There is no space in our society for homeless people (HL people), no matter if the traveller takes the road in search of freedom or runs away from difficult situations; The streets sometimes mean giving up materialism in search of adventure, but in many cases it is a journey that involves invisibility, negative perceptions, exploitation, criminalization, addictions and loneliness, all of this affects the reality of HL people, who quickly forget their previous lives and become just homeless. As human beings we have an innate need to connect with other people, connections give meaning to our lives; we want to be present for the people we love and for the things we love to do. HL people are blamed and criminalized, as an incentive for them to stop being homeless, however, we are only putting barriers to their re-connection. They may reach their lowest point when they lose hope, and are no longer able to bear to be present, then see themselves immersed in destructive paths.In Spain it is estimated that there are more than 30,000 HL people, of which about 30% have mental illness and 11% schizophrenia. This situation confirms that far from integrating vulnerable people, society expels them. ATL project proposes a genuine way to solve the so far intractable problem of homelessness: Investing in their experience and equipping them to be able to reconnect other HL people. ATL will improve HL people’s situations through the specific creation of tailor-made training opportunities and also, stable employment. ATL will train them in something that no one is more suitable than HL people themselves: Supporting third sector organizations to decrease the number of HL people by adopting the role of Journey Certified Supporters (JCS). JCS will support other HL people from the inside, in an unconditional, non-judgmental, respecting and valuing way to build and help building happy, fulfilling and connected lives. ATL Training Model objectives: (1) Provide professionals working with homeless people (PwHL) with global and comprehensive training solutions to address target groups' individual situations.(2) Jointly design an innovative training model and methodology, integrated in other services, which provides HL people with real self-actualizing opportunities and also practical and sustainable job solutions. The goal: to re-enter society and support others to take the necessary steps towards it.(3) Sustain happy and connecting lives among HL people by providing them with a sense of identity and purpose as Journey Certified Supporters (JCS) and by re-connecting them with their communities.(4) Reduce the number of HL people and the likelihood that someone will experience homelessness in the future.(5) Employ a number of JCS and promote others on the labour market to establish a dynamic and sustainable employment system.A team of experts specialized in working with HL people (AP, P2, P3, P4, P5), in Peer support (AP, P2) and in Restorative Justice (P1) will jointly create an innovative tailor-made training program based on individual case management, covering knowledge, skills, practice and values of supporting others, with elements of Restorative Justice, to restore family ties and reconnect them with friends and fellows as a protecting factor. In contrast to traditional approaches, ATL Training Model is a methodology that seeks to create value for others not only offering HL people something but training them to contribute within their communities by using their own experience effectively in helping others. These are ATL Training Model main activities: (1) To design and test a training programme fully transferable which includes a teaching/training curriculum and supporting materials, addressed to professionals and needed to certify HL people as JCS. (2) To create an Online Training Service, where PwHL will find all the information needed to replicate ATL Training Model, including: JCS Online programme, JCS Vocational Qualification, readers’ digest systems and ATL Serious Board Game.(3) Organise an awareness-raising campaign to not only promote a change in third sector organizations' model to address the situation of HL people, but as equally important, to deeper the understanding of homelessness locally and change people’s perceptions, promote reporting, dispel stigma and target the causes that fuel intolerance or invisibility of our target groups.ATL will, in this way, provide an innovative training model, not being applied in any place yet, which takes advantage of HL people's previous knowledge and skills, to allow them to pass from being excluded to take an active role helping others.ATL Training Model goes beyond and supports 'Housing First' movements by helping HL people to also accommodate what they have lived on the streets and offer them real opportunities for training, employment and reconnection.

"COVID19's socio-economic impact on the cultural and artistic sectors has been unprecedented, as social distancing measures meant that they could not remain open. In addition to the devastating financial consequences, the promotion of culture and the use of art as tools for cohesion and education almost disappeared staying only at the core family level. In this context, steps should be taken to initiate real change in the way we protect and develop our common cultural heritage from an early age.In today's conditions, digital approaches to culture that promote active citizenship and social inclusion related to people's participation in culture are gaining importance.""Our Cultures"" brings together 7 cross-sector institutions from 6 different culturally diverse countries ( UK, Spain ,Turkey ,Portugal ,Italy and Greece) including schools, cultural and civil society NGOs. Our project focuses on providing art-based learning, creating digital concrete content and making the created content easily accessible open source in order to live, sustain and promote our common cultural heritage.Our project aims to create learning tools, resources, materials and training modules in order to encourage creativity and multiculturalism.Our main goal is to create active learning opportunities in formal and non-formal education institutions, through the use of technology in arts and education.Our project's intellectual outputs are: O1; Virtual Culture Travel (Time and Space Travel) (Mobile application)02; Experiential Learning Activity Books (Primary / Secondary School)O3; Cultural Heritage Awareness Materials (Digital Arts)We will also organise:6 national multipliers1 international multiplier2 LTTsKEY OBJECTIVES:* To grow a sense of curiosity and tolerance among students and educators for living in a global and interconnected world with digital cultural data tools by placing our cultural heritage at the very centre of our lives,* To obtain concrete inputs that will increase the intercultural interaction between cultural, artistic and equational institutions in a sustainable way and carry our cultural heritage to the future,* For children and young people to discover and experience our common cultural heritage inside and outside the classroom; to enable them to develop and strengthen their different identities within an interactive, democratic, and multicultural conscious citizenship perspective,* To ensure that children and young people have direct experience with the original heritage phenomenon (Experiential learning), be actively involved in the process, gaining commitment to the idea of ​​protecting cultural heritage, interpreting cultural heritage and seeking their own meaningful context behind the facts,* To make our students realize the local / universal dimension of culture through digital tools and arts: Students will reveal their feelings, thoughts and perceptions freely and sincerely through artistic activities, they will offer creative products for our cultural heritage.Students will be able to transfer their creative abilities to every aspect of their lives with the different perspectives they have gained on our cultural heritage, and they will be able to beautify their environment by gaining an aesthetic consciousness.* Developing digital literacy, collaboration and critical thinking skills of our participants through digital data tool (Web 2.0 tools, augmented reality) studies:Our participants will be able to use these competencies they have acquired on different platforms.* To make an impressive presentation of the cultural structures and areas in the region where our partners live, using the augmented reality method and 3D design technique:This tool will have interactive content that students can easily use in lessons and outside the classroom.Our Virtual Culture Travel Tool will make a tangible contribution to cultural tourism by making the regions where partners live a center of attraction.TARGET GROUPSStudents (7-15 years old), teachers and other educators and professionals working in formal (e.g. schools) and informal (e.g. in the community) settings. Secondary target groups include policy makers, decision makers, the media and general public as well as parents and carers. AMBITIONDuring times of despair, using the underlying values of restorative justice (e.g. power sharing, equality, dignity and respect) ""Our Cultures"" will create a sense of belonging and awareness about the common cultural and artistic heritage of Europe.The necessity of discovering different cultures through intercultural interactions and of course the dimension of the culture extending from local to universal make the transnational implementation of the project important and necessary in order to gain European awareness."

"PROJECT DESCRIPTION:The reality of the everyday practice of Adult Educators who support adult learners has been increasingly more demanding, requiring more specialized competencies, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes it brought in every aspect of life. The sociopolitical and economical events due to COVID-19, in combination with the limited capacity of Educational services around Europe during this period, have profoundly changed the job profile of Adult Educators, who are trying their best to find new, creative ways, in order to support individuals. More specifically, the pandemic has negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new obstacles and fears for people already suffering from mental illness, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating (32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and worsening chronic conditions (12%) (WHO, 2020), as a consequence of social exclusion, loneliness, uncertainty and a generalized panic due to the security measures and the new reality. In addition, Adult Educators have struggled in finding creative and healing ways, in order to ease the psychological discomfort and pain of learners, which sometimes led even to burn-out. However, due to the crisis of COVID-19 that influences most of the European countries, people have renewed their appreciation towards expression through Art and Creativity. The healing power of creativity through artistic forms has been proven in a wide variety of studies, stating that creative activities can relieve stress, depression, and aid communication (Kyaga, S., Landén, M., et.al., 2013). Art can work as an outlet from the stress of life and negative feelings, as it is a place where someone can be creative and happy with their own company. For the individual learners, dealing with crafts and creative activities can be really useful, since it boosts a sense of self-worth after completing an accomplishment, improves self-esteem, keeps the mind and body peaceful and busy, in a way where all negative thoughts and emotions are set aside for a moment. So, the aim of this project is to assist Educators to recognize that creativity is an essential component in training, that fosters openness and the ability to tolerate uncertainty in a changing educational and social world (Galbraith, M. & Jone, M., 2012). Since creativity is so important, this project will present strategies and Good practices for promoting creativity and explore the benefits it has for Adult Educators, Adult learners, and the Adult Education field in general. Specifically, the partners in this project will exchange knowledge regarding Good practices and Tools with an artistic and educational dimension, in order to enrich the educational ""briefcases"" of Adult educators and to promote positive well-being, and ease the negative psychological aspects arisen from the pandemic.This project will be based on Training Activities where the Good practices of each partner organization will be presented. The Activities will be standardized, which means that the Timetable and the nature of the activities will more or less be alike and include Study visits, World cafes, Case studies’ analysis, and Presentations. The last day of each Training Activity will be dedicated to an open event for the whole local, regional, and National community, in order to find more Good Practices in each partner country.TARGET GROUP:The target group of the Project is Adult Educators working with Adult Learners who have been affected mentally and emotionally by the pandemic and seek support, due to the discomfort and negative emotions caused by it. Those Adult Educators will participate in all the project's activities, in order to then implement the knowledge, they have acquired to the end-users, the people with fragile mental health.OBJECTIVES:1. Enhance Adult Educators' knowledge and awareness about creative and artistic tools/methods to be used in Adult Education2. Meliorate the professional skills and competences of Adult Educators working with Adult Learners3. Improve the mental health and well-being of the end-users, which was worsened due to the lockdown and the uncertainty of the situation we currently experience4. Enhance the Learners' soft skills via art5. Raise awareness about mental health and the significance of well-being6. Exchange of Good practices and Tools concerning artistic initiatives around mental health with an educational dimension.IMPACT:This Project is designed in a way, which presupposes long-lasting effects at a Local, National, and European level. The power of Art and Creativity as a healing tool and one of the most effective and energizing ways of Learning will be widely promoted. Moreover, in all dimensions, this project will raise awareness about the Mental Health and the emotional difficulties the COVID-19 pandemic brought, alongside with the sanitary ones, where the adaption to a new reality has brought to the surface."

"The World Health Organisation called for mental health to be treated as everyone's responsibility. It does not only affect the lives of people living with mental health problems, and their carers, but also the productivity of society as a whole. In many countries, mental illness is the leading cause of disability, responsible for 30-40% of chronic sick leave and costing some 3% of GDP. More common than diabetes, cancer or heart disease, mental illnesses fill up to 21% of all hospital beds at any given time. The need for effective approaches to treating people with severe mental illness is often a matter of life or death. 1 in 10 people diagnosed with schizophrenia and 1 in 5 with bipolar illness will end in suicide. People suffering from mental illness and especially those who live in mental health structures are in the forefront of socially disadvantaged groups, suffering more over from social stigmatization and marginalization. These people have also been suffering from societal injustices.Although art's healing effect on mental health is being acknowledged more and more, it is not an optional therapeutic approach for most of mental health structures in many European Countries. Moreover, even though, there is an obvious need of more contemporary approaches which will possibly reduce the use of medicines, most of the structures are being stuck to old protocols avoiding trying alternative methodological approaches and routines, as a result of ignorance or being afraid to try something new. The potential and benefits of combining therapeutic art with restorative justice are still not translated into educational material and programmes leaving many adult learners and professionals in the field unaware.Mental Health Matters through Restorative Art (MHM) aims to respond to this gap by bringing together a cross-sector, strategic partnership of 6 familiar and not so familiar with Erasmus organisations to support innovation in the adult education field by creating, piloting and disseminating educational material and tools tailored to the needs and realities of mental health professionals, restorative justice practitioners and artists in the participating countries (the UK, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Hungary) and across Europe. MHM will also design and accredit e-courses that will enhance the skills and knowledge of adult learners, supporting in this way the setting up of, and access to, upskilling pathways.The project consists of 4 Intellectual Outputs designed to meet its long-term goals:1 Training Manual on the use of Restorative Art in Mental Health, encouraging cooperation between the participant countries. It will provide us with a local and comparative picture of the use of restorative art in mental health structures among the participating countries as well as the ways in which art is exploited in these structures. 1 Training programme and CPD accredited e-course on the inclusion of restorative art in mental health structures (for mental health professionals, mental health structures' coordinators, mental health carers and restorative justice practitioners). It will give to our target group the knowledge skills, competences and attitudes to include art in mental health structure's routine in order to improve the lives of mentally ill people living in these structures 1 Training programme and CPD accredited e-course on the use of art as a relief and restorative tool for people living in mental health structures. The programme is expected to give emerging artists the knowledge, competences and attitudes to be included in the routine of mental health structures and also to use these skills and competences in order to find new career prospects 1 ""Mental Health Matters in Action"" E-book that will include and present the artworks that will have been emerged during the piloting phase and throughout the project. IO4 serves the broader planning of MHM and as a result will further involve emerging artists and healthcare and restorative justice practitioners with mentally vulnerable groups.These are supported by a well planned LTT and various horizontal, dissemination and communication activities including 6 multiplier events.MHM is expected to have considerable local, national and international results and impact including improving the knowledge, competences and attitudes of mental health professionals, emerging artists and restorative justice practitioners. Over 10,000 individuals and organisations are expected to be reached through the project's IOs, 6 multiplier events and 1 LTT. The online availability of all training materials and tools for at least 5 years after EU funding, as well as their translation in 4 languages will ensure sustainability of impact in the long run. Finally, MHM aims to use its findings to inform EU integration, healthcare and other relevant policies. Thus, the achievement of the project objectives will lead a step towards WHO/Europe priorities for mental health."

Responding to the unprecedented challenges of COVID19, SMART VET will bring together a Strategic crosse-sectorial Partnership of VET organization, SMEs and YOUTH organizations aimed at preparing a high quality improvement program specifically designed to increase VET teachers, trainers and mentors’ ability to foster VET students' transition to the labour market. Despite being the most academically qualified generation ever and facing all this pressure to succeed academically, employers consistently report that young people are unprepared and unequipped to enter the workplace when they leave full-time education – lacking a broad range of soft skills. The project contributes to help VET students in increasing their employability skills, also during the suspension period as the lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis. This will directly support “apprentices who are forced to take breaks in training in the workplace or are unable to work due to COVID-19 related prevention measures or illness” as allowed by the UK Department for Education, 2020”. For this reason, the 8 partners coming from different sector sand with different specialities, capitalizing on experience in VET services, employment services, skills development, formal and non-formal education, decided to share their expertise to develop new tools and support materials to support apprentices/VET students to enhance and foster transversal skills needed by the current labour market. The SMART VET training program and interactive tools aim at equipping VET teachers, trainers and mentors in +learn innovative mentoring and fostering techniques, based on non-formal education to tackle some of the challenges offered by the remote-learning situation +learn how use digital, interactive materials and tools to offer more engaging learning possibility to (ex) VET students +learn how to foster (ex) VET students’ soft skills via mentoring while on remote learning situations.The project will offer (ex)VET students a concrete way to prepare for employment and demonstrate to be proactive in their preparation. SMART VET materials can be used by VET students and job seekers with a VET background about to be enrolled in apprenticeship programs, to demonstrate their new / prospective employees they will be an asset to the company, not just a trainee. In particular, by introducing of serious games in in the process, the partners expect to increase both engagement and learning outcomes. The products will be digital to make them easily shared among young people, more used to online environment but also because, digital solutions will offer an easy way to deliver and transfer them, with a wider impact and easer possibility for implement follow up activities.The 7 partners from 7 countries involved in the SMART VET consortium represent a wide range of European diversity, as they are situated in different areas of Europe (UK PL IT CY GR RU TR) and represent different organizations and socio-economical contexts (towns of different sizes, economical environment, and culture) and most of all have different expertise, stakeholders, and audience with different backgrounds and needs. Public Employment Services or local and regional labour offices could also offer free guidance to support people in need for upskilling possibilities. The unemployed and job seekers can take advantage of the products as they provide a new method to facilitate employability skills improvement thus increase their change of employment. It is clear that education and training need to be adapted and linked more closely to the world of work, by bridging that gap between academia and labour market that now appears to be obsolete. Effectively anticipating which skills will be required in years to come by companies is crucial if workers with the right competencies are to be trained. The Consortium was assembled based also on the need of ensuring a comprehensive representation of the different national contexts facing the challenge of VET students facing the labour market for the first time, and of the trainers in charge for preparing them. All stakeholders are benefitting from the project’s results as have a useful program to help companies in identifying the gap between employers’ needs and expectations in terms of sustainable and responsible behaviors by employees: how to deal with a colleagues, how to solve a common problem, how to talk with superiors, but also more ethical and moral situations involving misbehaving / polluting companies, managers that do not respect basic labour rights, and other situation on that will push them to find a sustainable, responsible solutions to an issue.