As it has been the case in the European Union (EU) during the last few years, large migration waves of people in need of international protection have arrived from countries and territories that suffer from war disasters, dictatorships, etc. in pursuit of a new home. In order for those people to live, work and prosper along with the receiving communities, they need to be integrated into the host countries’ environment – and this has been the greatest challenge for almost all EU countries. The most effective way to accomplish integration and social inclusion has proven to be by learning to communicate with the local population and get acquainted with their cultural particularities and their lifestyle.In this regard, the main objective of “BIG STEP: Learning through Gamification – Integration of the vulnerable groups” has been to develop an innovative educational 2-D serious video game, which helps refugees, immigrants and other vulnerable groups to integrate through learning core elements of their host country’s language, while also familiarising with local cultural aspects. To do so, we have used the Gamification methodology, which is the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring) to other areas of activity, such as teaching, in order to encourage engagement, interaction, learning flow and evaluation of participants.The participating organizations were brought together in the base of common objectives and formed a cohesive partnership in which each partner complements each other in terms of expertise, skills and knowledge, as well as in terms of operational and functional background. In addition, all 6 partners have extensive knowledge of their local needs and were able to make a unique contribution to all project activities. More specifically, UCLL, a Higher Education Institution (HEI) from Flanders, has been the lead partner as it possesses the gamification knowhow, having built similar game-engines for other contexts with success. Neapolis University Pafos is another HEI from Cyprus with valuable scientific and technical research background as well. University Rehabilitation Institute from Slovenia has a major experience in supporting and working with disadvantaged groups. OECON Group from Greece brought its quality assurance experience from previous EU projects’ implementation. Komunikujeme from Czech Republic added value to the communication and dissemination activities. Last but not least, the Institute of Psychosocial Development from Greece brought its expertise in counseling and supporting disadvantaged individuals.To achieve the planned objectives, the project was divided into 3 main activities (Intellectual Outputs) that are shortly described as follows:1.Research and Preparation – each partner conducted primary research through questionnaires in order to gather information regarding our target groups’ needs, literacy skills and ICT competences. Also, each partner conducted a nationwide desk research to formulate cultural particularities reports that included all necessary country information that a foreigner should be aware of in order to live and integrate in the respective country.2.Design and Development – the information from the questionnaires and reports of the previous activity was used for the development of the game’s chapters, with variations based on the target groups’ needs and on each country’s particularities.3.Testing and Implementation – after the first versions of the game were developed, the project’s experts tested them in the reception, protection and support structures of each partner’s region, in order to receive feedback and improve the game.In this direction, the main practical results attained have been the following:-5 National Reports, 123 Questionnaires and 1 Overall Final Report summarizing all the findings and information gathered during research;-1 functioning online Game, freely available and translated-modified in all partners’ languages and country particularities, without an expiration date;-1 Instruction Manual for utilizing the Game, translated in English, Arabic and in all partners’ languages;-130 Questionnaires received after the testing of the Game from our target groups.The project’s impact and longer-term benefits can be summarized as follows:-Introduction of an innovative educational method that combines learning while having fun;-Integration of users to the host countries through enhancement of their literacy skills, ICT competences and cultural awareness;-More active participation, more positive attitude and increased employment opportunities for the target groups and experts involved;-Exchange of good practices between organizations internal and external to the project, and establishment of synergies;-Interaction between research, business and policy (the triple helix).

Today, the internet usage rates among children/teenagers are growing at an uncontrollable speed. Considering that these children were born into this ‘information age’, it is inevitable that this virtual world affects real life more and more each day. This kind of high usage rates brings about risk factors besides its positive contributions and numerous benefits. Recent studies also show that although children and teenagers are encouraged to use information technologies effectively, they don’t receive satisfying education on how to protect themselves from the harmful aspects of the internet. Cyberbullying is not the most common problem that children face while using information technologies, but it is one of the most serious ones as it leads to long term negative effects like psychological problems, violence, absenteeism and early school leaving, poor marks, and poor social skills on children. Cyberbullying is repeated verbal or psychological harassment carried out by an individual or group against others on the internet base. With this project, the partnership is planning to raise awareness of the society and to provide core knowledge and guidelines which can help students, parents, and teachers for avoiding the undesired results of cyberbullying. The project also aims to reveal different ways of motivating and engaging teenagers in safer use of internet. Our target group is 9-16 ( it was changed after the need analysis ) aged teenagers of which the majority consists of school age children. So as to reach these objectives. The partnership consists of Afyonkarahisar Provincial Directorate for National Education (TURKEY-coordinating partner), Turkish Ministry of National Education -YEGITEK (TURKEY), University of Manchester (ENGLAND), Konsulent Øystein SamnØen (NORWAY), Interfusion Services Limited (CYPRUS), Artemisaworld S L (SPAIN), Kominikujeme OS (CZECH REPUBLIC), CEIPES (ITALY), Universidade de Coimbra (PORTUGAL). As for the main activities of the project, making a literature review in order to build a comprehensive approach on the subject matter, conducting a needs analysis that provides a diagnosis of the current situation, risks, problems, and the requirements of online teenagers, parents, and educators, applying a study(questionnaires/surveys) on the target groups about the internet usage attitudes, digital literacy, online safety measures, awareness of cyberbullying, effects of cyberbullying, reactions on cyberbullying, organizing seminars for teenagers, parents, and educators, forming a project website, forming a blog or a facebook group, conducting national and transnational conferences, running a campaign against cyberbullying, preparing a guidebook for parents and educators, preparing a handbook for teens, creating an ICT tool, managing and monitoring activities, assessment and evaluation activities, and dissemination activities can be listed briefly. The impact of the project on the participants and partner organizations has been the development of extensive knowledge and experience on the field, improving cross-cultural dialogues, improving individual and institutional administrative and communication skills. Awareness of teenagers, parents and educators have been increased on the concept of ‘cyberbullying’, digital literacy of the target groups has been improved, a perspective of precautions and safety measures against cyberbullying have been acquired by the target groups, low school success, absenteeism and early school leaving related to cyberbullying have been minimized, a reference guide has been created on the field, and a great effort has been made to build a safer digital world for children.Through BECYBERSAFE, the partnership wants to create a set of approaches and strategies within the EU's vision based on different ways of motivating and engaging teenagers in safer use of internet. BECYBERSAFE serves as a prevention tool for teenagers; an advisory guideline for the educators and the parents.

The project “Entrepreneurship and Community cooperatives” (EntCoM) aimed at fostering active citizenship and entrepreneurship (considering social entrepreneurship) in small or remote areas, with the support of three clear activities:1) the development and consolidation of entrepreneurial competences (knowledge, skills and attitude) in order to structure entrepreneurial initiatives under the specific framework of “community cooperatives”;2) Foster learning mobilities at EU level to answer local needs;3) contribute to the recognition and validation of such entrepreneurial competences under the ECVET, ESCO and EUROPASS framework.The project in hand aimed at recognizing the central importance of human capital, and at setting organizational and management models that encourage the participation of all citizens as “active members” of their community. At the same time, we did not overlook the financial aspect necessary to the achievement of societal objectives, which became important in the context of the resources made available by the institutions related to the community, such as municipalities. Indeed, by working together businesses can reduce costs, share risks and create new platforms for growth. Consortium co-operatives run on a shared and equal way by, and for the benefit of, their members. Members can be businesses, partnerships or individuals.At local and regional level, this project aimed at providing a realistic, practical and effective answer to address a variety of current issues that exist also at EU level, such as the economical emergency, the unemployment rate, social cohesion, the digital agenda, rural and remote territorial development. At national and EU level, the project aimed at providing a workable good practices considering the preparation of the targeted population in terms of competences, considering the recognition, transferability and gathering of the entrepreneurial competences according to the ECVET framework in order to foster the mobility and improve the employability of the targeted group represented by citizens in remote or rural areas. Mobility indeed represented a key answer to the current low rate employment context at EU level.The target group addressed by the project in hand were citizens from rural or remote area, and most particularly the “Not in Education, Employment, or Training” (NEET) population. The term NEET refers to people between 16 and 24 who are no longer in compulsory schooling and yet have not taken on employment, further education or training schemes such as apprenticeships. Immediately after are the adult learning practitioners, cooperatives (employers), and adult learning bodies in general.The project provided the following results:1) A training course (TC) comprising:- a survey and mapping report on good practices;- a curriculum;- a training guide (e-learning and residential);- a tool kit for multipliers (EntCom4M)- guidelines for in-service training.2) ECVET guidelines tool kit and recommendations encompassing:- applicable ECVET framework;- Competences list (knowledge, skill and attitude);- definition of Learning Outcomes*.- definition of Units of Learning Outcomes*.- Credit for learning outcomes (credit)* tool.- ECVET point* tool.- Assessment methodologies.- Credit transfer* tool.- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)*.- Learning Agreement* tool.

The economic and social scenario of the EU countries has undergone profound changes in recent years. Some are the result of the crisis of the years 2008 and following, othersit is the unraveling of the progressive de-industrialization of many urban areas of the continent. This new context has led to the mutation of theurban landscape, where often unused and abandoned areas at the end of their manufacturing life meet, especially in the suburbs. Yesit supports a growing youth unemployment, fruit of that same process of abandonment and change of the development model born with theindustrial revolution. The disused industrial areas and the difficult inclusion of young people in the labor market are elements of the same dynamics andthey pose, among the many possible, two questions: a) how to rethink the cities and enhance the unused production areas, improving the livability of the neighborhoods andreducing the environmental impact, b) how to ensure, in the light of the economic changes taking place, that the valorisation and reconversion of these urban spacesgenerate unprecedented employment potentials (not contingent and only related to project activities and infrastructural adaptation), able to respond to newneeds of goods and services. In the perspective described, it is considered essential to promote, as a strategic action for the development and governance of the territory, themodeling and systemising these experiences, with the aim of encouraging the recovery of abandoned industrial plants and re-reading in a new way thetheir social and productive function, welcoming the needs of the communities and the current needs of the labor market. The actions indicated in this project arein particular, they set out the following specific objectives: a) to compare and model successful experiences in the redevelopment and management of spacesindustrial companies that have assumed a new cultural, social and recreational use, b) define the professional skills needed for the management of the structuresaccompagnamento al lavoro. I partner hanno una esperienza specifica nel settore della produzione e gestione di eventi culturali e di professioni legate alsettore arte e spettacolo.L’implementazione del progetto prevede la realizzazione delle seguenti attività:a) Analisi delle best practice presenti a livello europeosul riuso di aree industriali dismesse a fini sociali e culturali b) Realizzazione di un virtual workspace c) Realizzazione delle attività di short term mobility d)Realizzazione di una mostra fotografica e) Definizione delle linee guida per la progettazione di attività artistiche e culturali in aree industriali dismesse. Ilprogetto intende offrire un contributo concreto nella valorizzazione delle aree dismesse di origine industriale e generare iniziative di natura culturale e socialein grado di creare un indotto professionale qualificato e offrire una risposta alla mancanza di opportunità occupazionali per i giovani.Un ulteriore impattoatteso è rappresentato dalla costruzione di un network stabile di partner europei che possa contribuire in modo significativo alla qualità dei progetti culturaligià attivati nelle varie realtà e consolidare ulteriormente le opportunità di lavoro e coinvolgimento delle comunità locali.

“ReYion: Rural Empowerment through Youth Initiatives and Organisations Networking “ is a 19-month partnership at international level funded under the Key Action 2 of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commision and wihtin its branch for the development of strategic partnerships on the youth field. Coordinated by Bitartean Jolasean (Spain) with the support of KOMUNIKUJEME OPS (Czech Republic), EUROPEAN INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT (Greece), Associazione di Promozione Sociale Futuro Digitale (Italy) and Zavod Mladinska Mreza MaMa (Slovenia), the main of this initiative is to join together organisations from different countries but working on the development of youth services in rural areas and promote their work together to create new learning materials and exchange of good practices related to the training of young people on the associative field and the implementation of youth initiatives.To achieve this, partner organisations will design and develop in a cooperative way different intellectual outputs and workshops with the objective of providing concrete competences to young people to create their own organisations, working within networks involving different social stakeholders and promote the inclusion and participation of youth on rural areas with a lack of services or opportunities for them. The materials and training sessions to be created will deal with topics such as creation and registration of youth entities; management of youth and volunteering projects in rural areas; funding management for youth entities and youth projects justification; promotion of youth participation; networking; European funding for youth projects; etc.. Even if these workshops will be especially focused on training young people on rural areas and the cooperation among youth groups through networks on small regions, these materials will be suitable for any kind of young person who aims to acquire horizontal skills for the creation of his/her own association or initiatives to promote the participation of young people on areas that demand a social development. The training outputs obtained, will also contain pedagogical milestones for those professionals on the youth sector who could aim to replicate them within their organisations and communities. All the results of the project will be also uploaded and available in a free way through the website to be created for the project, that will also include a compendium of all the youth groups or initiatives to be developed by the project beneficiaries during the implementation of its programme. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the transnationality of these materials and its use within different communities or with different users, all of them will include a mixture of non formal and informal methodologies that could promote the learning process of young people by interactive exercises to ensure their acquisition of concepts and reinforcement of competences.To make all possible, a complete programme of work has been designed for the project and incluiding researches on the needs of the target group of the project, cooperative development of materials, testing activities to improve the project results, training workshops for the users of the project, transnational initiatives for the coordination and education of the professionals coordinating the partnership and multiplier events in order to open all the results achieved to any kind of beneficiary or stakeholder who could be interesting on discovering the intellectual outputs of ReYion or cooperating with its target group or partners.