• Home
• Proposal
• Teams
• Appreciative Inquiry
• Project Meetings
  • Meeting One A - Nottingham
  • Meeting One B - Porto
  • Meeting Two - Izmir
  • Meeting Three - Sligo
  • Meeting Four - Mikkeli
  • Meeting Five - Bielefeld
  • Meeting Six - Nottingham
  • Meeting Seven - Ghent
• Work Packages
• Reports
• Supporting Organisations
• Publications
• Working Definitions
• Evaluation

The TRaNSForM project was focused on encouraging mobility in working colleagues. In order to complete the project work, both educational staff and vocational students on professional courses were needed to contribute to the discussion. The funding for the project was designed to support intercultural movement and was thus used to help cover the costs of travel and to help team members to meet in each other’s countries. The fairest way of organising this sharing of ideas and experiences seemed to be to rotate around each country. Therefore the meetings listed below are identified by country and date. Exceptionally, the first meeting was split on to two sites, as there were difficulties in arranging for the whole team to meet at the very beginning, when dates were not set far enough in advance.

At each event, visitors were introduced to the country’s healthcare system, nursing structures and clinical education courses. Many hours were spent in classroom settings, negotiating research strategies and discussing results. Glimpses of these group sessions can be seen in the images from each country. Tours of the schools of nursing and visits to local hospital and clinical areas enriched this insight into local health care services and stimulated interesting discussions around the role of the nurse and allied health professionals in each context.

However, when the formal meetings were over, the hosts would orientate visitors to the geographical area and offer a taste of local culture in terms of outings and food. In Finland the team experienced a real Finnish sauna, in Nottingham the team was introduced to the folk tales of Robin Hood and welcomed to the City and in Ghent a historical boat trip showcased the beautiful old buildings of the city. Ireland added Celtic music, history and Guiness to the mix. The Germans and Portuguese shared their wines and the Turkish invited us to taste their earthenware cooked meats and sugared sweets. The Belgians completed the tour with luxury chocolates and local beer tasting. Of course, these were entertaining activities, but important to cultural and national pride. Below there are records of meetings attended with details of the work that was carried out and these are enriched with images from some of the cultural events that took place.

Meetings

• Meeting 1a: Nottingham, UK, 17th -19th November 2010
• Meeting 1b: Porto, Portugal, 8th -10th December 2010
• Meeting 2: Izmir, Turkey, 9th -11th March 2011
• Meeting 3: Sligo, Ireland, June 2011
• Meeting 4: Mikkeli, Finland, 8th - 9th September 2011
• Meeting 5: Bielefeld, Germany, 17th - 19th November 2011   
• Meeting 6: Nottingham, UK, 8th -11th February 2012
• Meeting 7: Ghent, Belgium, June 2012