The Digital Cultural Designer (DCD) Project consists of extending and developing the digital skills and competences of young people especially in the field of culture aiming to improve cultural education through innovative online tools and methods. As young people are the main users of social media nowadays and as 2020 is the new digital era there is a need to increase the digital awareness of youth and develop their skills in IT and other technology contexts, increasing their knowledge and active participation in the activities of DCD Project and in their societies in general. Young people are the future digital leaders and entrepreneurs as youth entrepreneurship and digitalization are of the main priorities of the European Union for 2020-2021. The project aims also to introduce young adults to the concept of open data allowing them to learn and experiment with open data, corresponding to their own needs. The digital natives of today are the data literates of tomorrow. On top of that, it’s also an age group that starts to invest their own development and self-actualisation. The natives themselves and society can benefit from it. By making the open data topic understandable for youth, young people can easily experiment through interactive video series, animated clips, expert interviews and then more and more young people might try to cross the open data bridge. They can point out problems, select data based on their needs and give creative input on how to transform all this into an application. It’s important that open data become truly open to young people, as this will lead towards more and better use of it. Addressing young adults in a visual, interactive and non-linear manner, is a good way to make open data easy approachable. So, it is a must to transform digital natives into open data literates. The project will bring together 6 partners from 6 different countries (UK, CY, IT, SI, LT, IS) wishing to strengthen youth digital entrepreneurship. The main activities of the project are:1. To make national groups of experts in the LOD management for cultural activities, involving young people in order to improve and develop their digital skills concerning IT skills and data management. The experts groups will be trained through pilot courses that will test and explore open data experiments at national level improving the curriculum of young adults for the management of the LOD in the field of cultural activities. The curriculum aims to promote educational and professional mobility, starting in the countries Partners and then the disseminate the impact in other countries too. 2. To explore museum activities, libraries and archives or other pilot projects for empowering youth in management of cultural experiences also implemented through LOD, with the set up of thematic cultural digital skills and tools. The activities will involve groups of young people, invited to set up specific digital and cultural competences. The activities will start during the project and will be structurally embedded into the cultural institutions and programmes triggering benchmarking processes.3. Implementation and open data organization processes and development of cultural awareness in different sectors. For each Partner Country the level of specific intervention area will be identified.4. Development of a European network for youth organizations working in cultural and technology fields for the continuous development of innovation with particular attention to innovation and online cultural and digital services.5. Improving usability and attractiveness of virtual cultural experiences between virtual and physical experience, involving user groups in testing phases. Particular attention will be given to the involvement of schools, arts academies that will proactively participate to the design and implementation of users activities (in particular those one addressing educational and training activities).Impact on youth:• Enable understanding of EU culture diversity, needs and values;• Explore and test their digital skills;• Acquired tools for cultural needs in local communities;• Promote personal development, youth entrepreneurship and leadership;• Enable a full understanding about EU diverse cultures, values and the new digital era 'Digital Europe';Impact at national and EU level: - Increased ICT skills and knowledge of young people;- Raise awareness about cultural needs of local communities through awareness of needed cultural and digital skills and qualifications gained through their participation in the developed of ICT trainings and courses;-Facilitated recognition of the online courses, modules and the methodology by formal structures and institutions, depending on the national priorities and commitments;-tackle the digital skills gap in Europe coherent and comprehensive support for building up the digital skills needed to support reskilling and upskilling in Europe.

"<< Background >>Even in Malta, a small country in the heart of Europe, climate change is evident. The annual mean temperatures in the capital are now usually above the 30 years average of the last century. Human activities in Malta related to transportation, energy combustion in buildings, industrial emissions and agriculture, are still the main causes of Greenhouse gas emissions affecting the environment of the country. Malta is deploying mitigation policies to satisfy the Doha amendment of the Kyoto protocol and reduce greenhouse emissions to an average of 20% below the 1990 level. According to the ""European Parliament-Think Tank"" 's latest state of play (Oct.2021), the EU's binding climate and energy legislation for 2030 requires Member States to adopt national energy and climate plans (NECPs) covering the period 2021 to 2030. In October 2020, the European Commission published an assessment for each NECP. Malta's final NECP is from December 2019. A high proportion of Maltese people (75 %) expect national governments to tackle climate change. Malta, which generates less than 0.1 % of the EU-27's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has reduced its emissions at a faster pace than the EU average since 2012. However, according to Malta's NECP, the country's geography and demographics, combined with rising gross domestic product (GDP), will make it difficult to continue this trend.It takes actions in the field of education, training, and public awareness, especially for young people, on environmental issues, with biodiversity, waste, and energy-saving being the most recurrent themes linked to climate change. International frameworks on climate change and sustainable development policies, support youth education and participation, as major stakeholders, in responding to climate change (UNCED, Agenda 21). Youth education promotes active citizenship and the empowerment of future generations to engage in environmental governance, including climate change governance, calls on governments to implement educational and training programs on climate change to educate, empower, and engage all stakeholders.The Green Deal Malta Platform introduced on Sept. 2021 the Malta National Youth Council (KNŻ) which fully believes that youths are not just the leaders of tomorrow, but also of today. Youths in Malta too have rallied in calling for more climate action, more ambitious emission reduction targets and greater prioritization of measures that can help our society adapt to the changing climate. This effort has been spearheaded by civil society, of which KNŻ has proudly contributed. KNŻ has helped to organize climate marches, participated in numerous debates on the issue, submitted feedback on the “Malta Low Carbon Development Strategy,” and played a key role in lobbying for the declaration of a climate emergency bill, which was passed with unanimous support from all sides of the houses of parliament. The bill helped raise climate change up the political agenda, and though it did not lead to overnight reductions in emissions, it has increased awareness. However, many steps need to be done since presently the actual implementation of educational policies at regional or national/local levels is typically lacking or insufficient mainly in innovative educational tools and methodologies that could prove effective in young people’s capacities to influence and participate directly in efforts to learn about, prevent, prepare for, cope with and adapt to climate change and extreme events. Small-scale needs assessment in the form of a survey was carried out to a number of youths and youth workers of all partner countries, to investigate the needs of the target groups with regards to climate change and educational tools with results revealing their interest in game-based learning (GBL).Eco-toolbox is a 24month project dealing with the lack of youth capacity on climate change and environmental awareness through GBL offered by trained youth workers through GBL processes.<< Objectives >>Game-based learning (GBL) is a motivating, fun, interactive learning process, promoting critical-thinking, problem-solving, strategic thinking, and enhances life skills like cooperation and teamwork. Evidence from the game-based learning literature suggested that game-based learning in general enhances learning outcomes, and applicable to learning psychology. Indeed, according to research results, GBL provides increased motivation, raised interest in specific topics, multiple representations, an open-ended approach to information, control of own learning processes, and peer collaboration. It develops high-level thinking skills, resource management, planning and execution, and adaption to changing scenarios in everyday life. Furthermore, according to Educause's article, ""7 Things you Should Know About Game Based Learning"", gaming can create a dynamic that can inspire learners to develop skills and competencies as they focus on the activities of the game (Digital Pedagogy - A Guide for Librarians, Faculty, and Students, 25 Aug. 2021).In this context, Eco-Toolbox project will be an effort to increase awareness, knowledge, skills, and competences of young people through GBL offered by trained youth workers through GBL processes to empower them to tackle the beforementioned crisis of climate change and environmental issues. To learn about complex systems, young people and youth workers will explore the basics of game development for a perspective on the causes and effects of global climate change. Teaching about complex interconnected systems like global climate change can be difficult. There are many unseen pieces affecting the greater whole that young people (and many adults) might not understand. In our case the learning will include an open-ended concept map, a playful assessment, to have learners demonstrate interconnections.Having as target group youth workers and young people, Eco-toolbox sets the following objectives:• identify the importance of environmental crisis and climate change adaptation needs• raise awareness on the urgent need for the active involvement of youth in actions towards a low-carbon lifestyle • provide young people and youth workers working with young people non-formal education on climate change crisis by giving them the appropriate supplies and for theirfuture more effective engagement• equip them with the necessary tools & competences needed to come up with creative, innovative solutions in climate change combat• bring them in contact with the good practices applied in present-implementing environmental actions• introduce an innovative GBL training package for Youth workers that will guide and support them to provide quality training on target groups (youths) on environmental issues and climate change• bring them close to the use of ICT game-based environment• show them the effectiveness of the connection between GBL process and green practices education• inform them about the opportunities provided through GBL processes and transmit to them the idea of protecting the environment through green practices implementation in youth work• empower those who are part of a population affected most by the effects of the environmental crisis.Issues & needs we seek to address:a) lack of useful information on climate changeb) GBL training package on green practices implementationc) active involvement in innovative solutions tackling environmental issuesd) exchange of good practices in green practices applied in youth worke) creating Business RelationsEco-Toolbox is bringing together 5 EU NGOs to join forces for a common goal: contribute to the capacity and skills of young people improvement, by relating them to GBL offered by trained youth workers through GBL processes, increasing the opportunities for young people to learn, with ultimate aim their empowerment to tackle environmental issues and climate change achieving sustainability and thus cohesion of society.<< Implementation >>Eco-Toolbox project will be an endeavor to raise young people's awareness, knowledge, skills, and competencies through GBL provided by trained youth workers through GBL processes in order to empower them to address environmental concerns and climate change. As a result, with youth workers and young people as target groups, the following activities are proposed:- Research conduction investigating innovative climate change adaptation techniques not only locally but also at global level, how young people relate to them in different contexts and how to best engage and participate in actions to tackle this problem internationally. Today there is a huge request for heightened understanding of green practices and adaptation measures, at the same time as the global climate crisis is struggling and deprioritizing young people. The project will develop a Methodological e-Guide for young people on innovative adaptation techniques, how to adjust to the modern climate change adaptation mindset and how to use it to implement innovative methodological and strategical thinking during youth work in an eco-friendly sense.- Design, test and publication of an innovative GBL training package for Youth workers that will guide and support them to provide quality training on target groups (young people they work with) on environmental issues and climate change. A full suite of modules will be developed for the new Trainers Educational Material, which will support youth professionals to build key competences. It will also support youth professionals to work in non-conventional environments and will place a significant emphasis on underpinning their reputation, professionalism and standing even if they work in completely different educational settings. This Educational Material will be an e-Seminar Curriculum, which youth workers can use to teach young people about environmental issues through interactive activities in real-life settings and solve the problem educators often face when they have to communicate the complexities of environmental issues with their learners, especially when the learners are young people that hold so many misconceptions on various related issues. Basically, the aim of the Curriculum is to help young people understand and deal more effectively with environment in real world settings. The innovative nature of the guidelines lays to the fact that no guide of outdoor games to tackle climate change has been published so far, as the result of the needs assessment of young learners, who are the final beneficiaries of the learning process.- Deliver a high quality ""Eco-Friendly"" Educational Game. Game-based learning both in digital and analog form has gained a lot of attention in the last decade. It is considered one of the most efficient and prominent informal educational methods. The main advantage that meets the needs of our target groups is the transfer of knowledge through an enjoyable and informal manner that meets the expectations for playful knowledge. The aim of this core project activity is to create an innovative online educational game (Serious Game) in order to advance the skills, promote and motivate in a playful manner the learners for developing their knowledge, skills, and competences on environmental issues, achieving the greatest positive impact, through the use of ICT game-based environment. It will give the opportunity among other innovative features to present multimedia content, simulate processes and structured stories/scenarios (elaborated content appropriate for the game formats and mechanics, mainly contributed by the needs analysis).- Audiovisual material design since audiovisual education improves social skills like cooperation, critical thinking, decision making, leadership etc. The process of animation development and screening is an effective driver for social change and the end result will be used as a medium to promote active citizenship empowering people engage in environmental governance.<< Results >>The project results are directly linked to Project Results and activities carried out within the project implementation period:1. The Eco-Toolbox Methodological e-Guide for young people on Innovative Climate Change Adaptation Techniques providing information on how to adjust to the modern climate change adaptation mindset and how to use it to implement innovative methodological and strategical eco-friendly thinking during youth work (PR1), the Trainers' e-Seminar Curriculum on Environmental Issues (PR2), an ""Eco-Friendly"" Educational Game (PR3) and a ""How to save Planet Earth"" Animation Video Series (PR4), all interconnected.2. 5 Multiplier Events (one for each partner) to promote the project, its project results and outcomes among youth workers and youth learners and other stakeholders (organizations involved in climate change and sustainable development, youth organizations, policymakers and reformers, youth workers/trainers/educators working with young people, etc.)Other expected results of the project:• Each partner will have the opportunity to learn about GBL as practiced in each partners’ country, exchange good practices and experiences, develop common recommendations and guidelines and improve their learning of environmental degradation & climate change issues through fun, motivating and stimulating GBL environment.• Formation of friendly relations between youths from different countries, exchange of experiences and challenges they face regarding the impact of climate change in the local environment and in their country in general, and mutual support.• Collaboration support between key people (trainers, specialists, experts, representatives of local authorities) and youth workers from each partner.• Social integration of youths from different countries, cultures, and way of life • EU international mobility of project participants (field professionals, representatives of target groups)• Informational material production and publications translated into partners’ languages • Social and media campaigns implementation• Project participants’ social competencies boost through active transnational communication and participation in project activities.Additionally, the project foresees a set of project management, dissemination, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination results. Specifically:• Project Management Plan (P1): including the agreements, administrative work, financial and budget control, time management, roles and responsibilities allocation, templates for reporting, communication means, reporting (interim and final reports) processes, where the coordinator will be responsible with the support from all the partners.• Project Evaluation & Quality Assurance Plan (P4): It will be arranged at the beginning of the project, where the quality and risk management plan and quality assurance procedures will be described in detail, in order to guarantee the quality of the project outputs.• Dissemination Plan (P2): A dissemination plan will be produced to describe the dissemination activities targeting relevant to the project stakeholders and the general public. All partners will contribute to the dissemination activities according to their areas of expertise.• Sustainability & Exploitation Plan (P3 & P5): An exploitation plan will be prepared so that the partners will utilize the produced materials to the maximum, within the partnership and with other institutions/organizations, during and after the project is completed.Once the project is completed the partners will disseminate its results and transfer the developed practices & educational products in other contexts and educational fields. The PRs will be used in partners' activities with other young people, which will be open-source and available for free download. In the long term, this will allow to further systematize the PRs at policy and operational level to make available the developed methodologies and tools to a greater number of young people."

In the EU 2025 vision, a Europe is aimed where borders are eliminated and every individual in the society can reach education. However, since the Covid-19 epidemic, which has been seen all over the world since the end of 2019, has caused disruptions in many areas of life, this goal set by the EU has been interrupted. During the pandemic process, all areas of life such as education, business life, social and cultural activities have come to a standstill. As a result of the disappearance of daily practices to such an extent, many problems such as disruption in social relations, psychological distress, dissatisfaction and feeling inadequate for living conditions have begun to be experienced, especially in adults. In the project activities, It's aimed to increase the digital competence of adults in order to increase their foreign language proficiency and to reveal their existence with the qualities required by the new world order. For this, Digital Storytelling will be utilized, which overlaps with the holistic approach of CLASS (Communication, Language, Art, Social Science), unlike conventional learning methods. With DST, it is aimed to increase the foreign language proficiency of adults and to eliminate negative emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety stress, which increase due to the pandemic, through artistic production. With DST, it is aimed to increase the key skills of the target groups in an interdisciplinary way by making an interdisciplinary contribution through artistic activities, to enable them to obtain qualified employment opportunities, to increase intercultural dialogue among adults and to sustainable development within the scope of the principle of social inclusion.A two-tier selection will be applied for the participants to take part in the project activities. Participants will first be subjected to general screening that will meet the core competencies for the project. Participants who are successful at this stage will be selected for the tasks. Working groups will be established for each activity to be carried out in the project. Participants to take part in these groups will be selected according to specific criteria. Transnational meetings are planned as five different meetings at certain intervals according to the activity schedule. For each meeting, There will be 2 authorized participants from all partners.Conducting the activities by considering the determined needs and goals will bring many tangible and intangible results which will be obtained during the implementation and completion of the project. Additionally, after the project there will be long-term results. The most considerable outputs of the project are undoubtedly the intellectual outputs which can be defined as;- DST Toolkit for Adult learners- Online Platform (StoryLand)DST Toolkit, the first IO of the project, will provide foreign language usage, digital competence, digital storytelling and creative drama for adult learners. The second IO online platform will provide artistic, cultural and social contributions as well as teaching foreign languages to adults with correct pedagogical methods. Adults who do not have sufficient economic opportunities and motivation in foreign language learning will access this platform as free. After the completion of the intellectual output studies, a seminar will be held for introducing them to the target groups and making new updates on the outputs when necessary by receiving professional external evaluation. As the coordinator institution, the Van Provincial Directorate of National Education will organize this seminar in Van.Management: As our project will be implemented in terms of project management cycle principles, the budget management will also be implemented in accordance with these principles. Our partners will be transferred within 15 working days after we receive our project budget as the coordinator organization. Its target is to disseminate the budget control to all the partners and promote the more effective use of the budget.Considering the scope, goals and target groups of the project, creating an interdisciplinary contribution, following innovative methods in foreign language education for adults, will enable every participating institution to gain experience in supporting employment through arts. Participating institutions, which already have competencies in their work structure, will also have experiences in digital storytelling, creativity and digital education.With our project, national and international studies in the field of adult education will be guided. Especially developing innovative and beneficial methods will be a qualified application for solving regional or universal social problems. Our project will be an example for future projects in terms of being a part of the process with knowledge, technology and creative ideas. This will enable our project to be at the forefront of development in both digital learning and adult education.

<< Background >>We are reaching a critical point in history when solving the problems of humankind has become a matter of our very survival. Finding sustainable solutions to these problems has never been more pressing, as population pressure, violence, and environmental degradation are on the rise.The European Pillar of Social Rights jointly proclaimed by EU Leaders at the 2017 Gothenburg Social Summit establishes, as its first principle, quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning.In aiming to foster more fair and tolerant societies, the Council adopted the Recommendation on Promoting common values, inclusive education, and the European dimension of teaching in 2018. Inclusion is one of the six dimensions of European Education Area (EC,2020) which is introduced by the European Commission to establish a reinforced approach to ensure the achievement of Europe.Students should be provided with appropriate vocabulary, opportunities for practice and endless possibilities that will allow them to internalize and apply those skills needed to support peaceful problem-solving in the future.Teachers are the key drivers for this change.<< Objectives >>In order to achieve that teachers will gain competences to integrate Peace Education into their respective teaching experinces, 7 partners will work for 24 months to enhance peace education competencies of teachers and students :-To provide teachers and students with a conceptual understanding of peace education.-To acquire a holistic and critical understanding of the theory and practice of peace education.-To search for and identify the best ways to teach peace.-To review evaluation studies on the impact and effectiveness of peace education.-To model, experience and practice peaceful classrooms and healthy group dynamics.-To become critical learners and reflective peace practitioners.-To gain an appreciation of the foundations of just and peaceful societies.-To encourage positive action and non-violent conflict resolution in society.-To enhance students’ intellectual flexibility, creativity & problem-solving capacities.<< Implementation >>To realize the project aims,there will be different work packages,each of them will be led by one of the project partners.The responsibilities of the work packages will be delivered in line with the strengths of the partners.1)Management2)Development of O1/EF3)Development of O2/OOC4)development of O3/OTC5)Sustainability 6)Dissemination and Exploitation 7)Monitoring and Evaluation<< Results >>Students should be provided with appropriate vocabulary, opportunities for practice and endless possibilities that will allow them to internalize and apply those skills needed to support peaceful problem-solving in the future.Thus,the project aims to create an inclusive learning environment and reducing violence and support teachers and other educators in dealing with the increasing diversity of learners by providing them:-Peace Education Framework (O1/EF)-An open online course for middle and secondary school teachers (O2/OOC)-Open Teacher Community(O3/OTC)Intangible Results:-Raised conflict management at school environment -Reduced violence, bullying, absenteeism, suspensions and drop out rates-Engaged the larger community in dialogue about peace education and conflict prevention -Raised peace and cultural understanding-Improved knowledge concerning peace, tolerance, racism, discrimination-Increased motivation for building peace;-Increased personal and professional development for stıdents and teachers ; -setting a friendly and safe school atmosphere; reducing the nonattendance rate and early school leavings; motivating them to use innovative IT techniques and to learn foreign languages. The impacts that we envisage are: developing social, intercultural, communication, problem-solving skills; motivating to learn languages and improving IT competences; learning from other cultures; being more positive, creative and happy individuals in life long periods,gain improved competences, linked to professional profiles Students will strengthen understanding of and action for peace education through the cross curricular activity and collaboration to be established among international schools and NGOs.

<< Background >>The Covid 19 crisis has highlighted the major role which adult learning can play in achieving the European Education Area (EC,2020) goals.Education and training at all levels should equip people with the digital skills, but also other competences, such as entrepreneurship and learning to learn, which are needed to navigate in the labour market transformed by technological change which has been introduced as one of the six dimensions of European Education Area (EC,2020) which is introduced by the European Commission to establish a reinforced approach to ensure the achievement of Europe.Digital literacy is a must, the more so in a post-Covid-19 world. Practically all further learning and jobs in all sectors will require some form of digital skills, yet on average two in five Europeans aged 16-74 are lacking these skills.Education and training at all levels should equip people with the digital skills, but also other competences, such as entrepreneurship and learning to learn, which are needed to navigate in the labour market transformed by technological change which has been introduced as one of the six dimensions of European Education Area (EC,2020) which is introduced by the European Commission to establish a reinforced approach to ensure the achievement of Europe.Unlike the compulsory school system, adult learning is a voluntary commitment based on high levels of motivation and proactivity. This presents more of a challenge for education providers. Efforts must be made to continuously develop innovative methodologies and tools in order to engage adult learners in improving their skills and competences.The project aims to develop an innovative multilingual Digital Competences Development System fully compatible with the European framework DigComp 2.0 for adult educators by providing them O1:Self-assessment and recommendation tool for e-skills (SERT) O2:An open online course (OOC) about teaching e-skills<< Objectives >>In 24 months, in a collaborative and cross-sectoral way, the partners from Belgium,Turkey,Austria and Slovenia will pave the way for more tailored solutions for overcoming the barriers to:-Provide guidance and resources for adult educators across Europe on training low skilled adults on how to use ICT tools and digital methods to better deliver e government services -Provide skills to access public services online, which for elders means to keep up-to-date personal competences and transversal skills, leading to a significant step towards active ageing. -Define/develop a self-assessment tool for digitisation of low skilled adults in order to effectively use e government services -Train low-skilled adults and develop their competences in digital skills through a gamified web-platform hosting an interactive online step-by-step web tool to guide target group users in learn digital skills,connected to Open Badges System (OBS) to be tested/complete through two specific training sessions during the project life time<< Implementation >>The project will implement two project results, five Multiplier Events and three transnational projects to support 7 work packages.All these will result in the realization of the project aims.WP1 Project Management to ensure that the project meets its objectives within budget and scheduled timescales. WP2 to develop project result 1-Self Assessment Tool tailored to the needs of adult educators to provide them self assess competencies to train low skilled adults on digital skills.WP3 to develop project result 2: Open Online Course to teach e-skills including an innovative method (gamification) to support adults learning through increasing their motivation and engagement. WP4 Dissemination and exploitation to carry on the regular activities of the work package concerning communication and information through the participation to different meetings with the target group and the stakeholders and to write regular reports on E-Skills.WP 5 Quality control and monitoring to monitor the efficient progress of the activities towards the scheduled milestones and deliverables, and to monitor the quality of the results generated and disseminated in line with the application form.WP6 – Sustainability to assure the assessment of the elaborated sustainability plans.<< Results >>R1 SERT:Self-assessment and recommendation tool will be developed to provide educators with an overview of low skilled adults’ digital competences in line with the DigComp Framework.R2 OOC:A Multilingual e-learning platform , with innovative e-Learning courses and OOC on ICT-based teaching methods for educators working with adults will be developed. Online courses will aim at facilitating that trainers acquire the necessary skills and knowledge. The online materials developed will be able to be re-used and adapted.R3 5 Multiplier Events for 250 participants:To disseminate the project and support the development of the two project results, 5 Multiplier Events will be held for 250 participants in 4 partner countries. Intangible results (both during the project lifetime and after its end) are the following:-Raised digital competences for low skilled adults in becoming socially integrated.-Increased digital literacy of adults;-Better accomplishment and personal satisfaction into adults’ lives leading to a more active and healthier 3rd age;-Developed and tested training program and e-learning and e-assistance tools tailored to provide the specific skills and support needed to digitally access the public services-Effective methodology for high-quality work with adults in 5 European countries and beyond by applying confidence-building approach and using interactivity;-Knowledge and experience gained by partner organisations in the field of transnational cooperation, project management, innovative practices to inclusion of older people;