The Viking era capital and home of the famous Roskilde Dome, where most Danish kings lay buried, provided an inspiring setting for the ITHACA project to begin its own history at University College Sjælland, in a vibrant education area in the outskirts of town.
Although the historic Danish town of Roskilde was a bit greyer, windier and more wet than it is during summer time, when the largest music festival in Northern Europe takes place here, the project partners showed great enthusiasm, when the ITHACA project held its first Expert Task Force (ETF) and Steering Group (SG) meetings here on 18 and 19 January.
The Expert Task Force (ETF) meeting January 18th started with a short presentation of the ITHACA project. Focus of the meeting was the table of tasks and responsibilities. During the meeting, the ETF members participated in a working session focusing on the Self-Assessment tool, which will be used by the partners, when evaluating their own active and healthy ageing policies.
Jon Dawson from the NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group introduced the partners to the structure and peer evaluation methodology. Finally, Mariëlle Swinkels from Lead partner Noord-Brabant talked about the quality assurance framework and organizational aspects.
The SG meeting focused on partner obligations, decision-making, communication and publication, and cooperation with third parties. During the SG meeting, the partners went through the work plan and activity dates in the different semesters.
Furthermore, guidelines for Exchange of Experience and Peer Evaluation (EEPE) events and a common format of EEPE were presented. Finally, the partners were briefed on tasks according to project management and the current communication strategy.
During the project meetings, the partners were very enthusiastic and participating and described the event in Roskilde as a success. It was clear that the partners were committed and excited about the future work in ITHACA.
NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group in Liverpool will host the first EEPE and the next SG and ETF on April 4th-6th.
The video below is a short interview with Mariëlle Swinkels about the ITHACA project.
