The Project

CIGN (Creative Industries Global Network) is a pan-European network for curricular development for the Creative Industries. It aims to identify sectorial skill-gaps, develop curricula to address these, and enable opportunities for future employment.

Contact

Project Coordinator
Tommie Nyström
Linköping University
SE-60176 Norrköping

Project Description

Objectives

The CIGN project aims to enhance the quality of training, improve trans-national recognition of qualifications, and provide opportunities for skills training of professional staff. Once disseminated through modular provision at each partner University, opportunities will be created for students to engage with present and future needs of cross-media design and production industries across Europe and beyond.
The CIGN project will also seek to identify communication strategies and appropriate learning methodologies to allow for this to be implemented at local, regional, national and international levels forming a lasting international network of stakeholders in training professionals for cross-media design and production.

Summary

The applicants identified a requirement for modernisation of 'Cross-Media Design and Production' modules following an extensive three-year Intensive Project, ICDC (http://www.designcamp.eu), in their shared areas of practice and theory. The team proposed a new project to be developed based on the findings of the ICDC project, and a recognition of the abilities of the organizations to work collaboratively.
The objectives of the three-year Creative Industries Global Network (CIGN) project included developing a lasting and sustainable international network between key Higher Education Institutions, employer organisations and Sector Skills Alliance Partners, (SSAP’s) to identify future skills gaps in ‘Cross Media Design and Production’; developing innovative modular content, training activities and workshops and providing opportunities for dissemination of this research using existing and developing media technology platforms.

Linköping University, (LiU) Sweden was the lead partner. Other partners included Stuttgart Media University, (HdM,) Germany, Artevelde University College Ghent (AhS), Belgium, and The University of the West of Scotland, (UWS), Scotland. A fifth, associated partner, Ryerson University (RU) Canada, was also involved in the project.

Project activities included an identification and consolidation of common areas of practice between partner institutions, and the development of staff training workshops in Stuttgart and Ghent. Management meetings occurred between partners and key industrial/sector skills alliance partners in order to provide training opportunities congruent with individual requirements including:

At the end of the first year, participants identified and developed modules across the partner institutions. These spanned fields including International Cross-Media Design and Production, Collaborative Projects, and Media Literacy among others.
During the second year, partners investigated opportunities for both local and inter-institutional dissemination of findings. (These included engagement with international SSAP’s and awarding bodies.) A second staff training workshop was held in Ghent exploring benchmarking and best practices in learning, teaching and assessment. Partners continued to disseminate findings at international educational design conferences and events. Opportunities were created to disseminate pilot modules to the international student body via a series of short courses at partner institutions. Modular titles (ECTS credit bearing) were offered to students and involved periods of staff exchange and when possible, on-line and on-site student engagement (Erasmus exchange). This targeted encouraging inter-institutional mobility, new modes of international deliveries and the exchange of best and innovative practices in the areas of language, culture, collaboration, creative/professional practice and employability.

Throughout years two and three CIGN partners disseminated project research findings at international educational design conferences and events.

In year three of the project, activities centered around revision/dissemination of project findings and allowed for preparation of conclusive reports. Initially these were distributed to all parties who were involved in the project, and through web and social media platforms to future global collaborative partners.

The results of the project and resultant activities included the following:

Important long term impacts of the project were anticipated to include revised curricula at partner institutions, safeguarding relevance to current research in identified areas of cross-media design and production, and dissemination to an increased audience of interested partners/practitioners; and identification of subjects for future projects (including an Erasmus+ application).


Project Details

Start date: 2014-09-04
Programme type: Key Action 2 – Cooperation and Innovation for Good Practices
Programme Acronym: CIGN
Duration: 36 months
End Date: 2017-09-04

Flag of the European Union
Funded by the European Union
within the ERASMUS+ Programme