<< Objectives >>The project idea is based on the creation of a network between the involved organizations in order to bridge gaps in the skills related to social innovation management. Furthermore, the SIMA project will draw upon the New Bauhaus approach by integrating sustainability, inclusion in social solutions. Subsequently, organizations through this co-creation and learning process will increase skills and competencies in the creation and implementation of successful social innovation projects.<< Implementation >>The project activities are based on 4 transnational thematic events including seminars, study visits, and co-creative workshops in each partner country. The main idea is that through the events, the partners and all the other participants at local level will be able to bridge the skills gap, exchange knowledge and experiences in order to build and upskill further their capacities. Finally, a Guide for the effective planning and development social innovation projects will be prepared.<< Results >>SIMA PROJECT is expected to contribute to upskilling the capacity of partners to develop and manage social innovation projects effectively and efficiently, fulfilling their needs through a co-creative process, enabling the transformation of organizations following the New Bauhaus approach. Support marginalized groups through their participation in the project activities. Fostering interregional cooperation and citizens' participation, as well as the dialogue among the local stakeholders.

"After almost two decades of the adoption of the Racial Equality Directive and almost a decade of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, Romani community continues to face widespread discrimination across the EU. At large, EU perspective sees Romani community as an outsider. Nevertheless, Romani is Europe’s largest minority, with an estimated population of 10 -12 million across EU and established since around 1,000 years ago. Thus, they are part and add value to our Cultural European diversity. However, Romani community has been portrayed mostly with negative aspects that make it difficult for Society at large to recognize them as part of our EU heritage. They have had a small representation in the framework of the agenda for cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.Therefore, PAL Art aims to provide capacity building trainings and work base learning experience to trainers and educators to provide skills and opportunities for Romani to express and create their integration through Arts. Art Inclusive approach is essential to provide Romani learning positive habits for their integration process, based on the principle that quality education should fit the learner rather than requiring them to fit into an existing system. The project is the outcome of different efforts dealing with the integration of Romani Community with support of PAL Network (e.g. PAL - JUST/2014/RDIS/AG/DISC-, PAL Push Entrepreneurship -2017-1-CZ01- KA204-035425- and Romani Ambassadors -2017-3-CZ01-KA205-046733-). The project is looking to put Romani participation as the key to their integration through Art positive narratives. During the implementation of the project -24 months-, it will be organized two transnational training activities to transfer the outcomes: C1) "" PAL Art Capacity development"" and C2) ""PAL´s pilot International training"". The content of the activities is the reflection of a benchmarking of a transnational strategy from 6 organizations –NGOs, educational institutes & privet entities- from 6 different EU countries –Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece, France and Croatia- that are actively working in Romani inclusion and Art field. At the end of the project, the 30 selected trainers and learners will be able to further transfer good practices regarding PAL Art inclusive education to more beneficiaries besides the 135 Romani Adults involved in PAL Art Labs. As the goal is to shed light in a wider audience, it will be prepared and shared 1) a Guide for positive narrative on Romani integration through Arts and 2) Facilitator Programme for working in Romani integration through arts. Also 3) PALArt MOOC Training open courses will be provided. STAKEHOLDRS will have a robust programme as it will be implemented and evaluated with their participation. Finally, to reach the main objective -which is to support Romani portrait through a positive narrative for enhancing their EU integration-there will be 6 PAL´s Exhibition to disseminate the outcomes and to reach a wider EU society audience."

Project “NEXT STEP teaching and learning: Preparing immigrants and refugees for higher education through gamification” was developed as an answer to the growing needs and challenges concerning the integration of immigrants, refugees and other socially excluded groups like the Roma into the education and employment of the countries they live in. In this regard, and based on previous valuable experiences of the consortium, we worked to design and develop an educational two-dimensional (2-D) serious video Game in the spirit of gamification, receiving continuous feedback from our target groups both before and after its development. Gamification is the application of game elements and principles (e.g. collecting points for answering questions correctly, healthy competition) in non-game contexts, in order to stimulate learning and user engagement through a digitally based approach.The Game, which was the main output of the project (IO2 - design and development), was published online, freely available and accessible to anybody interested to use it and/or disseminate it. It is an innovative educational tool that stimulates learning through a fun and relaxed way, while also enhancing the literacy and ICT skills of the participants. This way, it prepares them for the transition into higher education and their overall integration in the community they reside, by introducing academic vocabulary, related terminology and other practical information about how register and participate in HEIs, etc.Through the NEXT STEP Game, persons especially from vulnerable groups have the chance to learn about various academic aspects related to each partner country (there are 6 different Game versions tailor made and translated for Belgium/Flanders, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey), with many types of exercises that will also contribute to words’ and phrases’ comprehension, while stimulating strategic thinking. Also, the Game is of scalable difficulty and those who engage are rewarded with “unlocking” more information, words and terms as they progress, adjusted to each country’s context. It can be used complementarily to modern language developing and communicative skills in education, for example within a classroom, as well as individually though a person’s mobile phone, with its impact thus being multifaceted.NEXT STEP began with IO1 – research and preparation during which 101 members of our target groups and 62 educators were called to provide their insights through questionnaires and interviews on where to focus during the Game’s development, and ended with IO3 – piloting and testing during which 80 members of our target groups and 39 educators were called to play the Game and provide structured feedback for its improvement through questionnaires. Although the participation in IO3 was less than in IO1 due to the covid-19 outbreak and the consequent restrictions that reduced physical interaction, we surpassed our total indicator and more than 320 persons in total participated directly or indirectly during the project’s implementation, not taking into account how many have entered to play the Game without our knowledge – and how many more will do so in the future. In this regard, as a supplement to the project’s dissemination materials and in order to maximize our target groups’ involvement, we have also developed and published a technical Game manual with instructions which was published and disseminated in Arabic and Romany languages as well.Last but not least, the fact that the NEXT STEP Game is open and free for everybody to join through the project’s official website, as well as to replicate it, allows it to be widely utilized and to be transferred into other contexts and environments with ease, further enhancing its sustainability potential.

"<< Background >>The results of the 2011 survey in 11 EU Member States and the EU MIDIS 2016 FRA Survey covering 9 EU Member States confirm that largely Roma children are behind in educational achievement and show a considerable gap between Roma and non-Roma children attending schooling. Despite the efforts to expand and improve education for Roma children over the years, as many as 50% of Roma children in Europe fail to complete primary education and only a quarter complete secondary education. Participation in education drops considerably after compulsory education where only 15% of young Roma adults have completed upper-secondary general or vocational education. The levels of illiteracy amongst young Roma remain comparably high for Europe where almost 50% of Roma are illiterate or moderately literate. Without compulsory education completion, many young Roma are unable to meet the basic requirements for vocational education programmes. These low participation rates in education for Roma and Traveller children and youth are particularly alarming since educational factors have a direct and an acute impact on life chances. What emerges from the data is that Roma youth are by far the most disadvantaged youth within the EU.In several countries, Roma children attend the poorest schools or face discrimination in schools, where they are the minority. Some children are unfairly sent to ""special education"" centres for students with learning difficulties. In other cases, the children may be denied access to education because they lack documentation. Besides that, the education is the main area in which the situation of Roma improved. More Roma children participate in early childhood education and care (53% in 2016, up from 47% in 2011) – with most significant improvements in Spain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania – and fewer leave school early (68% in 2016, declining from 87% in 2011). These figures are still too high and segregation in education remains an issue in some countries, with more than 60% of Roma children separated from other children in Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria. The importance of the Romani mentors, so called “ambassadors” in terms of role models is assessed as possible tool for effective implementation of the integration process of Roma people. Presenting the success and the good results of the education in the personal development is essential. Regarding the mentoring programmes, we know that their scientific monitoring and systematic evaluation plays a very important role in quality assurance. Based on past European and international experience, the establishment of mentoring programmes seems to be a viable way of integrating Sinti and Roma into schools. In order to pass on the experience and to be able to further develop and evaluate the programmes, networking is of great importance. Furthermore, it is essential that Roma mediators acquire a professional attitude that can help them deal with conflict situations. To this end, systematic supervision and collegial advice seems indispensable. Another important prerequisite is that the schools and educational authorities concerned recognise and support the work of the mediators.<< Objectives >>The project Romani Ambassadors 2.0 aims to provide skills and competences to adult trainers, teachers and Roma workers in education process and in order to tackle early school leaving and low educational capacity in children of minorities. Mentoring is an essential approach to provide students, Romani youth and other minorities an inclusive environment to orient them towards learning positive habits in the long-term educational process, based on the principle that quality education should fit the learner rather than requiring them to fit into an existing system.The main objectives of the project are to improve the competences and engage social workers, counsellors and mediators in the engagement mentoring process with Roma people, youngsters and students with main objective to reduce the educational drop-out. The project aims also to increase the representation of Roma youngsters from minority groups -such as Roma children- in the long-term educational process, based on the principle that quality education should fit the learner rather than requiring them to fit into an existing system. Our project is a follow up of previously implemented initiatives under Erasmus+ and other European funding initiatives, intends to continue the successful implementation of training opportunities that foster Roma inclusion and integration both in education and employment market. In this line, mentoring represents a comprehensive support package for youngsters since it can provide them with a positive role model, support them with their learning, offer opportunities to discuss and find solutions to challenges they may be facing. This project will address its objective by organizing a transnational partnership between 6 organizations from 6 different countries. This is the only way to effectively address the issues of minorities with presence across Europe such as Roma community which is the Europe's largest ethnic minority with a considerable population of 12 million members in Europe. It is necessary to create synergies that encompass not only the local area but also the national and EU ones due to Roma mobility. Roma is not alike; neither are their social conditions. Indeed, the ethnic, occupational, religious, and economic diversity among Roma populations is tremendous. The proportion of Roma-language speakers differs greatly from country to country, as does the proportion living in cities, integrated neighborhoods, or segregated rural settlements. Having the collaboration of 6 organizations –NGOs, public & private entities, training centers and educational institutions from different EU countries will provide a strong background for the development of Mentoring curricula for disadvantage minorities who have diversity among them and require individualize attention.Romani Ambassadors 2.0 goal is to tackle skill gaps and mismatches in social workers that support Roma youngsters in education by providing them with a mentor approach tailor to support them to effectively guide disadvantage youngsters in their path to inclusive education. Specifically, it aims: •To capitalize the existing European experience in the process of providing of counseling services to marginalized people.•To adapt the existing knowledge into an innovative training curriculum •To introduce reliable and effective mentoring methodology aiming at supporting Romani youth and children in the educational process and career guidance•To upgrade the existing skills of social workers, counselors and trainers in the filed of Romani support services.<< Implementation >>The project entitled “Mentoring program for Roma youngsters support and tackling of early school leaving”- Romani Ambassadors 2.0 was planned and created as an answer to increasing rate of early school drop out of Roma students/youngsters and aims at creating a mentoring plan for trainers, that will provide them a mentor approach tailor to support them to efficiently guide disadvantaged youngsters in their path to inclusive education. This will be achieved by the specific objectives that are:•To capitalize the existing European experience in the process of providing counseling services to marginalized people.•To adapt the existing knowledge into an innovative training curriculum•To introduce reliable and effective mentoring methodology aiming at supporting Romani youth and children in the educational process and career guidance•To upgrade the existing skills of social workers, counselor and trainers in the field of Romani support servicesThe project aims to equip trainers, such as social workers, NGO staff, teachers, etc., with innovative skills and competences in order to tackle early school leaving and low educational capacity in children and youngsters of Romani minorities. This will be achieved by the implementation of the following specific activities:•(PR1) Engagement Mentoring for Romani by creating a mentoring procedure in quality inclusive mainstream education, aiming to prepare and present a mentoring toolkit, combing the European experience in the field of professional educational intervention and good practices for working with Romani people, aiming to tackle early school leaving and low educational capacity in children of minorities groups. •(PR2) Facilitator Training for Engagement Mentoring in Education, aiming at the preparation of training curriculum for trainers and social workers working with Romani young people and children in order to prepare them for the role of intercultural mediators/mentors. •(PR3) Digital Mentoring Local Labs as a creation an online platform for interaction with trainers and social workers and advising them through the whole process of mentoring acceleration and new skills creation. •(C1) A brain to pick & an ear to listen –teaching and training event aiming at piloting of the mentoring toolkit, focusing on the trainers and their assessment of PR1 deliverable.•(C2) A push in the right direction: bootcamp – p teaching and training event aiming at piloting the ‘Facilitator Training for Engagement Mentoring in Education’ procedure to trainers, teachers and social workers from the partners’ countries.Target groups:1. Trainers: Professionals that support the educational inclusion of Roma people, such as teachers, social practitioners, mediators, etc. They are accredited as trainers in one or different fields, but they would like to become trainers of the project knowledge and activities.2. Learners: Romani people representatives from the partners countriesBeneficiaries:1.Romani people: Children and youngsters between 18-24 years old, which will be offered tailored mentoring by trainers, for their inclusion on the educational system2. Visitors (Society): They are understood as the wider audience who are interested to see the PRs created by the beneficiaries during the project activities. This is the ultimate user of the chain to integrate Romani and other minorities’ youth in education.<< Results >>The aim of the project is to enhance the role of the intermediator in the intercultural relations & education, providing them with a mentor approach tailored to support them to guide disadvantaged youngsters. Intercultural mentoring is an essential tool for communication and help with social inclusion groups in order to help their personal and professional development. During the implementation of the project will be developed the following project results that target the reduction of unemployment in the European Union:•(PR1) Engagement Mentoring for Romani by creating a mentoring procedure in quality inclusive mainstream education, aiming to prepare and present a mentoring toolkit, combing the European experience in the field of professional educational intervention and good practices for working with Romani people, aiming to tackle early school leaving and low educational capacity in children of minorities groups. 120 experts and stakeholders at local level and about 40 at international level will be involved in the process of capitalization and exchange of good practices, 50 reports/studies will be revised, 84 interviews with experts and a questionnaire with 15 questions will be elaborated in order to prepare 50 pages toolkit with translations in all partners’ languages.•(PR2) Facilitator Training for Engagement Mentoring in Education, aiming at the preparation of training curriculum for trainers and social workers working with Romani young people and children in order to prepare them for the role of intercultural mediators/mentors, 6 modules and 40 hours duration of the training materials and exercises. •(PR3) Digital Mentoring Local Labs as a creation an online platform for interaction with trainers and social workers and advising them through the whole process of mentoring acceleration and new skills creation with 20 trainers per country or 120 totally per module or 720 people for the whole circle. The platform will host MOOC with 6 modules and 40 hours duration of the training. •(C1) A brain to pick & an ear to listen –teaching and training event aiming at piloting of the mentoring toolkit, focusing on the trainers and their assessment of PR1 deliverable. The training will have 5-days duration (2 travel days included) and will welcome 12 trainers in Brasov, Romania.•(C2) A push in the right direction: bootcamp – p teaching and training event aiming at piloting the ‘Facilitator Training for Engagement Mentoring in Education’ procedure to trainers, teachers and social workers from the partners’ countries. The training will have 5-days duration (2 travel days included) and will welcome 24 trainers Thessaloniki, in Greece.Various findings will also be generated by the project partners during the project execution to support:•Process of elaboration of the project results/ pilot testing in every project country; templates, guidelines and reports summarizing the activities and giving recommendations for the project results.•Promotion and dissemination activities/ promotion and dissemination plan, project website, leaflet and brochure, newsletter, and Facebook page; a final conference, promotion and dissemination reports of the project partners/after every 12 months•Exploitation of the project results/exploitation strategy at the partnership level at national level•Evaluation and quality control of the project activities and results/ quality and evaluation plan, quality reports/ after every 12h month/evaluation reports•Management and financial plan, progress reports, interim report and final report"