<< Background >>Mainstreaming innovations in non-formal education in youth work is needed now more than ever. Facing the challenges with a fast changing world and current pandemic crisis, the youth workers need support in bringing innovations to their daily activities on-line and offline. Many youth workers in our countries often struggle with english, so they are not able to use many resources produced at European level - this is one of the obstacles we will strongly focus on in this project. Also, we will stress out the strategies on how to use innovative tools to support social inclusion.<< Objectives >>The main idea of EduLabs project is to bring useful innovative tools literally to the youth workers’ doorstep and to make it easier for them to adapt these tools to their reality. Aim of this project is to modernise non-formal education in youth work by mainstreaming innovative methodologies, interdisciplinary tools and approaches.Objectives:to increase competences of youth workers to innovate their daily activities with young people (on-line and face to face) to make the innovative tools highly inclusive: easily reachable, understandable, easy to use and available for workers with special needs and applicable for young people with special needsto inspire youth workers with new approaches, trends and methods they can use in their daily workto ensure the sustainability and usability of the results of this project through dissemination and supporting youth workers to multiply the outputs to their peers<< Implementation >>The outputs:An Innovative Toolbox - sustainable online platform that will contain information about innovations in youth work at one spot, available in national languages, each methodology pointing out tips and trick how to adjust it in face to face and online version as well as how to adjust it to the people with fewer opportunities and special needsnational podcasts about innovations in non-formal education in youth work and more episodes of international podcasts Talking Youth Work3 “podcasts” in international sign languageE-learning - MOOC on :Innovation Tools for Youth workers and Organisations active in the Youth Field - for the organisations to work with innovations systematically and support innovative thinkingOther activities:2 partners meetings - at the beginning and at the second half of the project17 multiplication events (4 face to face, 1 live streaming, at least 3 webinars in each country), all focused on introducing the results of this project and innovative methodologiesContinuous promotion and dissemination of results<< Results >>Among the most important impact, we can mention:We estimate that within this project, we will reach at least 1500 youth workers outside this partnership, and at least 15000 young people should profit from it. By using the outputs, the youth workers and teachers will be:better prepared to innovate their activities with youth in on-line and face to face setting, able to flexibly react upon the situation, bringing small innovations or whole methodologies whenever it fits them and their target groupsable to easily understand the innovative tools from the Toolbox descriptionSo, their activities will become:More entertaining and engaging- they will contain new methods, which are attractive for youthMore effective for the young people’s competence development - they will learn more / in depth when they are engagedflexible - able to change upon the circumstancesMore open and inclusive - as the innovative methods suggested are inclusive and when publishing them on Innovative Toolbox, we will point out the inclusive nature and suggest, how to include young people with fewer opportunities and special needs into these activitiesBetter organised - with clear educational objectives and intentional work with competences of young peopleWe believe innovating activities will mean the young people will be:More motivated to get engaged in more activities, to eventually organize them in the future and to get involved in local community or on regional/national level as active citizensBetter prepared for their personal and professional lives (thanks to more developed competences) and more motivated to continue learning (life long learning)More tolerant and inclusive, as they will be used to inclusive activities and hopefully will perceive diversity as an advantage and opportunity to learn

"Youth work in Europe is diverse in its definitions as well as forms and practices. In the context of growing diversity of practices on the one hand, and calls for quality standards and professionalisation on the other, the universities have to make their decisions for offering relevant training.In this context, the focus of the current project is to look at the development of youth work degree programmes as a key factor in successful training of professional youth workers. Under programme development, the project understands the overall design of the study process, the choice of the grounding values and theories, pedagogies, course structure, role of theoretical and practical component, etc.Within the frames of the project:experience exchangeand discussion at different levelsraised the question of the uniqueness of learning and approaches to learning.The project involved more than 400 people from different countries, including 47 authors of the intellectual output book from 5 countries.The following project objectives have been achieved:-1 intellectual output has been delivered: the project resulted in development of the reference book ""Teaching youth work in higher education : tensions, connections, continuities and contradictions"" about curriculum development. The book represents a comparative analysis of the programmes of the partner universities. In the process of conducting of the analysis and writing of the book the project partners raised and discussed the issue of uniqueness of the phenomenon of learning and the choice of the corresponding approaches to learning;-1 international conference has been organized. The conference was held at the final stage of the project, and the main aim of the event was to introduce and disseminate the intellectual output. The aim was achieved, the conference was participated by 176 people. The presentations and experience exchange within the frames of the conference also initiated a discussion on the practices of youth work training in Europe and allowed the representatives of the European youth work community to introduce and explain their outlooks on the pre- and in-service training of youth workers;-4 international project meetings have been held. These meetings provided the project partners with possibilities to get an insight into one another’s youth worker training practices and to find common ground for, firstly, identifying the areas of cooperation and, secondly, for determining and specifying the project activities and their content;-2 round table discussions with policymakers and key stakeholders have been held. The aim of these discussions was to draw attention to the project as such and to the area of youth worker training in general. The Estonian and Finnish presidency in the Council of the EU was the context that the project partners benefitted from in drawing international attention to issues and practices of training of youth work specialists. The total number of the participants in the 2 round table discussions was 40;-1 information dissemination seminar has been held. The aim of the seminar was to introduce the intellectual output. The seminar took place in the UK and was attended by 51 specialists in the area of youth work;-2 sessions of smaller events for local stakeholders have been held. Involvement at the local level has had a sufficient impact on achievement of the project objectives, as project partners are unlikely to be comprehensible at the European and international levels in the situation of misunderstanding and lack of support at the local level. Based on the above-said, it can be concluded that the project results have been achieved confidently. The international experience exchange among the project partners has made it possible to distinguish the issue of uniqueness of youth workers training and to raise the issue at the European level. The International project meetings, round table discussions and the final conference of the project have been an efficient platform for discussion and the search for common solutions regarding youth work in Europe. The intellectual output of the project – the reference book – is a content-rich source of information about youth work practices and an in-depth analysis of the diversity of approaches to pre-service training of specialists in the area of youth work. This material is to have a long-term impact both on the training and research in the area of youth work and it has already attracted a lot of positive attention."

The importance and quality of youth work has been highly prioritised in the EU youth agenda since 2013. The task to prepare professional qualified youth workers lies largely on the HEIs and their study programmes. The quality of the practical experiences, including work placement, the skills of self reflection and analysis, determine the actual preparation of the student to become a qualified youth worker with a professional identity.The Project address the issue of the quality of practical experiences in the preparation of youth workers by the HEIs. The objectives of the Project are 1) to exchange and analyse existing practices of organising practice in Youth Work study programmes in Estonia, Finland and the UK, and 2) build a closer network within the new partnership for future cooperation.The main activities carried out in the Project are four meetings for the Project Team. The aim of the meetings is run intensive workshops and hold study visits to the partner organisations. The 12 participants, forming the Project Team, are all programme managers and key decision makers in developing the youth work studies in their organisations. As a result of the Project, 1) the participants have a thorough comparative knowledge of the partners' Youth Work programmes, 2) each partner has an Action Plan for using the gained knowledge in programme development; and, 3) the partners have agreed on a further cooperation framework. The impact of the Project, foreseen upon its completion, is in the actual changes/improvements in the practice/placement organisation in the Youth Work programmes of the partners. In the longer term, the Project has a potential positive impact on the quality of youth work through the improved practical component of the Youth Work study programmes.

Starting from the participating institutions, the project will bring to light the difficulties and discrepancies in HEIs regarding the processes and mechanisms for managing European projects. At all geographical levels, it will facilitate access to the opportunities offered by European programs for universities, improving knowledge of the programs and requirements necessary to apply and manage them.This project will strengthen the capacity and role of the Higher Education and, all Project centres/offices which works to supports, on one hand, the modernisation, capacity building and internationalisation of HEIs and research institutions. On the other, it carries on Quality assurance and evaluation of processes at HEIs and research institutions. The tools developed within the project will be available at other HEIs at the international level. All Higher Education Institutions at local, regional, national and EU levels who intend to work more easily in the field of the European funds will benefit from the project Outputs.The Project NUTSHELL will be implemented by the consortioum of 4 institutions:University of Economics, PragueUniversity LjubljanaCESIE - European centre of studies and initiatives, ItalyHUMAK – University of applied Sciences, Finlandwith the aim of Quality assurance of international project management and cooperation in the field of higher educationfollowing the Needs and Objectives:To increase the competencies of administrative staff academics and Ph.D. students who are in the role of potential coordinators/partners of international projectsTo identify main problems and challenges being solved in the field of higher education international project management and offer solutionsTo facilitate the exchange of best practices among institutions involved in international projects and increase their capacity for international project managementTo identify good practice and pilot support tools for smooth and efficient communication with project partners Intellectual outputs leading to the project results:IO 1 Analysis of processes of international project management in institutions involvedIO 2 Optimization of the international project agenda processes in project centers/offices of higher education institutions based on needs analysis resultsIO 3 Toolkit for the implementation in preparation, realization and evaluation phase of EU projects in the field of higher educationIO 4 Guidelines for effective communication and networking strategy Results expected during the project and on its completion:Analysis of processes of international project management in institutions involved will take place.Optimization of the international project agenda processes in project centres/offices of higher education institutions based on needs analysis results will be designed.Toolkit for the implementation in preparation, realization and evaluation phase of EU projects in the field of higher education will be available. The Toolkit will be addressed to administrative staff, academic staff and PhD students who are in the role of potential coordinators/partners of international projects and it aims at providing them with core skills and a lean method to plan, manage and implement EU funded international projects not only on partner institutions, but also to all relevant stakeholders and will be published on all relevant platforms. Guidelines for effective communication and networking strategy will be established.Training for the staff in the use of process mapping software and methodologies and contribute to the piloting of the new processes will be implemented.Training on piloting of the new processes which will serve as a learning experience for project participants and administrative staff of partner institutions will be organized.Directly supported participantsduring the trainings: 24Target group inside partnership:Staff from project departmentsAcademicsPh.D. studentsTarget group ouside partnership:All Higher Education Institutions at local, regional, national and EU levels who intend to work more easily in the field of the European funds. Other organisations such as NGOs, research institutions, business actors and public authorities, other educational levels as potential partners in European projects in collaboration with HEIs.

Context/background of the projectDeaf people working as sign language interpreters is a relatively new professional field. Deaf Interpreters are typically used as relay interpreters to interpret for consumers with special linguistic needs, or as interpreters between two signed languages or between one sign language and international signs. The need for deaf interpreters is growing, but the provision of training and education specifically designed for deaf interpreters have not kept pace with the growing demand. In recent years only a few deaf Interpreter training programs have been set up in Europe, research into the area is scarce, and we still lack appropriate assessment tools for assessing the skills of deaf interpreters. ObjectivesThe main objective of the project was to enhance the quality, relevance and provision of deaf interpreter training. Not only the partners’ own training programs were expected to improve, as a result of this project, but the project was also (on a long term basis) aiming to influence training options in other educational Institutions in Europe. Access to a model curriculum, which has been produced by the project, is expected to encourage and inspire educators and educational institutions to initiate this kind of training and/or improve the quality of already existing training programs. The long term objective of the project was also to contribute to removing barriers at the labour market for deaf interpreters. Major obstacles for deaf interpreters are lack of official training options and lack of recognition of the profession. Giving (future) deaf interpreters access to high quality training and certification will go a long way towards recognition of the profession, but also the findings of the research are expected to contribute to a better understanding and definition of the specific competences of deaf interpreters. Number and profile of participating partnersWe were a cross sectorial partnership, consisting of five partners, representing Higher Educational Institutions undertaking deaf interpreter training, as well as national and European NGO’s in the field: Hamburg University, Coimbra Polytechnic Institute (IPC), HUMAK University of Applied Sciences, European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters (EFSLI), and Danish Deaf Association (DDA). Each partner has contributed to the project with their key staff members in this area of competence (primarily teachers and researchers within linguistics and sociology). Description of undertaken main activitiesThe partnership have in cooperation undertaken three intellectual outputs: a comprehensive European survey, 9 studies and articles into deaf interpreting, and recommendations for a curriculum. Thus we have produced an extensive survey of the situation of deaf interpreters in Europe, which deals with educational background, working conditions, organisation and recognition of the profession and covers the situation in 30 countries. Based on nine studies of the profession from various angles: primarily sociological and linguistic, nine articles have been produced, eight of which were published as a book and distributed during the project's conference in Hamburg. Furthermore partners have developed a set of joint recommendations for a deaf interpreter curriculum that is applicable at various levels of education throughout Europe. Finally we have produced a guide for educators training deaf interpreters. We have set up a project website and a facebook group and sent out regular newsletters to stakeholders. We have had 6 partner meetings and 2 multiplier events. We have undertaken 4 impact exploring surveys. Results and impact attainedThe primary results of the project, the 3 intellectual outputs, have all been accomplished, published, presented to a large audience, evaluated, and later translated and uploaded to the project website. Impact exploring among partner organisations shows that we as organisations have gained a lot from the project, so at this level, the project has attained the expected impact. The project has definitely also created awareness about the situation of deaf interpreting beyond partner organisations. The number of people from all over Europe to take an interest in the project has exceeded our expectations.The long term impact - to contribute to a positive development in other countries in Europe (primarily by influencing the quality, relevance and provision of deaf interpreter training) is yet to be seen. But as our impact exploring survey shows, testamonies from participants indicate that progress has taken place in 9 European (and 2 non European) countries within this period, and although the project can not take credit for all of it, the survey does show that the project was found relevant by syakeholders, and - at least in some countries - the project has contributed to creating more awareness of the situation.