After experiencing the shock of the Brexit vote we have to enthuse our youth for the EU in order to prevent a further decay of the EU. In this project students of five European countries have worked together intensively for 31 months. They cooperated and developed an affinity for the concept of a united Europe. This will enable them to act as ambassadors for the European Union.An intercultural competence was developed by evaluating differences of European customs and reflecting on their own customs. The students experienced the similarities and differences in European customs and participated in activities comparing these customs.Communication competence was developed as the students had to communicate their own ideas to students of other nationalities. Team building skills were improved as workshop tasks were carried out in multinational teams and migrants were included when possible. In these teams the students had to develop a common position for the point of discussion. Student maturity was strengthened by cooperating with students from other countries. The students took over all responsibility for presenting results in front of multicultural audiences in different countries.The students used English as the working language for the entire project time of 31 months and this improved their English language skills.A guidebook was developed that would enable migrants and locals to achieve a successful integration. Migrants, companies and organisations were interviewed in all partner countries and our students analysed the issues faced by migrants.Within the guidebook you will find, among other things, ways of making friends in a new country as this is an important skill for integration. Raising awareness for cultural differences through the guidebook will support migrants to cope with these differences.The project strengthened the ability of empathy in our students by looking at the life experience of refugees, gained by interviewing refugees at all partner schools. We organised meetings and exchanged ideas with migrants of similar age in order to reduce prejudice towards foreigners. Especially as prejudice towards foreigners may have been a big factor in the Brexit vote.

Climate change is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, challenges in the 21st century.In this project, at a European level with partners from four different countries, climate change and its supposed consequences for different European countries from the far north to the far south will be examined from different perspectives.This is to raise awareness of the urgency of our immediate action.A qualitative study is intended to provide information on which alternative actions and waivers in which areas each individual can achieve the greatest savings in greenhouse gas emissions.Furthermore, it should be investigated why various countries in Europe are making very slow progress in climate policy and failing to keep their promises.In particular, it is to be examined in various European countries how willing people are to change their behavior or to renounce.In addition, the aim is to investigate the motivations behind a negative attitude in order to better understand these people and to approach them.In the intensive cooperation of students from different European countries, they acquire intercultural competence.By processing all materials in English, the students improve their English language skills.By presenting their results in their school, at the trans-European project workshops, at information days and before panel discussions, the pupils strengthen their presentation and communication skills.

"The project involved students/ pupils of the partner-schools 12-18 old and wanted to contribute to the specific purpose of the Erasmus+ schedule to improve basic and transversal skills of students that are mostly pertinent on the labour market, using innovative and learner-centred pedagogical approaches , in order to strenghthen the contribution of education and training around the priorities and main objectives of the strategy Europe 2020. The project was based on the strategy of Europe to become a smart and sustainable economy , the basis of which being the improvement of education and training in Europe. The new frame for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) uses the Strategy Europe 2020 to "" increase the efficiency of ressources"", considering the the efficiency of resources taken a relevant part in the growth of economy and labour in Europe, as well as it will provides a quality of life for the current and future generations.From this point, we focused on the cooperation between schools from the different regions of Europe in the search of new methods and strategies for the education and training of students in this field. The project concerned the students and teachers of the partner schools. The latter acquired new strategies to make their students aware of an efficient use of the ressources to eradicate economic difficulties, including the global economic crisis we are going through. The targetted group of the project was composed of students as well as teachers from partner schools who acquired new strategies to raise awareness on the efficient use of ressources and eradicate the economic hardships, the worldwide economic crisis included. In this project, parents were involved as well as NGO, specialists from universities and enterprises. As a whole the people involved directly or indirectly in the project exceeded the 2500 expected.The project focused on the following objectives :- the knowledge and understanding by students and teachers of EU documents on ressources, terms, sectors and fields in relation with the efficient use of resources and the protection of the environement.-the acquisition by students of skills in the efficient use of renewable resources and the protection of the environment-the knowledge and encouragement for the teachers to use methods and innovative approaches for the education and training of students in the efficient use of renewable resources and the protection of the environment- the creation and dissemination of products intended to help/ give the sense of responsibility to students, teachers and local communities for a better and efficient use of renewable ressources and of the environment ( a website, a dictionary of resources, a guide, etc..)-research and exchange of good practices at European level for develop innovative methods of education & training for the efficient use of renewable ressources in partners countries.- the education & training of students for a responsible use of renewable resources and a healthy life ( ecological)- the development of skills in ICTs, languages, civics, social, intercultural dialogue ,equality between sexes and team work.In order to be committed to the objectives, the partners involved in activities such as : research in libraries, on the Net, and field research ; training courses, collection of information, meetings with specialists, writing of articles, dissemination of materials, transnational mobilities, competitions, exhibitions, visits, translations.. etc.To be able to achieve these activities, the methods set out were active- participative, especially nonformal and informal.The final main results produced by the project were : -the acquisition by the students and teachers of skills on the use of renewable resources and protection of the environement ; -the knowledge and understanding of EU documents in the field of resources ;- the use by teachers of methods and innovative strategies in education ; -the creation of products to help in the efficient use of resources and environment( the website, the dictionary of resources, the guide with methods and innovatives strategies, etc..)- the development of skills in ICTs, languages, civics, social, intercultural dialogue ,equality between sexes and team work.The short-term impact of the project were - for students and teachers -the development of knowledge and skills in the efficient use of renewable ressources and the protection of the environment, in ICTs, French languages, intercultural dialogueThe long-term the impact were :the implementation by students & teachers in the terms of efficient use of resources and in the protection of the environment, as much as the implementation by teachers of innovative strategies & methods for the education on efficient use of resources and the protection of the environment."

The purpose of the project is to develop a new methodology and teaching and learning model based on gamification for entrepreneurship compiled of both Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship. We aim to develop experiential learning model with a game and external business partners who will act as mentors to pupils and guide them in the process. Pupils work in teams to create virtual companies. At the end of the course pupils make expeditions to real companies and investors to present their businesses.The two target groups of NeXT are: - primary target are high school pupils in 10th,11th and 12th grades. Pupils are from general education and specialization in Management and Entrepreneurship.- secondary group - teachers in Geography and Economics; teachers in Entrepreneurship. Small-scale pilots of the model that we are proposing in NeXT have already been undertaken in the participating organisations and they show this model leads to reduction of early school leavers and higher pupils ‘engagement and thus better grades. By developing the project we have the following key objectives:- to take pupils out of their comfort zone via gamification to focus on user empathy, whole-brain thinking, collaboration, and experimentation;- to encourage pupils to start their own innovative businesses - whether or not they proceed and really found enterprises, they will develop entrepreneurial mindset and key business knowledge and skills; - to create better collaboration between schools and real businesses – in the process we foresee the active participation of managers and experts who will provide guidance and mentorship; - to develop necessary digital skills for both target groups - one, we aim for digital (virtual) business creation by student teams and second, lecturers use open educational resources to deliver the course and make it available widely. The project is set to produce four intellectual outputs as follow:-Teaching methodology and course syllabus; -Game, manual and training materials; -Teacher’s manual and study documentation; -Open education space platform. The ultimate outcome is development of a game and digital tools for starting and developing innovative business. The project will start with a detailed description and outline of the game content with the respective templates, tools and other elements that will be developed. We are focusing to equip the young people with the skills and mindset to start their own businesses Thus we develop our methodology in compliance with it as well taking into consideration the concepts we are using as well:- Innovation management with its elements – innovation culture, innovation process and capacity, innovation leadership. - Entrepreneurship – key elements of how to start a business- Intrapreneurship – how to develop the business- Design thinking – as a process to generate innovative products and services following the Stanford’s d.school framework: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test.The project aims to adapt the development of competences to the changing world. The students will not work to learn new things but to think of new things from scratch and interact with the real business. NeXT project is designed for strengthening the links between school education and business and enhancing the entrepreneurial training by building effective methodology and course framework to be implemented across different schools and applicable to various competence levels.

<< Background >>The COVID-19 crisis is having a greater impact on some workers than others. Young people are among those at greatest risk of joblessness and poverty. Youth unemployment and general economic developments are highly correlated (OECD 2020, Dietrich) and the COVID-19 crisis has emphasised the often difficult start many young people face in the labour market. Before the pandemic, EU youth unemployment (15-24) was 14.9% and in July 2020, it rose to 17% with an increase of 64.000 youth unemployed. The impact of the pandemic was visible mostly at the beginning of 2021 where 2.967 million young persons became unemployed with a youth unemployment rate of 17.2%. Compared with February 2020, the rate increased by 230 000 in the EU (Eurostat 2021).Following the data, there is an extreme need for improving the school-to-work transition for young people, supporting them to undertake training in more future-proof sectors and occupations (OECD, VET in a time of crisis 2020).Industry 4.0 technologies are considered by the European Union as horizontal technologies “enabling” multiple sectors that are expected to be decisive in tomorrow’s economy (EC, 2019 Curriculum Guidelines for Key Enabling Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies).Despite the great potential of these technologies in supporting youth employment, there is a lack of appropriate and multidisciplinary curricula providing the related digital skills. This is identified as a key barrier also to the development of innovation and digital transformation (EC 2020 Youth Employment Support: a bridge to jobs for the next generation).<< Objectives >>The emerging Maker Movement (JRC Report, Overview of the Maker Movement in the European Union, 2017) can support students in acquiring advanced digital competences needed by Industry 4.0. The maker activities are based on the same technologies used in the advanced manufacturing industries and the European Fab Labs should be used as testbeds for developing VET curricula focused on those digital competences (EC, Curriculum Guidelines for Key Enabling Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies 2019).Digital practices (3d printing, CNC machinery, 3D, etc.) promoted by Making movement (Dougerty, Anderson) in the last years are demonstrating to upskill young people with those digital competences, helping them access formal employment (and self-employment) opportunities (A desk review of the makerspace phenomenon and its potential to enhance youth employment and empowerment, Susan Njambi-Szlapka 2019).Thus, the project aims at supporting VET teachers in implementing maker-based activities for providing VET students with advanced digital competences, in line with the changes of Industry 4.0. The project aims at increasing the employability of VET students and synergies with advanced manufacturing companies.PRIMARY TARGET GROUP is composed by secondary VET school teachers and educators and all the people involved in the school-to-work transition process in the VET sector. FINAL BENEFICIARIES are secondary VET school students attending the last years of their education, including disengaged students.The partnership includes 8 partners coming from 5 different countries: Assindustria Consulting, Learnable and Polo3 (Italy), Fablab Muenchen (Germany), MCAST (Malta), PTA and IES Martin de Aldehuela (Spain), Pedagogical University of Cracow (Poland)<< Implementation >>The partnership will implement the following activities:- In the preparatory activities, each partner will involve the main stakeholders to share information with them and create the basis for the future cooperation - Production of the MakeMyFuture Competence Framework: VET teachers, experts in industry 4.0 and maker education will be involved in each partner country in questionnaires and interviews defining the most important digital skills for Industry 4.0. 41 VET teachers will be involved in testing this output. - Production of the MakeMyFuture Modules: VET teachers and experts in Maker Education will be involved in mapping the Maker Education potential with the profiles identified in the previous phase. 51 VET Teachers and 100 VET students for a duration of 20 hours will be involved in testing the output produced.- Production of the MakeMyFuture MOOC: VET schools and experts in delivering online, blended training courses and MOOCs will contribute to define the structure and layout of the MOOC through formal and informal meetings. 41 VET teachers for a duration of 32 hours will be involved for testing the output produced.- Joint Staff Training Mobility: 2 VET teachers, trainers, or educators for each partner organisation will be involved in a five days training course. - Project staff and local stakeholders will be involved in 3 transnational project meetings in order to monitor the project tasks and results, share experiences and improve the awareness-raising process. - The quality assurance process will involve project partners, beneficiaries and stakeholders in different project phases through questionnaires, interviews and evaluation sessions. - Dissemination activities: each partner will use its own networks and contacts in order to disseminate the project's results and output. - Multiplier events: In the multiplier events, VET teachers and students will be involved to take over the outputs of the project and make the most use of them in order to disseminate the potential of maker education within the VET communities in each partner country. Stakeholders, potential users and VET teachers interested in improving school-to-work transition processes will be involved in the multiplier events.<< Results >>The project, through the expertise of the organisations involved, will provide VET teachers and schools with resources and guidelines to effectively implement Maker education at school for adapting learning towards the digital transformation of the modern Industry. The tangible results are:- MakeMyFuture Competence Framework: it will provide different profiles needed by Industry 4.0, described applying the Learning Outcomes approach and in line with the standard VET curricula. This will ensure a link between the world of work and the VET sector, so as to align the advanced digital competences acquired by students through Maker education, with the real needs of the changing Industry.- MakeMyFuture Modules: the different maker-based educational modules will be designed with the scope of nurturing VET students with advanced digital manufacturing competences. The modules will be elaborated according to the profiles identified and the different technologies actually used by Fablabs, matching them with the company’s needs and VET curricula. - MakeMyFuture MOOC consists of an open web-based training course for VET teachers and trainers for implementing maker-based educational modules with VET students. This will also promote VET teachers and trainers' capability of developing and implementing learning paths, in synergy with local companies, focusing on advanced digital competences. It will improve, in combination with the LTTA, the teachers’ proficiency in using maker-based technologies and integrating them into their lessons. - LTTA for VET teachers will focus on developing advanced digital competences in line with the requests of Industry 4.0 implementing Maker Education