<< Background >>THE CHALLENGEHUMANS“In learning processes, as machines become better at rote tasks, humans will need to focus on the skills that remain unique to them: creativity, collaboration, communication and problem-solving” - Karen Hao (Taught by AI) CURRENT PERFORMANCEWe believe our project is closely linked to the ability of young people for critical thinking and connecting theory with practice. With its format and MO, INNOVATORY aims to tackle the reversal of this trend through creativity, collaboration and communication which develop skills of young people that allow their performance to improve in the key. Students from Romania, Portugal, Serbia, Greece and Slovenia are on a descendent trend in the PISA 2018 tests compared to both 2015 and 2012 results, Lithuania being the only exception to this scenario. Most of the countries are being classified as level 2 in all three domains.(see detailed PISA performance in the 6 partner countries attached)Complementary, data showed youth aged 15-17 wish they were also equipped with life skills and better training of their teachers in order to transversally help in developing these skills. The consulted stakeholders shared this view, along with the impression that schools are not equipped with the proper methods and tools to stimulate creativity and critical thinking. (LEAP Cluj 2020)SKILLS, TODAY AND TOMORROWDebates regarding the future of work resound through society in the light of the emerging AI or what knowledge will be valid in one or two decades. However, there is no debate on the fact that critical thinking, ability to work in teams, problem-solving skills, creativity and new ways of applied learning won’t lose their relevance and utility.CRISIS AND RESILIENCEResilience was already becoming a theme of interest for urban areas, and the COVID-19 pandemic provided an additional argument. Communities around the world need to adapt, find new ways of dealing with crises and provide solutions to capital challenges. While the focus now is on short term solutions, the long-term sustainability through resilience lies in a widespread of skills through which crises can be managed. And this perspective starts with today’s teenagers as the key decision-making generation.<< Objectives >>GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND TARGET GROUPSWe aim to create European Innovatory, a European movement of 840 high-school pupils, 70 teachers, 50 experts and decision-makers involved in a creative and collaborative learning process identifying needs and problems in society and providing creative solutions on local and European level based on the method of Design Thinking until 2024.We aim for:• involving high-school pupils (aged 14-18) and their teachers from 7 urban areas in developing their critical thinking, creative and problem-solving skills and proactive attitude in a creative and collaborative environment, in a safe space where they can try themselves out while receiving proactive feedback while also improving teacher-pupil working relationships through the creation of 210 creative teams,• developing a creative way of promoting the creative and proactive problem-solving potential of young people towards local stakeholders and decision-makers involved in urban development locally, and overall community development at European level,• creating a Europe-wide proactive scalable learning movement based on social innovation and Design Thinking as key aspects of building individual and community resilience leading to a sustainable transformation in society, involving 840 pupils, 70 teachers and additional 150 experts, mentors and stakeholders,• creating sustainable cooperation, management and decision-making platform involving 7 starting cities and 10 additional European stakeholders aiming to take care of the results of the project including its consolidation as a European programme and movement and a scalable model in Europe and the world.<< Implementation >>A1 General management – full project periodProvides the general management activities and the monitoring of the progress. It also refers to organisational costs of the coordinator and each partner (office costs, stationary, partial salaries of administrative personnel, delegations and trips for the dissemination of the project in the country and abroad).Coordinator: project coordinatorA2 Accounting – full project periodFilling and financial management, according to the clauses of the financial agreement and its annexes.C: accountant/partner, supervised by the financial coordinatorA3 Project launch communication – 1st monthA special activity focusing on announcing the start of the project (objectives, timeframe and expected results), in 7 languages for enhanced acces. C: communication coordinator with partner coordinatorsA4 Dissemination on O1 and the launch of Local Innovatory actions – 6th monthWhen concluding O1, we will conduct a detailed, mostly institutional campaign, presenting the overall framework and next steps, aiming to raise interest towards the process, including local and European action. The public call for teachers will be launched.A5 Intermediate evaluation 1 – 8th monthIntermediate evaluation is conducted before and during the 3rd project meeting and it sums up activities and performance for the first 6 months, especially concerning the creation of O1 and the selection of teachers for the second output. The intermediate evaluation is conducted by a layman involved in the project.A6 Dissemination on O2 – 11th monthE1-E7 (happening simultaneously) are concluded with the dissemination of O2. We will address a wide range of audience and will focus on the simultaneity of the processes and the 200+ generated solutions by the teams. C: communication coordinatorA7 Intermediate evaluation 2 – 12th monthIntermediate evaluation is prepared during the 4th project meeting and it sums up activities and performance, especially concerning the creation of O2. It is done jointly by all partners. C: project coordinatorA8 Dissemination on O3 – 20th monthDissemination of O3 occurs in connection with the European SpeakOut Day and comes as a completion to the third multiplier event of the project, to be held in Cluj-Napoca, city hosting the overall project coordination. The dissemination uses a set of tools and targets a wide range of audiences, as it is presented in the special section dedicated to dissemination activities. C: communication coordinatorA9 Institutional dissemination – 21-23rd monthThis dissemination activity will focus on presenting all intellectual outputs and other results of the project through institutional channels. In this process, we will use institutional e-mail communication, but the management team will also organise a dissemination tour to Brussels and Strasbourg in order to meet key stakeholders. Visits to our associated partners will also be deployed during the last three months of the project.A10 Final evaluation and sustainability planning – 23rd monthFinal evaluation is conducted during and after the last project meeting. We will use the reporting period to enable a broad debriefing among partners and to plan future action and scaling of project results. Final evaluation also sets conditions for impact monitoring and draws up a sustainability plan for the results of the project.A11 Final communication on the project and results – 23rd monthA summary communication of the project’s results is published which provides a summary of all outputs and outcomes and it also reflects on the impact, continuation of the project and the sustainability of results. This communication will be done mostly through online tools on the internet, through e-mail and social networks.<< Results >>CAUSES OF THE CHALLENGELACK OF SOFT SKILL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLSIf one takes a glance at a weekly class schedule of European pupil in the countries involved in this project, it is shocking how any soft skills curricula is missing. Although these skills can be gained through involvement in non-formal learning activities, the burden of a school programme hardly allows a real chance in acquiring these skills without impacting one’s grades. OLD WAYS OF TEACHINGTeaching knowledge is still a mostly one-way process while validation is done with grades based on reproducing memorised information. However, the growing number of teachers trying to bring additional non-formal methods into their work is an opening. OPPORTUNITY IN DIGITAL, FOCUS ON HUMAN SKILLSAs Karen Hao expresses it quite simply, no matter of advance in technology, humans will need creativity, collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills. As Internet is relatively cheap and accessible, quality is good, there is an opportunity to deploy creative learning and collaboration processes supported by up-to-date digital solutions. There is a real opening for enabling a creative and collaborative environment focusing on problem-solving and enabling communication towards stakeholders.We aim to achieve the following results:AT OUTPUT LEVEL* the creation of an overall European Innovatory Framework comprising of an overarching context, a resolution on the needs of skills development, an open methodology for implementation at local level, an open platform supporting overall awareness, dissemination and enabling, recording and tracking of cooperation between teachers, young people, mentors and stakeholders,* the delivery of 7 Local Innovatory actions resulting in the creation of a total of 210 creative solutions developed by young people to problems and needs in their surrounding and society in general,* the delivery of 14 innovative solutions developed by young people, improved to the level of business cases ready for implementation on European level,* the formation of 210 working teams in which high-school pupils and teachers work together in developing their skills and competencies through Design Thinking,* the formation of Local Innovatory support networks involving teachers, stakeholders, decision-makers, their working ways being captured in 7 specific city-level study cases,AT OUTCOME LEVEL* 840 young people involved through 210 teams in innovative ways of developing skills and competencies regarding creativity, problem-solving, collaboration and communication,* (at least) 84 young people from fewer opportunities provided with an equal chance of developing they skills and competencies in a similar way to their peers involved in Innovatory,* 70 teachers with developed skills and competencies regarding creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, communication and facilitation involved in a pool of teachers supporting the skill development of young people, organised in local networks but also as part of a European movement,* 150 experts, mentors and coordinators are involved in supporting teachers and pupils themselves in developing new ways of collaboration in education processes aiming to develop skills and competencies of young people,* 7 local networks of stakeholders are created in support of young people’s skills development.* sustainability conditions are met for the continuation of the 7 initial Local Innovatory processes from 2024 on,* 30 more cities express their intent to adapt and deliver Local Innovatory starting from 2024.* a European Innovatory model and open movement is created for the support of skills development, able to extend and involve other cities and their local communities,* an enhanced cooperation of cities in the framework of the Network of European Youth Capitals and including a renewed commitment considering youth as a key priority in shaping the future of these cities in the long term.

LAYOUTH comes from Local Action for Youth. But it is also the combination of LAYOUT and YOUTH. Not the least, it also aims a call towards YOU with the middle letters of the newly created word. The project involves 8 cities which were nominated as European Youth Capital title bearers in time: Braga in 2012, Maribor in 2013, Thessaloniki in 2014, Cluj-Napoca in 2015, Varna in 2017, Novi Sad in 2019, Amiens in 2020 and Klaipeda in 2021.All participating cities have their own realities. Their approach towards youth-related strategic and operational planning and ecosystem-development through cross-sectorial cooperation (public, non-governmental and private) is absolutely diversified. However, cooperation is possible between these cities as there is common ground regarding the importance given to young people, their engagement, connection and empowerment as active citizens of their city’s life, and there are mutually accepted principles like co-management of strategic initiatives between the municipality and youth actors.We will change the approach on how cities should deliver for young people in a simple yet well- structured way. At least we will try. We believe LAYOUTH will become a brand and reference point on how to work for and with young people through action planning and integrated efforts of cooperation in a participatory and inclusive way. We believe these 8 cities, through their record up to this moment and their strong commitment towards youth will really be able to ignite this innovation.The main goal of the project is to consolidate the local planning and implementation systems serving youth in participating cities, aligned with European youth-related policies while setting a standard and a wide pool of intellectual resources through which any other European city can align its own local efforts towards young generation.We defined the following specific objectives for our endeavour:SO1: to create a modern, modular, complex but still easily adaptable framework and scalable model of delivering full cycles of urban youth ecosystem development built on sustainable approaches;SO2: to improve the actual youth-related planning and delivery system of participating cities on strategic and operational level putting high emphasis on engagement, connection and empowerment of young people;SO3: to engage and to empower key organisational and organisational actors in a learning process through which their capacity of a cooperation, co-creation and co-management based local action planning and delivering in the field of youth becomes sustainable while adding significantly to the quality of life of young citizens;OD (organizational development): to develop the capacity of involved partners in being key actors of the future development of youth ecosystems in their own cities and to assist other cities in addressing the same issue.… IN KEY NUMBERS …•1 modern, modular framework in 10 European languages, available open source for scaling and multiplication,•1 new brand for local action planning and delivery for youth in cities of Europe: LAYOUTH,•5 key elements of a framework for urban action planning for youth in Europe (white paper – toolkit – study cases on implemented action plans – pool of facilitators – resource centre),•8 implemented Local Action Plans for Youth in 8 cities from 8 countries, which are harmonised by methodology. All of them evaluated through study cases.•25 tools of empowering young people at local level collected in a single toolkit,•32 youth facilitators organised in a European network which can be deployed in an international environment in order to provide further scaling,•7,680 stakeholders consulted in the process,•24,000 young people consulted about their feelings about the city and their needs and contributions to their city’s life and development,•3,000+ European level stakeholders targeted by dissemination activities and publications,•1.5 million euro allocated for youth programmes and initiatives in 2020 in participating cities,•7.8 million euro allocated local budgets in partner cities for youth related investments for 2020 and 2021The project will result in the creation of a new, modern, modular, and scalable model for delivering local action plans for youth. All characteristics are carefully considered here. Modern, as something easy to understand and to apply in practice, something to which youth organisations, groups of young people can relate to easily. Modular as something which has the quality of being understood piece by piece. Adaptable as a framework which can be easily filled with local specific content while the framework itself keeps intact. And scalable as being able to be extended to an unlimited number of cities, a characteristic derived also from its adaptability. The project is built on:* 3 intellectual outputs* 3 multiplier events* 3 training activities* 8 project meetings* 8 partner/8 country cooperation

"<< Background >>S.M.A.R.T. is a 24-month Strategic Partnership involving 7 partners from 6 different European countries from the youth and digital activities development sectors. The project aims to support and empower youth workers, develop the digital skills of participants and design and implement digital youth activities that will lead to the professional development of participants while at the same time they can be applied to any other form of education and training that is digitally implemented.The idea behind the Strategic Partnership is in the interest of the partners to create a project that will be the continuation of 3 different previous Partnerships (STEPS, VR in School Education and in Civic Involvement & SMART Youth work in youth centers) focusing on the latest developments and needs caused by the pandemic and the general emphasis on policies that promote the digitization of education and training.In summary, the project, through its activities and produced Project Results, aims to develop the digital competences and skills of youth workers, to ensure the inclusiveness of learning opportunities, to develop e-learning, mixed and distance learning skills, to develop digital pedagogical skills of youth workers and to empower them to provide high-quality digital, non-formal inclusive education. Participants in this process will be youth workers and their main feature is that they wish to develop their digital skills in the field of Digital Youth Work (DYW). As a result, people with or without much experience in the field of Youth will be sought who are interested in gaining a background in digital tools and methodologies that will allow them to adapt their work to the new trends of digital activities in the youth field.The expected results of the project are identified in empowering and educating youth workers to be able to understand how digitization shapes societies, including its impact on education and the youth sector in general, to take into account the 'digital culture' of young people, to foster a more flexible culture in the adoption of digital tools in education , to design DYW actions in line with the needs and hopes of young people and to encourage the participation of young people in all phases of DYW.This will be achieved through the development of a series of Project Results which focus on the development of MOOC courses and their attendance by participants on various aspects and tools of DYW and Digital Training, the creation of VR environment for the implementation of activities aimed at young people, the pilot implementation of youth activities by the participants themselves and , finally, the creation of a toolbox containing tools, methods and applications useful in the field of Digital Education and Training based in the field of DYW.In summary, S.M.A.R.T.focuses on achieving a triple impact. First, it seeks to create opportunities for organisations, trainers and youth workers to innovate. Secondly, it aims at the increased use of Open Educational Resources, ensuring that educational materials produced with European or public funding are free, open and available to all for use or reuse. Finally, it seeks to improve the infrastructure of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and connectivity in youth centres.<< Objectives >>The COVID pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to all types and levels of learning, including vocational education and training (VET). An entire generation of young people may suffer disruption to their learning experience if it is not ensured to continue through distance learning. There is an urgent need for a response that focuses on the needs of every young person during the global recovery from the pandemic, especially those at risk of early retirement, such as learners with less favored socio-economic backgrounds, refugees and migrants, trainees with disabilities and special educational needs. The target group of the project is youth workers, because they are those who come into direct contact with the above-mentioned high-risk groups for exclusion or limited access to digital education, and must enrich their knowledge and acquire innovative tools in order to meet this new challenge that also affects learners, teachers and trainers around the world.In addition, the provision of training for the acquisition of digital skills and competences should be taken into account, as not all learners have equal skills, resources or opportunities to participate in distance learning and e-learning. Finally, providing personalised support is crucial during this global crisis, which has widened and reinforced the digital, social, emotional, cultural and economic inequalities that many learners have already had to deal with.With the global crisis caused and the closure of educational structures and youth centres, continuity of learning can only be ensured thanks to the digital skills, flexibility and creativity of trainers to develop creative solutions with online resources and that is where the project is aimed. Unfortunately, not all trainers and youth workers are equally prepared for this process. In a profession that is mainly practiced in its traditional form, where personal interaction and proximity are necessary, social distancing certainly poses new roles and challenges for them.Online learning environments invite them to demonstrate high-quality digital skills and confidence in the use of online conferencing solutions. They must also be vigilant about increased cyberbullying and protect young people from being disconnected from the ""real world"", paying attention to the time they spend online. Trainers should also work with employers and social partners to share their material online or produce new digital learning tools.During the pandemic, digital course delivery, which also allows for online professional learning opportunities for instructors, has become the norm. Under the current conditions, online modules are required to develop the digital skills of trainers and their equipment with the necessary digital knowledge.The aim of the project is to support and empower youth workers in the development of digital competences, the design and implementation of digital activities for youth and their professional development.Objectives:1. The development of digital skills and competences of youth workers2. Ensuring the inclusive nature of learning opportunities3. The development of e-learning, mixed and distance learning skills4. The development of digital pedagogical skills of youth workers5. Empowering youth workers to provide high-quality digital, non-formal inclusive education<< Implementation >>The activities included in the plan that are not related to the creation of Project Results are found in the following categories:a. Communication/ Promotion of the project and its resultsb. Exploitation of a CREBRUM digital platformc. Creation of Guides for the proper implementation of the project and activities of thea. Communication/ Promotion of the project and its results-For the proper and effective communication and cooperation of the project partners, in addition to the official Transnational Meetings established at specific times during its life cycle, it has been jointly decided to hold continuous informal meetings in which the trainers and other staff of the organisations concerned, such as the technical support team, etc., will be invited on a case-by-case basis. These meetings will be held through a digital platform in its professional publication e.g. ZOOM, Microsoft teams. -With regard to the promotion of the project, provision has been made for the creation of the visual identity of the project, which requires the involvement of a graphic designer in order to approach the identity of the project professionally by strengthening its footprint to all interested parties.-As a basic means of promotion and sharing results, the website that will be created will remain operational and remain active even after its completion.- As the dynamic presence on social media is perhaps the most effective promotional channel, we will proceed to the promotion of Facebook ads and the implementation of native advertising (mainly during the early stages of the project)- In order to enhance the visibility of the project and its objectives, it is planned to implement a Kick-Off event in Athens during which all target groups will be invited to attend, to share their objectives and possible ways of involvement in the project.- The project will also be supported by the creation of (mainly digital) dissemination materials such as gadgets, brochures, posters etcβ. Exploitation of digital platform CEREBRUM (www.cerebrum.gr)The online courses that will be created will be hosted on the CEREBRUM digital platform, which is an interactive educational platform, friendly to its use and with the capability of direct communication of users. In order to maximise its use, this platform should be adapted to the language and learning requirements of this project. The CEREBRUM platform was created by the coordinating body itself based on the Strategic Framework of the European Union ""Education and Training 2020"" with the aim of promoting good practices, highlighting new skills and academic development in Greece and Europe.c. Creation of Guides for the proper implementation of the project and its activities For the proper implementation of the project, provision has been made for the creation of a set of Guides which will contribute to the more efficient management of the whole project and to the better implementation of the activities contained therein.In detail, we will proceed to the creation of the following Guides:- Communication Strategy Guide- Quality Assurance Guide- GDPR Guide- VR Environment User's Guide- CERABRUM Platform Registration and User’s Guide- MOOC Courses Guide<< Results >>The project essentially provides for 4 core activities in the form of four different but interrelated Project Results (PRs). In summary, these are:1. MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) or Mass Free Online Courses for the Digitization of Education and the Use of Digital Tools2. Virtual Reality Platform for the implementation of digital activities for youth workers3. Pilot implementation of digital activities4. Create a digital toolboxInitially the partner-head of MOOC PR, in collaboration with the other partners, will create the mass lessons. This PR is also the backbone of the overall project, as it aims to educate youth workers on a variety of topics related to digital education, digital tools, distance learning, etc. MOOC practically empowers and trains youth workers so that they can further develop any existing digital skills and competences, but above all be able to develop new ones, become familiar with the use of innovative digital tools, and eventually be able to develop and use creative educational methodologies making the most of the available online resources that will be concentrated in the Digital toolbox. The use and exploitation of these open source and free courses largely ensures an educational process that does not exclude anyone due to geographical, cultural, social or economic constraints.In addition, the nature of these online courses and the structure of educational content are such that they do not require the physical presence of the user at certain times and days. Users are free to formulate their own monitoring and participation schedule in the various course chapters of MOOC, in their own free time, and even at the end of each chapter have the possibility of repetitions, self-evaluation of their progress through special tests and questions to the instructors.The Virtual Reality Platform for the implementation of digital activities emerges as an evolution after the end of the MOOC training process and offers learners the possibility of simulating an environment that provides a high degree of interaction and direct contact of the user with it. The VR environment will act as a safe field of experimentation on the knowledge and theory gained by the trainees in the first stage of the project. Within the platform users will be able to simulate electronic, mixed and distance learning and learning environments, safely, and with the help of modern technological tools, thus developing the corresponding digital and pedagogical skills and competences described in the project results section.The Digital Activities Pilot Application is the general rehearsal for the implementation of the planned results of the project. Through its implementation, the consortium will have the opportunity to better evaluate the results of the first 2 PRs in an ""experimental"" phase, to respond to any problems that may arise and to resolve them using the method of back testing. This means that the consortium will carry out evaluation actions of the first two PRs using evaluation methodologies that are rigorous, systematic and continuous.Finally, the Digital Toolbox that will be created, and will be open and free of charge accessible to all, ensures the continuity of the project beyond its official ending date, as it will continue to be enriched with material from all partners. The Toolkit provides learners with the most innovative and up-to-date digital applications for the development of new pedagogical methods and the implementation of digital interactive workshops."