The purpose of the MEDEA:EU project is to enhance, strengthen and complement theEuropean dimension of the recently launched MEDEA Awards and to allow for a transferof the experience and learning that has taken place within the short-listed entriesthrough several actions designed to enhance and extend the work undertaken up tonow. These actions will be used to really launch the MEDEA Awards as a Europewideinitiative by expanding the reach of the awards to the wider European educational andtraining community. The MEDEA Awards scheme has been set up as a not-for-profitorganisation to recognise and reward excellence in the field of media enhanced learningin Europe. These awards were launched in 2007 by a small consortium of partners whoare active in the field of media enhanced education and as a concrete result of initiativesincluding European Projects like VideoAktiv, eStream and VENUS. These partners haveagreed to devote time and resources to the establishment of the annual MEDEA Awardsas a way of raising awareness and promoting best practice in the innovative use ofmedia to enhance education. Our rationale for setting up these awards is based on abelief that despite the fact that media-enhanced learning is increasingly commonplacethroughout all learning sectors, up to now, there has not been an opportunity torecognize and celebrate excellence in this field on a European basis. To date we haveput together a plan of action led by a small organising committee, established a MEDEAAwards Secretariat and a web site at http://www.medea-awards.com launched theMEDEA Awards for 2008 and have taken a number of concrete steps towards buildinginterest in and support for the awards through a variety of organisations, networks andcompanies. Interest in the MEDEA Awards is growing and submissions are alreadyarriving at the Secretariat. The specific actions proposed under the MEDEA:EU projectare:1. To establish a local agent in each European member state who will help to promotethe MEDEA Awards in their country by establishing links with other related national,sectoral and regional initiatives including those responsible for related awards andprizes2. To make available dissemination materials related to the MEDEA Awards in Frenchand German to augment the English materials currently available and foreseen3. To disseminate information about the MEDEA Awards to those involved in theLifelong Learning Community to ensure that those people involved directly or indirectlyin this programme are fully aware of the MEDEA Awards and can participate4. To establish a specific award for the 2009 and 2010 MEDEA Awards to recognizebest examples of European Collaboration in relation to media-enhanced learning.5. To set up a process whereby those submissions that are short-listed for awards in2008 and 2009 will be investigated and analysed to identify best practice and to bepromoted as case examples of how high-quality media-enhanced learning comes about.This work can be used to further encourage others in their efforts towards improving thequality of their work in this area. The specific impact of MEDEA:EU will be to enhancethe European dimension of the MEDEA Awards and will enable us to elevate heMEDEA Awards to a European-level initiative with clear relevance to Lifelong Learningprojects. The more general impact of our work in the MEDEA:EU Project will be tohighlight, publicise and promote excellent examples of media-enhanced learning beingmade by practitioners in schools, universities, lifelong learning initiatives and othereducation and training organisations and to help others learn from the experiences ofaward finalists and winners. Such endorsement and promotion can significantly raisethe status of media-enhanced learning in both the public eye and amongst keystakeholders.