Our Partners
CUT Cyprus University of Technology
Established in 2007, CUT is Cyprus’ youngest state-funded Universities. In under a decade, CUT has achieved an exponential growth, international recognition and an impressive track record of research project grants from national and European sources. It was ranked by Times Higher Education at the top 401-500 Universities, and, in 2017, it featured at 16th place amongst the top Best Small Universities. The Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences is the largest Department at CUT. At any one time, it educates 400 students in the BSc Nursing, around 80-100 postgraduate students, and more than 40 PhD students. It is the national point of reference with regards to Nursing and Midwifery education. The postgraduate programmes include the MSc in Advanced Nursing and Healthcare Practice, with five tracks including Community Nursing, and the MSc in Midwifery.
The Department is very research-active and, in spite of its short life, it has been very successful in attracting funding from national and European sources. With a high productivity of peer-reviewed articles, the Department has established itself as a major national Research hub in the Health Sciences and has received considerable international recognition (total citations in Google Scholar >10000, h-index=56, i10-index=205). The research portfolio is diverse, both in terms of the fields of investigation, as well as methodological approaches. The Department has a track record of research in midwifery, child/maternal health, reproductive and sexual health, often representing the sole source of available data for this field in Cyprus. Among others, studies have described the beliefs and attitudes of Cypriot women with regards to choosing place of birth, the current practices of maternity clinics, the satisfaction of mothers with obstetric and midwifery care, first-time indicators and determinants of breastfeeding, prevalence of postpartum depression, etc. With a sense of social responsibility, the Department is also very active in terms of outreach activities and collaboration with NGOs and patient associations.
Best Beginnings
Best Beginnings is a national UK charity dedicated to improving the health and well-being of babies and young children in the UK by tackling child health inequalities. Their work focuses on a child’s life from preconception to their third birthday when the foundations for a healthy and happy life can be laid. Evidence shows that working with families during this wonderful ‘window of opportunity’ supports children’s language development and school readiness. It can also break multiple generational cycles of disadvantage and enable social mobility. Best Beginnings works indicatively to help families of all backgrounds access the information they need to give their children the best start in life, with the aim to improve health and social outcomes for all children, but particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds by informing and empowering parents and the professionals who support them. BB's work is characterised by the philosophy of embracing innovation, integrity, inclusion and collaboration with families and professionals, professional bodies and other charities. They are innovative in their approach, using new media, art and technology to engage traditionally hard-to-reach audiences and be a catalyst for change. All products and resources are co-created with parents and professionals. Best Beginnings works in this way to co-create and distribute engaging films, DVDs, phone apps and magazines to give parents-to-be and parents the knowledge and confidence to maximise their own well being and their child’s physical, emotional and language development. BB's resources make use of real-life experiences and they have a strong track-record of sensitively filming parents on their journey into parenthood and sharing their experiences with a wider audience of parents. Best Beginnings has reached over 2 million families. Evidence gained through rigorous evaluation of their work demonstrates that these resources have a significant impact particularly when they are used by health professionals, such as midwives and health visitors, in their work with families.
Birth Forward
Birth Forward is a Cyprus-based NGO, founded in 2014 and receiving legal registration in September 2015. It was founded by passionate parents from all walks of life and health professionals to improve the birthing culture in Cyprus and beyond. BF is a young but very active NGO in all matters around pregnancy, birth and parenting. Their philosophy is based on the importance of bridging the whole spectrum from preconception until early years of parenting as well as approaching the subjects from a multidisciplinary perspective .
Birth Forward stands as an ambassador for parents wishing to make autonomous choices about their own and their families' welfare throughout the full cycle of creating a family. It aim to provide advocacy, support and education for families and professionals in regards to the various stages of planning, creating and growing a family in Cyprus. “ Furthermore, BF is advised by a multidisciplinary international Scientific Advisory Board. Their role is to provide guidance, review material and offer advice on clinical guidelines and evidence-based medical and healthcare practices. BF is continuously growing and currently the extended network of collaborators forms an island-wide network of around 100 members.
Birth Forward implements its agenda on advocacy, outreach and service provision (a) by providing an online platform with information about local public and private services, (b) by producing and circulating online and printed material and other resources in consultation with experts with up to date and evidence-based information on pregnancy, birth and child health, (c) by organising events, training workshops, conferences, consulting research and other services and (d) by population-level outreach and raising awareness activities in the areas of conception, pregnancy, birth and childcare.
University of West Attica
University of West Attica established in 2018. It is the result of the merge of Technological Educational Institute of Athens and Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus. The new University is the third bigger in Greece (∼ 24.119 students). The University based on the long and successful tradition of the constituting institutes provides a high level undergraduate and postgraduate education combined with intensive research activities in specific areas. UNIWA reserves standing partnerships with other domestic and foreign educational and research institutes in order to continuously improve the level of the studies and research. UNIWA participates actively in several national and European Union programs for international cooperation, research and dissemination of knowledgeThe University of West Attica maintains two campuses located in Egaleo, Athens, in the area of the ancient Academy of Plato. University of West Attica offers 26 undergraduate and 40 postgraduate programs in various fields of engineering, economy, health, arts and food technology. It consists of five faculties and twenty six departments (Faculty of Engineering with 8 departments, Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare with 6 departments, Faculty of Applied Arts and Culture with 4 departments, Faculty of Administrative, Financial and Social Sciences with 6 departments and Faculty of Food Sciences with 2 departments)
Evangelische Hochschule Berlin
The Berlin Protestant University of Applied Science is a teaching and research institution for social and health professions. The University offers Bachelor and Master Programs in social work, early childhood education, protestant religious education, nursing and midwifery. In 2016, 1430 students were enrolled. The university has about 150 academic and nonacademic staff. The department of midwifery was established in 2013 and has 4 faculty members (four professors and one lecturer) and ca 15 non – permanent teaching staff. The department has 120 students and has increased its annual intake to 40 in 2018. A limited number of places in a shortened course are available for registered midwives who wish to increase their qualification to a Bachelor level. In a changing national environment for midwifery education the Bsc Midwifery program is focused around women-centered, evidence -based and trauma sensitive midwifery care.
Cosmoanelixis
COSMOANELIXIS is an Educational Institution offering Specialization Professional Education in the field of Prenatal & Life Sciences. It has been created in order to organize, synthesize and deliver high quality academic and professional knowledge to those interested. Its aim is to serve the community of scientists, professionals and people in general in the direction of understanding the ways that the primordial information gets imprinted on the human being, even before conception, during pregnancy, birth and beyond, how it is triggered after birth and during adulthood as well as understanding how life systems work together as a whole. In this direction, cosmoanelixis is involved in 1. Academic Research, based on the principles of Salutogenesis and Complex Theory Systems, in 2. online and onsite Specialization Professional Education and in 3. supporting the Academic and Professional community with the Academic, open access, peer review journal “The International Journal of Prenatal & Life Sciences”. Furthermore, cosmoanelixis designs, pilots/tests, evaluates and implements innovative educational, research, scientific tools in the field of the dissemination of knowledge and the implementation science and creates innovative pedagogical programs and (Primordial) Health Advancement Programs to work with pregnant couples and the (un)born child. Cosmoanelixis co-operates with other same-minded people globally and is run by an extensive Educational, Scientific, Editorial and Advisory Board.
