As part of the international project EMPOWER FOR 21, we successfully conducted the third series of popular workshops on communication, leadership, and digital communication this week!

Committed to education and skills enhancement, we invited experienced lecturers Franko Bertoncelj and Marko Šopar, both psychologists from Aletheia company. They provided participants with valuable insights and tools for smoother functioning in the professional environment. In the 5-hour workshops, attendees gained fundamental knowledge on the mentioned topics, which they further deepened through concrete examples and hands-on training.

Participants were not only enthusiastic about the acquired knowledge but also about the relaxed and enjoyable workshop delivery, along with the professionalism of the presenters. They expressed a desire for future workshop repetitions, recognizing the acquired knowledge as a crucial tool for better interpersonal relationships both in the workplace and beyond.

It has been over a year since the commencement of the EMPOWER FOR 21 project, which advocates for empowering 21st-century professionals in the fields of communication and leadership, caring for mental health, and the use of critical thinking in their work. During this time, educational workshops on these areas have taken place, and educational modules/programs have been developed, with the aim of sustainable implementation in the future. To finalize the program for teaching about mental disorders, our experts from the Medical Faculty of the University of Maribor and the University Medical Center Maribor visited our Norwegian project partner to gain experience and knowledge.

The study visit to the Kingdom of Norway took place from September 21 to 25, specifically at the branch of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Oslo.

As the visit was primarily dedicated to developing a program for teaching about mental disorders, experts reviewed the work already done on the project and planned the next steps. In October, we are planning to conduct a pilot test of the developed mental health program, which will involve educating tutors from the Medical Faculty in Maribor, who will then further educate medical students.

During the study visit, a significant amount of time was also dedicated to exchanging good practices in teaching mental health. When reviewing similar projects being implemented worldwide, we found that many of them are based on the Canadian document “Transitions”, just like ours. Our program is most similar to the Finnish model; however, in the EMPOWER FOR 21 project, we actively strive for cultural adaptation and ensuring that the materials remain accessible to the public for an extended period, possibly as an elective course, and so on.

During the planning and implementation, we have received valuable assistance and support from an expert in Norway and Canadian authors of the previously mentioned document with whom we have established contact. We also draw additional knowledge from various conferences and congresses that we attend during the project’s implementation.

After brainstorming, we had plenty of time to explore the beautiful city of Oslo :).

On February 16, 2023, the heads of projects financed under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism and the EEA Financial Mechanism met with representatives of the Norwegian Embassy in Budapest. The event was also attended by the head of the EMPOWER FOR 21 project, our dr. Monika Sobočan. The EMPOWER FOR 21 project is committed to empowering professionals in the 21st century by developing lifelong learning skills, employee well-being, and prevention and recognition of mental disorders. The project managers were able to share experiences with each other and make contacts that will certainly help to make the projects as successful as possible.

The Norwegian partner NTNU visited the other two Slovenian partners UKC Maribor and MF UM in Maribor at the end of January 2023. The purpose of the visit was to plan the work on the project (especially on leadership and communication work package). Partners exchanged good practices and got to know more of each other during this visit.

The study visit took place on January 25 and 26, 2023 at the University Medical Centre (UMC) Maribor. The first day was devoted mainly to the content of the communication and management work package. The Norwegian partner was presented with the results of the “Assessment of needs regarding the development of competences for healthcare professions” questionnaire, and based on this, the planning of upcoming management and communication workshops, was carried out through the conversation. The workshops are expected to take place from March to May 2023.
The second day of the study visit we used it to plan the work within the mental health care work package and to plan the curriculum for teachers.

On this occasion, the Norwegian partner also participated as an active speaker in a press conference on the topic of the presentation of the prefabricated facility of child and adolescent psychiatry clinics (more on: Facebook post UKC Maribor).