lykeio Kykkou B’

Lawrence Kalogreades, the coordinator of the Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline, had the opportunity to give a presentation to the students of the Lykeio Kykkou B’, in Nicosia, Cyprus. A total of about 70 students were present, who eagerly participated in the discussion and in fact had many valid points and questions regarding Internet use and their own perceptions about how to use the Internet properly. Due to the student’s requests, Lawrence focused the discussion on how to stay protected from phishing scams, keeping one’s personal details safe, and how to make sure that a student can stay safe while on Social Networking Sites.

CyberEthics at “Elefthero Vima” on CyBC Radio 1

Lawrence Kalogreades, coordinator of the Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline, and Yiannis Laouris, director of the CyberEthics Awareness Node, were the guest speakers at the CyBC Radio 1 discussion show “Elefthero Vima”.

Yiannis and Lawrence were given the opportunity to inform the public about the role of CyberEthics in regards to Internet safety in Cyprus and how its role has evolved over the years into including a Helpline, Hotline, and also running relevant research projects on Internet use and video game addiction. The discussion also covered popular issues such as the use of Instant Messenger programs and their dangers, how to protect one’s computer from viruses, to how to use Social Networking Sites safely. The discussion ran from 7:25 until 8:25pm.

CyberEthics at CyBC-1’s early morning programme, “Epta Deka”

Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline coordinator, Lawrence Kalogreades, and the director of the CyberEthics Awareness Node, Yiannis Laouris, were invited to the CyBC-1 early morning program “Epta Deka” on Tuesday the 20th of April.

Yiannis and Lawrence discussed with their hosts the activities of the CyberEthics project as a whole, the role of the national Helpline and Hotline in dealing with Internet related dangers and distress, and how parents can best inform their children as well as themselves about how to stay safe and most of all productive while on the Internet.

Cyprus Safer Internet Helpline coordinator at the Youth Board Multimedia Center in Paphos

Lawrence Kalogreades gave an hour long presentation to a group of children, teenagers, and parents at the Youth Board Multimedia Center in Paphos on Saturday the 17th of April, 2010. Lawrence explained to his audience his role of being the coordinator of the Cyprus Internet Helpline, as well as how CyberEthics can help them with advice and guidance on how to stay safe on the Internet.

Associates of Paphos TV were also present, who filmed the presentation and also interviewed Lawrence in order to highlight the importance of CyberEthics’ work in keeping the youth of today safe.

Interested in learning Turkish or Greek with your mobile phone?

Are you interested in learning Turkish or Greek with your mobile phone? If yes, then the project entitled 'Intercultural Dialogue & Linguistic Diversity via MobLang’ – a EU funded project with partner organizations from Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Basque Country, Greece and the UK is just for you!

Specifically, we aim at teaching basic language skills, such as survival phrases, short dialogues, numbers etc through the use of mobile phones.

In Cyprus, we will teach basic Greek to Turkish Cypriots and basic Turkish to Greek Cypriots, respectively. We hope to help bridge the gap and therefore reinforce dialogue between both communities through the acquisition of basic conversational language skills.

At the moment we are in the process of designing the language curricula. And here is where we need your input! In order to find out what you want and how exactly you want to learn a language, we developed a short online survey for your input. We appreciate if you take 5-10 minutes of your time to answer the few questions that will guide us in our curricula development. We need your opinion in order to create a language course that you will want to use in a few months time for free!

The survey is available in English, Greek and Turkish. Please click on the link below to chose your preferred language:

Turkish: http://www.unipark.de/uc/MobLang_Cyprus_Tr/
Greek: http://www.unipark.de/uc/MobLang_Cyprus_Gr/
English: http://www.unipark.de/uc/MobLang_Cyprus_Eng/

Thank you very much for your support!

For more information on the project please refer to our website: www.moblang.eu

Launching Event of the “MDGs - Media for Development Goals” Project

Future Words Center and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, European University Cyprus hosted University students from Cyprus at the Launching Event of the “MDGs - Media for Development Goals” Project on 21 April 2010 at the Amphitheatre Delta, European University Cyprus.

The project aims to involve Student Youth in the development of multimedia tools to promote Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

During the Launch Event University students had an opportunity to learn more about the scope of the project and about how they can become involved. There are multiple trainings focused on using new media as an innovative tool for the promotion of development issues. The trainings will take place in Italy, Peru, Kenya and Poland in summer 2010. Two University students from Cyprus will be selected to participate in the trainings on behalf of the project and then become multipliers of the knowledge they have gained.

Petra Daniel, Senior Instructor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, European University Cyprus opened the Launch Event.

Students then had the opportunity to hear from Kongnso L. Cyrille, Sec. General of the International Students Association (ISAC) who inspired the youth leaders with his speech “How do the MDGs relate to youth leaders in Cyprus?”.

Nicolina Markidou, Global Education Unit, Future Worlds Center then gave a presentation of the “MDGs - Media for Development Goals” Project which was followed by a question and answer session.

For more information about the project and to obtain an application form please click here

Future Worlds Center, a Cypriot Non-Governmental Organisation based in Nicosia is a partner in the project: “MDGs - Media for Development Goals” (contract no. DCI-NSA ED/2009/202-170) that is being coordinating with two other European countries (Poland, Czech Republic).


“The project MDGs – Media for Development Goals is funded by the European Union. The contents of this publication is the sole responsibility of Future Worlds Center and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union."

FWC coordinates Cyprus' first European conference on Development Education

Future Worlds Center, welcomed teachers and NGO leaders to Cyprus for the island’s first European conference on Development Education. Participants from Cyprus, Scotland, Ireland, Bulgaria, France, Poland, England, Slovenia and Lithuania have started to gather for 3 days in Limassol to discuss opportunities and challenges faced integrating a global perspective into schools across Europe. A representative of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus opened the conference with an address to the participants Thursday morning. Educational authorities from the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and the General Teaching Council of Scotland will also address the attendees.

Interactive workshops for participants will be conducted in parallel over the entirety of the conference as well as a Structured Dialogue with relevant educational stakeholders. These will help participants exchange experiences, learn what is happening in other EU member states and create new links among teachers Europe-wide.

“Global Education is very important for Cyprus and teachers here are very responsive”, said Kerstin Wittig Future World Center’s head of Global Education and Coordinator of the project “Accessing Development Education” who is hosting the European conference in Cyprus.

“Development Education is still a fairly new concept in new member states and the European Commission promotes the idea by supporting NGOs who work in this area. The Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus has been very supportive of these activities and the project itself”, she said

The EU funded project “Accessing Development Education” has been active for the last two years and engages educators and schools in Development Education activities and equips them with relevant training and materials, thus making them promoters and multipliers of national campaigns and initiatives that aim to create awareness about development issues and global interdependencies.

The project is coordinated by Future Worlds Center (Cyprus) and implemented in partnership with Scotdec (Scotland), Youth Career and Advising Centre (Lithuania), KADE (Ireland) and C.E.G.A. (Bulgaria). The conference will run from Thursday 8 April to Saturday 10 April at the Navarria Hotel in Limassol.

FWC at 3rd COST International Training School

"Dr Yiannis Laouris and Lawrence Kalogreades attended the 3rd COST International Training School on Toward Autonomous, Adaptive, and Context-Aware Multimodal Interfaces: Theoretical and Practical Issues, which took place in Caserta, Italy. The training school took place on the 15-19th of March, 2010.

Lawrence Kalogreades documented the work he is doing in collaboration with Dr Antonis Loizou at the CNTI/FWC Neuroscience Lab through his presentation entitled "The effects of violent gaming on psycho-physiological and electrophysiological measures of stress". An abstract of the presentation follows:

The primary aim of this study is to investigate whether experienced video‐game players demonstrate fewer physiological stress markers (i.e., elevated heart‐rate, respiration, blood pressure, ventilation, and forehead muscle conductivity) in comparison to inexperienced gamers. With the aid of the Nexus 10 biofeedback recording hardware, the physiological responses, as well as integrated brain wave activity of the subjects will be recorded while playing violent and non‐violent video games. This psychophysiological multimodal data profile will be correlated with their Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory personality profiles as well as the type of game being played."

FWC hosts Conflict Resolution Students from USA

In continuance of FWC's long collaboration with graduate students interested in Peace Building FWC hosted a student group from American University in Washington D.C. Eleftherios A. Michael, Cyprus native and Assistant Professor and Academic Director at the Peace and Conflict Resolution Program from American University in Washington D.C. (http://observer.american.edu/washingtonsemester/peacecr/index.cfm) was in Cyprus again this year with 25 students for a study visit about bi-communal activities and activists from the 19th to the 27th of March 2010.

The students met with political leaders island-wide and also heard from civil society groups currently coordinating bi-communal projects in Cyprus. FWC presented it's "Jumpstart" project, and students also heard about the "Cyprus Network for Youth Development" of which FWC is a member and also from the Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC) staff about all the exciting trainings and productions happening. FWC is a member of the Management Committee of CCMC.