"The project No One Behind aims at celebrating the art of equip adults from rural area with digital skills, promoting their access to lifelong learning activities, motivating them to start learning, as well as connecting individuals, groups, organizations who are willing to help more adults regarding the joy and relevance of digital competences.PROJECT OBJECTIVES:1.Creating an innovative methodology for educating and training adults from rural zone to improve their digital and ICT skills by the end of the first quarter of 2021;2.Elaboration of the training manual with 5 modules for digital skills for adults in the rural area and its validation by at least 125 adult educators by the end of 2021;3.Developing attitudes, mental models and engagement of minimum 125 adults from rural zone by creating the new and innovative boarding GAME that will be pilot tested and disseminated in the second semester of 2022 for increasing work-based active learning.4.Improvement of the educational skills of at least 17 adult educators from 6 partner countries of the project by developing and conducting a Short-Term Joint-Staff Training in the first semester of 2022TARGET GROUP: Adult educators: social workers, teachers, mentors, professors, other professionals who work with adults Adults from rural zone willing to improve their daily life, to change their job or to find new opportunities by equip with digital skills.Indirectly, the project will also target other stakeholders of the project, namely education centers and other organizations; public bodies active in local and regional development, decision-makers in the field of education.For all the above, this project will aim for educators, mentors and other professionals who work with adults to get acquainted with their learners’ specific needs and to be trained to implement a tailored course with specific content to improve their ICT skills.The project consortium consists of 7 organisations such as:NERDA, a NGO with 21 years of experience in regional development in Romania that offers services for increase of sustainable economic growth, partnerships, development of human resources and entrepreneurial attitude.INOVA is the Portuguese leading company in the promotion and management of international projects of Innovation, Education, Research and Technological Development.EUROCREA is a consulting and training company based in Italy, with two offices located in Milan and Naples. Eurocrea Merchant has implemented several projects and initiatives in the field of adult education, with the aim to promote sustainability and acquisition of personal and transversal skills.IDEC is a training consulting company located in Piraeus, Greece. Its activities consist of training, management consulting, quality assurance, evaluation and development of ICT solutions for both private and public sector. EUEI specialises in the creation of powerful online platforms, immersive educational environments and provision of resources and tools to create truly valuable learning experiences. EUEI was founded on the concept of 'continuing education'; a post-secondary education programme that provides further enrichment to learners in a wide range of sectors. ATERMON is a start-up located in Netherlands, focusing on intelligent uses of Game-Based Learning, Web 3.0 technologies and tools for the implementation of solutions which can deliver lasting learning experiences of real practical value.ADL ""ECO LAND"" is a NGO, with a non-patrimonial purpose, which aims to develop the local community by promoting and developing the tourism potential and the patrimony of the area, traditional, cultural craftsmanship, of the tourist attraction points existing in Targu Neamt and in the adjacent localities.PROJECT SPECIFIC RESULTS:1.Developed of an innovative methodology for education and training of adults in rural area.2.Developed of a training manual with 5 modules for digital skills for adults in the rural area3.Developed a new and innovative boarding GAME 4.At least 125 adult educators, minimum 20 in each partner community, except Netherlands, as ATERMON only serves as the technical partner, have taken part at the validation of the training manual5.A short-term joint training activity for adult educators from May 2022 was developed and carried out in in PORTUGAL by INOVA, an Innovation Centre in Matosinhos city.6.At least, 17 educators took part in short-term joint-staff training activity for adult educators7.At least 125 adults learners from rural area, minimum 20 in each partner community, have taken part at the pilot testing of the boarding game for equip them with the digital skills8.5 transnational meetings have taken place: 1st in Piatra Neamt (Romania) in in November 2020; 2nd in Matosinhos (Portugal) in May 2021; 3rd in Piraeus (Greece) in November 2021;9.11 multiplier events with at least 300 participants in total."

<< Background >>[MOTIVATION TO APPLY]The hospitality industry is a major source of revenue for Europe, offering jobs to more than 8 million EU citizens (https://bit.ly/3nynTiO) and the tourist accommodation sector’s popularity, in particular, has been steadily increasing, becoming a valuable pillar for the European economy (https://bit.ly/3jDBNPK). Upon the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the EU tourism has been plagued as it dropped by 61% (Eurostat, 2021) negatively impacting the hospitality industry. Accommodations located in rural areas were rather affected by this decline, as they had already been facing challenges due to limited access to training. HERE4you aims at restoring balance as fast as possible, by acting towards attracting tourists to rural European areas. To achieve that, hospitality accommodation owners and employees will acquire the essential skills to improve guest satisfaction and offer unique experiences to tourists. Since raising environmental awareness has become a focus in Europe over the past years and travellers demand more choice regarding ecotourism options (https://bit.ly/3FCmzE2), a very efficient way to attract tourists while protecting the environment is by offering alternative, eco-friendly activities near the accommodation unit.[NEEDS ADDRESSED]Recently, there has been an increasing need for the introduction of new training standards in the hospitality industry due to the numerous newcomers entering the sector as a result of the job displacements and staff shortages that the pandemic brought about (https://bit.ly/3CjF1iv). For the hospitality sector to get back on its feet, quick and immediately usable training solutions that equip hospitality professionals with the essential skills need to be developed. Current needs of the industry include basic service skills and communication between teams. HERE4you will tackle this need by teaching English language and service skills to hospitality professionals, leading not only to improvement of the communication between the staff and the guests, but also to the promotion of international staff mobility within the sector by increasing awareness of the importance of speaking English in accommodation units. Especially in rural areas, where people have limited access to training options, staff upskilling will open the way for new opportunities, such as more revenues and increased mobility. To this direction, another major challenge that needs to be tackled in the hospitality industry is the need for increasing digital competence among the sector’s professionals. Bearing in mind that today’s tourists book accommodation and arrange their vacation mostly through digital means (Wang et al., 2016) the emphasis on employees’ skills to respond to these trends is becoming increasingly important. The current project will help new and existing hospitality professionals in rural areas to become digitally empowered to attract more guests, build strong relationships with them, and become competitive in the global market. Finally, considering the global environmental crisis and the fact that “Europe faces environmental challenges of unprecedented scale and urgency”(https://bit.ly/3jDkdv8), any step towards sustainability is considered valuable and of utmost importance. The European Union, in the context of developing a strategy for sustainable tourism, highlights the importance of promoting ecotourism and rural tourism – especially in the post pandemic era (https://bit.ly/3b3Xvrx). Moreover, ETC sees COVID-19 as a unique opportunity to redefine tourism in Europe and permanently steer it to a more sustainable direction (https://bit.ly/3Ec6QKs). Considering the above, HERE4you will equip the hospitality professionals in rural areas with the knowledge and skills to promote ecotourism in their region. In this way, they reinforce environmental protection and sustainable tourism while promoting their businesses and supporting their local economy by attracting ecotourists.<< Objectives >>HERE4you will develop a complete, web-based training course for hospitality professionals focusing on boosting their English language and service skills, their digital competence and their environmental awareness along with creating an interactive, role-playing game environment aiming at knowledge retention and an interactive mapping tool demonstrating accommodation units and ecotourism possibilities in rural European areas accompanied by an Eco-Guide with instructions on how to use this tool to make the most out of it. Accommodation unit owners and employees will have access to a free, innovative, easily accessible upskilling methodology no matter their geographical location or socioeconomic education. Moreover, VET educators will possess a strong, digital training tool for providing students within the hospitality sector with hands-on, simulation-based training.HERE4you has as main objective to promote the upskilling of hospitality employees working in rural European areas by offering a training approach that entails introduction of hybrid skills, retention through simulation, and development of a new interactive tool with instructions on how to use it. Upon completion of the training, learners will be able to offer a unique service experience to their guests and promote their businesses worldwide while offering environmentally friendly entertaining options. This will attract more tourists and support their local community.In terms of specific objectives, HERE4you will serve the following:- Raising awareness regarding the importance of communication, service, digital and environmental training and upskilling in the hospitality sector, especially in rural European areas.- Providing hospitality professionals and VET institutes with a complete, open access e-learning course, developed to pass new skills to new and existing members of the hospitality sector.- Developing an alternative training approach that promotes skill retention through simulation and role playing on Minecraft.- Reinforcing access to high quality, effective and inclusive training in the digital era regardless of one’s location or socioeconomic situation. - Promoting ecotourism and sustainable activities in rural European areas to tourists worldwide. - Equipping hospitality professionals with the skills to advance their businesses while promoting and supporting local SMEs, rural and ecotourism centers.<< Implementation >>HERE4you will deliver a new training standard for the hospitality industry to be used both by individual professionals and vocational centers that offer hospitality and management programs, comprising an e-learning course, a simulation game to be performed in a digital learning environment and a detailed guide with information on how to utilize an interactive mapping tool to promote ecotourism activities. This will be achieved through a series of constant collaboration between subject matter experts (aka hospitality professionals and environmentalists), game developers to first identify the needs and set the learning objectives, and later implement them in a virtual environment. Role playing helps trainees remember their experiences while gaining new knowledge, so simulation will create everyday working challenges for them to solve within Minecraft. Apart from facilitating the improvement of English and service skills, the game will also familiarize them with the use of digital technology and boost their confidence. Project activities comprise:- National reports developed by the participating countries which will work as a framework presenting best practices, weaknesses and needs for improvement as perceived by hospitality professionals in rural areas. The reports will enlighten the public and raise awareness about the immediate need for staff upskilling in the industry.- The development of an Essential Skills Pack e-learning course: The ESP e-learning course aims at providing a complete solution to hospitality professionals in rural areas by improving their English language and service skills, helping them develop digital competence and promoting environmental awareness. The online, asynchronous lessons will be accessible from everywhere and at any given time.- Minecraft Hotel World: A dedicated custom Minecraft world to help learners retain and practice the knowledge previously gained through elaborated hospitality challenges in the context of a mission to be accomplished.- Mission: The complete game scenario describing the non-player characters (NPCs), the game elements, the walkthrough introducing the different game areas and tasks, the after the game practicing session. - Mapping Tool: the interactive mapping tool will exhibit ecotourism options in various rural European areas and accommodation units that are located nearby.- Eco-Guide: a guide with detailed instructions will be created regarding how to register a hotel in the mapping tool and the ways to combine accommodation with eco-friendly activities.- The results will be tested first internally and then an improved version based on the results of the testing will be subjected to a series of validation activities with the involvement of representatives from the direct target group, mainly professionals in the hospitality industry, ecotourism professionals and VET instructors.- Based on the conclusions of the validation exercises, a final release of the results will be provided towards the end of the project.- A series of Multiplier Events (5) to generate awareness about the launch of the HERE4you project.- Roll out of the results<< Results >>HERE4you will encourage inclusive training focusing on hospitality employees in rural European areas based on the need for communication and service upskilling, as well as digital and ecotourism training in the hospitality sector.Expected tangible outcomes comprise the following:- Essential Skills Pack course will contain modules that will help hospitality professionals to acquire the target skills (improving English language & service skills, developing digital capabilities, and raising ecotourism awareness). - Hotel Minecraft World, enriched with resource packs and mods which will allow interactive, role-playing training.- HERE4you Interactive Map, an interactive mapping tool that will provide accommodation and ecotourism activities available in rural European areas.- An Eco-Guide which will provide interested parties (rural accommodation unit owners, NGOS, environmental organizations, SMEs) with instructions on how to use the interactive mapping tool to register and promote their business.Apart from the direct benefits that are related to the upskilling of hospitality professionals, HERE4you will also:- increase awareness regarding environmental protection and promote sustainability - socioeconomically support rural areas by attracting more tourists - support inclusion, as innovative training methods will become available to people in remote rural regions who face education, training, and employment barriers

<< Objectives >>AI-Cosmic aims to familiarize primary school kids with the 5 big ideas in artificial intelligence(AI) through gamified learning activities and introduce them to basic coding skills that are aligned with their level of knowledge and education, promote coding and AI in schools, enhance teachers’ digital skills, enrich the variety of education in the field of STEM, thus making it more attractive among young learners, filling the gap in the EU job market by encouraging pursuing a programming career.<< Implementation >>After thorough research, the partnership will conceive, design, develop, test, implement and disseminate a complete educational course facilitated by hi-tech digital tools and resources. The educational content will be based on the principles of AI and coding and delivered to the kids through familiar scenarios. Designers, programmers and educators will be involved in the project development from the very beginning providing their knowledge, feedback and suggestions following the testing cycles.<< Results >>Expected outcomes of the project comprise:-The AI-Cosmic Guide, acting as a handbook that will assist teachers to introduce the topic of coding to their students.-The AI-Cosmicon, a Minecraft game that will provide a hands-on approach and introduce students to the complex concepts of coding in a simplified and fun way.-A virtual community for teachers and learners to promote continuity of the project results, collaboration and constructive discussions in the field of AI, coding, ICT and STEM.

<< Background >>Rapid digitalisation over the past decade has transformed many aspects of work and daily life. Driven by innovation and technological evolution, the digital transformation is reshaping society, the labour market and the future of work, and inevitably E & T. Employers face difficulties in recruiting highly skilled workers across a number of economic sectors, including in the digital sector.Boosting digital skills at all levels helps increase growth and innovation and build a fairer, more cohesive, sustainable and inclusive society. Being digitally skilled and acquiring digital literacy can empower people of all ages to be more resilient, improve participation in democratic life and stay safe and secure online. Equipping Europe’s future workers and job seekers with digital skills will be critical for economic recovery in the coming years, especially after the severe consequences of the pandemic in all fields of life.To thrive in a technology-driven economy, VET trainers, educators, job seekers, workers, but perhaps above all ‘the lockdown generation’ whose education and employment prospects have been affected due to the pandemic, will need to be digitally skilled and confident to succeed in a rapidly changing environment and adapt to new and emerging technologies. Evidence in the participating countries show that levels of digital skills are still low, albeit gradually improving, while the digital transformation is accelerating. While acknowledging that 90% of jobs in all sectors in the future will require some form of digital skills, yet 35% of Europe’s workers lack these skills, the partnership is committed to contribute to the upskilling and re-skilling as digital skills in demand will range from basic to advanced, including AI, data literacy, supercomputing and cybersecurity.<< Objectives >>Main aim:The proposal aims (1) to promote the introduction and acquisition of high digital skills including AI and Unity Game Development in VET schools thus responding to the needs of the labour market and (2) to empower young people with digital literacy to enhance their resistance to excessive online use such as addictive gambling habits through the demonstration of how an AI model can predict lucky games.Other aims:•To upgrade the attractiveness of VET with targeted to the needs of the labour market curricula thus responding to the demands of the digital transformation•To promote social innovation and change for a sustainable future through the digital upskilling of the younger generation•To empower YP with targeted digital competences, skills and knowledge in order to acquire an overall understanding of gambling and harden their resistance to gambling addiction.•To introduce the fundamental knowledge of Artificial Intelligence both for VET trainers and young people•To develop a new set of AI learning and teaching resources as well as Unity Game Development, that will enhance the schools’ collection•To provide young people with high quality opportunities to acquire digital skills using the Unity Engine for educational purposes and to boost their creativity, innovative, problem solving, teamwork, leadership and empathy skills•To develop a professional development training for trainers in order to upgrade their profiles•To empower young people to prevent and/or deal with gambling addiction and excessive online screen usage.•To promote awareness raising for the dangers of gambling addiction through the acquisition of digital literacy skills<< Implementation >>Activities:The consortium plans the following activities:-Five transnational project meetings-One Blended Mobility for VET learners accompanied with their VET trainers-Four Project Results -Six Multiplier Events<< Results >>The results include the following:-National State of the Art Report for the AI-driven digital transformation -Peer review among partners-Educational Pack with a new AI Curriculum for secondary schools, set of new digital material, collection of case studies for exploration, collection of resources, -An interactive platform in the form of an academy-Pilot-testing of the SmartAInnovators programme-Dissemination Plan-Quality and Evaluation Plan

<< Background >>The ever-increasing use of technology in all aspects of modern life has made the youth to be dependent on online activities while interest in offline learning activities is lost. For students to engage in school subjects and develop related competencies, educators should provide them primary with the proper stimuli and secondary with supporting knowledge and skills (https://www.edutopia.org/st-college-career-stem-research). Considering how the whole education procedure was forced into distance learning in virtue of COVID-19, it is certain that skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking and teamwork, are slowly being neglected (https://www.futurity.org/stem-education-equity-covid-19-2438882-2/), while subjects that require a hands-on approach are becoming less attractive (https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/how-pandemic-changing-stem-education). As a result, distance teaching is becoming less engaging and motivating, while thought-provoking experiential learning is becoming obsolete and antiquated.Teaching STEM usually involves hands-on work either from the educator’s side while showcasing experiments, or from the student’s side while experimenting. With the global pandemic forcing distance learning, subjects of STEM lost the hands-on or experiential teaching side, and are currently losing students’ participation and engagement, especially at young ages (https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/how-pandemic-changing-stem-education), when children require additional activity and stimulation. In addition, the lack of direct support from a tutor along with students’ feelings of isolation and technological gaps (https://www.tutordoctor.com/blog/2015/may/problems-and-solutions-for-distance-learning/) have endangered STEM education to lose its uniqueness of building things.SCRAPY wants to address the following target groups:Direct:- Teachers/educators of STEM subjects in secondary education to whom SCRAPY aims to educate on digital education practices (experiential learning, game-based learning) in order to teach STEM-related lessons in an engaging and stimulating fashion either in a classroom environment or via distance learning.- Students (8-14 years of age) to whom SCRAPY aims to educate on physical computing, programming and simple DIY electronics in order to foster STEM and increase their interest in related fields.Indirect:- Parents, educational community (trainers/academic staff), who can use the hardware and software to offer informal education to their children/students.- Policymakers, ministries of education and academic bodies, who can take into consideration initiatives such as SCRAPY when designing new education policies and frameworks.<< Objectives >>The project SCRAPY has as primary objective to strengthen educators' competencies for distance STEM learning by offering a state-of-the-art solution of custom-made hardware and software in order to teach young students physical computing, programming and DIY electronics development.In terms of specific objectives, we can identify the following:- Providing educators with a hands-on experiential approach to physical computing and programming which is engaging for young children without necessarily increasing screen time.- Developing an effective educational package that integrates STEM subjects and can be utilised in either a classroom environment or through distance learning.- Strengthening educators' capacity to offer engaging and stimulating lessons to their students by using digital tools and technologies.- Incorporating gamification and experiential learning in the teaching procedure of STEM-related and other subjects.- Creating a community of practice for educators and learners, through a virtual academy, which ensures continuity and further development of project outcomes, as well as promotes collaboration and constructive discussions.- Creating evidence-based policy and research recommendations for the use of hands-on educational play in primary and secondary education curricula.- Reinforcing the ability of educational institutions to provide high quality, inclusive digital education.<< Implementation >>First of all, the partnership comprises an engineering graduate school, a primary school, two STEM education centres, a company offering bespoke software development services and game-based training and a technical consultancy designing and developing hands-on training tools. Through the cooperation of such a diverse and experienced consortium and in order to achieve the project objectives, the following activities will take place:- Design and develop an educator's manual for using the SCRAPY KIT to teach students physical computing, programming, circuit basics, physical blocks and hands-on constructions;- Elaborate a glossary, explaining terms used in STEM, physical computing, programming, electronics, engineering, etc;- Design and develop the SCRAPY KIT powered by a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller, complemented by custom-made sensors and electronics to simulate and experiment on physical computing principles;- Test the educator's manual and kit with educators from the educational organisations of the partnership;- Design lesson plans in support of the educator's manual to build kits and use electronics and peripherals in an educational hands-on play approach;- Design and develop an online drag & drop coding platform in order to program the provided hardware by following simple programming scripts;- Test, validate and finalise the SCRAPY tools and resources with the direct target group through piloting activities organised in partners' countries.- Support the final outcomes through a dedicated virtual space (SCRAPY Academy) providing access to all project results and infrastructure for supporting the growth of a community of adopters/practitioners/enthusiasts.An iterative methodology will be followed: three versions of the results are produced, one in each iteration. After each iteration, the results are tested/validated and based on the conclusions the next iteration is planned and executed.In addition, the project foresees the organisation of three transnational project meetings in partner countries, a learning/teaching/training activity as well as the organisation and execution of four multiplier events aiming at the promotion of the project outcomes and finally, another two multiplier events focused on the sustainability of the project and exploitation of project results.<< Results >>The project SCRAPY will develop educational content, a drag & drop coding platform and a do-it-yourself electronics kit to enhance distance STEM teaching and develop competencies of educators in delivering highly motivating and engaging lesson related to science, engineering, technology and mathematics. Educators will learn how to build and configure the electronics kit, how to utilise the software and how to deliver the lesson plans to their students in either a classroom setting or via distance learning. Ultimately, educators by using the project outcomes will be able to arouse students’ interest and increase their motivation to learn physical computing and programming.Expected outcomes comprise the following:- The SCRAPY KIT comprising of a Raspberry Pi Pico, custom-made sensors and electronics, and other necessary peripherals.- The SCRAPY Coder, an online drag & drop coding platform based on Google Blockly to program the hardware.- The SCRAPY Guide containing detailed instructions on how to use the suggested hardware and software along with lesson plans to implement.- The SCRAPY Academy, an online space where educators, students and STEM stakeholders in general, can meet online, discuss, showcase their projects, build synergies, access and further develop the project results.