V-UPGRATES is a comprehensive programme with which professionals in Vocational Education and Training (VET) can assess and improve their digital skills. Thus they are able to teach more effectively and are better equipped to prepare their students for the labour market.The V-UPGRATES interactive platform (IO4) provides the opportunity for participants to first take a skills audit in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)(IO3). Upon that they receive detailed test results and suggestions for specific V-UPGRATES online courses. Topics of the quiz and online courses are:-Internet security-Virtual learning platforms -Online communication tools-Media editing-Web publishing-Interactive technologies in the classroom.These topics are the results of a V-UPGRATES survey (IO1) among VET teachers. Moreover these empirical findings strongly correspond with Digital Competence Framework of the EU. Both reference systems have a focus on the management of one’s digital identity and reputation. Only if VET trainers and teachers are familiar with safeguarding of personal data, they are able to discuss with their pupils and e.g. to contribute to protect them from delicate online situations.Overview of the autonomous learning process of V-UPGRATES:Step 1: Test skills and knowledge with a multiple choice quizStep 2: Improve with V-UPGRATES online coursesStep 3: Evaluate with hands-on online tasksUpon successful completion of all steps, each user receives a V-UPGRATES certificate. It validates the non-formal learning results. On top the user can get in touch with other VET teachers and trainers, moreover he/she gets information about face-to-face IT courses in their area, to even deepen the competences acquired in the online procedure. All mentioned features are included in the V-UPGRATES interactive platform, which is to be found here: https://upgrates.vupgrates.eu .By the development and implementation of a self-regulated training process, the project consortium refers to findings of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) of the OECD (2013). According to this survey professionals in Vocational Education and Training have a significant need for more fully developed ICT skills (18%) and more effective incorporation of new technologies in the workplace (16%). Moreover TALIS shows that most VET teachers and trainers do not consider themselves digitally confident or able to teach digital skills effectively, with as many as 70% of respondents stating that they need more training.Project aims in a nutshell:•Improving the digital competences of VET professionals•Furthering the professional development of VET trainers and teachers, thus achieving a systemic impact on teaching quality and learning outcomes•Removing the most significant barriers to continuous professional development – namely schedule conflicts, a lack of incentives and prohibitive costsV-UPRATES was developed within 30 months by an international consortium consisting of seven partners (IT enterprises, schools, further training institutions, universities) from Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Romania and Germany. Coordinator is the Institute of Civic Education, Leibniz University Hannover in Germany. 14 multiplier events took place for VET professionals, decision makers on regional and national policy level and coordinators for continuous professional development. The website shows all events and it comprises more details to the above mentioned intellectual outcomes (IOs): https://vupgrates.eu/

The people with disabilities (PwD) are the most disadvantaged group with regards to employment. Up to 2011 (the latest official date available) in Bulgaria their number (aged 18-29) is about 227 000 and more than 60% of them are unemployed. In Turkey they are 273,915 and only 15% are in employment compared with the national average of over 80%. In Austria they are around 850,000 and only 19% are employed and in Spain they are 3,847,900 and only 11% of them have permanent job.This project was built in line with the one of the key areas of both European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and Europe 2020 to allow full accessibility to the labour market for people with disabilities. In many European countries and beyond (Turkey), the access to the labour market is still not given because of the lack of suitable and powerful implemented support concepts who may ensure a smooth preparation and follow-up.The impact of the Supported employment (SE) approach (a method of working with disabled people and other disadvantaged groups to access and maintain paid employment in the open labour market) is very beneficial to the PwD and during its implementation phase it gives clear quality improvement of the accessibility to the labour market for those targets.The COACH@WORK project continued the inclusion and implementation of the Supported employment approach in Austria and Spain, but also in new countries such as Bulgaria and Turkey where this was done for the first time by developing EQAVET system for recognition, validation and accreditation of their knowledge, skills and competencies, dedicated VET programme together with (self-) assessment procedures and tools. It involved 4 partners from Bulgaria, one from Austria, one from Spain and one from Turkey. This COACH@WORK VET programme related to the new job profile of Supported employment specialist was accredited by the national body (NAVET) which happened for the first time in Europe in that field. In Spain and Turkey the accreditation procedure also applied and the outcomes are expected from the relevant authorities. In Austria it is provided on a regional level by the biggest SE provider. This training programme was followed by piloting implementation phase where a memorandum of understanding for the further exploitation of the ECVET based project outputs was concluded.The long term impact of the project increased the employment rates of PwD who were inactive in the labour market and have low or no work experience. This led to greater independence and financial security, allowing them to become fully active members of society in general and ultimately to an improved economy. On the other hand, SE consultants who successfully completed the pilot course and were validated by the dual verification tool (IO2) now have the ability to increase their opportunities for sustainable employment by providing this very innovative expertise on National and EU levels.The developed VET training programme is consisting of predefined learning outcomes which are connected with the dedicated unique ECVET training programme for SE providers and consisting of the following modules:1. Module 1 - Disability Awareness2. Module 2 - Acquisition of key and transversal competences3. Module 3 - Practical methods in the coaching process4. Module 4 - Mainstreaming and Digital Technologies as Support to the Education, Employment and Well-Being of People with Disabilities5. Module 5 - Supported employment basics - the five steps process6. Module 6 - Attitudes and approaches towards people with disabilities7. Module 7 - Pre-employment agenda8. Module 8 - Career guidance - labour market methods9. Module 9 - Implementation and NetworkingThe project successfully achieved all its objectives: introduction of appropriate EQAVET system for recognition, validation and accreditation of the knowledge, skills and competencies of the Supported Employment (SE) providers. It allows a more efficient and effective monitoring of the recruitment of SE consultants and providers. The project has demonstrated the capacity to adjust the type of IOs according to the needs of the target groups. The project demonstrates a real impact on target groups, beneficiaries and gatekeepers.The impact of the project was observed directly – related to the main results of the project, as well as indirectly – related to the dissemination and exploitation of the concepts and methodologies developed and implemented through the project. The main impact of the project can be measured as a real support for establishment of a clear legal framework for the national inclusion of the Supported Employment around the partner countries (BG & TR). The project has reached the expected impact in number of courses implemented and number of people taught.All project results are available via: www.supportemployment.eu

In the context of mental health issues FOMO is one of the newest, anxiety causing, stressors that impact the mental health of today's young digital natives for whom social media plays such an important role in identity building. The NOMO FOMO project proposes 'unpacking' the term FOMO to see what lies beneath and provide a toolkit of interactive learning resources to address the elements identified. In a survey with young adults the following themes were commonly identified in all partner countries as being the basis for FOMO anxiety. Fear of being unpopular; uninteresting; unattractive; unworthy; unfriendly; unkind; uncaring; are just a sample of the 12 most common themes that emerged. Addressing these themes, partners will pilot NOMO FOMO outputs in 7 local settings where the partners are based.Educational games are not a new phenomenon, and have been a part of the educational landscape since the development of the abacus and before. In today's ubiquitous technology environment online gaming, especially on smartphones has grown exponentially and a survey conducted by Nielsen in the USA found that for young digital natives the amount of time spent playing games on their smartphone is 12 times more than the time they spend talking or texting. It is clear that smartphones are the device of choice for young digital natives and responding to this the NOMO FOMO consortium are proposing to develop a completely new smartphone based learning experience that promotes positive mental health. Young adults have the latest tech gadgets in their palms, are hyper-connected, and eager to innovate. They live in an online 'bubble' surrounded by technology. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok and a whole range of other social media platforms are the new street corners where today's digital natives 'hang out'. They are the perfect, familiar and attractive places to engage young adults and address the impact of social media on mental health.Infographics have been steadily gaining popularity, both in digital and print formats in organizations and education. They are clear, effective and visually engaging. They present a variety of information while retaining the attention of the viewer. Today’s young adults are inundated with information every day and opportunities for distraction are increasing. Young adults need tools to easily digest information while also being offered the opportunity to develop key skills in a digital environment where they are most at home.The NOMO FOMO consortium partners will create 12 interactive infographics each one addressing one of the key themes associated with FOMO anxiety and stress which directly impact mental health. Each individual interactive infographic resource will comprise a series of 4 different but related learning elements. Each element will have clear learning outcomes to be achieved. Research conducted to inform this proposal with young digital natives found that they do not use up to 60% of the apps that they have downloaded and the vast majority of them expressed an unwillingness to download new apps due to the data mining activities of app developers. For this reason the resources developed will be presented and accessed directly through the camera on their smartphone through the built in QR code reader.Partners will develop an in-service training programme for front-line adult educators with two specific elements namely Unpacking FOMO and building the digital skills of front-line adult educators to build their own interactive infographics using software programmes like PowToon, StoryBoardThat, VideoScribe, KAHOOT, LearningApps, Google Forms, etc.A suite of 12 interactive inforgraphics addressing key thematic issues directly relating to FOMO will be developed 36 front-line adult educators will complete the piloting of the in-service training36 young adults will complete the peer leadership training2500 young adults will engage with the interactive infographics and the NOMO FOMO MOOC

The Eu Sustainable Development Strategy considers the creation of sustainable communities as the way to improve life quality and to pursue a low-carbon economy path. This entails a planning of sustainable local development able to integrate needs of peripheral areas, tackling the Eu polycentric tendency, in order to maintain their economic activity and attractiveness. The starting point is a sustainable local development able to intercept green economy sectors, through a multidisciplinary approach. An approach difficult to tackle especially in non-urban areas where local authorities lack enough resources to train or hire a professional ad hoc. The result is often a fragmented local planning, increasing territorial polarization. Thus, professionals able to design territorial development plans, interfacing with technical and policy level actors, are strongly needed. The professional figure of the EESLD, European Expert in Sustainable Local Development that the project intends to create reply to this demand, also considering that most partner countries show high/medium levels of unemployment both if we refer to young people <25 and age group 25-54. Besides tackling young VET needs related to the job market, the project will analyse, at transnational level, skills identification and validation systems, focusing in particular on the valorisation of non-formal and informal competences, in response to the EC Recommendation 2012/C 398/I asking member states to implement stable systems of validation. To reach project objectives, SKILLeD will implement:-a Curriculum for the European Expert in Sustainable Local Development, defining the transnational standardized profile and a training programme, articulated in modules and learning outcomes to be uploaded on an open E-learning platform.-a Transnational Skills Validation Methodology, including: a tool for identification and validation of non-formal and informal competences; the final exam structure, to be used for the selection of 25 participants that, at the end of the training course will participate to 7 cases studies (one per each partner country) in the form of a working groups activity, applying acquired competences to define innovative solutions in a problem solving approach.-a Toolbox for Sustainable Local Development Expert training path, including a handbook collecting project results, training material and case studies description and solution, then an operational guide for training operators explaining how to build and use a transnational curriculum and the skills validation tool.This means that the project will not end upon its closure, but is designed to become sustainable and continue on a long term through project outputs and results built to become transferable and high quality deliverables that can be easily and widely integrated in other contexts.Two main target groups will be addressed:- VET learners aged 24 to 35, currently unemployed or underemployed, university (human, economics and social science and hard sciences - engineering, architecture, etc.), or High School graduates, including post-school diplomas, and/or VET post-graduates also having sectorial competences or previous experiences on sustainable development subjects. They will be provided with crosscutting and transversal competences, ranging from technical topics to entrepreneurial and soft skills, through an online training course and a work-based learning experience in a working groups activity with the support of 7 experienced mentors.- over 35 persons, experienced in the field of sustainable local development, employed or who intend to re-qualify their skills, benefitting from the Transnational Skills Validation methodology and the access to the online training course to fill eventual gaps.In addition, a wide network of stakeholders will be addressed, in particular:-enterprises, businesses, freelances dealing with local development, green economy, spatial planning, mobility, tourism, etc. who can cooperate with the newly trained Experts to increase their competitiveness, representing a job opportunity for target groups.-territorial bodies, municipalities, local authorities: potential employers and contractors, they can also benefit from national contexts analysis, improving decision-making processes, developing new approaches, policies, etc.-training agencies, universities operators, improving their knowledge on how to build a transnational professional profile and a transnational skills validation methodology focusing on non-formal/informal competences.Eight partners coming from Italy, Austria, Spain, Romania, Turkey and Greece belonging to different domains and dealing with different topics (training, counselling, local development, mobility, tourism…), will cooperate to provide these opportunities to a wide number of individuals and organizations, also through a widespread dissemination strategy.

"The aim of the project ""Level-up! Workplace Tutor goes Europe"" has been to increase professionalisation and to improve qualification of in-company VET personnel as one of the key actors of vocational education. It worked at two levels, a) the practitioners level and b) the political level. At the practitioners level, it provided an example of innovative training for in-company training personnel that enables a high-level qualification as well as a peer-to-peer exchange at European level. At the political level, Level up! pursued the establishment of a pan-European multi-stakeholder dialogue on current debates surrounding European VET policy. These two objectives were implemented as follows:For the first aim, a group of 12-16 participants from five European countries (Portugal, Spain, Finland, Hungary and Germany) followed the blended-learning programme ""European Workplace Tutor"" previously developed in the Leonardo da Vinci projects ""it's time"" and ""European Workplace Tutor"" (EWT) and adapted to include European aspects of VET policy and systems as well as current issues in the respective countries in a pan-European training course. The course run over a period of 16 months and provided the participants with the complete learning outcomes of the European Workplace Tutor profile. Each seminar took place in another Country (Ireland, Finland, Spain, Germany). The second aim of the project was the initiation of a European debate on issues relevant to VET personnel. This debate has been put in action in the framework of the European Workplace Tutor Network. We pursued this aim by a series of measures: a) the implementation of five multipliers’ events gathering stakeholders in order to discuss selected issues of relevance to current VET policy in Europe; b) the integration of debate issues and European stakeholders in existing networks and events of project partners; c) dissemination activities and d) additional expert consultation on results developed. The events addressed aspects of the current European debate on VET issues and brought together VET personnel and stakeholders to discuss these and develop positions and recommendations to contribute to the further debate. These were published in the form of subject-specific political recommendations and brochures.The consortium consisted of 8 partner organizations from 7 countries. It consisted of institutions for vocational education and training, trade unions, a Universitys reasarch unit dedicated to the development of the educational sector and a consulting firm that focuses on adult education and vocational training.Through its objectives, the project wanted to address existing needs of VET personnel in Europe. There is a continued need for a better qualification and improved professionalisation of VET personnel in Europe. This issue is of increased importance against the background of the current shift of policy paradigms in Europe, away from ""streamlining"" vocational education and towards holistic vocational education according to the model of dual training. At the same time, growing youth unemployment, especially in the South of Europe, increasingly diverse and heterogenous learners in VET, the continued need for more and better work-based learning, further training, improved training offers for career changers, to name but a few, also means that VET personnel, specifically in-company trainers, are faced with new and increasingly complex challenges in their daily work. This requires new competencies which can only be delivered by high-quality training programmes for VET personnel. At the same time, the qualification market in this field remains highly fragmented. In many countries, there are no or few training offers that go beyond a basic training in instruction methods, often higher level qualifications are only offered at university level. The project wanted to make a contribution to an improved situation of qualification offers whilst also addressing the political situation that needs to create the framework to put the conditions in place that are needed for well-qualified VET personnel to contribute to an improved area of skills and qualifications in Europe.The results of the project include a pan-European training course for in-company trainers that can be adapted and implemented by training providers across Europe, and the initiation of a European dialogue on issues regarding the qualification of our target group that have influenced national debate and partially reform of training regulations, for example in Germany, where the results of the project will be incorporated into the revision of the ""Ausbildereignungsverordnung"" in Germany and thus influence national legislation."