Here is the partnership's recorded single
Deswat Erasmus+ Band ft Purple Lotus: Obladi Oblada (Women's Power Day Cover)
The cover of the song is a school project completely for educational reasons. The recording was held as teaching & learning workshop in the context of the Erasmus+ meeting in Athens.
April 2022: The Greeks in Palermo!
A poster
made by designing team of our project
was placed in the gallery of our school
A reminder of project's meeting in Palermo
12/03/2022 A day trip in the Past
11/03/2022 Fourth Day
Since the open air party was canceled due to bad weather the rock band of the school undertook to bring some youth liveliness at the end of the day. The flash concert was attended by many of the school band fans. After their appearance, the principal and the deputy principal of the school gave to the participants of the meeting their Certificates of Attendance and a souvenir gift. The teachers had a meeting to evaluate and organize the future plans of the partnership.
The main workshop of our last session in school was a cooperation with the European University of Nicosia and the Microsoft Startup Center. The main goal of the workshop was to encourage our participants to develop an interest in STEAM sectors (Science,Technology,
Engineering, AIrts, Mathematics) combined with the entrepreneurial and innovative way of thinking. At the beginning there was an introduction to the
workshop & information about the skills of the 21st century and the professions of the future. The second part it was the most fun as the students, divided in groups had to manage by using the tablets and the instructions given to them to make their 6 drowns to rise above in the hall of the concert theater. The last part was a business and innovative
way of thinking activity. Students divided into groups they tried to identify specific needs and problems of those around them and society and develop a business idea, with an emphasis on solving problems they have identified. The teams presented their ideas. The session ended with the contest using KAhoot application.
MORNING SESSION
Our morning meeting started with the presentation of the fourth guest school: Letonia. Their presentation was based on a very well designed video made by the students. You can watch it on this link:
The Greek school had the opportunity to present its
creative team of Board Games Case Project. The team is trying to invent and design a strategy board game based on the ancient Greek history. The girls are working on the rules and the structure of the game and they had already deigned the main elements of the game. They will continue their effort to built an interesting and exciting game.
The session ended with the pressroom project.
10/03/2022 Third Day
When Life Gives You Lemons...
The unexpected weather suprised us but did not prevent us from carrying out our daily activities.
Visiting Acropolis & the New Musuem
The day began with a visit to the Acropolis. The day was cold but the atmosphere was clear and one could see the panoramic view from the top of the rock. The monuments. the walk among the imposing monuments was a unique experience. Especially the Parthenon. [text & photos by mixed group of students]
Then we went down the hill to go to the Acropolis Museum.
The museum presents the order of changes that took place in the Acropolis. In the first floor we saw several wonderful sculptures that have survived. We also saw small copies of Acropolis and thanks to them we were able to see how it looked like. Glass floor turned out to be a very interesting element of architecture.From the second floor there’s a wonderful view of Acropolis, as well as all the astonishing sculptural decoration of the parthenon.
[text & photos by mixed group of students]
The second part of the day
Companies for unprivileged people
Invisible Routes
For the invisible routes you can read much more information in the article written from the Greek Students below.
"The Experience of a Strange Tour
Today we had a chance to follow the invisible routes & have a glance on the other side of the of Athens. Two former homeless men told us about their life and experiences, as they faced the social exclusion. We saw many people living in terrible conditions for example they are living in the street and they are drug addicted. At the same time we stopped & have information for some of the organizations that help all of them to survive or built a new life [City of Athens social services, Caritas, Praxis, Doctors of the World, Positive Voice and finally Schedia]. There is a huge economical and refuge crisis since 2008 that affected all people in Greece and because of that this kind of organizations were built to help all the people who lost everything."
[Text & photos by mixed group of students in the context of pressroom project]
Schedia Home Restaurant
At the end of our tour there was the Schedia Home Restaurant-Cofee Shop. An
example of different & succesfull entrepreneurship effort. And its different because its main effort is to help people. The employees are ex homeless people who have been given the opportunity to rebuild their lives. At the same time is designed in a way to be accessible for all (for example the menu is also in braille language, the toilet has all the facilities for handicapped people) and is environmentally friendly and beautiful decorated. We had our three cources lunch there and the food & the service were great. The manager gave us the information about the social aspect of the entrepreneurship innovation and how one can organized companies like that.
09/03/2022 Second Day
In any business endeavour an important issue is the promotion of our products or services through social media and press. This job is usually undertaken by the
advertising and promotion department of a company. The PR (Public Relations) department often makes announcements about the plans and actions of the company. This is what we asked our teams to do during our meeting. You can read below their reports about our daily activities.
FLASH CONCERT: A YOUNG COMPOSER
We can say that the young composer (Panos Baltas) tried very hard to show different styles in music. The music we heard was both emotional and melodic.
We shared our opinions with each other and everyone agreed that it was unforgettable and gorgeous. We think that the guys are really talented.
In general, we think that this is a unique music that suits different situations and people, and we can say with confidence that they will become famous musicians in the future.
Thanks for your performance! [Panos Baltas, piano/Mirto Anagnostopoulou, voice/ Kaliopi Rodi, Flute]
[text & photos: Latvian team]
Visiting Kaissa Company
Today, we've visited Kaissa boardgame company, where we've been shown all the departments, they have in the company aand the ways all of them cooperate to
develop their job, also a little bit of the history of the company, showing us their begginings and the changes the company underwent. We also could see some examples of games they distribute. They answered all our questions and encouraged us to do what we are passionate about. We even got free samples!
We really enjoyed learning about
their daily routine because we got to understand how a company really works and how they work individually.
[text & photos: Spanish team]
Kaissa Company
The company Kaissa was founded in 1985 by a group of chess players as a purely chess shop. However, it soon expanded its activities to other, innovative for that time categories of games.
Ancient Greek Art lesson
The second day of our meeting started with Ancient Greek Art lesson. The history teacher from the hosting school showed us an interesting presentation on how the Acropolis has changed over the centuries. During the lecture, we also learned
what affected the condition of the temples and other buildings. She also gave us advice on what we should pay attention to while visiting the Acropolis. We can’t wait to visit Acropolis and Partenon tomorrow.
[text & photos by the Polish team]
08/03/2022 First Day
FLASH CONCERTS
At the end of the first day was also a presentation of three of the school’s music ensembles, Mr. Iliadis’s ensemble that has to do with traditional Greek dances, Mrs. Zaitidou’s ensemble that plays ethnic and jazz repertoire, and the School’s Grand Choir (by Mrs Evangelia Loukaki). The students really liked it and it caught their attention because of how different the music was from what they were used to.
Virtual IMSRecords Company Project: Partnership's single
DESIGNING OUR SINGLE COVER
RECORDING THE PARTNERSHIP's SINGLE
Virtual IMSRecord Company
The students from Spain, Italy and Poland did a sound recording workshop, where they sang the two songs (“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “Starman”), with the help of mrs. Kantara & Dionisia Papouli, music teachers at our school. It was something they hadn’t done before but they found it very interesting and thought it was a pleasant experience. The songs were guided by the recording prepared by the school rock band: Purple Lotus.
Rehearsals
The first day of our meeting was rich in new experiences. One of them were the rehearsals for the recording of two songs: Obladi Oblada by the Beatles and Starman by David Bowie. We were divided into two groups. The rehearsals lasted for about an hour and they were conducted by Music teachers. They gave us some tips on how to sing properly. After the rehearsals each group recorded the songs in a studio.
[text & photos by the Polish Team]
WOMAN'S POWER DAY
International Woman's Day was celebrated and we were lucky enough to see a theatre performance to vindicated woman's rights based on a poem written by a greek poet called Kiki Dimoula.
In addition, the talented students from the music school of Ilions, prepared a Mexican song called "Fearless song"to remember victims of gender violence in Greece. It was so amazing that a Greek newspaper wrote an article about it. Finally, they gave away stickers with inspirational quotes.
Thanks to the Music school of Ilion for making such an important day so memorable. [text & photos by the Spanish team]
The opening session
We are all ready! The meeting begun with the welcome greetings from the principal of Ilion Music School, Mrs Anna Tsigkouli. The partners made inventive presentations about their hometown & their school.
[photos: Greek team]
JANUARY FEBRUARY 2022
We are all getting ready
for our next meeting
In
NN
October 2021 - April 2022
Companies for unprivileged people
Another project is the one that deals with entrepreneurship related to offering to unprivileged people. Two groups of students are looking for such companies. First station: "schedia".
«About Shedia»
«Shedia» is the only Greek street paper and a member of the International Network of Street Papers – INSP which enumerates 122 papers in 41 countries, engaging over 14.000 underprivileged, homeless vendors and 6.000.000 readers all over the world. «Shedia», as all street papers, is not sold in the usual press distribution spots, but solely in the city’s streets, near various metro stations. The vendors come from vulnerable social groups: homeless, unemployed and generally people who live on the brink of poverty. The paper is priced 4.00€, from which 2.50€ apply directly to the vendor. «Shedia» is an opportunity for those people to receive a minimum, but decent income, as well as a way to escape the vicious circle of social isolation and exclusion.
«Shedia» is not vagrancy. The vendors do not beg, but distribute the paper with dignity. Each vendor, from the point of incorporation into the distribution network, is provided with 10 free copies, as an initiative capital.
«Shedia» is a well-evaluated journal, covering a variety of topics, including politics, health, art, literature, sports, environment and a wide range of social issues.
«Suspended coffee»
Let’s take everything from scratch. The «suspended» coffee is a coffee drink that is anonymously prepaid by a customer of a coffee shop in order for an underprivileged person to enjoy later in the day. The initiative first took place in the labor coffee shops of Naples. Year by year, this tradition began to fade. However, during the last decade the «suspended coffee» has reprised its former place. In just a few months, the initiative expanded rapidly in many places of the world. At the moment, the officially registered companies in this idea count for 162 in 17 countries and participate actively in the «suspended coffee project». It has been almost 8 years since Shedia put in its cup the coffee of solidarity. It started in July of 2013 when the paper was only a few months on the market. This movement is, therefore, encouraged buy different coffee shops that were willing to initiate this project in Greece. It is important to mention that the suspended coffee is proposed by the Shedia, however not carried out by the paper. The proposition may bet heirs but it is the responsibility of each and every employer to fulfill it.
Their goal is to satisfy the simple need of every person to enjoy a cup of coffee without worrying about the cost. This action of love and solidarity is the ultimate tool for this organization.
«Shedia Home» Restaurant
“The most delicious food in town”: This is what the restaurant of Shedia Home aspires to offer, through delectable dishes that can satisfy even the most demanding of its guests. The restaurant’s menu is characterized by what we
usually refer to as “a taste of mum’s cooking”, and has been designed by Greece’s Top Michelin Star Chef Mr. Lefteris Lazarou and his associate, Mr. Yiannis Ifandidis.
The kitchen of “Shedia Home Restaurant” is a living organism that continuously evolves. New, seasonal dishes are constantly added to the menu, elevating it to new levels. Of course, the employees always make sure that all dishes are affordable to everyone, despite the fact that milk, eggs and chicken -as well as many other products used in cooking - origin from organic farming, and therefore are usually more expensive.
Employees mention that “Our goal is not to create a restaurant where people come to drink lots of wine and eat huge amounts of food. Our goal is to create an atmosphere, where people can relax, get acquainted with “Shedia” project, enjoy a dish and a glass of wine - All this, at the lowest possible cost - . The criteria behind designing the menu were to offer tasty, homelike food and long-lasting memories of home-cooked meals.”
Golf in Poverty
The Greek homeless football team is a social initiative, entitled "Goal in Poverty", which utilizes the sport of football for the activation and social integration of our fellow citizens who experience poverty and social exclusion in their most extreme forms. The main purpose is to support vulnerable groups of our fellow citizens, as well as to inform and raise awareness and, ultimately, to mobilize citizens against all forms of social exclusion. People of all ages and genders living below the poverty line, the homeless, people addicted to psychotropic substances and refugees are the three categories at the heart of the initiative.
The National Homeless Team participated for the first time in the 5th World Homeless Cup, which took place in the summer of 2007 in Copenhagen, winning the Fair Play Cup. This was followed by the participation of the Greek homeless football team in the Melbourne World Championships (December 2008) and many more.(The Team participates every year in the Homeless World Cup). "Goal in Poverty" is the motto of the official event «Kick Out Poverty».
In the annual FIFA competition "The Power of Football", the Homeless National was included in the top three social projects in the world for 2014, for the way it utilizes the sport of football in the effort for a better society. At the World Football Summit Industry Awards 2020, the National Homeless Team was in the top three of the finalists in the category of social football (Football for Good).
According to Elena (a member of the football team)."Through the homeless football team I learned to cooperate, to listen to the other's opinion, to accept the other's mistakes. I had learned to do everything myself and the team evolved me as a person. Besides, we play football to become better people and not better footballers. "
After all the actions mentioned above, October 17th is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Invisible Routes
"Invisible Routes" is the title of a social tour program in the center of Athens with guides (current and former) homeless citizens.
In the templates of similar tours organized by foreign street magazines (Munich, Hamburg, Basel, London, etc.), the "Invisible Routes" of "Shedia" include some of the most important social structures of the city center (meals, dormitories, detoxification centers, etc.).
The guides give information about the services provided by each structure, but also how they themselves have experienced or continue to experience homeless life, human relationships, the quality of services, and the human geography of the structures and their potential, which is struggling to respond to the challenges of fighting poverty and social exclusion, but also preserving our dignity, as individuals and as a society.
This is the most important element of "Invisible Routes": The personal narrative. The transmission of the experience of the guides from homeless life. The main goal of "Shedia" tours is to create new opportunities to support themselves, to be educated, to take another step towards social reintegration. The beginning of mobilization is knowledge and awareness.
The team: Marilena Polyzou,
Iro Megalooikonomou,
Christos Kalyviotis & Anastasia Bini
September 2021 - April 2022
Once our project was extended for another year we wanted to deal with other areas of entrepreneurial thinking. The main key question was: what if someone was trying to make his hobby a profitable profession? Among the other ideas were about the board games companies. It is a good idea because combines entrepreneurial attitudes, skills and knowledge with creativity and innovation.
A team of students decided to move in two directions. First do some research on how the strategy board games companies work and the profit they may have. Second to try to design a strategy board game. The group of students: Demetra Kapsali, Jo Damianidou, Athina Schiza, Kostas Rigopoulos, Ilianna Bazaiou. Here are the conclusions of their research about board games case.
Board games: An empire sprawling under our very nose
Board games are undoubtedly part of most children’s lives as well as many adults’ too. As a first point of contact for most children with a game and not a toy, they hold a considerable importance in most people’s lives, being the first instrument to more complicated and intricate thought. Board games help exercise one’s brain and encourage quick thinking and in doing so, they help both children and adults, become more adept at strategy, pattern recognition and conflict resolution, as well as aiding in socialising in ways that are less intimidating for people not that comfortable with it. But, for all the importance and antiquity that they bear, most don’t know the process they go through, from design to production and at last, distribution. So the question remains for many: what comes before the board games get to the retail stores where they are then sold off to the greater public?
All board games, large or tiny, successful or not, and so on, have passed through the design and drafting period, before their production started. Every one of them has gone through that process and each of them had a team to back it up. The design period is the one that holds the most surprises out of all the parts of the process, for many of the thoughts and ideas that the people behind the project have, turn out to be implausible and sometimes outright impossible. When the board game is going through the drafting process, some dreams come true and some others crashing with the reality of the project at hand.
A board game, when being designed, goes through many stages, the most important being: figuring the basic mechanics, then the theme, and afterwards finding out the rough rules of the game, either from scratch or based on some pre-built system. Soon the process of refining the rules should follow, next all the components of the game should be designed and organised, and when that is over a prototype should be made and tested. After the first prototype the procedure should be simple enough, and kept to refining and balancing the game as best as possible through trial and error, until it’s ready.
Once the required level of refining is done, it’s the designer’s option to begin polishing the game as much as they want, putting flavour text in the rules-manual, or on the material components of the game. Furthermore, another way of polishing is adding illustrations, on the box of the game or other material parts of it. A reoccurring technique is making the material components of the game out of higher quality, painting miniatures, making tokens out of wood, laminating cards, etc.
When, at last, the refining of the design is done and the polishing is at the final stage, the designing team may start looking for a producer, they could search for a more small and not so well known producer, some of them being Unstable Games and Goliath more intent to assume the role of middleman between the team and the factories for manufacturing or some of the bigger ones, like Hasbro, or Ravensburger or AEG or Wizards of the Coast, who are less inclined to do so. Another way for pitching the project would be through funding websites, like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, where there will be no middleman between the designing team, their funds, the factories, and the delivering of the product, their game, when and if they get the funds to make it.
Upon making the pitch, the company that accepted it, begins manufacturing and the game is then promoted to retail stores under the brand of the company. If made and funded through some funding site, the designing team will have to promote it themselves to retail stores and make contacts with the factories themselves. Furthermore they will have to manage the shipment of the individual products to the funders of the project themselves. But after the completion of pitching or funding the project, the game is considered published, and the job is finally done.
Board games are being designed, pitched, funded and turned to production every day, so it is no surprise that the annual turnover of the board game and puzzle industry in 2020 is estimated to be around 11.7 billion dollars, globally. It’s an industry forgotten by many, that has a potential, worth considering, and that is growing more by the year. That is due both to kids finding board games to be interesting and to adults returning to them, enjoying them too.
There are more than 93 thousand board games and expansions on them registered on the board-game-website BGG (Board Game Geek) with some of the most well known, such as monopoly or cluedo and jenga to some of the more obscure ones like cut-throat kingdoms and roll player. Then there are the ones that stand in the middle-grounds, ones which are very popular amongst people who play board games but not so much to ones who don’t, like Gloomhaven, The Settlers of Catan, and Pandemic. Out of those 93 thousand, one could find all types of board games, big box or small box, simplistic or complex and extra, strategic or luck focused, and so on. There is no limitation, you will always find what you are looking for and at the same time, in complete contrast there will always be more space for new board games.
The board game industry has truly had an explosive expansion and growth the last few years, going from 7.2 billion dollars in 2017 to 11.7 billion in 2020 which is a 62.5% increase in annual turnovers in three years. The change in society’s look towards board games is and should be seen as the main reason for that increase. The way people perceive board games and other kinds of games has changed radically in the last decade, with people not being seen as “Nerds” or “Geeks” any more when they play board games. With table-top games such as D&D becoming famous and publicly loved, thanks to shows like Critical Role, which had the biggest income in the streaming platform Twitch with 9 million dollars in just shy of two years, and then the animation series made for their game by Amazon called “The Legend of Vox Machina”, people are getting all the more familiar to the concept of playing board games after your childhood.
With everything that’s going on, the wider accessibility, the more mainstream board game and table-top content, the board game industry is bursting in development and growing swiftly. Board games have been a huge part of our lives for a long time, but the last few decades, they have fallen out of their glory, always trying to get back on the map, to reclaim their place in our lives and with the last few years being this prosperous for the industry, it seems as if it might actually work.
November-January 2019-2020
Record Label
A virtual company
In the context of DESWAT Erasmus+ we wanted to give to our learning community the opportunity to:
• Release its creativity and innovation
• Develop entrepreneurial attitudes, skills and knowledge
• Enhance the cooperation and partnerships with the wider community
That’s why we have chosen to follow the idea of Virtual Company, which is a very common practice in education and is also promoted by the Εuropean Εducation Committee. We consulted the EU directives about the virtual entrepreneurship projects and we also collaborated with JA Greece.
Virtual Entrepreneurship In school
As part of the learning community, a group of students begins setting up and organizing a virtual company. Students must decide from the beginning a business plan, share roles, take responsibility and be accountable each time to the other shareholders of the company.
For the succession of the company students have to: work in teams, produce their own product, conduct market research, promote and launch the product, do commercial transactions, manage the finances of their company and take part in trade shows and exhibitions
IMS Record Label
Our idea was to build our own Record Label. The idea of organizing and developing our record label will give the opportunity to young artists, who are excluded from the music industry to:
· express themselves
· promote their work
· think what they have to do to make their dreams come true
· work in creative teams
· build knowledge around music industry’s policies, regulations and laws
· stimulate the practice of a record label in the fields of aesthetic style, sound, graphic design, video, promoting , network management
Organizing a record company is a very difficult task because it includes many parameters: producing music albums, organizing studios, arranging public relations, promoting and finally selling the company's products. So very specific steps had to be followed
Step 1: market research
Why a Record Label?
The first fact: Music industry still earns more than $20 billion income globally
The second fact: “The ‘record label’ may seem to some like an archaic model to project onto a new decade that will almost certainly see streaming dominate as physical formats dwindle into relative insignificance, but look a little deeper into the small print. The internet has only revolutionised duplication and delivery. The money ducts still follow the three centuries old principle of copyright. So whether it’s vinyl discs being purchased at cash registers, or streamed songs playing randomly on a mobile phone app, it all leads back to the core asset: the recording, with its mandatory ℗ and © credits, signifying the original producer and current copyright owner.”
https://journalofmusic.com/focus/it-s-us-how-grow-your-record-label-2020s
The third fact: Even the independent and small record labels make money.
As Liam Duncan says and we believe him: “still it’s a labor of love, and even the small labels do make income”
Market research How record labels work
Usually a small record company consists of the following departments:
• Artists & Repertoire department
A&R people discover the artists, select the songs, the studio & the producers
• Art Department
The team has to do all the artwork that goes along with producing an album (covers, posters, etc)
· New Media
Nowadays maybe is the most important team of a label company. It’s people deal with the newer aspects of the music business:
• Music videos
• The presence and the image of their artists on internet
• And the new ways of sharing and streaming music through the Internet.
• Promotion, Publicity & Sales Department
The main purpose of this department is to spread the music products on the radio, tv shows and internet in order to ensure the future success of the company. It oversees the retail aspect of the record business
• Legal & Marketing Department
This department is responsible for all the contracts that are made between the company and the artist. Αlso it handles the critical matter of copyright. It also creates the overall marketing plan for every album that the record company will release
Step 2: Organizing our label
It was decided to split the company into two different divisions:
· Τhe Studio, the Artists & Repertoire division, responsible for the production of music singles and albums
Τhe Studio, the Artists & Repertoire division reorganized the school studio so that recordings could be made there. He installed a piano and did all the testing to get it ready for recording. Τhe Studio, the Artists & Repertoire division had a very basic problem: Recording requires knowledge on sound engineering. So the team formed a group of 5 students, who were interested in learning about sound. Then they turned to professionals in the field of the specific area. One professional sound engineer well known in Greece accepted to help. Thus, a four-week seminar was organized in the school in January 2021. The team also visited the owner of a professional studio, where they had the chance to learn more things about sound design.
At the same time Τhe Studio, the Artists & Repertoire division had to decide on the lists of musical genres of the label. The team decided to develop three different catalogues: A first one called POPLIFE includes all types of urban culture: rock, pop, R&B, hip-hop etc. The second one, called CLASSICAL WORLD: Recordings of classical music & original instrumental music. And the third one, the TRADITIONAL TREASURE: A sensitive look at world music
·
And the purely business company, responsible for the artwork and the commercial aspect of our business challenge. A team of students
the students of this group elected the general & the financial manager and the leaders of the other departments. They circulated shares and looked for sponsors. They decided to call their comany: IMS (Ilion Music School) Records.
the context of DESWAT Erasmus+ we w
anted to give to our learning c
February 2020
IMS Recordings
Τhe Studio, the Artists & Repertoire divisionmanaged to collect 4 different recordings and had planned for three more until the end of the school year.
(Unfortunately the pandemic crisis and the closure of the school thwarted all planning)
The four albums:
“The only thing in life”
Catalogue number: 001, Tracks: 9, Genre: mixed, Artists: Various
A compact album inspired of a classic short story of modern Greek literature. Nine young musicians write the imaginary soundtrack of the story. This introductory album is also the signature of the new label, as includes traditional, pop, classical music, covers and original compositions
Some of the tracks:
03 "He fights with the Angel" Edward Grieg: Nocturno, Op54/No4, Piano: Kalliopi Rigou
07 "The sky rises higher" Konstantinos Valios (composition, piano)
“Right my wrongs”
EP, Catalogue number: PL01, Tracks: 4, Genre: soul and hip hop, Artists: Sad Wael & F Beatz
“Fado da Sina”
EP, Catalogue number: TR01, Tracks: 5, Genre: world music, Artists: Various
This ep includes traditional songs from Portugal, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece and Romania.
"Missed Connections"
Catalogue number CL01, Tracks 9, Genre: Classical, Artists: Panos Baltas, Eliza Zervaki