In the challenging global events it is of the utmost importance for young people who will be part of tomorrow’s business to have a comprehensive understanding of the EU and how it implicates international trade and regulatory environment of the economy. ORPHEUS represents a high quality and inclusive course Jean Monnet Module Introduction to the European Union that promotes active citizenship and European values, offers knowledge about the European Union integration matters and presents the EU legal system and the context of relevant EU policies, followed by several additional activities. ORPHEUS offers transformational educational experience that will expand students’ horizons and help them develop as European citizens.
Programme: Erasmus+ programme
Project Acronym: ORPHEUS
Project Name: Organisation, Preparation and Hosting EU Studies – Jean Monnet Module Introduction to the European Union
Duration: 36 months
Project Start Date: 01 Sep 2022
Project End Date: 31 Aug 2025
The European Union plays a major role in creating and implementing policies to fight economic, demographic, technological, environmental and many other challenges. Accordingly, overall activities under the ORPHEUS project aim to:
In the challenging times we face, with the emerging threats to democracy, human dignity and rule of law, it is essential to teach but also to remind stakeholders of the founding values of the European Union. ORPHEUS presents students with European common values as the guiding light that permeates through all EU policies. On the examples of past and present EU activities rooted in the common values, students learn how to preserve them but also implement them in their future activities in order to take active role as European citizens in facing global challenges.
To reach wider public, ORPHEUS brings together students, academia, business community, civil society and local authority representatives around the topics of their common interest such as economy and environment. Stakeholders are engaged in a dialogue over the role of the EU in international trade and its impact on the regulatory environment of the economy.
The core of the project is a 4 ECTS Jean Monnet Module Introduction to the European Union course for undergraduate students supported by Zagreb School of Economics and Management. The course is based on the multidisciplinary approach presented under the scheme DEMOCRACY – ECONOMY – SOCIETY, aligned with the following Priorities for 2019-2024: 1. A stronger Europe in the world 2. Promoting our European way of life 3. A new push for European democracy.
The course is delivered by ORPHEUS coordinator prof. Tomislav Sokol, PhD, a long-time faculty member at ZSEM and a current member of the European Parliament.
Tomislav Sokol graduated magna cum laude from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 2006. He earned his Master’s degree at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium’s largest university and one of the world’s top 100 universities according to Times Higher Education. His principal subjects included European Economic Law, European Constitutional Law, European and International Social Law, and European Commercial Law. In 2010 he completed the Regional Summer School on Social Security Coordination (magna cum laude) held by the Council of Europe. Tomislav Sokol has completed his Ph.D. at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 2014. Tomislav Sokol is a current member of the European Parliament (Group of the European People’s Party). He is a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and member of Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, substitute member of Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and substitute member of Committee on Regional Development. Also, he was a member of Special Committee on Beating Cancer. He is active as the member of European Association of Health Law and European Institute of Social Security, and participates on the project Jean Monnet Network in Health Law and Policy. Tomislav Sokol is a former member of the Croatian Parliament and prior to that assistant minister in the Croatia Ministry of Science and Education. He gained his teaching experience as Assistant at the Law Department at ZSEM since 2007, and as a Head of the Law Department since 2014. In 2021 he has been appointed for a position of professor at ZSEM. In scientific research prof. Sokol is strongly focused on EU studies covering topics such as social citizenship, EU patient mobility, health care etc.
