Valuable materials are leaking from our economies. In a world where demand and competition for finite and sometimes scarce resources will continue to increase, and pressure on resources is causing greater environmental degradation and fragility, Europe can benefit economically and environmentally from making better use of those resources. Since the industrial revolution, our economies have developed a ‘take-make-consume and dispose’ pattern of growth — a linear model based on the assumption that resources are abundant, available, easy to source and cheap to dispose of. It is increasingly being understood that this threatens the competitiveness of Europe.Moving towards a more circular economy is essential to deliver the resource efficiency agenda established under the EU2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The Circular economy offers an opportunity to reinvent our economy, making it more sustainable and competitive. With this new plan to make Europe’s economy cleaner and more competitive, the EC is delivering ambitious measures to cut resource use, reduce waste and boost recycling.Higher and sustained improvements of resource efficiency performance are within reach and can bring major economic benefits. The EC adopted an ambitious Circular Economy Package, which includes revised legislative proposals on waste to stimulate Europe's transition towards a circular economy which will boost global competitiveness, foster sustainable economic growth and generate new jobs.Successful implementation can create more than 180000 direct jobs in the EU by 2030, in addition to the estimated 400000 jobs that will be created by the implementation of the waste legislation in force. It will lead to satisfying between 10 and 40% of the raw material demand in the EU, while contributing to achieving the 2030 EU target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40%.In this context, CICLO visions the development of an interactive, needs-oriented online Circular Economy labor market ecosystem and skills mapping and provide a training package for employed and unemployed persons to equip them with basic circular economy jobs skills related to recycling management, reuse and remanufacturing opportunities, servitisation (services instead of products) development.CICLO and its training accredited partners will secure the recognition of skills and qualifications of CICLO participants based on the EQF, and the ECVET maximizing their potential for access to the labor market, social and financial integration and simultaneously offering new inclusive pedagogies in education.CICLO it satisfies a number of Erasmus+ objectives such as:• Develop a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation among EU citizens• Support inclusive training initiatives and digital inclusion for all•Open and innovative education, training and youth work, embedded in the digital era•Provide an innovative ICT–based educational practice that will motivate the adults to commit in active learning•Transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications to facilitate learning, employability and labor mobility•Sustainable investment, performance and efficiency in education and training•Combine higher levels of excellence and attractiveness of training and education with increased opportunities for all, including those at disadvantage•Strengthening key competences in C-VET curricula and providing more effective opportunities to acquire or develop those skills through I-VET and C-VET• Enhancing access to training and qualifications through C-VET, by increasing the quality, supply and accessibility of C-VET, validation of non-formal and informal learning, and promoting work-place learningThe work of the consortium will be broken down into a series of overlapping phases incorporating research and analysis, design and development, testing and implementation, validation, localization, communication and exploitation of project outputs. The consortium consists of 8 partners from 7 European countries, covering a wide range of expertise related to the scope and the aims of the project, having as well a Pan-European outreach in their activities. Longer term benefits: -Place the new, expected economic shift of EU towards Circular Economy and its accompanied labor market skills at the heart of a flourishing EU Market and establishing the EU the pioneer actor in the global market -Address contemporary employment, economy and digital skills at EU Level offering advanced tools for relevant skills upgrade and accreditation -Empower stakeholders to use accredited innovative ICT-based educational practices in enhancing people’s entrepreneurial, collaboration, problem solving, and innovation skills

<< Background >>The gender gap in ICT courses, jobs and functions is a well-documented global phenomenon. According to Eurostat, as of 2018, in the EU women account for only one in six ICT students (16.7%) while in the job market they represent only 17.2% (1.4 million) of all employed ICT specialists.In order to a) fight stereotypes within institutions that can enable or hinder the women participation in the ICT sector, b) equip the ICT sector with necessary skills, tools and knowledge to empower woman in ICT and better integrate both sexes in all its functions and level of responsibility, and c) assist all structural, law-making, academic and grass-roots efforts towards the vision of closing the gender gap within the ICT sector, this project will design and implement an interactive and action-based non-formal training program and an innovative project design methodology, aiming at empowering and promoting the equal participation, representation and treatment of women in ICT.The program that will be developed aims to enhance the access and employability of women in the ICT sector while degreasing the recorded dropout rates, by supporting employers (enterprises of the ICT sector), ICT business incubators, municipalities and prefectures as well as individual women wishing to enter or remain in the ICT workforce as employees or entrepreneurs.Through the FEMIN-ICT trainings, the needs of these groups will be successfully addressed as they will learn to: • Manage their own stereotypes and pre-conceptions around gender • Foster a more inclusive working culture • Integrate the dimension of gender in all their recruitment, advancement, development, management, harassment prevention and reimbursement practices• Acquire the necessary skills to empower women who wish to participate actively in the ICT either as employees or entrepreneurs• Develop the skills of current and future Diversity & Inclusion executives and decision makers. Simultaneously, the benefited women by the project will be informed about positive actions and best practices of ICT employers, business incubators and municipalities/prefectures so that they feel empowered and better equipped to make decisions about their professional future. Also, they will have the chance to learn about positive female role models from the wider ICT sector, while the project will facilitate them in liaising with ICT employers, business incubators and municipal supporting facilities that are actively investing in equality and gender diversity within the ICT sector.<< Objectives >>The underlying idea of the project is that by training and supporting the wider ICT business ecosystem to embrace gender equality measures and offer services that respond to women needs, then more women would be able enter/remain/succeed in the ICT sector. Overall, the FEMIN-ICT project strives for fulfilling this idea of gender equality and for genuine women's visibility and empowerment in the ICT sector and digital economy, which will enable in the long-term the achievement of economic growth and wider social progress. The project’s two overarching objectives can be articulated as follows: - Fostering the equal participation, representation, and treatment of women in ICT.- Enhancing their access and employability and decreasing the recorded dropout rates. This will be mainly achieved by providing support and training to the main project target groups:A. Employers (enterprises of the ICT sector)- targeted to senior and middle management executives, legal and HR departments.B. ICT entrepreneurship support ecosystem - targeted to incubators/accelerators management teams, mentors and coaches.C. Municipalities and prefectures- targeted to relevant policy makers and recruitment committees.D. Individual women who want to either enter the ICT sector or are already involved in it.The FEMIN-ICT specific objectives are: ● To explore all relevant practices and initiatives already existing and develop new knowledge and training opportunities that will raise awareness on existing biases and preconceptions that exist and at the same time, on the benefits that when acting upon can bring not only to the ICT sector specifically but to wider economy at large. ● To develop a training programme for the project’s target group and provide them with the resources that would improve not only their knowledge but most importantly their mindset and daily practices towards alleviating gender biases in the ICT business sector.● To provide employers, business incubators and municipalities/prefectures with the methodology that will enable them to design and create effective, sustainable, and impactful childcare and eldercare workplace facilities. For achieving that, FEMIN-ICT offers a unique training and support programme, equipping, on the one hand, ICT Businesses, ICT business ecosystem and public authorities with those skills and tools, to empower women in the ICT sector and integrate the gender dimension in all their practices and, on the other hand, women who are either employed in the ICT sector, or already running ICT businesses, or even unemployed but interested in pursuing an ICT career to initiate or advance their careers in the digital economy.<< Implementation >>FEMINI-ICT has been designed to implement the following main activities during its lifespan:Result 1 (Current state of the art enabling the customization of FEMI-ICT training programme): A1: A1: Collection of data by reviewing the relevant literature, reports, project evaluations, policy documents, existing statistics etc. in the participating countries, but also around Europe; A2: there will be a needs assessment of the project’s participants and in parallel two main methods will be applied in each partner country: i) an online survey, and ii) a series of semi-structured interviews with different participants from all the target groups; A3: Implementation of the online survey and interviews targeted to the different target groups; A4: analysis of data and production of the final report.Result 2 (Training program and support package for gender equality): A1: reflection and consultation activities with the target groups that will lead to the development of the content of the training materials; A2: development of the mother and career-friendly workplace toolkit, based on literature review, international best practices and partners’ expertise; A3: development of a self-assessment toolkit; A4: Implementation of pilot training workshops with the different target groups to test the training material and make the required revisions where necessary; A5: Finetuning of the “Training program and support package for gender equality”.Result 3 (Empowerment Program and tools for Women): A1: development of role models collection, through online research and through partners’ networks for inspiring cases of women being either employees or founders of ICT businesses; A2: interviews with women acting as role models; A3: scaffold of the empowerment programme; A4: content of the 8 different empowerment modules of the empowerment programme; A5: Testing of the empowerment programme through national webinars.Result 4 (FEMIN-ICT policy roadmap): This result will include a set of policy recommendations based on the FEMIN-ICT experiences, achievements as well as on the discussions that will be help during the final conference of the project. Also, this result will entail the creation of policy vignettes at national level and relevant reporting activities.<< Results >>Through project’s concrete results, there will be multiple benefits, as follows:- ICT businesses representing prospective employers will be supported and trained towards fostering a more inclusive working environment.- Business support ecosystems will be trained and better prepared to provide more women friendly services, adopt gender unbiased communication and reach out strategies and support women ICT entrepreneurs more effectively, rebalancing the gender gap.- Municipalities and prefectures will be trained and better prepared to design and implement more women-friendly empowerment initiatives and structures, such as upskilling programs, networking activities, co-working spaces and hubs, community-led ICT projects.- Women will be empowered to pursue careers in ICT and be supported to continue their work and have productive and rewarding careers in parallel to those experienced by their male counterparts.Tangible outcomes:The project will design and implement a training and design methodology program for senior and middle management executives, teachers, mentors, coaches, admissions personnel, recruitment committees, incubators/accelerators management teams, higher education management executives and policy makers that will enable them to create and sustain more equitable, gender diverse and inclusive working and learning environments in the ICT sector. Through its development and implementation, the following results are foreseen:A. A seven-pillar gender equality Training programme.B. A Toolkit for designing mother & career-friendly workplaces in the ICT sector. C. A self-assessment tool for the ICT business and entrepreneurial ecosystem.D. A collection of female role models providing encouragement, inspiration and motivation to other women in the ICT sector.E. An empowerment programme that will be consisted of 8 training modules.F. Five Women in ICT Business & Career Day specially designed and organised for connecting and matching women interested in the ICT sector with businesses, incubators/accelerators and higher education institutions with ICT-related schools and subjects.G. Six empowerment webinars taking place in each partner country and a European one outreaching to more recipients and having a greater multiplier effect.H. A final policy conference where policy stakeholders, academics and business stakeholders will be invited to discuss on the policy actions that could/should be up-taken for the promotion of Gender Equality measures in the ICT sector.

The AfriConEu project envisions to essentially strengthen and reinforce the digital innovation ecosystems in Africa by targeting existing Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) and supporting them through capacity building and networking activities. African DIHs are playing a central role in the development of digital entrepreneurship and by raising their capacities to tackle the challenges they face they will be more effective in driving digital innovation forward. To achieve its mission, the AfriConEu project will connect DIHs from Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania with DIHs from Europe with the aim to (i) facilitate knowledge and experience sharing, (ii) drive the development of mutually beneficial partnerships and (iii) support the creation of collective projects for boosting digital economy, empowering youth and fostering innovation and growth. To realize its mission the project will develop, test and validate the “AfriConEu Networking Academy” an innovative mechanism for connecting and sharing best practices, experiences and resources between DIHs in Africa and between DIHs in Africa and EU, in a comprehensive, replicable and self-sustaining way. Through two flagships programmes, the AfriConEu Networking Academy will empower and enable African DIHs to best serve their local industry, boost their start-up ecosystem and empower the youth population with the necessary skills to thrive in a digitalized world.

"<< Background >>Climate change is the greatest challenge of our times. Humans are recognized as a major cause of Climate Change (UNESCO, 2009) and hence their active involvement in mitigation and adaptation actions is crucial. The EU has launched the Green Deal initiative to raise awareness on climate change, industry innovation and more, while the European Education Area initiated a special Education for Climate Change Coalition, pledging for concrete actions made by individuals and collective actors at the local, regional and national levels. In this respect, the role of education in addressing climate change is increasingly recognized. Despite the efforts happening on an EU level, it seems that there is no specific behavioral change towards a greener future and not the appropriate attention has been given especially now, where the focus is on the covid-19 health crisis; meanwhile climate education so far has not the desired impact (Anderson 2012, Bancay 2010, Bangkok 2012, Sezen-Barrie 2020, Monroe 2019). It seems increasingly difficult to build meaningful educational experiences able to involve young people in transformative processes and overcome the ingrained ""nihilistic sense”. The teachers need, therefore, to be renewed to better deal with knowledge and skills in an interactive environment, promoting creativity, aesthetics, global and critical thinking and to promote relevant societal change. Unfortunately, the teaching today is more cognitive-based and more theoretical than action-based as part of a problem-solving procedure. Τhe sector needs teachers and role models that take responsibility. To be fully involved and engaged. Critics of environmental education have argued that teachers must have a comprehensive knowledge of environmental concepts to be better environmental teachers. It is also expected that if teachers have a more refined conception of what environmental education entails, they will feel equipped to include it within their existing curriculum. In addition to subject knowledge and skills, there is a need to develop general competencies (critical thinking and problem-solving skills, creativity, communication and collaboration skills, empathy) which enable learners to solve the complex issues they will face (OECD/CERI 2008; Binkley et al., 2014). Given the increasingly active role of the learner in the learning process and the use of inclusive learning methods in schools, learning through play is also gaining popularity. The use of the games in education has become the interest of many practitioners and researchers (Qian & Clark, 2016). Well planned usage of games for learning, enables students to develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills, creativity, communication and teamwork skills while boosting confidence. Teachers are expected to incorporate in their teaching methods 21st century life-skills (critical thinking, flexibility, imagination, problem solving, creative disruptive innovative mind, resilience, meditation-mindfulness), develop emotional intelligence (EQ) like self-control, empathy, self-knowledge, management of emotions. Manuals and learning material often distributed are quite theoretical and scarce practices are being implemented for 1-2 hours during school schedule and most of them are extra-curricular. One of the most impactful ways to learn in an experiential way and memorize content better triggering also intrinsic motivation is Live-Action Role Playing (LARP). It has been confirmed by research, that learners memorize content better when they are actively involved in the learning process, as in the case of dramatizations, simulations and role play. This has lead us to explore within this GreenEduLARP project the potential of EduLARP for Cimate Change Education (CCE).<< Objectives >>Project GreenEduLARP aims at using the tool of EduLARP (Educational Live Action Role Playing) for Climate Change Education (CCE). This way students but also teachers – as involved participants- will be connecting the topics related to Climate Change learned in classroom with real-life situations, therefore more easily relating them to their own life, making connections also on how green their life and attitude is. The aims of the project are: i) to empower teachers with new competences in environmental education using LARP, ii) to enhance students with confidence and agency skills through the LARPing methodology and teamwork while also learning about climate change and building concepts around it, iii) to create accessible online material for further use and capitalization, iv) to build a transnational strategy on how to adapt EduLARP methodology in school curricula.<< Implementation >>To achieve these objectives, the project will bring together stakeholders and target groups (teachers, students, LARPers policy makers, education designers, environmental activists) and engage them in co-design, co-creation, testing, piloting, validation, sharing and promotion activities. Teachers and students will be involved in building stories related to green actions adapted to the ΕduLARP game methodology trying to shift towards greeneer attitudes while developing soft skils. Through the AV Hub tutorials will be widely disseminated on EU level while the designed Strategy will advocate for more experiential learning through EduLARP for more effective Education System. connecting to other schools and projects via the Connecting platform. Teacher training offline and online activities, video tutorials and animations will complement these activities to demonstrate the educational potential and impact of GEL on teachers, students and community and contribute to the development of future oriented curricula that will empower young learners to become agents of change in the environmental transformation, better citizens and great team workers.<< Results >>The GEL expected project results are:1. GEL Curriculum is the learning and teaching material aiming to support teachers and students to develop the necessary soft skills such as agency, creative thinking, environmental literacy and problem solving that will transform them into green changemakers with greener attitudes. Through targeted EduLARP activities this result aspires to empower teachers with new competences for CCE and serve as a good practice for designing and delivering green EduLARPs.2. GEL Teachers´ Toolkit aiming to support teachers on the smooth and effective implementation of the project´s curriculum, on how to introduce EduLARP methodology in class for climate change actions. 3. GEL AV Hub where videos, animated presentations, interviews and tutorials will be produced in cooperation with technicians with practical and useful tips for future applications, ready to use activities and digital resources.4. Strategy on LARPing Adaptation to National School Curricula, the first ever and unique document with transnational power, to highlight the importance of the interdisciplinary approach of EduLARP and open the discussion on future curricula with concrete recommendations for policies and practices."

<< Background >>The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated existing inequalities in the education sector: around seven million children, 0.5% of all the world’s learners, dropped out of school in 2020 due to the pandemic (World Bank, 2020).The school systems, and namely teachers and school staff, tried to reshape methods for learning, in a short time and without tailored expertise, when shifting from the traditional learning to the e-learning modes. Some students lost their lessons and school interaction, especially those coming from disadvantaged households. In 2020, students suffered learning losses of about 10% more compared to the average trend in recent years (OECD, 2020). A new need has emerged to digitally power-up the school system to face new challenges, by equipping the whole school community with proper competences to deal with this change. In this context, STAND will address the following target groups’ needs:-Teachers, and staff from primary and lower secondary schools’ need of targeted ICT/digital support and new training opportunities to acquire digital competences and deal with distance learning, teaching and bureaucratic activities;-Students’ (aged 6-12) need to be granted equal access to education and protection against future risk of social exclusion and the risks linked to the virtual world; -Families’ need for basic digital skills and tools to support their children in distance learning and homework.<< Objectives >>STAND will aim at equipping teachers and school staff, as well as students and their families, with competences, tools and tailored support, supporting the digital transition of EU school systems and making them ready to face long-term challenges triggered by the pandemic. The project will pursue the following specific objectives:- To support schools in the digital transformation while guaranteeing inclusive education -To train and equip teachers and staff from primary and lower secondary school with ICT, digital literacy skills and digital strategies to manage distance and blended learning; -To raise awareness among teachers, school staff, students and families on issues related to digital identity and data protection policies;-To promote informal networks and peer-tutoring among parents, teachers and students, providing them with guidance and ICT-related support in dealing with distance and blended learning;-To encourage collaboration among education institutions, technology providers, ICT and pedagogical experts across the EU;-To support transnational cooperation and mutual learning among and within education institutions.<< Implementation >>The STAND partnership will involve 8 partners from Italy, Poland, Greece, Spain, to combine complementary types of institutions (non-profit organisations, schools, technology institutions) and support specific segments of the project.The following activities will be performed within the project:-Design of a Massive Open Online Course on ICT and digital literacy for teachers and school staff (R1)-Train the trainers workshop (C1) in Poland to prepare 7 trainers from partner organisations for the local delivery of the blended learning. -Delivery of the MOOC for 30 teachers and 10 school staff per country in blended learning mode (R1)-Implementation of 2 Design meetings in each country, involving 6 teachers in the co-design of the “Methodological guide: strategies and principles for effective digital education” (R2) -Delivery of 3 Workshops for 15 teachers per country on integrated pedagogical methodology through practical and non-formal activities (R2)-Development of the “Data protection and safety in distance learning” Handbook (R3)-Organisation of 6 itinerant info-sessions for teachers, school staff and students, and 2 online info-sessions addressed to parents to raise awareness of the handbook’s content - Set-up of the STAND Alliance platform’s constituent components (R4) and of the virtual learning community, and fine-tuning of the platform after ongoing monitoring-“Supporting access and digital practices in schools” events (E1-3) and STAND Final Conference in Spain (E4) to present STAND project and its results.<< Results >>STAND will produce the following tangible Results:•R1 - MOOC on ICT and digital literacy for teachers and school staff (EN, IT, ES, GR, PL)•R2 - Methodological guide: strategies and principles for effective digital education in primary and lower secondary schools (EN, IT, ES, GR, PL)•R3 - Data protection and safety in distance learning Handbook (EN, IT, ES, GR, PL)•R4 - STAND alliance platform (EN, IT, ES, GR, PL)Furthermore, the project is expected to achieve the following outcomes:•Acquired knowledge and skills on ICT and digital literacy and digital strategies among teachers and school staff to manage distance and blended learning; •Enhanced awareness among teachers, school staff and families on issues about digital identity and data protection policies;•Promoted informal networks and peer-tutoring among parents, teachers, school staff and students;•Encouraged collaboration among education institutions, ICT and pedagogical experts across EU; •Strengthened transnational cooperation and mutual learning among and within education institutions in the EU.STAND will support teachers’ continuous professional development, while meeting partner countries’ educational needs, thus contributing to the digital transformation of education in the partner countries and beyond, and to create a European Educational Area.