Saffron and Against Violence and Abuse (AVA) have been selected as a Finalist at the European MEDEA Awards and shortlisted by judges at the Learning Awards for both External Learning Solution and Social & Collaborative Learning Solution of the Year. The triple nomination recognises the impact of a Comic Relief funded project to help practitioners implement a whole-school approach to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG).
Judges at the MEDEA awards, which recognise the exceptional use of educational media, have chosen just eight Finalists out of 237 entries from 29 countries. Saffron and AVA submitted in the category of ‘Professionally Produced Media’. The four winners will be announced at a ceremony taking place during the Media & Learning Conference in Brussels on 21 November 2014.
The Digital Prevention Platform submission was assessed by the Learning Awards’ independent panel, led by Nigel Paine, the Chair of Judges. There was a 44% increase in submissions to the Learning Awards this year, which are hosted by the Learning & Performance Institute and continue to grow in prominence and competitiveness.
The sophisticated nature of the Saffron and AVA project, which brings together community-sourced knowledge into a collaborative content hub and elearning experience, led to it being shortlisted for both External Learning Solution of the Year and Social & Collaborative Solution of the Year.
‘AVA are delighted to have been shortlisted for these awards. We are very proud of the elearning and accompanying website and have received fantastic feedback from the VAWG sector. This project is unique and filled a much needed gap and we are excited that this has been recognised,’ says Joanna Sharpen, children and young people’s project coordinator at AVA. ‘It’s a very difficult issue to present online, but working with Saffron has led to an innovative way in helping practitioners learn about sensitive subjects via new technologies”.
‘This impressive achievement is a testament to AVA’s passion and its bold approach to combining collaboration and technology in order to drive a seismic shift in the way we tackle this issue,’ says Noorie Sazen, CEO at Saffron. ‘I think that these shortlists recognise the advanced and multi-faceted nature of this project, which is a change campaign aimed at a national and even international audience.’
The ceremony takes place on Thursday 5 February 2014 at the Dorchester Hotel in London.
About AVA
Against Violence and Abuse (AVA) is a national second tier service working to end all forms of violence against women and girls. AVA provides a range of services to organisations and agencies working in the voluntary and statutory sector as well as to individual practitioners. AVA offer consultancy, training, resources and guidance. More information about AVA is available at www.avaproject.org.uk
