1. Larnaca District Development Agency

The Development Agency of Larnaca is an agency formed in 2003 in the models of the development structures and mechanisms that function in the European Union. Its actions are especially in the district of Larnaca, Cyprus. It was formed by the "Companies Law", sec. 113, as a Company of Limited Liability and it’s registered as a company with registration number HE 142855.

It was formed by 23 Community Boards of the district of Larnaca and it has as members the Municipalities of Aradippou, Athienou, Larnaca, Lefkara, the local Commercial Industrial Chamber of Larnaca, 44 of the 48 Community Boards of the district of Larnaca, the Ladies Association of Rural Larnaca, the COOP of Psematismenos, Tochni and Skarinou, the Union of Communities of Larnaca (in which members are all the Community Boards of the district of Larnaca).

The goals of its formation are to cover the following needs:
• Giving information and learning about matters of the European Union.
• Support to the Local Self-Government Organizations in their development role and planning.
• Development planning of the broaded area.
• Exploitation of the available National and Communal funds, through the participation and management of different programs.
• Technical support to the public and the authorities of the area, in the fields of education and preparation, improving the quality of life and generally the social-economical development.
• Undertaking initiatives in subjects of protection of the environment, preservation of the cultural inheritance and development of its internal cohesion.
• Development of the relations between the Local Self-Government of Cyprus with the Nations of the European Union, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Valkan Countries.
• Promotion of the broaded possible collaboration of the Local Self-Government with the Public and Semi-Public authorities and the Private sector, trying for the collaboration and the difference of each member.
For the promotion of its goals, the Agency signed on the 14th of November 2003 a "Registration of Collaboration" with the Development Agency of Heraklion, Crete, one of the biggest Development Agencies of Greece and with an office in Brussels, from which the Development Agency of Larnaca gets support.

2. Center for the Study of Childhood and Adolenscence

The Center for the Study of Childhood and Adolescence (CSCA) has as its guiding principle the belief that children and adolescents are, like other social groups, valuable members of society; hence, they should be fully integrated in society, their voices should be heard and their interests promoted and protected. Our lack of adequate knowledge about the lives of children and adolescents as they themselves experience and understand them is an area where the Center envisions to contribute.
To this end, the Center focuses its activities on three broad areas: 1) research, 2) education, and 3) consultation. More specifically, the CSCA aims to:
• Create a network of researchers from different disciplines and from different academic institutions and children's and adolescents' organizations with the aim of collaborating on common research projects. To the extent that is possible, collaborations are sought locally with members of all communities and internationally with other similar research centers and bodies. The Center provides a common ground for researchers to meet regularly to discuss research, to explore funding opportunities, and to design and carry out research projects. Moreover, the Center has undertaken the task of collecting and organizing the existing research on children and adolescents in Cyprus and makes it accessible for researcher use.
• Disseminate knowledge and research findings to all those involved with children's and adolescents' welfare and needs with the aim of enhancing understanding of their lives and problems. The Center organizes conferences, seminars, workshops, lectures, and other presentations and plans to offer short courses and other educational opportunities to those involved with children's and adolescents' welfare to help them enhance their knowledge and expertise with the latest know-how. In its educational capacity, the Center also plans to inform and influence policy-making on matters that affect children and adolescents and the planning of appropriate services.
• Design and propose innovative programs that aim to empower children and families in their everyday lives and to help them deal with the multiple problems and challenges they face. In the same capacity, the Center also provides consultative services to organizations and conducts evaluation studies of programs for children and adolescents.
Through its research work, the Center aims to inform social policy in ways that enhance the lives of children and their families. In other words, the work carried out by the Center aims to have an impact rather than merely serve academic goals. Moreover, the Center aims to conduct research with children through the use of participatory research methods and to facilitate the process by which children become researchers themselves rather than research objects. Though the Center does not shy away from the use of quantitative research methods where necessary, most of the research work is carried out with the use of qualitative, ethnographically-informed research methods. This is in line with the Center's aim to provide through research an understanding of the everyday lives of children from their own perspectives.
A non-exhaustive list of themes and issues guiding the Center's research agenda in relation to children and adolescents includes:
• Identities (especially how children play a role in constructing their identities within larger structural constraints)
• Education (including schooling and the cultural production of citizenship)
• Nationalism (its production and consumption in children's everyday worlds)
• Ethnic Conflict (especially its impact on children's constructions of self and other)
• Poverty and Social Exclusion (in relation to marginalized populations such as immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, the disabled, or those who come from single parent families)
• Popular Culture and Consumption (with all its manifestations as in fashion, music, body adornment, lifestyle, etc)
• Media and Technology (especially how children use the media to create meaning and construct their identities in a globalized world)
• Child Labor (historically and synchronically)
• Children's Rights and Children's Participation in Society (as they manifest themselves at both the local and national levels)
The Center also has an active interest in the development of research methodologies for studying children and childhood.