From 12-16 May 2025, nine VIKO PDF pedagogical studies students and two lecturers – Aušra Simoniukštytė and (remotely) Alina Martinkutė-Vorobej – took part in the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) “Parental Resilience in a Polarised Society”. The programme was implemented by the Universities of Applied Sciences of Leuven-Limburg (UCLL, Belgium) and Zuyd (Netherlands), together with partners from the International Parent Centred Network (IPCN). In addition to VIKO, students and teachers from six universities in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Malta, the Netherlands and Finland took part in the programme.
The programme was mainly held in Hasselt, Belgium, with the exception of a symposium on parental resilience in a polarised society, which was organised in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in the same building where the famous Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992, which established the European Union. During the break, students and teachers had the opportunity to see the original Treaty, which was signed by the foreign and finance ministers of the 12 EU countries at the time.
The BIP consisted of lectures, workshops, dynamic group activities, visits to various institutions working with families and interviews with parents. During the intensive week, the students learnt about the problems families face due to the growing societal confrontation and ways to help parents build resilience. The students presented their reflections in international student groups.
During the visit, VIKO PDF lecturers Alina Martinkutė-Vorobej and Aušra Simoniukštytė conducted a seminar on “Polarising prejudices and their impact on social work with parents”, and lecturer Aušra Simoniukštytė represented VIKO Faculty of Pedagogy in the annual IPCN meeting, which foresees further joint activities of the higher education institutions that are members of the IPCN network.
