"This project built on two previous Leonardo TOI projects; the Big Bang, which examined the impact of culture clash between Young People from disadvantaged backgrounds and opportunities in the world of work and education; and Euro-ARCO, which identified that Young People from BME and migrant communities in partner countries were far more likely to be long term NEET. Big Bang identified the close links between this marginalization and social and civic unrest among these communities. Preventative approaches, which link with these young people’s lifestyles and cultural values while delivering high quality VET provision, are vital to ensuring that they are able to engage effectively in the workforce and take advantage of the wide range of Work Based Learning opportunities available including apprenticeships and traineeships. EU2020 highlights the importance of Europe delivering inclusive growth that –“fosters a high employment economy that delivers economic, social and territorial cohesion and provides better integration of migrants into the workforce particularly those aged between 20-64."" This is important to promote equity, social cohesion and active citizenship among young people from diverse backgrounds.This project, therefore, has worked toward the following key objectives: 1.) To enhance the quality, performance and efficiency of I-VET and VET provision available to young people from BME, disadvantaged and migrant communities by developing and delivering innovative professional development opportunities or trainers, teachers and other professionals involved in delivering VET to young people in diverse, urban areas in partner countries. This objective falls in line with Strategic Objective 2 of the ET2020 Objectives and with the ‘Youth on the Move’ Agenda for New Skills and Jobs Flagships Initiatives set out in Europe2020. 2.) To enable VET professionals across schools, employers and social organizations to deliver i-VET and C-Vet that is attractive and inclusive and easily accessible and career orienting in line with the objectives set out in the Global Vision for VET 2020 set out in the Bruges Communiqué. The Euro i-VET curriculum, available as a downloadable PowerPoint presentation as well as online, has been designed to be relevant across EU countries. The curriculum is sympathetic to the already existing knowledge and skills of practitioners and is flexible to their requirements; participants can choose modules and workshops that are most relevant to their role, and assessment is self-reflective. 3. Utilizing the Open Method Co-ordination approach to develop, test and implement a partnership framework and curricula for active peer learning and exchange of good practice between VET professionals, schools and employers in line with SO3 of ET2020. In the spirit of the Open Method Co-ordination approach, the Euro-iVET project has included the exchange of good practice in order to produce a curriculum and toolkit to be shared across the EU. This approach has allowed us to benefit from shared knowledge and experiences in order to produce a curriculum that is accessible and relevant to our target practitioner.4. To develop an accredited Euro-VET qualification framework for VET professionals which will enable the transfer and accumulation of learning outcomes that facilitate transnational mobility and transnational learning, enhancing and improving VET practice and provision in line with the Bruges Communiqué and Europe2020. This will link with Euro pass and ECVET. 5. To develop sustainable partnerships between VET professionals and organisations working in education, training and work, including social partners who engage with marginalized young people across the EU. This is to increase the shared understanding of the labour market, and to promote a collective responsibility towards utilising robust VET to combat poverty and social exclusion among young people from marginalized communities in line with EU2020 Flagship Initiative on promoting a new agenda for skills and jobs. VET professionals and organisations from across Europe have supported the research and development of Euro-iVET throughout the lifetime of the project; namely thought development meetings, multiplier events, and testing workshops. The Final Conference, which took place on 12th July 2018 in London, saw attendees from across the UK’s capital as well as Europe, which was a real celebration of the project’s successes. This event has also given way to potential avenues for future implementation of the project results. As a result of these meetings, workshops, and events, the project has established a network of practitioners from across Europe, who will remain involved in the project beyond its’ end date."

"With the advent of social networks, the percentage of people who read content and who share or comment on it has increased dramatically, but unfortunately this participation has not gone hand in hand with an improvement in the ability to understand the text, in the sense of interpreting it, to be able to read between the lines by drawing up their own conclusions. This is clearly shown by the results of the OECD Pisa tests, which measure reading literacy in order to achieve one's goals, develop one's knowledge and potential and play an active role in society.There is an overload of information, there is still much that is unknown. Digital media allow for the spread of unverified “research” claims and the knowledge base itself is rapidly shifting as we learn more. The stage is set for disinformation and fake news.Education has an important role to play in helping students, teachers and indeed the broader public understand what evidence to trust.As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, so does the volume of related news information, leading to what has been called an “infodemic”. While the issues of misinformation (the spread of false information, regardless of whether there is an intent to deceive) and disinformation (the deliberate spread of false or misleading information with an intent to deceive) have been widely studied and discussed, COVID-19 throws into sharp relief the challenges and consequences of this important policy area. Disinformation and misinformation about COVID-19 is quickly and widely disseminated across the Internet, reaching and potentially influencing many people.The spread of disinformation framing minorities as the cause of the pandemic has fuelled animosity against ethnic groups, motivating a rise in discrimination and incidents of violence in what has been characterised as “coronaracism” (OECD 2020).To face this kind of misinformation, using logical arguments and ""classical"" training , do not seem to be effective strategies against fake news and fake fact that often using other languages, not always consistent and based on the principle of non-contradiction. For this reason this project intends to experiment other languages, always Youth based, to communicate and training on these topics:- Equipping VET trainers with a resource pack on digital practices and tools- Equipping trainees with digital tools, to detect fake news and to promote conscious use of social media, to stand against manipulation- Promoting equity and inclusion by facilitating conscious and critical access to media, social and digital contents, to vulnerable youth against manipulation and misinformation- Contrasting hate speech, racism, sexism, populism, misperception and misrepresentation tackling fake news, “coronaracism” phenomenon and “post-truth” on social mediaThe project will involve trainers from VET sector as well as trainees, also within local and trasnational exchanges and Advisory Groups, as we do believe in co-participation and co-design of new innovative practice in order to tackle disinformation. The project is developed transnationally as media literacy has no boarder. To contrast hate speech, European cooperation in this field enables us to ‘bring to life’ the concept of 'act local, think global' for young people, promoting European values in VET sectors, promoting active citizenship and social inclusion, media educated trainers and trainees able to detect and report fake news.The FAKE project involves 4 VET focused organisations and a technical digital partner from 5 European countries, working together over 24 months. Led by Eurocircle, the main providers of young people international mobilities in Provence Region, with partners from Italy, Germany, Lithuania and the UK, the results of FAKE arise from the co-design, test, validation and production of new curriculum and digital material for trainers and trainees in order to tackle fake news. FAKE is a complex project that will produce 3 substantial and innovative Intellectual Outputs and generate a range of sustainable results for the benefit of its participant organisations, VET trainers and trainees(1) A trainers resources pack, comprising a the most up to date learning material on digital practice and media literacy(2) A digital playground with 3 learning paths (beginner, intermediary, advanced) allowing for co-design and co-production of digital tools (visual novels) among trainers and trainees(3) An online Hackaton, in co-production aiming at deconstructing a maximum of fake news by creating the digital tools to do soAll 3 IOs will be punctuated by trainings: online webinars and local trainings and testing in order to give participants all knowledge to be able to co-design the tools A series of other concrete results accompany the IOs, including:- a transnational joint staff ‘train the trainer’ event - a transnational small exchange for VET trainees- 4 TPMs- 4 multilplier events- a final international conference"

The IntoDIGITS project aim was to create practical innovative tools supporting the development of key competences for people at the risk of social exclusion (low-skilled adults), including development of digital tools for VET trainers. Specific objectives of the project were oriented towards an increase of the numeracy and digital competence of low-skilled people through improvement of the quality of competence of teachers, trainers working with the low-skilled adults what will contribute to an increase in their competitiveness on the labour market. IntoDIGITS project has been based on the scale which was developed to Qualification Framework for competence Digital and Numeracy Competence. In each QF the partnership expressed the Learning Outcomes that should be achieved at each stage on the AC Scale.It is a fact that digital and numeracy competences play a major role in social, economic and the labour market for an individual to thrive. Digital skills are essential for someone to survive in today’s socioeconomic environment. These skills are crucial for the social life for the professional life as well as functioning in a digital community.The project accomplished in cooperation with the partners from Cyprus, Poland, Greece, Spain, Italy and Germany was dedicated to low-skilled people to help them in competence acquisition and to improve their abilities and regain confidence in their skills through the set of the prepared results:1.A Context Specific Qualifications Framework/ Profiles for the Numeracy and as well for the Digital Competence Linked to the Active Citizenship ladder2.42 Experiential & Innovative Workshops for the Numeracy and Digital Competences3.A Digital Assessment Tool for the Numeracy and Digital Competences4.IntoDIGITS: 42 Digital Tools in 6 Languages incorporated in a new IntoDIGITS online toolkit5.Publication on good practices and outcomes of the project.The Profile for the Numeracy Competence (IO1) and for Digital Competence (IO2) were prepared on the basis of desk research in each partner country regarding numeracy competence.In IO3 were designed and developed 42 experiential and innovative workshops and activities - 21 for the numeracy competence and 21 for the digital competence. The methodology guides has created a total of 350 exercises which have been converted into 42 online interactive quizzes in 6 languages (2100 exercises in total).A Digital Assessment Tool for the Numeracy and Digital Competences (IO4) is an online digital assessment tool to assess the Numeracy and Digital Skills of low-skilled adults. Based on the results of this assessment the trainer will be able to choose the appropriate workshops for the required Learning Outcomes that must be addressed so as to eliminate the gap.In order to make the project results more visible and to sustain them after the project has been finished, the partnership prepared the scientific publication: “An innovative toolkit for the development of the digital & numeracy competence for low skilled adults.” (IO6).During the development of the project results, partners cooperated with strategic experts in the field, potential associate partners and with members of professional networks. In context of their ongoing activities several partners are linked with business enterprises having a permanent collaboration with employers and trainers. This made a contribution to achieve a better quality of cooperation between the relevant actors of the VET system and to adapt concepts related to the education needs for labour market and educational integration of low-skilled adults.During the project realisation different target group was involved in order to gain the high quality of outputs. There were activities needed to ensure that the people involved in the development of the outputs have the right skills, experiences and expertise in order to deliver an output of high value. The engagement of low-skilled adults in the pilot activities entails some level of difficulty since in many cases they are disconnected from the society and the learning process and therefore special measures have been taken to ensure their participation. Targeting low-skilled and unemployed adults were crucial to gain their trust before they commit to any activities, provide incentives and eliminate any psychological barriers that would prevent them from participating. The aim was to promote the complete IntoDIGITS (toolkit and assessment tool) to trainers working with our target group. It was done through the trainers' workshops in all partner countries where more than 60 trainers took part. To engage the trainers/organizations to participate in these 2 activities, dissemination activities started early on therefore building an interest on the tool and the project in general. The associated partners also had well developed networks of trainers who focus on social and labour integration and they have shown an interest to support the projects' activities. There were organized 8 Multiplier Events in 6 countries where participated 286 participants, including the final conference with 105 quests.Due to Open Educational Resources the project outcomes are available across the EU and worldwide of a definitive interactive toolkit for low-skilled people. The consortium expects, that in long-term there will be the increase of the educational quality in the education and training of low-skilled adults via using the workshops on the Numeric and Digital competences of the IntoDIGITS toolkit.

Young people are often encouraged to develop the technical skills needed to enter the labour market, but competencies on how to conduct themselves in the workplace, as well as create opportunities for employment mobility for themselves can be neglected, despite disadvantaged young people having few opportunities to be exposed to these key skills. The YEC project aimed to help young & youth worker professionals identify key gaps in employability competences & address these through youth worker led training modules. The objectives of the project were to: Increase the employability of young people Increase the validation of young people’s employability competences Increase the engagement of young people and employers in competency tool development Increase the focus on young people’s employability among young people and their practitionersThe partnership was drawn together to create a diverse range of partners who have an evidenced commitment to youth engagement, upskilling & training of youth workers/practitioners & young people along with validation of these skills, as well as sharing and promotion of best practice in the area of youth work and employment.The project set out to:•Develop and pilot a methodology which creates a space for dialogue between young people, employers and the project partnership when developing project tools. •Create a suite of employability competences training modules for young people, with focus on the personal, social & learning to learn competency from the Council of The European Union. •Create a train the trainer course with specific focus on youth workers & guidance practitioners engaging with young people who are seeking employment•Create a guide for youth workers and practitioners to map the modules from the train the trainer course, or any employability skills training, onto current validation systems under ET 2020. The final products developed by the YEC Project through 4 Intellectual Outputs:IO1 – Youth & Employer Advisory Boards – The partnership created a Methodological Guide which includes case studies of the YEC experiences of advisory board participation. This can be used as a “how to” guide for external organisations who which to develop and run their own youth or stakeholder participation schemes, resulting in more organisations having information to include young people in programme development. IO2 – Employability Competences Training Moules – a full suite of Training Modules, which are dynamic in nature and practitioners can utilize either in totality or pick selected modules according to the groups or young person needs has been developed. The modules can be used in either a classroom or online setting and have been piloted with young people in Ireland, Italy, Finland and Poland, increasing their employability. These modules also enhance the skills of youth workers and practitioners who partake in delivering them. IO2 is available in English, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish. IO3 – Employability Competences Train the Trainer Course – A Train the trainer programme including a training compendium, tool development documents and module session plans, so that anyone delivering the modules has access to step by step guidelines on how to do so. This will also result in a sustainable rolling out of the YEC tools post project due to master trainers within the partnership committed to providing training to youth workers who request it and meet the competency criteria set out. IO3 is available in English, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish. IO4 – Competence Validation Guide – The YEC tools have been mapped onto European & National frameworks where they are applicable, resulting in any young person who partakes in the training course having validated skills after completion. This guide will also promote the use of validation methods within the field of youth work and increase the use of these scales among partner organisations and anyone who chooses to download the guide. IO4 is available in English, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish. A clear dissemination strategy is in place to share our tools with youth practitioners and young people across all partner countries and more widely at European level. All final products along with a number of videos showcasing the work of the project were produced and are available on the project website www.yecproject.eu The partners had 5 transnational meetings to collaborate on the development of the above outputs. The tools were all piloted in each partner country before they were finalised. The advisory boards were responsible for reviewing each IO before they signed it off as being complete. Evaluations of the effectiveness of the advisory boards were carried out internally and also by an external evaluator whose role was to draw conclusions on the added value of facilitating youth and employer advisory participation. A copy of the final report is attached and available on the project website.

"Good Guidance Stories 2.0 (""Guide"") brings innovation in the discourse on continuous professional development of Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) practitioners by blending a set of engaging and thought-provoking learning approaches and methodologies, which, as a whole, represents an original way of imagining new training routes for IAG professionals for more responsive and people-centred guidance provision. Throughout Guide an innovative learning approach focused on peer-led and social learning using highly participatory methods that not only formed a professional IAG network at a European level, it exposed members of the Community of Practice (CoP) to a constructive knowledge exchange with colleagues facing similar issues in their national context. Across Europe, labour markets are rapidly transforming through globalisation, migration, the impact of new technologies, and new elements of insecurity brought into the picture by a global health crisis that is shaking economic and social systems of many countries. In such a mutable, challenging and precarious working context, young people, especially those with lower levels of educational attainment, are potentially a vulnerable group that deserves specific actions, measures and policies. Today, young people are making more decisions than before - the rapidly changing demand for skills, increased labour market dynamism, the growing diversification and fragmentation of education and training provision is making decision-making more difficult. Accessible and well-informed guidance services are now, more than ever, extremely valuable.Whilst participation in the CoP and Action Learning Sets fostered self-reflection, active listening/questioning and problem solving capabilities, which are highly valued in today's guidance work, the 12 practitioners and service managers directly engaged understood, through direct involvement, the value of a co-production approach applied to real-life case studies production, appreciating the relevance and sustainability of this bottom-up approach which enables to re-think roles, relationships and mindsets. As a result of the four interrelated areas of innovation that underpinned the approach (see below) 81 young people (18-29) along with 65 IAG practitioners and 38 service managers participated in focus groups and interviews in which they exchanged good practice experiences and outlined current challenges and gaps, enabling deep insight and learning exchanges. (i) Applying the co-production approach to careers guidance delivery (ii) Using participatory appraisal for improving and co-constructing empowering development pathways (iii) Cross-national community of practice (CoP) and (iv) Action learning sets to facilitate CoP learning exchanges and case study co-production.The common thread that connects the four interrelated areas of innovation experimented in the project is the value of participation and interaction as key enabling factors of a successful learning experience, which ""spills over"" into a more proximal and empowering guidance experience. By fostering a culture of participation in guidance, young people as active participants in the guidance process, learn how to actively co-construct their own career in empowering interactions with others, while practitioners, through the experimentation of online collaborative learning opportunities have chance to review, question and update their daily practice in the light of a constructive and critical interaction with peers.Guide was implemented by a consortium of partners from six European countries, working collaboratively to generate five foundational outputs:(i) Methodological Concept: building the ground for the andragogy vision through qualitative enquiry to extract effective practice examples of how young adults are best engaged as active participants in the process of transforming IAG practice and provision.(ii) Blended Learning Curriculum: a Moodle e-learning platform develop IAG professional guidance practice competencies(iii) Facilitator Resource Pack: indepth suite of interlinking, flexible and inter-active materials focusing on co-production, action learning sets and community of practice methods.(iv) Case Study Learning Resource: dynamic online learning exchange and peer-led case study learning resources.(v) Effective Practice Services Guide: project ""log book"" accounting for the project's objectives, activities, results and insight for effective practice.Guide's comprehensive evaluation shows a clear and consistent picture; a great value has been placed upon the equitable and mutual approach that underpinned the project, resulting in a high satisfaction rate in terms of the partnership's performance; the quality of relationships, collaboration and knowledge exchanges, resulted in high-quality, highly transferable learning experiences and resources and generated wider accessibility - 114 student and 16 trainer e-learning accounts created."