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Livro Comemorativo dos 70 anos da Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo - Uma história de ideias e ideais

141 opportunities for coming into contact with actual work environments, such as the newsroom set up in partnership with the newspaper Diário de S. Paulo on the Lapa campus, as well as for technical visits, internships and language learning. Additional initiatives featured as part of this expanded view of the world include Rio Branco’s diplomacy simulation program (University Negotiation Model) carried out by the Colégio partnership with Faculdades Integradas Rio Branco’s International Relations department, as well as the students’ participation in the Inter-School Model United Nations (Mini-UN) sessions held by the International Relations department of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUCMinas). Targeted at elementary-to-high-school students, those meetings stimulate a critical view, the exercise of citizenship, as well as negotiation and argumentative skills. That same emphasis on expanding training and development opportunities also applies to teachers at the institutions, who benefit from the initiatives described in the section on benchmarking. “The partnership recently formed with Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), from Tampere, Finland, for the professional development of teachers through graduate courses focused on education in the 21st century is a testament to that”, says Nahid Chicani, president of the Board of Directors. That willingness to maintain relationships with a variety of businesses and governmental agencies has also been resulting in valuable contributions to society. That was the case, for instance, of the CES’ production of videos on the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) for Brazil’s Internal Revenue Department, starting in 2010, to answer questions of deaf taxpayers about their tax returns. The CES has also been playing an active role in the “National Early Childhood Network”, which consists of a group of civil society, governmental and private sector organizations. One other important initiative in that direction was the creation of the Professional Learning Program for the Deaf and the Physically Impaired, the fruit of Centro Profissionalizante Rio Branco’s partnership with the Union of São Paulo State Urban Cleaning Companies (Selur) and Rotary, with classes held in the Faculdades since 2008. The goal is to foster inclusion in the job market by improving the skills of professionals who are deaf or physically impaired or with reduced mobility. 1996-2005 Under the influence of modernization The late 20th century was a period of big, rapid changes. The technological evolution, and the digital world being increasingly incorporated into day-to-day affairs, the strengthening of globalization, the growing recognition of the need for attention to environmental and social issues, and the emergence of new habits and behaviors were some of elements that characterized that period, profoundly affecting both people and institutions. On to this new, challenging environment, Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo prepared itself and underwent an intense modernization process led by Eduardo Pimentel, who took over the presidency of its Board of Directors in 1997. As early as the time of his installation, in his address to the Council, he anticipated the tone with which he would seek to mark his administration: “The world is facing a new reality; changes are happening faster than we can follow. For that reason, our focus on the future must be very well thought out and targeted, and the same goes to our projects, which may be small in numbers, but are great in magnitude.” Among the documents that inspired the paths of the new administration was the newly released UNESCO report of the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century, under the coordination of the French


Livro Comemorativo dos 70 anos da Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo - Uma história de ideias e ideais
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