Berbiqui

Many social challenges that we are facing, such as climate change, inequality or poverty, have been further developed in a short space of time by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many dark narratives are being created, with environmental, social and economical crisis in the first line. But, uncertainties should not frighten or paralyze us; they should help us anticipate and prepare.In the project “Imaginarium,” partners for Luxembourg (Art square Lab), France (Co-Actions), Ireland (M-Powered) and Finland (University of Turku) are going to introduce creativity using Design Thinking and Futures Thinking methodology that will enable a proactive search for possible development solutions for tomorrow.Young people will be ensured that designing the future is, on the one hand, a search for opportunities and potential, and on the other hand, systematic, purposeful and initiating practical solutions, aimed at responding to uncertainty. On the other hand, youth workers will be supported with the research, materials and tools to introduce Futures Thinking and Design Thinking as regular creative ways of thinking for young people, adapted to the new realities. PROJECT OUTPUTS/ACTIVITIES•EVIDENCE-GATHERING REPORT on CHALLENGES FOR FUTURES (Country Reports on challenges young people face in connection to sustainability, based on the research. Qualitative report. What young people think about the future? What do they see as the main challenges now?)•CREATIVITY ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR YOUTH WORK (Creativity Assessment Tool developed with support of the researchers from University of Luxembourg)•Tool-kit FOR CREATIVITY (Toolkit for creativity and Design Thinking for innovative education, with materials like cards and canvas and board game useful for youth workers - materials will be implemented and tested during the project) •GUIDE for FUTURES THINKING for YOUTH WORK (Publication: Futures Thinking in Youth Work - guide for youth workers)•WEB PLATFORM: Website, Blog, Facebook page – a database of materials (Digital platform with examples of “Sustainable futures project” created by young people during Thinkacton)•EVENT THINKACTON (1 per country) for 30-40 young people per country •A series of MULTIPLIER EVENTS (6 in total, implemented in all partner countries)•JOINT STAFF TRAINING EVENT (2 JSTE) for staff and associated youth workers, allowing them to build further their creative competences•LEAFLET promoting the project•YOUTUBE CHANNEL capturing the most important impressions from the projectThe partnership desired impact is to be considered a referral point for further activities in the field of education for creativity (using Futures Thinking and Design Thinking) thanks to innovative methodologies, tools and approaches used and produced during the Imaginarium Project. •Bring the creativity in non-formal educational system thanks to the Design Thinking and Futures Thinking and creative problem-solving methodologies•Supporting students and educators in developing new sustainable ideas for positive futures•Support educators with materials useful for teaching creativity and sustainability •Support educators with a tool to measure creativity of young people •Professional development of staff and stakeholders: intensive training about the use of creativity in education of young people•Encourage young people to implement their ideas: inform them about the funding possibilities for Solidarity Projects (Erasmus Plus EU Program) and provide them with basic project•management skills fostering social entrepreneurship and employment .The project will be directly addressed to the staff of partner organisations (6-8 persons), youth workers invited to take part in the project (16-20 persons) and80-120 young people. Indirectly, thanks to the diverse expertise of the partners, their geographical distribution and wide networks, the project will address non-formal education sector on national and European levels.

<< Background >>The European cooperation project SURE gathers 5 partners from 4 different countries Agence LUCIE and CO-ACTIONS (France) POUR LA SOLIDARITÉ (Belgium), CCI de VRATSA (Bulgaria), ARIS FORMAZIONE E RICERCA (Italy). This consortium aims to develop educational resources on CSR and green skills to train vocational educators who work in the field of ifreelance entrepreneurship. We all know that climate change and environmental degradation have and will have a significant impact on the world of work. With the Green Pact, the European Union has set itself the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The Green Deal aims to make the EU economy sustainable. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the implementation of sustainable development by companies. A company that practices CSR will seek to have a positive impact on society, to respect the environment while being economically viable. Green skills are therefore naturally integrated into the CSR approach which applies to the different roles of the company: logistics, purchasing policy, travel plans, investments, etc. The benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are now widely recognized: according to France Stratégie, it allows companies to gain 13% in performance compared to companies that do not integrate it, especially when it is an unconstrained initiative. CSR translates into transparent and ethical behavior that must : - contribute to sustainable development including the health and well-being of society; - take into account the expectations of stakeholders; - respect current laws and be compatible with international standards; - be integrated throughout the organization and implemented in its relationships. There is therefore a strong challenge to combine the economic project of companies and training in ecological issues. We know that there are strategies and tools that can be easily adopted by companies. However, when we analyze the situation of individual entrepreneurs, we identify that sustainable practices are not obvious at first glance and that there are very few training courses, resources, guides and support tools in this area. The observation is that still too few individual entrepreneurs make the conscious choice to consider the development of their activity by taking into account ecological and sustainable issues. Some are aware of this but do not know what methodology to use, how to equip themselves and what room for maneuver they have. As part of the pre-project diagnosis carried out prior to the application, the partners identified that whatever the individual entrepreneurial activity, be it goods or services, it is systematically possible to adopt a development strategy that takes CSR into account. It is the balance between the economic, social and environmental dimensions that can constitute sustainable entrepreneurship. The SURE consortium has identified a real lack of educational resources for professional trainers targeted at CSR for freelance entrepreneurs. Trainers need to develop their green and CSR skills to train and support freelance entrepreneurs. Training is a powerful and necessary tool to raise awareness on the topic of ecological transition and its impacts, both economic, environmental and social.<< Objectives >>The concrete objectives targeted by the partners in the framework of the cooperation are1. to raise awareness among the ecosystem of business creation support and political decision-makers of the challenges of integrating sustainable development objectives into the development of individual businesses 2. train educators in CSR to enable entrepreneurs to integrate sustainable and responsible practices to develop their businesses 3. design cross-cutting tools to assess and develop sustainable and responsible practices among VET learners 4. to develop multimodal training content on the theme of ecological transition that is accessible to all. A transversal objective of the project will be to develop digital skills for trainers. Despite the plurality of existing tools, multimodal training requires specific skills that are indispensable. The partners have identified a challenge of high digital accessibility.<< Implementation >>METHODOLOGY FOR ASSESSING RESPONSIBLE AND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES Work on the production of the evaluation tool for responsible and sustainable practices (RESULT 1). By finely updating, from the very first weeks of the project, the needs identified during the pre-project diagnosis (measuring the evolution of the context in particular), this will enable the partners to design a qualitative and innovative tool. An essential and founding element will be to work on a common lexical field concerning the concepts approached for the trainers. The consortium will involve representatives of trainers from different training organizations as well as from business creation support organizations.TRAINING ENGINEERING ON GREEN SKILLS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUAL ENTREPRENEURS In this phase, the partners will provide the design and implementation of the training toolbox (RESULT 2). This pedagogical resource will allow for the cultivation, sensitization and training of educators on the theme of ecological transition and sustainable development. CSR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE ENTREPRENEURSHIPIn this phase, the partners will work on the production of the White Paper on sustainable practices in individual entrepreneurship (RESULT 3). Throughout the project and the construction of the results, data will have been collected to feed and enrich the ongoing analysis for the realization of this 3rd and final deliverable of the project. TRAINING ACTIVITYDuring the project, a training activity will be organized in Perugia, Italy, hosted by ARIS FORMAZIONE. It will aim at training trainers on digital tools and multimodal training methodology that can be used in the delivery of training based on RESULT 1 and RESULT 2. This training will be an important activity for the appropriation and dissemination of the tools. In addition, the project will include: - Coordination activities: 6 transnational coordination meetings approximately every 6 months. These meetings of the project steering committee will be organized to review the development of the project and provide an additional communication opportunity to the 5 partners. - Dissemination activities 4 national multiplier events in France, Italy, Bulgaria, and one international event in Belgium to maximize the dissemination of the project results- Ongoing monitoring, evaluation and dissemination activities to be carried out in all phases of the project.<< Results >>Within the framework of the SURE project, two levels of results are expected: tangible results, i.e. the benefits of the project that will be easily evaluated and quantified, and intangible results, i.e. the benefits that will induce a positive change that is less easily measured.The tangible results (deliverables) targeted - RESULT 1 the design of a tool to evaluate responsible and sustainable practices in individual entrepreneurship (with experimentation during the project) - RESULT 2 the design of a training toolbox on sustainable development (training of trainers session implemented during the project)- RESULT 3 publication of recommendations through a white paper on Corporate Social Responsibility related to individual entrepreneurship on the theme of green skills The other results and effects targeted- participation in a European-wide project that will contribute to adapting practices and contributing to the fight against climate change for a sustainable society - the implementation, during the project, of the green skills acquired in an action training approach- the deployment of European mobility of the staff of the partner organizations and the participants in the project- the development of the inter-knowledge of the partners, their organizations and their respective cultures- the development of the influence of the partner organizations at all territorial levels, from the local to the European level - the awareness of the environmental and social stakes of the fight against climate change by training professionals, political decision makers and beyond- the promotion of the Erasmus+ program and its opportunities to a wide range of stakeholders: the teams of the partner organizations (whether operational teams or governance), the educators participating in the project, the local/regional/national partners of the consortium membersMore broadly, these results will - support the training of professional trainers in Social and Environmental Responsibility so that they can accompany individual companies in adopting sustainable and responsible practices - accelerate the ecological transition within the consortium members' and project participants' organizations- Contribute to an economic paradigm shift so that individual businesses integrate social and environmental issues into their economic activities- to develop the creation of synergies between different European organizations of continuing vocational training- position the acquisition of green skills and sustainable and responsible practices as levers for business development and change of scale - to reinforce the feeling of European belonging of workers in continuing vocational training with the challenge of making them aware of the wealth of European cooperation and mobility.

"How much do coworking spaces really contribute to developing competences, social inclusion and employability for young people? How and how much can they promote solidarity, youth protagonism, involvement, participation? If instead, as it looks like, these experiences are not so effective, which innovations could improve the impact of what is promoted by these “new spaces” for youth?In business-oriented coworking spaces, the management often ends up considering social impact as a side effect and/or a corporate social responsibility - based marketing strategy. Employees in charge of managing spaces, activities and projects may be skilled on new labour market trends, but often, not very much on connecting with the community at a local level.In social innovation-oriented coworking spaces, the management instead might use some business strategies just to get a sort of quality award in the eyes of their users. Employees in charge of managing spaces, activities and projects are often expert in social intervention but so, they may be more inclined towards looking for public support and funding, than towards entrepreneurial attitudes and self-sustainability.Successful experiences show that interaction among the users/inhabitants of a coworking space cannot be left to chance; specific methodologies and tools are needed, in order to improve interaction and synergies among these users: some social work must be put in motion here. More often, although, coworking spaces tend to become closed systems which only relate to labour market, limiting social interventions to simple marketing value or avoiding them completely. Co(youth)working project idea is to empower coworking spaces and networks to reach a relevant social impact on their local context, to assure economical self-sustainability and support effective development of entrepreneurial skills by youth hosted in the spaces. We aim at opening coworking spaces to new relationships, putting them in an ongoing dialogue either with their young users, and with surrounding local communities, improving participation, active citizenship, local development of human and social capital.Specific project objectives are:1. outline the role of the youth worker as a key figure in the management of a coworking space, identifying the necessary skills and the training and development path for them; in fact we aim at enhancing the animative actions and the youth work approach to support young entrepreneurs and new startups on the one hand, and human, social and economic development of local communities on the other;2. propose a tool, a useful guide for organizations that want to open a coworking space (or innovate the existing one), that is the synthesis of the partners' experiences: a collection of recommendations, tools, activities, possible resources and risks (and possible solutions to be adopted to overcome them);3. enhance the role and involvement of public bodies and territorial networks in the management of coworking spaces, so as to facilitate dialogue between stakeholders, provide a broader view of the society in which they are inserted, monitor the processes in their continuity, coherence and long-term impact on the territories;4. define a cross-sector strategy for coworking spaces management, combining attention to social impact with support to development of startup enterprises hosted in the spaces.The actions will develop in 3 phases:PHASE 1 - September / December 2019:in this phase we will build two working groups that will collect (October) the characteristics of the coworking spaces / networks involved and the indicators to evaluate their functioning; a local survey activity will follow, which then (December) will be pooled to build a unique benchmarking.PHASE 2 - January / May 2020:in this phase we will carry out a training course (January) on the skills (hard and soft) that a youth worker must possess to animate a coworking space, transforming it into a relevant subject for the social impact on the territory and ensuring together the economic sustainability. Following what was learned during the training course will be tested in different territories (until April), and then meet in a mid-term meeting (May) in which the coordinators monitor the progress of the project.PHASE 3 - June - December 2020:in this phase the guidelines will be built (June) to be disseminated in the territories (until October). A final event will then be held (November) and a final evaluation and follow-up meeting, in the hypothetical form of a training course for future operators, to create a network of ""social oriented"" coworking spaces."

<< Background >>CITYFUL is a project that intends to intervene positively on a specific target group, young European neet people. This category, which with the pandemic has increased the number of dropouts, i.e. young people who drop out of school, and has a great need to be at the centre of the social discourse, to receive stimulations for activation, for reintegration into school, training or work, or to approach the world of work for the first time in the right way. To this need CITYFUL intends to give an adequate response to the needs and preferences of the young people under discussion:the game is at the centre of this project. Young people who have lost interest in training, school, work, can find in the game a useful tool to help them reactivate. the Third Sector. Too often young people who cannot access to the labour market, do not look at the third sector in the right way. Often they do not consider it sufficiently fulfilling or professional, more often they confuse the activities of the third sector with second level activities, of secondary importance compared to the work of the for-profit world. These young NEETs need to know better the third sector, its opportunities and its challenges; at the same time they need to be approached in the right way, for example by speaking a language which may be close to their own. CITYFUL is a project that therefore seeks to address its target group by offering them both an answer to their needs, encouraging them to become active in the third sector, and a common language, easy, appropriate to them, fun, stimulating, able to act as an attractor, moving the discourse from a field they do not like (their being currently NEET) to a familiar, modern and pleasant territory, the game, the digital one in particular.Furthermore, CITYFUL responds to the needs of NEETs, also in an indirect, transversal way, as well as with the digital game produced specifically for them. Furthermore, CITYFUL responds to the needs of NEETs, also in an indirect, transversal way, as well as with the digital game produced specifically for them. In fact, CITYFUL aims to create a class of European Youth Workers prepared to meet and deal with NEETs. CITYFUL intends to produce a training course for Youth Workers which, on the one hand, aims at enhancing and widening their competences and skills, on the other hand, aims at extending to European youth workers a series of didactic, methodological and operational principles to face, meet, stimulate, activate, reactivate, involve and make NEETs of the various territories and communities protagonists. Youth workers, who are generally from the third sector, are also those who through their position find it easier to approach NEETs without being rejected. Youth workers are not teachers, or trainers, or corporate’s managers, but they can teach, train and manage. Their position, acknowledged but not institutional, does not frighten but aims to reconcile. Their position does not drop lessons from the top of experience or studies, but proposes an experiential, non formal, more flexible and mediated learning in favour of the target group. It is therefore crucial to have the target group of youth workers, to reach as many of them as possible with its dissemination activities and to strengthen their competences and tools. CITYFUL provides youth workers with both the necessary skills to work successfully with Neets (through the training course) and a tool (the digital game) able to support them in their work of approaching and activating Neets.<< Objectives >>The general objective of the project is to support NEETs in the territories of reference, providing them with an educational game to favour both their activation/reactivation and a change in their vision of the third sector. CITYFUL therefore has a twofold objective with regard to the project target group of NEETs: on the one hand, to promote the activation and/or reactivation of young people who are not at school, in training or at work, through the production of a tool that is close and familiar to them, the digital game; on the other hand, to present them with a possibility of using their time that is generally unknowns to them, or in most cases, underestimated. NEETs tend to look at the third sector as an unprofessional, unvaluing and unfulfilling area. They do not know that it’s actually a crucial area for the European economy, for the welfare state of the Union and for the workers of the member states. Above all, it is a sector that can offer a series of interesting answers to NEETs’ needs: third sector bodies can respond to the educational and training needs, or aggregation, cultural or recreational ones; the third sector can be the place for a voluntary or working activity. It can be the occasion for meeting and exchange. Another project objective is to provide youth workers with a set of skills and tools useful for approaching, addressing, activating and/or reactivating young NEETs. To realize it, CITYFUL intends to work in two directions: on the one hand it intends to produce a tool, a digital educational game, that youth workers can use, discuss, comment with the groups of NEETs they will face; on the other hand CITYFUL promotes a training course that, besides explaining mechanisms, functions, objectives and difficulties of the game, proposes to youth workers a series of useful, didactic, methodologica, sociological and psychological competences aimed at improving the preparation and work of youth workers. It is therefore associated to this project objective of the specific communication and dissemination activity of the project, crucial so that training contents (the training course) and operational tools (the digital game) reach as many youth workers, third sector corps, institutions and schools as possible. Another project objective is the establishment of an international network, a network of interest, able to promote other projects and activities in this direction, able to give continuity and sustainability to this operation, producing others in the future, which are characterised by the same principles: the support to categories in difficulty and the study of interesting, innovative and above all adequate tools for the target audience. In this sense, we believe that the varied partnership in terms of geography and nature of the entities is a great advantage, favouring the exploration of different sources of funding.<< Implementation >>The CITYFUL project provides the implementation of the following actions: - 3 transnational project meetings (one of which online) dedicated to project management, with the aim of facilitating communication and cooperation processes;- 3 work group meetings dedicated to to needs analysis, project co-design (which will be enriched thanks to an online pathway guided by Itinerari Paralleli), analysis and evaluation of results and dissemination;- 2 project results: 1 digital educational game called CITYFUL and a training course for youth workers;- 1 transnational learning activity in Italy, with 16 NEETs and 10 Youth workers from the other countries partners of the project. During 4 days, they will join the training and the game CITYFUL testing potentialities, uses and difficulties and acquiring skills and tools, with the aim for the youth workers to use these skills and tools in their activities, but also for the Neets involved to be multiplier antennas of the benefits of the activities, involving other young people in peer-to-peer education activities when they return to their own country;- 5 multiplier events, both live and digital, in the 5 project countries, aimed at reaching as many stakeholders (youth workers, schools, third sector bodies, public institutions) as possible. The project foresees the implementation of activities within a series of phases: Need analysis: the needs of NEETs in the different project countries will be analysed, good practices will be exchanged among operators in the field. Co-design: the institutions, starting from the idea of the IP digital educational game, will define its boundaries, mechanisms and specific objectives. The same will be done for the training course for youth workers. Production: This will lead to the operational phase where the game and the course will be produced. In this phase they will also be tested, also within the planned learning activity.Evaluation: Results and quantitative feedback will be collected in order to evaluate the achievement of the game and course objectives.Remodelling: If the results collected and the feedback received show the need to revise some aspects of the game and the course, this will be done.Dissemination: A series of activities will be put in place to disseminate the results and tools produced. These activities will also include the organisation of multiplier events, both digital and live. These activities will include the organisation of Multiplier events and peer-to-peer education activities involving the participants of the Learning Activity.<< Results >>The project aims to: - produce 2 project results: the digital educational game CITYFUL and the training course for youth workers. The game aims to contribute to the activation of NEETs and to change the NEETs’ view on the third sector, showing it to the target group as a logo that can offer a series of interesting answers to their needs. Furthermore, the two products aim to train and provide tools for youth workers to support them in the in their work and in dealing with, supporting and activating/reactivating young NEETs. - produce a direct training, within a transational learning activity, of 16 young NEETs and 10 youth workers. The event will take place in Cinisello Balsamo and will involve the young people involved not only with the contents of the training, but also with the benefits of meeting other young people from other countries. - produce and improve a dissemination strategy including 5 multiplier events and peer-to-peer educational paths involving the participants of the Learning Activity. The aim of the dissemination will be to meet and show the benefits of CITYFUL and the training produced to at least 150 NEETs and 30 Youth workers in the various project countries, but also to reach at least 50 other municipalities, 100 schools and teachers and 200 third sector bodies. produce a network agreement between the bodies taking part in this project, in order to give continuity over time to the project and to the educational and social principles pursued, exploring, each in their own areas and fields of “expertise”, new funding opportunities.