On 21 January 2022, the entire project team members held the first official “kick-off” meeting. Hosting partner of this on-line conference was Palermo University. Everybody was virtually present: Beatrice Pasciuta, Emanuele Comte, Guido Rossi, Sonia Merli, Ignazio Alessi, Kacper Górski, Krzysztof Fokt, Maciej Mikuła, Marta Cerrito, Morena Rizzo, Noëlle-Laetitia Perret, Paolo Napoli, Łukasz Marzec.

The meeting started at 9.00 AM (Rome time). After a warm welcome of Beatrice Pasciuta, Guido Rossi introduced the project and main results to be achieved, the division of tasks and the deadlines for them. Others widely commented on various detailed issues (desirability of a new approach to the handbook, its language, involvment of other institutions and many other). A comprehensive workplan, including all activities, deliverables, and their timeframe was presented and shared with all partners. Later, each team provided a short introduction about themselves, their role in the project and the staff involved - Palermo University, Krakow University, Fribourg University, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. After that, Palermo University provided a useful presentation on the financial aspects, management rules and good practices involved in the project. The presentation covered the main aspects of the Management Plan and Quality Assurance Plan, internal reporting and communication, coordination, as well as the setting up of the Steering Committee. The presentation also included the financial management of the project. 

After a “virtual” coffe break, team members were informed about the first result, reporting on the needs assessment, any comparable training available (whether on-line or as an in-presence course), the needs that this project seeks to meet, and the challenges that this can present. Subsequently, an overview of the second result, the Handbook, was presented to the group in details (by Paris). It was agreed to hold a separate and specific meeting to discuss in-depth the subject, thinking of specific examples and their relationship with discrete thematic units. All participants were happy to agree. 

Polish team then provided a highly detailed overview of the third result, focusing on the online platform that will be developed, highlighting the objectives that need to be met, the key issues that will be encountered, and the tools that will be developed in order to meet them. A list of content for the project as well as a timeline for it was given to the team. It is expected that the general structure and description of the platform will be ready by the end of March 2022. A form on the data cataloguing and collecting has been prepared and it will be circulated shortly. The following issue was a discussion on the visual identity of the project and the project’s logo, the website’s structure, highlighting its main components and visual features, an overview as to the external visibility of the project and its relation to communication tools. Attention was given to the coordination of dissemination reporting, providing important ideas as to how to create a dissemination strategy beyond both the online platform and the social media.

Finally, Beatrice Pasciuta thanked everybody for their participation and the very useful discussion. The meeting ended at 12.28 (Rome time).