"In their daily work, teachers in general education and vocational training are faced with the challenge of conveying teaching content to their students in a way that is appropriate for the target group. Classical teaching methods such as frontal teaching, self-learning and group work are increasingly being supplemented in educational pedagogy by innovative, modern methods in order to make learning more efficient for pupils of different age groups. It is not unusual for playful elements to find their way into the classroom, which can significantly increase the attractiveness of the lessons and thus the learning success.The project is developing an innovative teaching method which, with appropriate professional preparation, can be applied universally in many teaching subjects, initially in an exemplary manner in vocational training. This teaching method is based on the method of station learning and is very closely oriented to the play principle of the real escape room. Real Escape Rooms are about the playing group becoming part of a fictional story, at the end of which there is a disaster scenario if the group does not succeed in averting this scenario. The actors have a limited time window of about 1 hour in which they have to solve different, usually complementary puzzles in an appropriately equipped room in order to successfully complete the game. The actors do not only play to solve the puzzle, but also against the clock and are thus in competition with other groups, so that it is not only important to solve the puzzles, but also to complete these tasks in the shortest possible time. These game principles are applied to the mobile real escape rooms for use in vocational training that are being developed in this project.Since the development of a real Escape Room suitable for mobile use would be a complex and time-consuming task for teachers without subject-specific knowledge, the participating project partners support the dissemination of this innovative teaching method with the following project results:IO1: Digital Tool-Kit as a teaching concept for teachers for the use of mobile real Escape Rooms in vocational education and training with didactic anchoringIO2: Digital tool kit as technical manual for the production of 12 high-quality, technically appealing escape puzzle games. The manual contains material lists and detailed, illustrated building instructions, so that teachers can also reproduce these puzzle games. IO3: Web-App as a toolbox for mobile real Escape Rooms in educational workKey innovative features of this project:Mobile use: When we talk about ""real escape rooms"", we mean physical rooms within buildings with permanently installed puzzle games. However, a fixed installation is hardly suitable for use in classrooms or even outdoors. The preparation of the topic and the puzzle games for the mobile real Escape Room, which is used in the classroom, can already be done elsewhere, such as in the teachers' room or at home, due to the mobile basic concept. The mobile real Escape Room can then be set up in a relatively short time at any location, such as a classroom or demarcated forest. Technical diversity: In order to ensure the mobility of the Escape Room, technically mature, stable puzzle games are developed that are independent of the wired power supply and are in no way inferior in attractiveness to the permanently installed puzzle games in real Escape Rooms. Low effort: Teachers receive detailed guidelines and manuals with the results of the project, so that after studying the documents they are able to create their own mobile real escape rooms with little effort. Once the puzzle games have been constructed or replicated, they can be used variably for several topics within a subject area or even across different subjects or independent of them.Infection prevention and hygiene: When drawing up the room plan, the project partners take into account that all puzzle games can be solved with a minimum distance of 1.5 m between the players (the teacher as game master/operator observes outside the room anyway) and with mouth protection. All puzzle games can be disinfected with surface disinfectants. The group size is limited to a maximum of 6 persons during the game.The project will conclude with an intensive training for project staff and multiplier events in all participating partner countries in order to make the teaching method accessible to as many teachers from different fields as possible."

"The strategic partnership titled ""NeoCraft Transfer - New approaches to regional apprenticing companies"" (2016-1-LI01-KA204-000072) has focused over the 2 years of project duration on transferring a proven concept in Germany to the project partner countries. A concept (from the precursor project NeoCraft) that has used the power of modern computer- and internet-based technologies to bring together, maintain and share knowledge of old traditional crafts which have a long tradition and are often threatened with extinction. This transfer was carried out in this project and extended/adapted, above all, to regional apprenticing companies (including further education and career opportunities); A consulting concept (especially the use of geocaching as an informal learning medium) in adult education was transferred to the other project partnersThe focus of this partnership is on:1. educationally disadvantaged adults (older workers, job seekers, migrants, adult NEETs) as the primary target group and2. consultants/coaches of the primary target groupto inform them in a non-formal way on one hand about existing educational and career opportunities: target group-oriented and cross-border-appropriate. On the other hand, the partnership contributes to enhancing the digital skills of the target groups by learning to use digital media and tools (such as geocaching) in an innovative and playful way.A partnership with 6 organizations has been formed and the choice of the partners has been done taking into consideration several aspects, aiming for an optimal mix of new partners and partners with experience in the field:1. Experienced partnersThe participation of experienced partners ensures the transfer of the results (best-practice) obtained in the precursor project NeoCraft.- WHKT (P2) - responsible for the transfer of the best-practice within the NeoCraft Transfer following the successful implementation of NeoCraft and its know-how in the field.- Cnet (P4) - responsible for programming the project website and the guide's design based on its experience in consulting through geocaching.2. The new partnersThe other partners were mainly selected according to their relation to the project`s theme and subject. Experience with other EU projects was not a requirement for selection, but it was assumed that the partners would be willing to deal with the objectives of Erasmus+- Prospero (P1) - responsible for overall coordination (including budget controlling, reporting) as applicant organization.- CLLL (P3) - responsible for internal communication as well as evaluation based on its core competencies.- Dixtior (P5) - responsible for the content of the travel guide as compendium as well as for the project documentation (protocols etc.) based on its core competencies.- Datca MEM (P6) - responsible for creating the dissemination materials and building the Facebook group due to its good national and international networking.Results achieved:A) Geocache Catalogue for regional apprenticing companies (including coordinates, links to the respective geocache) in all project languages: It is available online at www.neocraft.info and on the geocaching platforms (www.geocaching.com and www.opencaching.de).B) Travel Guide as compendium: Includes 180 (30 per partner country) geocaches, with information about, e.g.: contents of the respective geocache to the corresponding professions, geocache coordinates, etc.; In addition you will find here a training compass or information about training opportunities for each profession.C) NeoCraft Transfer Facebook group: For interested parties and stakeholders of the project partners; The main focus is to sensitize the mentioned target group for ""Learning through geocaching at 21st century"".D) www.neocraft.info for mapping project-relevant information such as project description, partners, project results, dissemination activities etc.E) 2 newsletters in all partner languages and ENG give an overview of the project progress and the developed products.F) Flyers and posters have been developed to provide information at the regional level (in the respective national languages).Main activities performed:- Transfer and adaptation of a best-practice model from Germany- 6 partner meetings- Organization/visit of geocaching and career events- Building a social-media and expert networks- Development of the project website- Project management, implementation, evaluation and disseminationNeoCraft Transfer enables educationally disadvantaged adults, through innovative approaches and products, to gain better access to regional apprenticing companies in the partner regions through a non-formal approach. All developed products resp. project knowledge and project results are made available free of charge for a national and international transfer."

"<< Background >>CONTEXTThe NEXT STEPS project is based on the successful ERASMUS+ project STEPS, which was carried out in the period 2018 to 2020.Within the framework of this project, some of the project partners involved have already gained a very good insight into the cooperation of a German sports club with a prison. The sports club not only conducts voluntary training sessions in baseball for inmates in prison, but also enables prisoners to participate in the club's regular training program and accepts former inmates as active members. The association is in direct contact with the inmates while they are still in prison and provides an accompanying stable social structure for the inmates even before they are released into freedom.OBJECTIVESThe goal of the initiative is - based on the very good experiences of the STEPS project - the model development of close cooperation between the central regional actors to be involved in the participating project countries (prisons, companies, vocational training institutions, voluntary support such as sports clubs, other supporting actors such as chamber organizations, etc.) as well as the establishment of a process structure. The process chain is based on close cooperation between these central regional actors and thus, on the one hand, contributes to the integration and resocialization of ex-prisoners and, on the other hand, accompanies and supports these motivated and, in some cases, already well-qualified professionals on their way into the primary labor market.The process chain takes into account both the individual correctional plan of each inmate - as far as available in the individual participating project countries - as well as state and other voluntary regular services such as probationary services, supervision of conduct, charitable and church support, etc., and complements them in a meaningful way.NEEDAccording to a report by Focus Online on 08.01.2020 and according to the NRW Minister of Justice Peter Biesenbach, the placement rate in NRW after successful professional qualification in the penal system is particularly high, especially in the juvenile penal system. This placement rate confirms that those prisoners who receive integration assistance both in preparation for release and in aftercare have a low risk of recidivism. However, this rate does not at the same time mean that this close-meshed care can actually be used by a large number of prisoners or is available for a large number. Rather, Minister Biesenbach also confirms at the same time that around 45 percent of all adult offenders in NRW recidivate. According to a 2016 study by the Ministry of Justice, the recidivism rate for juvenile offenders is as high as almost 70 percent. On the other hand, the economy, and in particular the skilled trades sector, is facing the challenges of demographic change and the increasing need for qualified skilled workers. It is above all the lack of close-meshed support that leads to young, hopeful, former offenders very often returning to their known social environment and committing crimes again - a vicious circle that can still be broken in far too few cases with the existing offers. This situation applies analogously to the other project countries.TARGET GROUPSThe project addresses the target groups of companies, voluntary structures, prison staff and prisoners who are about to be released.EUROPEAN DIMENSIONThe Focus report cited above shows that the general approach of the justice system to prepare prisoners for a life free of punishment and to support them with integration assistance before, during and after release has had undeniable success in NRW. In the other participating project countries, a field study/survey has yielded comparable results.<< Objectives >>The project aims to establish and test a sustainably functioning process chain in the participating European project countries, the elements of which serve to support detainees in their access to work and stable social structures such as sports clubs or other recreational, cultural or sports-oriented organizations and facilities. In order to set this process chain in motion, the project partners analyzed the points at which such a process chain has often failed to date in the run-up to the application. Based on these findings, the partnership is developing the following concrete results: 1. Database-supported systematization of the registration of volunteer organizations and individuals, for example from the fields of sports and charitable institutions, who would like to cooperate with prisons in the future in order to help inmates find their way into a stable social structure following their time in prison. To this end, the project partners will program a volunteer database, advertise it and maintain the contacts thus gained, record them in their networks and, above all, connect them with their associated prisons. It is true that the prisons will also have direct access to the data sets in the sense of sustainable use of the project results. It seems to make sense, especially at the beginning of such a long-term campaign, if the first connections between voluntary work and correctional institutions are made under the moderation of the associated project partners.2. Database-supported systematization of the registration of companies that would like to offer internships, training or jobs for released offenders. These companies also have the opportunity to register in the volunteer database. Particularly for the protection of (former) inmates, it also seems sensible here for the contacts between companies and prisons to be moderated and accompanied by the project partners.3. Observation sheets for prison staff to objectively record key competencies of inmates that can be of crucial importance for working life. The observation sheets can be used especially for group sports in prisons, but also for other activities that allow the observation of social competencies in detainees during their time in prison. These sheets can be used to more specifically identify inmates for use in certain occupations and can be presented to potential employers as a reference to facilitate the hiring process. The basis for use by correctional officers is training for use by associated project partners. 4. Program-based collection of school grades by correctional officers in the area of physical education to objectively assign school grades for inmates that can be reported on vocational school certificates. Correctional officers are enabled to learn about and apply criteria for assigning school grades for performance through this tool and with supplemental training by associated project partners. Inmates benefit from these school grades on report cards, as any evidence of good performance can be an element for successful integration into work and society.5. Establishing and maintaining regional networks of institutions that work together with the correctional facilities and the respective associated project partners to meet the challenge of sustainably improving the integration of released offenders into society and work.It is the declared aim of the project partners that these instruments can be used and continued independently by the participating institutions in line with the project idea even after the project period.<< Implementation >>The main partner responsible for the coordination of all activities is WHKT.A) PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT IN WORKSHOPS (internal and external)Target groups are both employees, managers who will be informed about the status quo of the project progress; in addition, regional stakeholders will be informed.B) PROJECT NEWSLETTERThis will be sent to employees, managing directors and regional, national and international stakeholders; these will be available in DE, ENG, IT and PT.C) PROJECT WEBSITEUsers of this project website, which will be available in the languages of the project partners, will be project partner staff, stakeholder staff (e.g. education experts, teachers, media representatives, justice officials), but also people interested in the project. All users have the possibility to download documents or to inform themselves about the project progress. The documents will be available primarily in ENG, but many relevant documents will also be available in the project partner languages (DE, IT and PT).D) PRESS RELEASES/ARTICLES IN PROFESSIONAL JOURNALSThese mailings are intended to target experts who may also act as multipliers or register in the volunteer database (IO1).E) EDUCATIONAL EVENTS/FAIRSAccording to an already conducted internet research, each project partner has the possibility to present the project and its results in the context of regional educational events. An overview of the respective education-related fairs, congresses, etc. will be prepared by the project partners at the beginning of the project and corresponding evidence will be submitted with the interim reports or the final report.F) SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK)A Facebook group for application submission has already been established, which will also be available to stakeholders and interested parties from all project partner countries as part of the project.In addition, there are now more than 10 Erasmus+ groups on Facebook; information about the project will also be posted on these.G) EPRP Experience shows that this platform is mostly accessed by the project partners as well as the network partners/stakeholders in addition to the representatives of the National Agency.H) FLYERS/POSTERSFlyers/posters will be produced regionally (by the project partner in each case) to draw attention to project activities (e.g. to announce the regional multiplier events); these will be distributed at the correctional facilities in the partner regions, in educational centers, at universities (with a research focus on ""social inclusion"") and among stakeholders (labor market administration, associations for the integration of prisoners, interested sports clubs).I) MULTIPLIER EVENTSThere will be a multiplier event in all project partner regions, where the project partners will inform about the project results and they can also be tested; target group are stakeholders (staff in prisons, migration counselors, employees of the labor market administration, media).J) CROSS-BORDER NETWORK OF ADVISORSThe participants of this cross-border network of consultants are employees of the project partners, stakeholders and associated project partners.<< Results >>During the aforementioned STEPS predecessor project, it was already evident that sports in particular offer the possibility of reaching young inmates (up to about 25 years of age) in a positive way, even for topics unrelated to sports. During sports, inmates regularly report to the STEPS project partner their desire for qualified employment in the primary labor market. Similarly, various skilled trades have already approached STEPS project partners to inquire about opportunities to employ released offenders.The next step will now be to expand the potential of the structures established in the STEPS project and to involve the business community. For example, the access that the sports club builds up to suitable, pre-selected inmates while they are still in prison can be used in preparation to give these inmates better and more direct access to the labor market after their release, in close cooperation with the other stakeholders involved.At the same time, companies have the opportunity to recruit qualified and highly motivated skilled workers who are not only socially prepared for their release through sports in the correctional facility, but can also train important key skills such as teamwork, willingness to learn and communication skills for subsequent employment in cooperation with the other services offered by the justice system and the correctional facility.During the project period, the project partners implement the following activities and results jointly and in cooperation with regionally based prisons and other regional actors:1. establishment and expansion of regional networks with the aforementioned actors.2. networking of regional networks on European level with the aim of cross-border exchange of experiences and joint development of further products and activities.3. creation of national databases of companies that would like to employ ex-prisoners as trainees, apprentices or qualified specialists, as well as of voluntary structures such as sports and similar associations that would like to build up an accompanying social structure in close cooperation with regional prisons.4. model conception and testing of the process chain as well as documentation and dissemination of the results."

"This Erasmus + project ""Economic knowledge made easy for everyone"" is focused on two topics and goals:1) HORIZONTAL: Supporting individuals in the acquisition and development of basic skills and key competencies2) ADULT EDUCATION: Improving and expanding the range of high quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of people with low qualifications.The following project activities are planned to achieve the project goals:A) Development of 4 INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTSThe focus of this project proposal is the development and implementation of 4 intellectual outputs:1. an ABC-economy-board-game (target group-specific classic board game for educationally disadvantaged and linguistically newcomers: the focus is on basic knowledge in dealing with money)2. A target group-specific simple newspaper WIWI (economic knowledge made easy) with simple texts, comics, crossword puzzles, QRS information3. a web-based platform: economic knowledge made easy (online learning) and4. a training program: economic knowledge made easy - training program for poorly qualified people and their supervisorsB) CONTENTS for the 4 outputs to be developed are the following topics:- assets (investment objectives, interest, savings, opportunities and risks)- Liquidity (budget, income-expenditure account)- Current account (how does account work?)- (old-age) provision (pensions, private old-age provision)- Financing (real estate, loans, leasing)- Products - Must have (liability insurance, savings book)All outputs will be available online for at least 4 years after project completion. It should be pointed out that all project results differ significantly from educational offers (eg EBCL - European Business Leader License); Topics of the EBCL (e.g. accounting, cost accounting, company key figures and commercial law) are NOT to be found in this projectC) Implementation of 4 transnational PROJECT MEETINGS (every six months):Destinations: Liechtenstein, Germany (2x), Italy,Program: Project management group (budget, dissemination, evaluation, sustainable use) and expert group (development of 4 innovative outputs)Participants: 1 project manager and 1 expert per project partnerD) The following additional activities are planned:- Development of a project website (project progress including documents)- facebook group: ""Wirtschaftswissen""(= economic know how)- 2 project newsletters: in German, ENG, FR and IT- each participant takes part in a regional educational event to disseminate the results (spring 2022)E) Implementation of SHORT-TERM STAFF TRAINING:Objective: Training employees to use the 4 developed intellectual outputsParticipants: 2 employees per project partnerPlace / date: Balzers / Liechtenstein in April 2022F) Implementation of 6 multiplier events in all project partner regionsObjective: regional dissemination of all project results and outcomes for stakeholdersParticipants: relevant actors / multipliers in adult education or debt counselingDates: May 2022G) Establishment of a cross-border EXPERT GROUPObjective: Exchange of consulting documents, mutual collegial advice (topic: business knowledge)Participants: employees of project partners and stakeholdersH) Creation and implementation of an EVALUATION CONCEPTa) Product evaluation: Test of the individual outputs by employees and project participantsb) Process evaluation: Monitoring of the project flow through regular emails or Skype conferencesIN addition, ALL 6 PROJECT PARTNERS HAVE THE FOLLOWING OTHER TASKS:1. Participation in 4 transnational project meetings2. Participation in the 3-day short-term-staff-training in Balzers/LI3. Translation of project-relevant documents4. Test all outcomes5. regional / national / EU dissemination activities6. Participation in the evaluationSUBSCRIBER ACQUISITIONPotential participants will be acquired through training offers of the project partners, through multiplier events, through stakeholders (e.g. debt counseling centers, schools, adult education institutions) as well as via social media (especially Facebook). All project partners can use address data from previous / current training participants, but also good contacts with stakeholders, to inform future participants during the project implementation as well as after the end of the project about the current course offer for low-qualified adults and motivate them to ""attend the course"".The project partners EXPECT the following IMPACT1. Improving knowledge of ""Economic and Financial Matters""2. Increase pedagogical competence3. Increase language skills: EN, FR, IT, DE4. Expansion of the consulting portfolio"

Rationale:In 2019, 15.2% of the total youth labor force was unemployed in the EU. The European countries that suffer the most from youth unemployment are: Greece (39.9%) Spain (32.6%) and Italy (32.2%) (OECD, 2019). At the same time, the number of young people aged 20-34 who are not neither in employment nor in education and training is also high – 16.5% (Eurostat, 2018). Therefore, attracting youth to VET is of crucial importance in the EU. However, VET, both secondary and post-secondary, suffers from poor reputation and lack of popularity among young people. According to some research one of the main reasons of high youth unemployment is the lack of professional experience and it prevents young people finding a job (EROVET, 2018).Let’s Campaign aims at improving the image of VET in the eyes of young people and their families. By making VET more appealing to young people, they will have higher chances of finding a job on a labor market. Even though there is high youth unemployability, some sector of VET lack professionals. For example, The European Construction Sector Observatory reveals a lack of technicians, above all electricians and machine operators, as well as other occupations, such as roofers, carpenters, and stonemasons, often due to unattractive working conditions, mobility, and emigration trends.Overall objective:The objective of the project is to organize some international meetings with the aim to collect and exchange experiences and good practices on implementation effective campaigns for promotion of VET and making it more appealing to young people aged 13-26 between the partners and connected stakeholders. Member of this Consortium are vocational institutions providing vocational education and training for young people, based in 5 different countries (Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Lithuania), a consulting company in the field of human resources management, an association of engineers (Greece), a Chamber of Construction and Building Materials Industry (Slovenia) and an NGO working with VET institutes (Austria). The purpose of the project is to stimulate the dialogue and the exchange of innovative ideas to understand how to tackle the lack of interest and attractiveness of the VET to those young people that are either planning on quitting school or are not neither in employment nor in education and training.Through the exchange of good examples and win-win experiences the purpose is to create a manual/guidelines to be used as an inspiration tool for other VET institutions aiming at increasing the enrolment of pupils. However, the activities will be done with a combined effort and in cooperation with stakeholders and especially employer organizations and their full support.