Sustainable Modular Houses for People in Need

Start: 28-02-2022 - End: 27-02-2024
Project Reference: 2021-1-EL01-KA220-VET-000025502
EU Grant: 236.288,00 €
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Partnerships for cooperation and exchanges of practices
Action Type: Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training

Project Summary

The escalating reality of displaced people and people in need due to a number of reasons is present not only in Europe but worldwide due to migration (from war zones), natural disasters caused primarily due to climate change (flooding, severe storms and hurricanes), local particularities (seismic areas) or due to a number of health epidemics. These human mass movements are unpredictable and increased day by day. This becomes even bigger when additional settlements and facilities have to be constructed in a very short period due to an emerging health crisis (COVID-19 pandemic). The capacity to host these people in temporary residences or develop health facilities in pandemics have to take under consideration a number of criteria in order to achieve fast yet sustainable (in terms of materials, energy and logistics) settlements.

The core idea of the HOPE is to approach the basic principles of sustainability and focus on sustainable design with regard to constructing a modular house for several and different needs. This is translated into viable engineering by adapting Τechnologies, processes and materials towards a smart use of natural resources as well as residue materials or reused ones.

The idea is to firstly identify natural materials and by-products (I.e. wood products and wood residues) with limited potentials up to now, which may be used as a raw material for constructing off-site building units. The sustainable design principles are expected to be implemented in creating pathways towards exploiting such materials and finally “upcycling” them into a useful new modular product/unit. The most critical part of this project is to take under consideration all these parameters (design wise and material wise) which will allow to disassembly of all these modular units after the end of its use with the ability to further reuse those in a future project with the least possible non-reusable percentage of this primary modular unit.

The main need to be addressed regarding this project is the reskilling and/or upskilling of the final users of the outputs. Two main groups (engineers and technicians) are anticipated to gain new skills and enhance their business profile by using the four designed outputs of this proposal. The outcomes are expected to be suitable to encourage cross-curricular learning, connecting mainly with designers, engineers, technicians and builders and all other relevant stakeholders (i.e. Governments, public bodies).

Different skills and experiences with regard to sustainable design exist in each country. However, the complications in managing and reusing resources and waste are global, therefore this cooperation will benefit all parties in exchanging ways of addressing all current sustainability and engineering problems with universal solutions.

This consortium is necessary in order to pull and combine the expertise of partners and create a platform to advance knowledge and implementation principles. Also, to share experiences and good practice, create showcases and innovate teaching and learning approaches to contribute to the development of novel ways of thinking and tackling global challenges in a resource-constrained world, which would not be achieved on a national level.

Objectives

The project is about creating not only a philosophy but also a practical guide on how to design, prefabricate, transport, build-assembly, reprocess after the end of its use modular construction with timber as the primer material. Basic pillars through this procedure are to respect the natural resources, the people, and the places where these units will be temporarily placed. Small modular units are to be joined together to form a practical and comfortable modular micro building to host size-wise different ranges of people with dissimilar needs.

The challenge that this project is expected to address is to identify the availability of the resources at a local level (available timber species in the Mediterranean area) and design a detailed guide to build a modular housing unit. The adverse weather conditions throughout the year (a huge range in temperature and humidity values which impact greatly the raw materials which are to be used) have to be taken into consideration towards applying innovative solutions during all the stages of the modular unit construction – from design to assembly and finally disassembly after the end of its use.

The key objective is to create new opportunities and better chances of employment for the final users of the proposal’s outputs as a tool for recovery from the COVID 19 and the associated economic crisis. The primary target groups are-1a: unemployed engineers, students and graduates of several University departments such as building engineers, forestry engineers, materials engineers or engineers who need to reskill themselves getting familiarized with a totally different method design-wise and construction-wise, 1b: craftsmen and technicians from the construction sector who can adapt themselves to a fresh-sustainable approach on how to create a structure with respect to a sustainable holistic approach. The secondary target groups are Regional and national agencies of public protection, construction business associations, other educational institutes and training centres and policymakers.

This scheme is expected to match public bodies, companies and the University's expectations with regard to learning process outcomes, considering short- and long-term sustainable planning, common business and academic language.

Collaboration in this project levers the complementary strengths of the partnership in the fields of Technology and Business. Universities and private companies from different countries act as partners with direct involvement in the need’s analysis, design, development, implementation and dissemination of the sustainable design. A key element that is expected to add value to this cooperation is the effort to present a number of outputs that will assist in adopting the idea that micro modular houses have to be designed to last longer. Those houses will be easier to reuse, repair, disassembly and final reassembly elsewhere. Moreover, a number of groups of professionals are expected to be upskilled or reskilled through the four outputs of this proposal and build a robust job profile with competencies that can boost their career.

Activities

Activities of the proposed project are divided into two main categories. The first category (through the duration of the project) includes all activities that are supported by that part of the grant under the Project Management and Implementation category. Indicatively are:

• Coordination and scheduling of the project.
• Financial management of the project.
• Creation of internal documents templates for use by the partners.
• Internal communication and collaboration platform for the partners.
• A good practice guide for project management.
• Information, promotion and dissemination material (brochures, leaflets, website, etc.) of the project.

These activities are divided into three major groups.

The first group (A) relates to the management of the project leads by the Institute of Wood, Furniture and Wooden Packaging (IWFWP), as coordinator and applicant organisation.

The second one (B) relates to internal monitoring and evaluation of the project. The Irish Wood and Furniture Manufacturing Network (IWFM) in cooperation with the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) will prepare the presentation of the monitoring and evaluation plan of the project activities. These activities are described in the corresponding field of the proposal.

The third group (C) concerns the dissemination of project results and deliverables. The University of Belgrade (UOB) in cooperation with the MIKSER ASSOCIATION, will be responsible for the dissemination activities, create the first version of the official website of the project, the logo of the project and the project page (draft version) on social media.

The monitoring and evaluation activities that will be covered by this category are: evaluation procedures with the help of focus groups, creation, sending and management of all necessary documents and monitoring and evaluation activities, cost of human hours of monitoring and evaluation, etc. Finally, this category will help in case of emergencies (additional corporate meeting, dealing with certain situations as mentioned in the field of risk management).

Every partner organization will undertake the management of specific topics (subcategories) of each Output (O) in collaboration with the program leader. In this way the division of activities within the partnership are as follows:

1. The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) has been appointed as the leader in the development and management of the O1. In this output, the University of Belgrade (UOB) will assist as another experienced partner in this field and also the Institute of Wood, Furniture and Wooden Packaging (IWFWP).

2. The University of Belgrade (UOB) has been appointed as the leader in the development and management of the O2. Their experienced approach on circular economy and sustainable development is expected to format clearly the structure in order to set the job profile principles. They will be supported by the Irish Wood and Furniture Manufacturing Network (IWFM) acting as co-leaders with great experience in business management providing support and solutions in various cases.

3. The Institute of Wood, Furniture and Wooden Packaging (IWFWP), has been appointed as the leader in the development and management of the O3.The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) will be the co-leader.

4. The AKETH (Developmental Centre of Thessaly – D.C.T.), has been appointed as the leader in the development, management and monitoring of the O4.The City Council of Mollet del Vallès will be supporting the AKETH-DCT in the management and monitoring of the O4.

Impact

During the project and after its completion, all the partners, the stakeholders and the groups of trainees are expected to benefit and gain greatly from this collaboration and the anticipated deliverables.

The key project goals to be achieved are to:

• Promote diversity awareness and openness, cultural knowledge and intercultural sensitivity.
• Explore personal narrative practices that will help to develop autonomy, engagement, creative action, critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Improve the knowledge of new technologies and interactive tools as educational means.
• Increase digital literacy (knowledge + skills + tools) from users and partner members.
• Stimulate virtual and face-to-face forms of collaboration and communication.
• Upskill or/and reskill existing professions (engineers, technicians) by providing tools and skills based on the principles of sustainability and wise use of materials with regard to building modular houses primarily for people in need.

On its completion, four outputs will have been developed to lead not only in creating a guide but mainly in adopting a philosophy on how to design, choose the right materials, prefabricate, transport, build-assembly, reprocess after the end of its use with regard to this prefabricated flexible construction. Small modular cells will be joined together to form a practical and comfortable modular micro building to host size-wise different ranges of people with dissimilar needs. All these, based on the principles of sustainability, will assist in managing resources in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. Basic pillars through this procedure are to respect the natural resources, the people, and the places where these units will be temporarily placed. Most of all, certain groups of professionals are expected to be trained and acquire competencies, knowledge and skills towards shifting their job profile into what the current circumstances ask for with respect to a sustainable and green approach.

The most important expected outcome in this project’s completion is the ability to comfort people in need when an emergency occurs, without delay once the procedures and the steps to provide the necessary solution will be available for the stakeholders dealing with a present crisis.

Coordinator:

• INSTITUTE OF WOOD, FURNITURE AND WOODEN PACKAGING - Greece

Partners:

• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece
• AJUNTAMENT DE MOLLET DEL VALLES - Spain
• Case Lemn Bernard SRL - Romania
• CHLIAPAS SA - Greece
• GALWAY-MAYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY - Ireland

IMPROVING CREATIVE AND DIGITAL SKILLS OF ADULTS

Start: 01-12-2021 - End: 30-11-2023
Project Reference: 2021-1-DE02-KA220-ADU-000033453
EU Grant: 216852 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Action Type: Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Summary

Createch has great potential to contribute to economic growth and job creation, based on the underlying technology and the expected wide applicability of Createch innovations to different sectors and contexts. A common finding in studies on the future of work is that employers will increasingly demand digital skills and creative skills. Many researches shows that combinations of skills – technological, artistic, organizational and management are important for creative work. A report on the future of jobs by the World Economic Forum (WEF) considers creativity, along with complex problem solving and critical thinking, as one of top three skills in 2020, and estimated 87% of creative jobs are ‘at low or no risk of automation’.

Regarding to the 35 million job adverts posted between 2011-2018, It found that the occupations that mention “createch” skills the most were: graphic designers; photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators; artists; arts officers, producers and directors; and product, clothing and related designers. Given the importance that future of work studies attribute to both creative and digital skills, it is reasonable to suppose that ‘createch’ skills will be associated with roles that are expected to grow in importance in the future. With the current pandemic COVID-19 crisis, there is also sudden need for creative and digital solutions in the current circumstances. Many Europeans have been suddenly thrown into conditions demanding the use of digital technologies. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is having a severe effect on adults who need to find ways to continue in these challenging times which now relies on the access to and use of digital technologies.

KEY OBJECTIVES:

*To identify what the createch skills are, which roles require them, and their importance to the future jobs market

*To provide learning opportunities for adults in lifelong learning;also to provide incentivise and enable greater employer engagement in training; and cement the value of creative education

*Give adults the opportunity to acquire and develop skills and abilities that contribute to their full participation in the information society.

*Develop an Online Training programme which includes modular training courses

*Develop an Online self assesment tool which allows adults identify gaps and shortages in digital skills

*Deliver training courses at least 60 digitally low skilled adults to increase their createch skills and competences

*Support at least 12 trainers

Coordinator:

• Euro-Med Youth Federation (EMYF) e. V.   - Germany

Partners:

• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece
• Aydin Kulturel Gelisim Dernegi - Turkey
• Association Hexagonale de l'Innovation Sociale et de l'Education - France
• Gestión Estratégica e Innovación SL - Spain
• PROGEU-PROGRESS IN EUROPEAN UNION -ISTITUTO PER LO SVILUPPO APS - Italy

A new approach in education '' Blended Learning ''

Start: 14-02-2022 - End: 13-08-2023
Project Reference: 2021-1-ES01-KA210-SCH-000027283
EU Grant: 60000 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Partnerships for cooperation and exchanges of practices
Action Type: Small-scale partnerships in school education

Project Summary

Objectives

This project focuses on increasing the digital competencies of teachers and students who are the implementers of education systems. With the “Blended Learning” approach, it is aimed to increase the motivation of teachers and students and to contribute to the lifelong learning skills. Thanks to the cooperation with schools and institutions from different parts of Europe, it is aimed to support students in acquiring and developing basic skills.

Activities

After the blended learning training in our project, teachers will integrate this model into their lessons. Evaluations of the project will be made with the transnational meetings to be held. Good practices will be shared with the LTT company to be realized in Italy. Dissemination activities will be carried out to increase the impact of the project. The final product of the project activities, the blended learning model lesson plans booklet will be a resource for the entire education community.

Impact

This project will enable the effective use of distance and face-to-face teaching environments. It will increase awareness of the usability of technology for education. With international teamwork, students and teachers will be able to gain skills in the use of information and communication technologies, as well as international cooperation, social relations, planning and undertaking project activities.

Target Group of the Project:

Coordinator:

• INSTITUTO DE EDUCACIÓN SECUNDARIA RODOLFO LLOPIS - Spain

Partners:

• Sehit Astsubay Cemil Erkek Ortaokulu - Turkey
• ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO STATALE "CAPONNETTO" - Italy
• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece

LIVE WITH CULTURE - LIVE THE CULTURE

Start: 01-06-2021 - End: 31-05-2023
Project Reference: 2020-1-UK01-KA227-SCH-094521
EU Grant: 198069 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Action Type: Partnerships for Creativity

Project Summary

COVID19's socio-economic impact on the cultural and artistic sectors has been unprecedented, as social distancing measures meant that they could not remain open. In addition to the devastating financial consequences, the promotion of culture and the use of art as tools for cohesion and education almost disappeared staying only at the core family level. In this context, steps should be taken to initiate real change in the way we protect and develop our common cultural heritage from an early age.In today's conditions, digital approaches to culture that promote active citizenship and social inclusion related to people's participation in culture are gaining importance.

"Our Cultures" brings together 7 cross-sector institutions from 6 different culturally diverse countries ( UK, Spain ,Turkey ,Portugal ,Italy and Greece) including schools, cultural and civil society NGOs.

Our project focuses on providing art-based learning, creating digital concrete content and making the created content easily accessible open source in order to live, sustain and promote our common cultural heritage.Our project aims to create learning tools, resources, materials and training modules in order to encourage creativity and multiculturalism.Our main goal is to create active learning opportunities in formal and non-formal education institutions, through the use of technology in arts and education.

Our project's intellectual outputs are:

O1; Virtual Culture Travel (Time and Space Travel) (Mobile application)

02; Experiential Learning Activity Books (Primary / Secondary School)

O3; Cultural Heritage Awareness Materials (Digital Arts)

We will also organise:

6 national multipliers

1 international multiplier

2 LTTs

KEY OBJECTIVES:

* To grow a sense of curiosity and tolerance among students and educators for living in a global and interconnected world with digital cultural data tools by placing our cultural heritage at the very centre of our lives,

* To obtain concrete inputs that will increase the intercultural interaction between cultural, artistic and equational institutions in a sustainable way and carry our cultural heritage to the future,

* For children and young people to discover and experience our common cultural heritage inside and outside the classroom; to enable them to develop and strengthen their different identities within an interactive, democratic, and multicultural conscious citizenship perspective,

* To ensure that children and young people have direct experience with the original heritage phenomenon (Experiential learning), be actively involved in the process, gaining commitment to the idea of ​​protecting cultural heritage, interpreting cultural heritage and seeking their own meaningful context behind the facts,

* To make our students realize the local / universal dimension of culture through digital tools and arts: Students will reveal their feelings, thoughts and perceptions freely and sincerely through artistic activities, they will offer creative products for our cultural heritage.Students will be able to transfer their creative abilities to every aspect of their lives with the different perspectives they have gained on our cultural heritage, and they will be able to beautify their environment by gaining an aesthetic consciousness.

* Developing digital literacy, collaboration and critical thinking skills of our participants through digital data tool (Web 2.0 tools, augmented reality) studies:Our participants will be able to use these competencies they have acquired on different platforms.

* To make an impressive presentation of the cultural structures and areas in the region where our partners live, using the augmented reality method and 3D design technique:This tool will have interactive content that students can easily use in lessons and outside the classroom.Our Virtual Culture Travel Tool will make a tangible contribution to cultural tourism by making the regions where partners live a center of attraction.

TARGET GROUPS

Students (7-15 years old), teachers and other educators and professionals working in formal (e.g. schools) and informal (e.g. in the community) settings. Secondary target groups include policy makers, decision makers, the media and general public as well as parents and carers.

AMBITION

During times of despair, using the underlying values of restorative justice (e.g. power sharing, equality, dignity and respect) "Our Cultures" will create a sense of belonging and awareness about the common cultural and artistic heritage of Europe.The necessity of discovering different cultures through intercultural interactions and of course the dimension of the culture extending from local to universal make the transnational implementation of the project important and necessary in order to gain European awareness.

Target Group of the Project:

Coordinator:

• Restorative Justice for All International Institute cic - United Kingdom

Partners:

Fattore K - Italy
• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece
• Bozyazi Kultur Sanat Ve Muzik Dernegi - Turkey
• ESPACIO ROJO - Spain
• ANAMUR FATIH ILKOKULU - Turkey
• Agrupamento de Escolas do Barreiro - Portugal

Culture, Creativity, Inclusion

Start: 01-05-2021 - End: 30-04-2023
Project Reference: 2020-1-IT02-KA227-SCH-094804
EU Grant: 155850 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Action Type: Partnerships for Creativity

Project Summary

In initiating the project “Culture, Creativity, Inclusion”, the institutions from Italy, Romania, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Latvia, schools and NGOs involved in intercultural education, started from the social and educational value of culture; the existence in their regions of similar contexts: multicultural students groups with discriminatory tendencies; their needs in intercultural education as a strategy for social inclusion, for reducing marginalization and to diversify the Curriculum; needs for non-formal education strategies to replace classical teaching based only on the transmission of knowledge, to create a positive working atmosphere, attractive lessons, and ICT resources; a rich national cultural heritage used as a support for intercultural education. Their strategic objectives are the orientation towards innovative, and attractive European didactics.

The aim of the project is to increase interculturality, creativity, and innovation in the practices of partner institutions, to develop skills through culture and creativity.

Project objectives for teachers as the main target group and for partner institutions:

• 1. To offer the acquisition of innovative and motivating strategies for the social inclusion of students, using as support the national and European cultural and artistic elements.
• 2. To provide the acquisition of types of non-formal intercultural education activities, through the exchange of good practices between partners, during LTTAs.
• 3. To offer the possibility to create, through collaboration, efficient digital resources in learning about European cultural diversity and the appreciation of the common European values;
• 4. To offer partner institutions their professional development, promote attractive non-formal teaching, and support schools in their regions with European digital educational resources.

The project's methodology consists of 6 LTTAs that each involves 20 teachers from partner institutions and 6-10 teachers from the host institution, and is based on innovative approaches: theoretical presentations and examples about the educational value of culture; cultural workshops; non-formal approach to a UNESCO monument; cultural theatre and creative workshops starting from works of art and cultural elements in the UNESCO Heritage; examples of involving students in cultural activities and promoting traditional elements: music, food culture, old occupations, handicrafts, folk dance; cultural ICT workshop using the media with a cultural message, to create certain types of videos and the "Digital Photo Story" as a final product.

Students will only be involved in Virtual Exchanges with partner students and in local activities included in LTTA in their schools; they will be presenters of cultural elements, actors in theater and cultural workshops, promoters of their cultural values.

Expected results through LTTAs: the acquisition of information on classroom management for inclusive education, good practices in encouraging the students ’integration; non-formal strategies and valuable multimedia resources for learning interculturality and developing students' creativity; types of cultural and ICT creative workshops; learning experiences to develop intercultural skills; educational practices using as support the national material and immaterial cultural elements of the UNESCO heritage and the traditional elements; ICT creative skills based on the cultural elements; "Digital Photo-Story", the final project product; creating E-twinning Space and the project website as tools for promoting and disseminating results.

Expected results through the students' participation: superior intercultural competencies, respect, and tolerance for other cultures; new motivations to get involved in the group's life: more oriented towards group knowledge, discovering common and different cultural aspects, an improved position towards the group culture.

The project impact on teachers illustrated by their future professional behaviors: the use of a wide range of innovative approaches; integration in their activities of the digital resources acquired through the project, especially of Digital Photo-Story, a valuable product in intercultural teaching, in the process of social inclusion; new professional skills in organizing non-formal activities, using as support the cultural elements and capitalizing on students' creativity; new ICT skills and the interest in their integrating into lessons.

Impact indicators on students: more tolerant behaviors towards students of different ethnicities and living environments; new intercultural competences: more tolerant in the interaction with students of other cultures; more eager to get involved in national cultural projects and Erasmus +.

The project sustainability can be ensured by developing new projects using at a higher level the results obtained, by integrating the results in the didactics and the Curriculum through new optional courses of intercultural education.

Target Group of the Project:

Coordinator:

• IISS Jacopo del Duca - Diego Bianca Amato - Italy

Partners:

ASOCIATIA EDUPURTUS - Romania
• Rigas 80 vidusskola - Latvia
• SEPUGS "Vasil Antevski Dren" - Republic of North Macedonia
• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece
• Özel Antalya Vizyon Koleji Anadolu Lisesi - Turkey

INSPIRING CREATIVITY FOR CREATIVE EUROPE

Start: 01-06-2021 - End: 31-05-2023
Project Reference: 2020-1-TR01-KA227-ADU-098179
EU Grant: 116931 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Action Type: Partnerships for Creativity

Project Summary

Cultural and creative sectors (CCS) are all sectors whose activities are based on cultural values and/or artistic and other creative expressions which include architecture, archives, libraries and museums, artistic crafts, audiovisual (including film, television, video games ,product design, fashion and multimedia), tangible and intangible cultural heritage, design, festivals, music, literature, performing arts, publishing, radio and visual arts. Undoubtedly the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) play an important role not only for the European economy but also as part of a wider cultural and historical understanding of the European development.

The creative industries frequently require a combination of highly specialized knowledge combined with transferable, generic skills. The demand for skilled creative workers is strong and rapidly evolving, both in cultural and creative sectors and other sectors of the economy. And there is a big challenge is related to the mismatch between the skills needed by employers and self-employed creatives and the skills provided by education and training providers.

The project aims to create a sustainable and efficient education program for low skilled adult learners involved in the creative industries and it addresses a gap in cultural and creative industries where there is low emphasis on the use of new digital technologies, creating and design skills, marketing skills and support skills. In our Project we mainly focus on the skills of cultural industries (film making, multimedia, book press publishing),skills of creative industries and activities such as fashion, graphic, social media and product design; and advertising; and ICT.

The target group of the Project;

• - unemployed/newly graduated adults
• - unemployed adults who lost their jobs in covid-19 pandemic situation
• - low skilled adults in creative industries
• - freelance creative workers

The objectives of the Project;

• - Develop skills and competences of adults who aim to improve their chances of employment or performing better in their current employment for future working and employability,
• - Strengthen local, national and international collaboration and innovation in arts, cultural and creative learning
• - To improve the achievement and recognition of creative skills through by e-assessment for adult education
• - To enhance collaboration between education providers, universities, cultural organisations, SMEs in creative sector, civil society SMEs in creative sector, civil society organizations, creative workers and volunteers
• - To design, develop and deliver a Creative Skillset MOOC to give the adults opportunity of having distance learning especially Covid-19 pandemic situation
• - To provide added value in employability and local development through supporting the creative economy

In short term results;it will mainly adress the skills needs of Cultural-creative sectors and develop the training models,In long term results; it will maximize the impact of cultural and creative industries in local development and employment.The creative economy relies on creative talent as the primary source of value. The demand for skilled creative workers is strong and rapidly evolving, both in cultural and creative sectors and other sectors of the economy.

Our project will also provide training and development activity to offer a solution to skills gaps or recruitment difficulties and to reap these job creation benefits.The adults/unemployed adults/creative workser will have opportunity to gain skills and competences in creative sectors,to be employed or develop their works.Although the ones who stayed at home during the covid19 pandemic ,will have chance to have training,develop their creativity and have experience in creative works. The project will produce tangible and intangible results to contribute develop creative skills in recovering unemployment.

Target Group of the Project:

Coordinator:

• Recep Tayyip Erdogan Universitesi - Turkey

Partners:

Association Hexagonale de l'Innovation Sociale et de l'Education - Italy
• METANU REKLAM ORGANİZASYON DANIŞMANLIK VE TİCARET LİMİTED ŞİRKETİ - Turkey
• Asociación para la promoción del empleo y la cohesión social "Asociación Creativa" - Spain
• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece

Creativity tools to empower NEET´s on entrepreneurship

Start: 01-05-2021 - End: 30-04-2023
Project Reference: 2020-1-IT03-KA227-YOU-020559
EU Grant: 61760 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Action Type: Partnerships for Creativity

Project Summary

Non-formal education and learning has an important role to play in responding to youth unemployment. This is because it supports development by helping to transform young peoples’ potential, creativity, talents, initiative and social responsibility, through the acquisition of related knowledge, skills, attitudes and values.

The purpose of youth workers is not to provide jobs but engagement in the wide variety of personal and social development activities that it offers, helps young people to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are frequently said to be needed in the labour market.

In this way youth work contributes to closing the gap between the competences acquired by NEET´s and the needs of the labour market.

The COVID-19 crisis has turned from a global health crisis into a severe economic crisis. The policy responses taken to fight the pandemic have resulted in economic shutdown, leaving millions out of work, with young people, women and less-skilled people worst affected. That is why, this project responds to reality and offers the necessary creativity tools to our NEET to be able to find alternatives for employment and a good way to the development of necessary creaticity skills for life, either professionally or personally, and giving tangible options to develop projects that allow NEET to launch their business idea.

This Erasmus project aims to exchange good practice between partners and train youth workers to support, motivate and address better to NEETs’ needs, namely: the need to break the cycle of isolation/social exclusion; lack of motivation to become an active entrepreneur; lack of self-awareness of their passions/talents and, even, the low self-esteem and lack of key-skills that are required to take an initiative to create their own business. Therefore, the objectives of the project are:

Main objectives:

• To introduce the concept and potential benefits of social entrepreneurship to youths facing social exclusion due to low skills and unemployment (NEETs).
• To map and collect information on NEETs situation along with examples of best practices of young entrepreneurs to create a Ebook.
• To promote the exchange of good practices among partners on social entrepreneurship , strengthening cross-cooperation and a multidisciplinary approach.
• To professionalize and competence development of youth workers, supporting the acquisition of skills through non-formal and informal educational, to train and guidance NEETs with regard to the necessary skills NEET need in order to compete effectively in the business environment.
• To support labour market inclusion of European youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) through a training path that gives knowledge and new creativity entrepreneurial skills.
• To provide entities with creativity tools and methods to involve NEET´s on social entrepreneurship.
• To foster quality improvements in youth work, in particular through enhanced cooperation between entities in the youth field and other stakeholders.
• To raising awareness and motivate the NEETs about entrepreneurship through local awareness activities.

Target group:

• - Entities
• - Youth workers
• - (NEET) youths

Activities:

• 4 transnational Project meetings
• 1 Short staff training course C1
• 5 Workshops focus on NEET and entrepreneurship
• 1 Ebook of good practice young entrepreneurs
• 5 Local campaign for dissemination and awareness.

Target Group of the Project:

Coordinator:

• COMUNE DI POLPENAZZE DEL GARDA - Italy

Partners:

• Educator, spolek - Czechia
• Asociación USIT - Spain
• Arte e Cultura Sociale - Italy
• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece

Paths of Inclusion in Youth Employability

Start: 01-03-2020 - End: 28-02-2022
Project Reference: 2019-3-EL02-KA105-005354
EU Grant: 38330 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Learning Mobility of Individuals
Action Type: Youth mobility

Project Summary

With this project, we plan to boost employability across Europe and help young people enter the market more easily. In a Europe where million of people suffer from unemployment and on the other side million of job vacancies in multiple industries, it is very important to equip our youth with the ability to search for a job, apply to the most suitable one for them and successfully enter the market. Our training, courses and activities are destined to direct correctly youth workers and leaders in order to become more efficient in their daily work and bring innovation to their own projects.

Overall, our objectives can be described as following:

• Enhance participants’ competences on career guidance, counseling, orientation, and coaching with practical tools.
• Explore and map platforms, portals, strategies and websites for European job opportunities and the ways to use them to enhance active job search of young people.
• Develop a network of youth workers and leaders among European Union promote best practices, challenges, ideas, obstacles and policies related with youth employability in Europe.
• Share and create efficient and creative models for CV creation and undertaking of job interviews.
• Empower the role of the Erasmus + and Non Formal Education as tools to boost the employability and labor market awareness of youngsters in European Union and not only.

Activities

We have planned a variety of activities and we mention them below with further details:

• Day 1: DURING THE DAY- Arrival of participants and ice breakers to create a friendly atmosphere. Presentation of the training course EVENING - Welcome Evening.
• Day 2:MORNING - Presentation of the project, staff and program. Expectations, Fears and Contribution. Feedback by the trainers and setting up of ground rules. Team building activities, such as "crossing the river". Debriefing by the trainers. AFTERNOON - Formal, non-formal and informal education,features and differences, uses for personal and professional development. Youthpass: work on the key competences in groups. Presentation,feedback, and discussion on other certification methods and best practices for recognition of NFE. Daily Reflection EVENING - NGO Fair,presentations and time for networking.
• Day 3: MORNING - Employment and employability: group work, definition and presentations with creative methods (art, collage, drawing). Points of view of most relevant European institutions and agencies from the trainers. Presentation of top Soft Skills for the labor market (Communication; Time Management; Languages; etc.) with creative, interactive methods (simulations, games, role plays).Discussion on recognition and support young people in succeeding in this. AFTERNOON - Myths and false beliefs in different societies about “good”and “decent” jobs. Self Reflection, then "Fishbowl" discussion. Presentation by trainers identifying common beliefs and ways for youth to overcome them. How to reach our goals. Practical examples, working of participants on their own and in pairs, finding together new paths. Debriefing and feedback, models for goal setting, monitoring, and motivational tools. EVENING – Intercultural evening: creative presentation of each country (music,quiz, games).
• Day 4: MORNING - Local realities on youth unemployment, statistics, facts, policies and strategies. Preparation and presentations by national groups. We will collect the results of this session to produce an online publication. AFTERNOON - Unemployment in Europe. Quiz to discover more about the European Labor Market. Websites to show statistics and facts, and tools for active job search in Europe. Programs and EU strategies for employability (EyE, Eures, Ploteus, Vet mobility, Europe 2020, Youth Guarantee, New Skills for New Jobs, Youth Employment Initiative, etc.) Daily Reflection EVENING – Mid-Term Evaluation
• Day 5: MORNING - Visit to the municipality Round table on policies for youth employability and presentation of best practices. Q&A session. Visit to Meteora a monument of UNESCO World Heritage that will be visited from the group of participants in order to promote interculturalism among participating countries and also to provide information about Greek culture.AFTERNOON - CV building, tips and tricks, differences in Europe, presentation of formats and creative examples. Practical work on alternative CVs (video; ppt; artistic; Linkedin) Daily reflection EVENING - Movie night on employment and discussion.
• Day 6: MORNING – Do's and Dont 's for Job Interviews. Working in groups. Summarizing and feedback by trainers. External Speakers: economist and entrepreneur. Another perspective on selecting candidates. AFTERNOON - Job Interview Simulation., preparation and implementation with the guests. Comments from the group and from the experts, suggestions and tips. Daily reflection EVENING - World Cafè to discuss topics of interest.
• Day 7: MORNING - Presentation of Erasmus plus, focusing on the youth chapter. Video examples. Q&A. Working in groups for designing of new projects' ideas. Presentations and feedback by trainers. AFTERNOON - Discussion and preparation of dissemination of results. Youthpass finalization, singularly and in groups. EVENING - Farewell party. The day after, we'll have the final evaluation, closing ceremony, and departures of participants. We have include a variety of countries in the project, as we want to "internationalize" its impact and promote conversation and further cooperation. Our participants will be youth workers and leaders whose their everyday work include young people's employability problems and common challenges, like create a good CV, be ready for an interview and find a decent job. They will be over 18 years old and will already have an experience on how to deal with young people in need. Every partner country, after taking into consideration the aforementioned criteria, will select from its candidates the most suitable and promised ones.

With all these said, the number of participants of every country will be as following:

• Greece: 3 participants
• Turkey: 3 participants
• Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: 3 participants
• Romania: 3 participants
• Iceland: 3 participants
• Netherlands: 3 participants
• Spain: 3 participants
• Italy: 3 participants
• Sweden: 3 participants

Impact

First of all, we foresee to make our participants better on dealing with unemployment of young people. This is our primary goal, as crushing unemployment is the main aim of this project. The participants will develop their professional as well as their personal profile, expand their knowledge, acquire new and innovative ideas to implement in their daily work and learn how to better approach young people in need and become their mentors in their way to stabilize their life and find a job that keeps them satisfied.

Secondly, we foresee to develop the partner organizations and improve their work and their fame in the field of combating unemployment. The participants involved will become great assets for the partners and will definitely bring value to them. New projects will be implemented and new ideas will be developed. Also, our partners will make new contacts across Europe and will discuss new collaborations in the field of Erasmus + and beyond. All these, make an important opportunity for the partner organizations that wouldn't have the chance to grab it alternatively.

Thirdly, young people that are in need will, also, get benefited. Those people that are finding it difficult to get a job and they get challenges everyday, need help in order to effectively focus in their goal and bring their fears to an end. After the project, participants will be more equipped and ready provide any kind of support to young people and guide them to this path of job hunting. Through all the activities and the dissemination planned, we aim to make a small but important change in the field of young unemployment and bring our societies a step forward.

Target Group of the Project:

Coordinator:

• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece

Partners:

• ASOCIATIA PENTRU DEZVOLTARE SI CULTURA MURES - Romania
• ASOCIACION CULTURAL Y DEPORTIVA LAHOYA - Spain
• SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS AND SOCIAL INNOVATION CENTER SKOPJE - North Macedonia
• FOXPOPULI - Sweden
• MEZITLI ILCE TARIM VE ORMAN MUDURLUGU - Turkey
• CENTRO INTERNAZIONALE PER LA PROMOZIONE DELL'EDUCAZIONE E LO SVILUPPO ASSOCIAZIONE - Italy
• Stichting Drawing to Health - Netherlands
• KREFJANDI FELAG UM RANNSOKNA OG NYSKOPUNARSAMSTARF - Iceland

Problem based learning / Inquiry Based Learning

Start: 01-09-2020 - End: 31-08-2022
Project Reference: 2020-1-EL01-KA104-078282
EU Grant: 8795 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Learning Mobility of Individuals
Action Type: Adult education staff mobility

Project Summary

The Thessaly Development Center, is a certified training provider by EOPPEP, provides and supports organized learning activities aimed at adults and VETs aimed at enriching knowledge, developing and improving skills and abilities, developing a person's personality and capacity of active citizenship, and to alleviate educational and social inequalities.

In the ever-changing post-industrial society, adults go through short or long periods of unemployment, change careers several times in their professional lives, and are called upon to continually upgrade their knowledge and skills. The benefits of adult education and lifelong learning generally cover all areas of an individual's activities as they help him / her to fulfill all his / her personal, social, family, professional roles.

Recognizing the importance of training and adult education and the complex and difficult role of the trainer, our organization decided to submit a mobility plan within ERASMUS+. The purpose of the proposed project is to train 7 trainers of our organization in the Prague-based ITC training organization with extensive experience in training programs, modern methodologies, learning models and practices followed in adult education and counseling. As in our country there are no specialized seminars on the training of trainers in the field of modern adult learning methods (such as problem solving learning - PBL), the proposed project comes to complement the training of teachers and equip them with necessary tools for integrating modern teaching methods and counseling into the educational process that should be followed.

The ITC Host Partner has many years of experience (18 years) in the field of adult education and training and is a member of the Czech Science Management Committee. It is a pioneer in new innovative learning models and methodologies such as personalized learning, differentiated learning, reversed learning, problem solving learning, project based learning, game based learning, gamification etc.

With the proposed plan, our organization will acquire a highly qualified and internationally recognized adult trainer human resources (through the acquisition of ECVET) with training in problem model learning through problem solving. This will create all the necessary conditions for adult support and integration or reintegration into the labor market. The implementation of the project is mainly concerned with the attendance of a specialized and mixed project (theory, workshop) training seminar on modern methodologies and practices followed in adult education and mainly problem solving learning (PBL).

Target Group of the Project:

Coordinator:

• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece

Digit@l Literacy Portal

Start: 31-12-2020 - End: 30-12-2022
Project Reference: 2020-1-TR01-KA204-093446
EU Grant: 172480 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Action Type: Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Summary

Today's students and adults can text messages, send or receive e-mails, learn what they are curious about instantly, do all kinds of shopping, follow newspapers, watch movies, videos, enjoy music, read electronic books or take notes and write different texts via computers or smartphones. All these developments have made it inevitable for people to have competencies in the field of information and communication technologies. The concept of digital literacy, whose use has become more widespread with European Union policy documents, is also included in Union policy and strategies. Europe 2020 Strategy Document, basically, consists of three main axes. These have been identified as “smart growth” within the scope of an information and innovation based economy. The basis of smart growth strategies is formed of making maximum benefit of information and communication technologies with education, vocational education and lifelong learning priorities.Therefore, new methods and curricula have been developed in terms of training methods to inform stakeholders through effective training, raise their awareness and correct their professional habits. Although there are many studies on these issues, there is no effective source for digital literacy that stakeholders can use to find all the necessary information.

In accordance with the EU 2020 targets and in order to meet these needs, our project aims to create an e-learning platform to provide individuals, who take part in every field of life like social, business and communication such opportunities to access correct and reliable information, analyse, question, evaluate and obtain information and documents and to teach them methods and techniques of digital literacy skills as a requirement of their personal responsibilities.

The target groups of the project were determined as institutions working in the field of information technologies, teachers, academic staff, personnel working in the institutions and the organizations, individuals with disabilities, university students, families and the public.

The project will create a resource on use of digital literacy can coexist. In addition, an E-learning platform will be set up to promote professional development and develop ICT skills in line with the EU 2020 objectives. The training modules will be used primarily for the staff training of the partners, and also for institutions working in the field of information technologies, teachers, academic staff, personnel working in the institutions and the organizations, individuals with disabilities, university students, families and the public in need.

Widely influential organizations from Turkey, Spain, Croatia, UK, Sweden, Greece which have high expertise in their fields and experience in project implementation, have come together for this project. The project outputs will be prepared in in the language of each partner, in English and Turkish Thanks to the wide realm of authority of the partners, they will be used in digital literacy training across 6 countries. Dissemination activities will also be carried out for non-partner countries. The training modules offered on the web platform will serve broadly regardless of the limit.

The aim of this new training model is to; Create a curriculum that will be used for many years, Ensure that ICT Adult Training reaches international standards,Deliver digital literacy adult training to more people via ICT technologies by using less time and fewer resources, Increase ICT skills of digital literacy stakeholders. Establish an easily accessible training resource in digital literacy adult training, Increase adult training and the competences of adult trainers,Establish an information network with institutions from EU member countries, Create a good example for similar works

The nine modules to be prepared within the scope of our project will consist of twelve topics. These are : 1-Digital Literacy and Information Literacy 2- Cyber Security and Digital Footprints 3-Cyberbullying, 4-Technology ,Media Literacy and 21st Century Skills 5-Educational Web Tools 6-Ethical Use of Digital Resources 7-Digital Citizenship8- MOOCs and Free Online Learning Platforms 9-Digital Literacy for PWD (People With Disabilities)

The short-term effects of the project;The Digital Literacy stakeholders will meet with the philosophy of lifelong learning,Project will contribute to the improving of digital literacy skills,Internationalization of the participating organizations will be assured,A new training model will be established in digital literacy adult training,A new curriculum will be established with international standards for digital literacy adult training,ICT stakeholders will be able to reach the accurate information easily.

The long-term effects of the project;The project will be a good example for similar works,it will contribute to gain digital literacy skills, and to improving digital literacy skills more consciously,to the widespread use of ICT.

Target Group of the Project:

Coordinator:

• Bilecik Valiligi - Turkey

Partners:

• ANAPTIXIAKO KENTRO THESSALIAS - Greece
• INERCIA DIGITAL SL - Spain
• Be - Creative association - Sweden
• BILECIK IL MILLI EGITIM MUDURLUGU - Turkey
• Agencija za ruralni razvoj Zadarske zupanije - Croatia
• BILECIK UNIVERSITESI - Turkey
• UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER