In SYNAPSES, we present a vision of how pre-service and in-service programs on teaching for Sustainability Citizenship (SC) could be interrelated and enriched to develop a joint offer with a significant European dimension. SC has excellent potential for cultivating change agents who not only envision but also enact solutions to climate change. Teaching for SC can stimulate and lead to an action-including decreasing consumption and demand, developing sustainable food and energy sources, exploring nature-based solutions for the current challenges, using school buildings as teaching tools, and greening schoolyards. Arguing for a paradigm shift in how we view education. The SYNAPSES Academy could demonstrate how our education systems can create new levels of awareness and work toward a sustainable future. Teachers' impact will rise with the standards for environmental education, sustainability and combating climate change.SYNAPSES will set up the Erasmus+ Teacher Training Academy on Teaching for SC to ensure and safeguard the long-term impact of the proposed activities. A series of training activities (at local, regional, national, and international levels) will help teachers to design the most effective and engaging lessons that use innovative forms of instruction (inquiry-based, project-based, game-based) and tools (e.g., access to rich scientific data archives, virtual and remote experimentations, animations) in their classrooms. More generally, teachers will change their thinking about their students’ learning of and about the environment, science and technology. This will be expanded by offering concurrently opportunities for mobilities, such as study visits, job shadowing opportunities, meetings, conferences, and competitions to enable the Academy to become a forum for the exchange of knowledge. This information hub will support, develop and promote teaching for SC. A systematic accreditation mechanism will be designed in the framework of the project.

<< Background >>In the EU, about 88 million tons of food waste is generated annually with associated costs estimated at 143 billion euros. The EU and Member States are committed to meet the UN SDG 12.3 target to have per capita food waste at retail and consumer level by 2030. Waste is produced along all food supply chain, therefore EU legislators adopted the Revised EU Waste Legislation calling EU countries to monitor wastage during the whole supply chain and to report on results. Further, “Farm to Fork Strategy” has been created so as to accelerate transition to a sustainable food system capable of having neutral environmental effects. Food waste is a European plague and requires transnational actions. In this context, BAFOS project is aimed at stimulating students to investigate causes and consequences of food waste. Moreover, with the development of dedicated contents on “Minecraft: Education Edition” showing the value chain behind wasted foods, students have the opportunity to play as disseminators of food waste reduction knowledge within their communities, but also to increase the level of achievements in STEM and to raise the level of self-esteem.The main target groups’ needs will be met through the development of the two projects results:-EducatorsBAFOS project will provide them with ready to use tools to make their teaching methods more engaging and innovative. Both R1 and R2 will stimulate educators to explore a new teaching methodology, the Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL), analysing the food waste issue. Educators will be directly involved in the project to make them active participants of the development of the FoodWaste Minecraft World, missions and challenges, and the research on food waste. They will have the chance to enhance their resilience, digital competences and professional profile, learning how to integrate enquire, project and game based methodology within their everyday lessons.-StudentsStudents will be indeed the main beneficiaries of BAFOS project. In fact it will provide them with engaging and research activities about food waste’s causes and consequences and with an interactive project-based learning activity on Minecraft: Education Edition. Digital, interactive and catchy learning tools will answer to students’ needs of making schools more interactive, playful and interesting. Furthermore, the adoption of a student-centred teaching method will enhance schools’ flexibility and responsiveness to the learners’ needs.BAFOS project is in line not only with EU priorities in the field of STEM promotion and food waste reduction, but also with national policies adopted by partner countries.NL-is at the forefront against food waste. In 10 years the food waste produced in households decreased of 29%. In the last years, Dutch public authorities started a holistic campaign for raising awareness of citizens regarding food waste, enabling them to become active actors of the fight against food waste. IT-the vast majority of food waste arises from households' behaviours indeed. Household-related interventions are therefore crucial to deliver ambitious overall food waste reduction, with significant environmental, economic and social benefits.ES-Over the years, it has introduced various initiatives to reduce food wasting (National and Municipal Solid Waste Management Plans 2000-2006 and 2008-2015, More Food Less Wastage, Stop wasting food, etc.) but the food waste rate per year is still very high: Spanish households waste 18% of their food (FUSIONS, 2015).EL-consumers have positive attitudes towards food waste prevention and that their habits are close to the good practices suggested in the literature for reducing food waste.IE-60% of the total food wasted every year comes from the household and commercial sectors. In order lower the impact of this huge waste, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is carrying on the “Stop Food Waste” campaign at national level, providing advice to help consumers to reduce food waste.<< Objectives >>The aim of BAFOS project is to directly commit students in discussing the causes and consequences of food loss and waste engaging them with the development of FoodWaste adventure game in Minecraft Education collection. Therefore, the project will also address the need to enhance knowledge of and about STEM as a precondition to prepare Europe’s population to be actively engaged and responsible citizens, creative and innovative, able to work collaboratively and fully aware of and conversant with the complex challenges facing society (Science Education for Responsible Citizenship, EC, 2015).BAFOS project’s objectives are:-To enhance target groups awareness on the importance of food waste and losses prevention;-To create guidelines ready to use by people to learn how to avoid wasting food;-To create a new digital environment that can be used at school;-To make the school more engaging for students by using Minecraft platform;-To change the focus of the teaching methods adopted in schools (from teacher-centred to student-centred);-To encourage individuals to lower their level of food waste on a daily basis, starting the virtuous cycle “to know-to care of-to act”.<< Implementation >>In the framework of BAFOS project, partners plan to create two main results: one Food waste transnational research and one “FoodWaste Adventures” in Minecraft education collection.Each result requires the implementation of different activities:R1. FoodWaste Transnational research:R1/A1 Methodology of the analysisP4 EFFEBI, P5 ADACI and P6 THEMISTOKLIS will also create:-Creation of templates for interviews and focus groups conduction-Instructional materials for teachers about EBL-Instructional materials for students about i) food waste ii) food supply chain (glossary, references, etc.)-Instructional materials for students and teachers to collect data within school and outside it about food waste causes, good practices and interviews.R1/A2 Conduction of the analysis at school levelPartners active in the education field will select 2 teachers and 6 students (preferably, 3 male and 3 females for ensuring gender balanced representation) each to carry out the research. Students with the support of teachers and project partners will conduct theoretical and field research, interviewing supply chain representatives.R1/A3 Conduction of the analysis at partner levelPartners active in fields different from the educational one will conduct a field research involving at least 5 representatives of the supply chain in focus groups. They will collect data, best practices and include their findings in focus groups’ final reports. All the best practices collected (tot. 14) and all the reports’ findings will be included in a common transnational report, where data collected using different tools by schools and partners will be shown. The transnational report will be the basis for the development of content in the framework of R2.R2. FoodWaste Adventures in Minecraft collection R2/A1 - Inception and creation of the FoodWaste Minecraft world: A custom Minecraft world will be conceptualized specifically to support the delivery of PBL challenges to enhance sentiment about food waste. The FoodWaste world will provide the thematic environment in which all activities will take place. It will feature an engaging map with relevant layers and biomes (the MCreator tool may be used for creating custom biomes). The map will also feature annotations and custom terrain layers.R2/A2 - Elaboration of Game Mission: The complete game scenario describing the non-player characters (NPCs), the game elements, the walkthrough introducing the different game areas and tasks and the after game practicing session. The transnational report created at the end of R1 will be used for the creation of this world.R2/A3 - Development of the Game Content: This task is based on the Lesson structure of BAFOS programme and concerns the game content to support the delivery of the lesson objectives.R2/A4 - Design of resources & Implementation of resource packs and mods: the design of visual and other resources for supporting the challenges. The resources will be used by the resource packs and mods in each activity. The resource pack system provides a way to customize textures, models, music, sounds, languages, texts, splashes, credits, fonts, without code modifications. A dedicated resource pack will be created featuring its own textures with custom animations for the challenges. The resource pack will be easy to distribute and have its own thumbnail.R2/A5 - Development of instructional material and guide: Comprehensive material will be developed for using the world so that everyone can download and integrate the world in Minecraft and use the collection. All the material will be made available through the FoodWaste Foundry virtual space to support the growth of a community of adopters.R2/A6 - Dry runs & Validation Release: A first release will be provided to partners for internal testing. Based on the conclusions, the validation release will be prepared and used by representatives of the target group so as to conclude upon what needs to be done for the release.<< Results >>At the end of the Project, Partners expect to achieve the following results, deliverables and outcomes:R1 - FoodWaste Transnational research-Food Waste Analysis Methodology-Selection of 2 teachers, one with ICT knowledge and one active in fields connected to BAFOS project’s topics-Selection of 6 students (preferably, 3 male and 3 females for ensuring gender balanced representation)-Identification of 14 best practices (2 per partner)-Conduction of 4 focus group with representatives of the supply chain-Conduction of 6 interviews made by students to representatives of the supply chain-4 national focus group reports-6 school interviews’ reports-1 transnational report, comprehensive of best practices, reports created during R1 activities, main findings and conclusions-1 executive summary of the report in EN,NL,IT,ES,ELR2 - FoodWaste Adventures in Minecraft Collection-Creation of the FoodWaste Minecraft world on “Minecraft: Education Edition”-Elaboration of various Minecraft game missions-1 guideline (instructional material) on how to use the FoodWaste Minecraft world with translation in Partner languages-1 dry run carried out by partners for testing the platform-validation release for target groups’ membersPROJECT MANAGEMENT & IMPLEMENTATION-4 Transnational Meetings-Virtual Meetings every 2 months -Dissemination and exploitation plan-Steering committees of experts (1/partner organization), meeting on the occasion of each Transnational meeting-Management and quality plan-Grant Agreement and Bilateral Collaboration Agreements with Partners-Brochure, website & other dissemination material-Progress and Final Reports-Exploitation and sustainability strategy & IPR Agreement-Appropriate reporting on behalf of all project partners-In time delivery of project activities, based on the Gantt chart-Active involvement and collaboration among all project partnersMULTIPLIER EVENTS-5 National info days in NL, ES, IT, EL, IE-1 Final Conference in NL-140 local participants involved in multiplier events-15 international participants involved in multiplier events.

As a result of the success of the Irish Digital Schools of Distinction award scheme, and enquiries from a range of EU countries regarding its implementation, the National Steering committee decided to investigate the potential of exploring its expansion into other EU countries. An analysis of European Commission reports and policy documents identified a number of common themes that dovetailed with the objectives of the partner organisations.The Digital Schools of Europe project was set up with a two-fold approach:1.To seek out best practice in the use of ICT in Schools throughout the partnership regions, to assess and share this best practice with each other and to disseminate this best practice to other countries.2.To analyse accreditation systems in the partnership countries, to assess the feasibility of introducing a nationally accredited award system in each country, similar to the Irish Digital Schools of Distinction Award, leading to the feasibility or possibility of an international EU accredited system. Our project also met many of the elements recommended for strategic partnerships: •Develop, test, adapt and adopt/implement innovative practices relating to: •learning and teaching methodologies and pedagogical approaches, especially those delivering key competences and basic skills, language skills, and focusing on the use of ICT; •new forms of learning and providing education and training, notably strategic use of open and flexible learning, virtual mobility, open educational resources and better exploitation of the ICT potential;•Carry out joint research, surveys, studies and analysis;•Facilitate recognition/certification of skills and competences at national level by referencing them to European and National Qualification Frameworks and using EU validation instruments.Of the eight participating countries a) three were successful partners in the Comenius 3 Network 'Roots & Wings' b) six (including the previous three were successful partners in the Comenius 3 Network 'Wide Minds'. Both Networks put a strong emphasis on the integration of ICT into learning and teaching. Over the years 2002 - 2013 the partners developed a trusted and valuable working partnership that has stood the test of time. Two 'new' partners were chosen with great care, and based on their track record on best practice in the field, in particular for the strength of the local and regional networks they represent. All participating partners identified the objective of Successful Integration of ICT into Learning and Teaching as worthy of investigation, in tandem with the shared exchange of innovative and proven practice in associated schools in relation to the use of digital technologies in schools. The expertise of the group has been exceptional throughout this project. All partners have very high personal ICT skills levels, are very experienced in the area of promoting the development of ICT in Education as a teaching and learning tool, and all have direct links to schools. Responsibilities allocated to each partner ensured they contributed significantly to the success of the project. Each organisation had the responsibility for including affiliated schools in project activities.The main activities of the Digital Schools of Europe project include the following:•Eight transnational meetingsAt each transnational meeting there was a full programme of work and activities. At each meeting the following activities were mandatory.•Management of meetings involving all the coordinators where each aspect of the project was reviewed, updates from all participants were expected and were given and modifications of the programme in the light of developments between meetings were discussed and agreed•A feasibility meeting with members of local authorities where the feasibility of establishing a digital schools award system in the host region was discussed.•School visits – participants visited selected schools in groups. The practice and good practice that was observed was discussed and was compared to practices in participants’ own countries. During the course of the project schools were visited in all partner regions, generating valuable discussion and modifications to practice where improvements were possible.•eTwinning – a workshop on eTwinning was delivered at each meeting •After the conclusion of formal activities participants explored cultural, educational and artistic experiences in each host region.-A full description of intellectual outputs is available in section 5.3 of this report.-A full description of multiplier events is available in section 5.4 of this report.Population of the website in particular with regard to Best Practice -A full description is available in section 5.3 (Output 3: DSoE and section 5.3 (Output 5: Best Practice)Further information on Results and impact attained and longer term benefits available in Dropbox.

There is a great need to create the right conditions for educating children and young people in digital skills. Schools need to develop tools to give children and young people the understanding they need to be able to work as digital citizens. Several European projects have begun to tackle this problem: what is presented here - SHELFIE - intends to build on what has already been done to further advance the schools of Europe in a serious, aware, responsible and effective access to the web and to the digital resources.The overall objective of the SHELFIE project is to - to make schools aware of what it takes to improve their digital ecosystem and that it is possible to do so even within the limits of each local situation;- provide the schools with tools so that they can develop a digital environment for the students to acquire such knowledge that they effectively and safely can use digital devices and the internet and enhance good practices in these areas. -to create an Online Safety Roadmap consisting of material divided into different age groups for teachers to use when working with internet safety, incorporating school management, teachers, students and parents, structured developmentally for three different age groups. This material will not be created from scratch but instead the project aims to categorise a huge amount of already existing resources out there from our different countries and then categorise them into different headings and three different age groups. The age groups are important since the needs differs a lot between them. Six countries will take part in the project:Leading Institution: Sweden (Malmö): Municipality Educational ICT-unit (DE)Ireland: Dublin West Education Centre (DWEC)Finland (Oulu): Regional Education Authority, Development Unit, (DU)Denmark (Odense): Education Centre (UCL)Italy (Pisa):University of Pisa (UNIPI) Portugal (Lisbon):Teacher Training organisation (NUCLEO)A minimum of two schools which have an association with the partner organisations, will be involved from each country and will give feedback to the work of the Intellectual Outputs.The Shelfie project will work with:Developing an in-depth study of the difficulties facing schools in integrating digital teaching and learning. This study will be structured in line with the SELFIE sub-divisions.Developing an online library of resources for schools structured according to the SELFIE headings and adding one of internet safety.Each section will include a minimum of 10 proven resources in each of the 7 languages of the project partners.An online open source facilitating searchable access to the resources for schools.Our main target groups for the project are local, regional, national and international stakeholders; such as schools, ICT advisors, school leaders, teachers, educational authority, universities working with teacher education,politicians and other decision makers.Eight transnational meetings will be held that incorporate:(a) Opportunities to observe good practice in the use of digital technologies(b) Opportunities to discuss and work with the Intellectual outputs.(c) Meeting of representatives from partner organisations in relation to planning, monitoring, dissemination and evaluation of the development of the project.Six Multiplier events will be held, one by each partner to make schools and stakeholders aware of what it takes to improve their digital ecosystem and present and discuss the outcomes of our Intellectual outputs; the report, the modules and the online safety roadmap on the online portal.The events will also reach out to local, regional and national stakeholders; schools, ICT advisors, school leaders and teachers and bee a part of the projects dissemination.The associated schools will be required to participate in our common Twinspace connected to the project where they they are expected to work with our teachers in the project and exchange their experiences, try out the material from IO3 and give feedback. This will give useful input in the work with the project.The outcomes of the project will beA written report of an in depth study on the difficulties facing schools in integrating digital teaching and learning An online portal will be developed, recommending and highlighting recommended practices for teachers and schools to help develop their digital capacities. This portal will contain an online library of modules tailored to their needs and an Online Safety Roadmap for the schools to use.Increased awareness of these issues at the partners' local networks of schools, heads, teachers and other stakeholders.The online library with resources for schools are aiming to develop a digital environment for the students to acquire such knowledge that they effectively and safely can use digital devices and the internet and enhance good practices in these areas.This online library will be divided according to the criterias under each of the six areas of SELFIE.

The Repurposing Education through Blended Learning ( REBEL) project is both a surgical response to the disruption of schooling caused by Covid-19 and a longer-term plan to support improved learning with all children. The project seeks to achieve this goal first through a systematic review of the evidence on the use of blended learning in schools, supplemented by the experience of the team and by case studies of blended learning in the first phase of the project. 5 schools in each of the partner countries will be invited to take part in the case studies which will include primary and secondary schools and tutors working in Initial Teacher Education. This case study work will provide rich contextual insights into the way that blended learning is understood in primary schools and across different subjects in secondary schools. A rigorous mixed-methods approach will be used for the collection and analysis of data. It is already clear, however, that one of the key elements of successful online learning for young people, as well as adults, is purposeful interaction through the development of social, cognitive and teacher presence. At present, few, if any courses on blended learning for teachers place sufficient emphasis on this.The second phase of the REBEL project, therefore, will be the development of professional development courses in all 4 of the partner countries and at the same time, the co-creation of an evaluation framework to help schools assess their needs in this area. A total of 200 schools across the four countries will be involved in the training. The course will be piloted and will be based around a core of key elements related to the ways that blended learning can make use of both synchronous and asynchronous tools to foster an inclusive learning environment.The third and final phase of the REBEL project will be the dissemination of key findings through a MOOC and a website