„Empower yourself” – motivational tools for supporting professional activity and wellbeing of people aged 55+; it is a complex developmental program, addressing the issues of social and professional exclusion among Europeans in their preretirement age, that is 55+. The exclusion results from not adjusting to modern labour market, workers’ not investing in personal development, perceiving one’s actions as meaningless, feeling less involved and motivated to undergo a change. As a result, workers aged 55+ are often facing the necessity of performing work that is below their ambition and qualifications (or they resign/give up completely); there’s stress, professional burn-out, the values that constitute a pillar for acting and coming to a decision in life are forgotten. To approach those problems we need wise, adjusted to the ever changing reality, education in wok-place as well as to create conditions for employees’ 55+ development. In the process of the change it is important to tailor the work tasks to the performed function (job crafting). It is also essential that emloyees 55+ experience physical, emotional or cognitive effort invested in the work (wellbeing). The partnership between 3 nongovernment organizations, with different scope of activity (Poland – Hungary – Norway), is thoroughly prepared to develop complex solutions for specific needs and abilities of particular target groups. Therefore the main object of the partnership is to enhance professional potential of coaches and HR workers by operating in innovative developmental project allowing employees aged 55+ to learn how to trigger and increase professional involvement by focusing on internal sources of motivation. Most important parts of the project are the actions aimed at involving workers 55+ in initiatives that introduce changes to their work, using their own assets, strengths and qualifications. As a result they should feel more in control (not only professionally) of their lives which should enhance their further development and professional activity. The project will result in developing and distributing a program, which includes three stages of cooperation with people aged 55+: DISCOVERING – ACTIVITY – EMPOWERMENT. Stage I – DISCOVERING, that means diagnosis. Starting the process, entering the program means identifying a level of satisfaction in employees 55+, their values (HR specialists/coaches can use dedicated tools, prepared in frames of the project). The desired effect is to create together a Map of Personal Change, that should show particular areas of work, exercises for individual or group training. Stage II – ACTIVITY, training to change. That means intensive, efficient, individual approach in working on areas that the participant decides to change, with the support of their coach/HR specialist. It contains 48 SCRIPTS FOR CLASSES: includes innovative methods, techniques and tools used in non-formal education enhancing personal development of people aged 55+, based on the best developed practices and new, first introduces activities. The scripts include, among others: building responsibility for undertaken tasks, team work, working on values, how to express one’s thoughts to be understood, communication between generations, sense of meaning, motivating as well as enhancing workers’ involvement, techniques that protect employees aged 55+ from professional burn-out, important rules for triggering high energy levels in 55+ workers, overcoming barriers and motivating. Furthermore, the project should be completed with multimedia material, 30 video workshops on “Mindfulness as a way to improve quality of life and work”. Each film is a 10 minute lesson, containing VO instructions from the coach. Those individual attention trainings exercise mind and are dedicated to people aged 55+ who would like to learn how to manage stress and negative emotions. The training should be also helpful in depression prophylaxis among preretirement population. Stage III – EMPOWERMENT, CASE STUDY – four good practices in working with people over 55 years old, taking into account job crafting and wellbeing, based on how Norwegian companies operate. Instead of empty marketing slogans, we show a real situation that can be confirmed by the third party. The experiences are for the coach/HR specialist to get inspired and implement interesting suggestions to their own work. Authenticity, storytelling and pictures are also an important asset. Partnership finds it crucial for the participants to take part in open pilot meetings, in process of assessment, in evaluation of reached results, in open discussions with the teams managing the project and in promotional/distribution meetings. The results of the project should bring new methods, tools and materials that perfectly correlate with new challenges for UE strategies in aid of growth from 2010 to 2020, which includes development of economy based on knowledge and innovation.

The aim of our 38-month project was to integrate the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into formal education in Hungary and Italy, based on a good practice, which has been well proven, documented and tested in Northern Ireland, UK. Led by the National KID Association, our international partners Barnardo's (Northern Ireland), FORME and CEIPES (Italy) and 5 local Coordinator organizations in Hungary (Szociogramm Nonprofit Kft. - Debrecen, Foundation for a Changing World - Szombathely, KÖZ-Pont Association - Szolnok, Association for People with Disabilities - Salgótarján, Sásd and its Region Nonprofit Ltd. - Pécs) helped to disseminate the project results as widely as possible. We have developed and tested curricula for children between the ages of 6 and 14 which - after a short preparatory training - could be easily adapted to their existing teaching practice. Our aim was to sensitize educators to develop their own and their students' competencies so that schools focus not only on the transfer of lexical, academical knowledge but also on the social and emotional development of students and teachers / school staff, by developing key competencies that are essential for those involved for the creation and maintenance of well-functioning, inclusive school communities. In our lonely, alienated culture, in which more and more children and adults are struggling with mental problems and depression, we need to put special emphasis on emotional intelligence and resilience. Our project responded to the public expectation that schools should have a core mission of developing these key competencies. SEL provides a methodological toolkit that helps children and adults alike to experience, become aware of and understand their own and others’ emotions more fully, to be more accepting of themselves and to feel empathy toward others.During the project period, we acquainted the elements of the decades-long well-functioning Northern Irish SEL practice and the application of these elements in school practice. We learned about the theoretical background of SEL and the extensive international research findings that justify SEL education. Based on the Northern Irish methodology, we developed our 14-week Hungarian and Italian SEL curriculum (grades 1-8). We had collaborations with local educational institutions, 10 educational institutions in Hungary and 4 in Italy, where after testing the teachers we tested the children's emotional intelligence in the training groups (who later participated in the 14-week preparation) and control groups (who did not participate in SEL preparation). . A total of more than 1,200 students participated in EQ pre- and post-test (TEIQue-Traint Emotional Intelligence and SDQ-Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). 20 teachers in Hungary and 4 in Italy took part in Barnardo's teacher training at our Northern Ireland partner. Subsequently, more than 600 students participated in SEL trainings for 14 weeks in the two countries, who were then retested with the control classes at the end of the training (TEIQue and SDQ) to track their progress. In the course of the project, in addition to the curriculum, we developed a teacher training program to be accredited in Hungary. The participating teachers continuously monitored the students' behavior and wrote case studies on the ongoing development of the participating students (available on our website: https://selinaction.hu/esettanulmanyok/).The project website is available in 3 languages, Hungarian, English and Italian. The results of the project and the recommendations for educators were formulated in a White Paper for decision makers and education professionals also in 3 languages, Hungarian, English and Italian. A SEL video of the project process was made and the results of the project were disseminated at an international SEL Conference. The long-term sustainability of the project is ensured by the completed SEL teaching materials, the teachers trained in the project continue to use the acquired SEL practice in their teaching practice, the long-term collaborations established during the professional study trip of higher education actors, the White Paper project and the Accredited Teacher Training Program in Hungary.