Education needs to be fully integrated in society, and vice versa. Society has evolved to an Information Society and a Global Village. More and more challenges have to be taken up by schools and their teachers

In order to educate young people towards full citizenship more authentic learning is necessary, in direct interaction with peers abroad, and more authentic bridges to the world of politics, work,  culture, sport, the whole society in fact, are to be built.

To be competent participants of society, new literacies are to be developed: functional literacy, also in foreign languages, media literacy, social literacy and in the end cultural literacy, fostering “openness”, generosity towards others and a lively curiosity.

Thus learners are enabled to integrate the cultural experience of the Other into his/her learning, in a way that continually modifies our overall image of the world. Education thus has to reach into society. And ICT offers increasingly multi-faceted tools to do the bridging.

ESP is the oldest network organisation in the world focussing on ICT-based innovation of education. In 2008, as year of Intercultural Dialogue, our 22nd conference is meant for (head) teachers of primary, secondary and vocational education, teacher trainers, educational researchers, and policy makers. Teachers and principals can request funding for conference fee and travel, as the conference as a whole is a Comenius Teacher In-service Training Seminar.
On the first day of the conference special attention will be paid to the basics of transnational project work for beginners.