<< Background >>Despite being a recently more discussed topic, climate protection is still overwhelmingly broad for most people. The people participating in climate protection activities and actively changing their behaviour towards a greener future, are often the same who are already aware of the environmental challenges, measures to be taken and changes for one’s own daily practices. This is especially the case for climate education. Basic knowledge on climate and environment is covered through multiple subjects in school, while climate change and environmental protection are not seen as a mandatory part of the curriculum, leaving young people, especially young people from a disadvantaged background, without any proper climate education. At the same time, youth workers are struggling with a vast number of materials, much of it filled with hard-to-understand scientific knowledge, and might not have the resources to go through all of the materials to find the most appropriate learning materials. The My Eco Track project aims to address the youth worker’s need for learning content, innovative and engaging methodologies regarding climate education, as well as the young people’s need to be able to directly connect the learning content to their personal situation and needs. The MET project will raise the youth workers’ and young people’s awareness on climate change, as well as enable youth workers to engage young people from disadvantaged groups and youngsters who might not have been interested in the topic before. At the same time, young people will be motivated and enabled to develop competences on sustainability, environmental challenges and change, climate protection participation and how to change their own behaviour towards a greener future. Changing the attitude and participating in climate protection requires a broader change in a person’s experiences, in their daily life, one which we may only achieve through a significant change in current practices and environment. By using an innovative methodology of a traditional learning course mixed with a smartphone app to teach, the MET project is changing the way young people are able to learn. The project is not only focusing on the How young people learn but also on the When and Where. Through the mobile application they are able to study wherever they are, whenever they want.Thus, improving the lacking climate education in Europe, enabling youth workers to implement an innovative methodology to teach, and fostering young people in supporting a more environmentally aware and protected future.<< Objectives >>The My Eco Track project aims at two different target groups, youth workers and young people, because change can not only stem from one source but has to be taken on as a whole. Specific objectives include:- raise awareness about climate protection and environmental challenges- enable youth workers to engage young people, especially from disadvantaged groups, who might not have been interested in or not been able to participate in climate protection activities- engage youth workers in implementing an innovative and future-oriented methodology, combining climate education with digitalisation- improve the capacity and practices of youth workers- strengthen the skills and competences of young people to engage in more environmentally friendly behaviour and activities- foster a greener lifestyle for the youth workers and young people- enable young people to learn through a methodology which allows them to adapt it easily to their personal needs and situation<< Implementation >>Specific activities include:1. Transnational and national project management2. Transnational and national dissemination3. Quality evaluation and process evaluation4. Multiplication and sustainability Measures to promote the results to stakeholders and decision makers in the field of rural development5. 4 transnational project meetings in Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal and France6. Monthly online meetings7. National piloting of all three results in all countriesR1 - My Eco Track Factbook on Climate Education - pilot with 10 youth workers per countryR2 - Eco Track Smartphone Application - pilot with 30 young people per countryR3 - Guidelines for curricula implementation and and Training - pilot with 15 youth workers per country8. 1 transnational training in Bulgaria, to discuss necessary adaptations to the project results and train youth workers and staff in the proper implementation of the produced results9. 7 multiplier events to ensure an effective and wide-reaching dissemination of the project and its results10. Sustainability activites as described in the specific section11. Network and stakeholder meetings for multiplication<< Results >>1) Development of a Project Management Guide, produced by Asociación Caminos with contributions from all partners2) Development of a Dissemination Strategy, produced by Asociación Caminos with contributions from all partners3) Development of a Quality Evaluation Strategy, produced by Pistes-Solidaires with contributions from all partners4) Development of a Sustainability Plan, produced by Asociación Caminos with contributions from all partners5) Result 1: My Eco Track Factbook on Climate EducationThis Handbook will provide the learning content as well as the methodologies, including activities, for youth workers to implement during their teaching on climate change and environmental protection. The Handbook shall cover topics (e.g. scientific knowledge, waste separation, mobility, etc.) as well as various practices (e.g. visual learning with images, discovery learning, experiments, discussions, excursions, etc.)The Handbook builds the base of teaching and learning for the MET project.6) Result 2: My Eco Track Smartphone ApplicationThis smartphone application will be a tool used for teaching for the youth workers and a way to learn for the young people. They are able to directly measure and evaluate their own behaviour with the application and learn more about changes they can implement towards a greener future. The youth workers shall utilize the application also for their teaching to allow further studying for the young people. Youth workers are able to ask young people to do research, studying, repetition, direct evaluation, or even homework, through the application.7) Result 3: Guidelines for curricula implementation and training: New methodologies are only effective if we implement them appropriately. Combining a training course with a smartphone application in an interconnected way is not a very common teaching practice, therefore youth workers may lack experience in applying and implementing such practices. Result 3 includes Guidelines on what too take into consideration while implementing such a training, as well as a training curriculum to properly train the youth workers in effectively implementing climate education through the learning materials and the smartphone application.8) 4 newsletters, to inform on the important stages and progress of the project9) 1 project website, featuring all the project results10) 4 Quarterly Reports (every 6 months) from all partners to the project coordinator, Caminos11) Interim Report, including all the documentation and proofs12) Final Report, including all the documentation and proofs

The GI-Pedagogy project supports and equips teachers to bring Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into the classroom in innovative and effective ways. The project has two aims: first, to review existing pedagogies relating to GIS and to develop effective and innovative new approaches; and second, to embed those approaches through a combination of teacher training and resource provision. The focus of the project is on giving teachers the training they need to fully incorporate web-based mapping software into the geography curriculum. The GI-Pedagogy project will produce a toolkit of resources for teachers, available for free on the project website. Once a toolkit for teaching with GIS is developed, this resource will be shared and disseminated via in-person training events and online.GI-Pedagogy responds to teacher and student demand for more digital and web-based approaches to teaching and learning. It also developed in part from the findings of a previous EU-funded project, the School on the Cloud. The project partners include three universities, two secondary schools, and a professional body. Together, the six partners will develop and trial innovative teaching approaches. A new pedagogy for teaching with GIS will be refined in partnership, and through continuous feedback between teacher training and research institutions, front-line educators, and professional geographers. Surveys will be used to monitor the experiences of participating teachers at our two partner schools and at other associate institutions. This stage of the project includes a rigorous survey of existing approaches to teaching with GIS along with a review assessing the effectiveness of new pedagogies.Following this development phase, the project partners will create a toolkit of resources for teachers based on the most effective strategies for teaching with GIS. The toolkit will be available online, along with a MOOC demonstrating how the toolkit can best be applied in the classroom. These online resources will be supplemented by our six multiplier events: a series of face-to-face training sessions for around 140 participants, hosted at the project's partner institutions. At the conclusion of the project, the final results will be made available as part of a digital exhibition. This will also document the experiences of the partners, and particularly of those teachers who were involved in trialling and applying the project's new pedagogy as part of their own teaching practice.The impact of this project will continue even after its completion, as the practices and principles developed will be embedded in the culture of the partner institutions and in the classrooms of those teachers who attended the training or who made use of its online resources. Several partner institutions have pledged funding to ensure that these resources remain freely accessible even after the conclusion of any EU grant. Not only will the project benefit those teachers and students who are direct participants in the development of a new pedagogy, but also those who undertake teacher training at the partner institutions after the life-cycle of the project has ended. By giving teachers the resources and training they need to embed new GIS technologies in their curriculum, GI-Pedagogy is also equipping students with the digital skills they need for the geography of the future.

<< Background >>According to the Expert group on 'Risks, opportunities and implications of digitalisation for youth, youth work and youth policy' set up under the European Union Work Plan for Youth 2016-2018 digital youth work means proactively using or addressing digital media and technology in youth work. Digital youth work is not a youth work method – digital youth work can be included in any youth work setting (open youth work, youth information and counselling, youth clubs, detached youth work, etc.). Digital youth work has the same goals as youth work in general, and using digital media and technology in youth work should always support these goals. Digital youth work can happen in face-to-face situations as well as in online environments – or in a mixture of these two.In this project, led by Ballyfermot Youth Service (Ireland) we will focus on digital youth work in the context of youth centres and we will explore the concept, challenges and good practices of such youth work: as well as map key competences needed for quality youth work in the digital sphere. We will support educators and youth work by providing them with skills and methodologies through training activity and webinars that will equip them with know-how to complement their existing youth work practices in youth centres with digital youth work.<< Objectives >>The project aims at mapping effective digital tools and models already implemented and tested in youth spaces around Europe, as well as at equipping youth workers with necessary skills and guidelines to implement these formats into the reality of existing youth centres and youth houses. This way youth spaces will be able to take advantage of the benefits of the digital solutions and foster youth participation in decision-making processes in a modern, sustainable and entertaining way. The project will contribute to mainstreaming the best digital practices across Europe, make youth organisations more aware of the importance of available digital solutions and equip them with tools that allow them to sustain their actions regardless of the circumstances.The main objectives of the project are:To map already existing, effective digital solutions in youth work within youth centres;To equip youth workers with knowledge and skills necessary to implement digital solutions into youth spaces;To reflect how to create sustainable, digital youth spaces that take full advantage from the digital tools and foster youth participation through different digital channels;To reflect on how to follow the evolving technological trends while maintaining the principles of youth work within the context of youth centres and similar youth spaces.<< Implementation >>Project consortium comprised of partners from Portugal, Belgium, Italy and Ireland will carry out a research on the state of the art of digital youth work in youth centres around Europe throughout the project, the results of which shall be turned into a Publication at the end of the project which will contribute to the achievement of the objective to map already existing, effective digital solutions in youth work within youth centres. The training course on key competences for digital youth work in youth centres will “equip youth workers with knowledge and skills necessary to implement digital solutions into youth spaces by providing them with information, tools and methodology that they can use in their daily work with young people through a series of workshops and experiential learning sessions based on non-formal education. The Set of key competences for digital youth work in youth centres that will be created as an intellectual output of the project will allow for reflection on how to follow the evolving technological trends while maintaining the principles of youth work within the context of youth centres and similar youth spaces. It will elaborate on quality tools and quality systems that need to be in place to ensure that the digital youth work within youth centres is done respecting the core principles of youth work. This intellectual output will be used as a base for designing the training and it will also be presented in the Final Seminar that will also be a space for reflection that will contribute to achieving this particular objective.Webinars that will be another intellectual output of the project will contribute to the goal of reflecting how to create sustainable, digital youth spaces that take full advantage from the digital tools and foster youth participation through different digital channels as they will be aimed at youth workers from youth centres and will serve as a tool to support them in their efforts to transfer their work with young people in youth centres to the digital space and how to ensure outreach and equal involvement of young people using digital tools, all the while maintaining the core principles of youth work. This is something that is also going to be presented and explored at the Training and Multiplier Event.<< Results >>The main tangible results of the project will be the three Intellectual Outputs (IO) created, namely:- State of the art research: how are the youth centres and youth houses fostering digital youth work (existing practices, their added value, implementation methods, challenges and skills needed to implement them);- Set of competences for youth workers to create digital environments for youth centres and youth spaces;- Webinars to train youth workers on digital competences in youth centres.The results expected during the project and after its completion are the following:- Increased knowledge on digital youth work among youth workers in youth centres, NGOs and Municipalities;- Raised awareness of youth work practitioners of the importance of introducing digital youth work all the while maintaining the quality standards, values and principles of youth work;- Trained and skilled youth workers equipped with tools to implement digital youth work in their daily work in the youth centres;- Increased capacity of youth workers to respond to the need of practising youth work in the digital sphere especially in restraining situations such as the one we are currently living with the covid pandemic;- Point of reference, criteria and ideas for all youth centres that want to implement or improve their digital youth work;- Ensuring digital youth work practises within the context of youth centres that fit the standards of quality youth work;

"It is widely accepted and documented through studies and references that school students lack Competences and skills at the completion of the cycle of their school studies. As one of the key factors that can develop competences and skills in school students is the known project based learning activity. In the last 15 years we have seen the development from STEM to STEAM and now to STEAME (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics and Entrepreneruship) becoming the subject set that is considered through interplay the kinetic energy for producing the creators and innovators of the future under the digital age. The catalyst in making this a reality are the subject teachers in service and the future student teachers through their initial training at the university level. The project ""STEAME Teacher Facilitators Academies"", will support the change to the future schools with main actors the teacher facilitators as the future professionals and experts of learning change.The STEAME Teacher Facilitators Academies will support the professional development and build a community of service and student teachers. Working together as co-creators for the sustainable development between teacher education providers with impact on the evolution and quality of education in Europe and the continuous professional development of teachers, the project aims to set the groundfor future schools.The main innovations by this project include:1. STEAME Teacher Facilitators Competence Framework for student and serving teachers2. STEAME Teacher Facilitators Learning Modules/Workshops/Webinars3. International Sharing Observatory for STEAME Learning Facilitators4. Development of the STEAME Facilitators Community of Practice/Mentoring and Certification Programme5. Policy Recommendations – European Federation of STEAME Teacher Facilitators AcademiesThe basis for the above is the experiences and innovations from projects that the project partners bring and join forces."

A capabilities approach repositions the contribution of the discipline (geography) to the education of young people within a human capabilities framework (see Sen and Nussbaum). Earlier phases of the project developed GeoCapabilities as a vehicle for teachers’ professional development. GeoCapabilities 3 seeks to develop and extend the work completed in phase two. Whilst the focus is still teacher development, here we were testing the GeoCapabilities concept in challenging classrooms, as a tool for social justice. Our objectives were to (in a social justice context):1. support teachers to use geographical knowledge to enhance young people's capabilities 2. develop a set of pedagogical principles and strategies3. build a GeoCapabilities 'toolkit' including teachers’ case studies, and to disseminate itThe partners were 5 higher education institutions from across Europe (the UK, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, France), plus one school partner based in Belgium and one NGO, Eurogeo. Collectively this unique partnership provided the essential skills and qualities necessary to meet the aims of the project. 13 associate schools contributed to the project.After recruiting 13 suitable teachers (working in schools serving under-privileged communities) we conducted interviews and focus groups with teachers and analysed data using a framework we developed through literature on social justice, of four areas - agency, distributive justice, mutuality and relational justice. This allowed us to further develop a set of pedagogical strategies through collaborative action research with the associate teachers. The ‘problem’ we collectively explored could be summarised as how to teach about migration in ways that can enhance a young person’s capabilities. Together we developed tools to evaluate access to powerful knowledge. The associate teachers enacted a GeoCapabilities ‘process’ by: engaging with the powerful geography of migration by ‘vignette’ writing; curriculum making (developing rich ‘curriculum artefacts’); teaching; and evaluating powerful knowledge. Pupils’ classwork, focus groups, interviews and concept mapping provided data.The teachers and partners co-analysed these data to produce case studies using ESRI storymaps. Partners then co-constructed a GeoCapabilties toolkit for teachers sitting on a broader, revised GeoCapabilities website and a print publication (translated it into 4 languages). We held 9 multiplier events (both online and F2F) to extend the project’s impact, as well as dissemination through articles, social media and conference events.GeoCapabilities has become an international symbol for innovative teacher education in secondary school Geography. The project has established a truly international impact with activities and research published in several European countries and in the USA and Japan. An extended bibliography reflecting the impact of GeoCapabilities in schools, teacher training and even in higher education can be found at https://www.geocapabilities.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GeoCap3-bibliography.pdf The website is central to the project’s impact https://www.geocapabilities.org . It is an accessible training material for teachers and teacher educators and in 2020 there were 104,628 visitors to the site (source AWstats). It will have ongoing impact as it remains hosted by Eurogeo until at least Dec 2024. The project achieved theoretical and practical success through: developing a structure for how GeoCapabilities connects to social justice (IO2); developing strategies (curricular and pedagogical) for teaching powerful geographical knowledge with social justice in the foreground (IO3); and building an associated toolkit for teachers’ and a print publication (translated into four languages) and a richly resourced website. 9 Multiplier events were attended by 210 teachers and teacher educators. Dissemination took place through a number of articles, social media and international conference events, such as through the International Geographical Union.The GeoCapabilities 3 project has become, to some extent, self-sustaining as school teachers and teacher educators continue to drawing from the materials to enhance their teaching courses and their own professional development. Teachers on the project spoke of feeling energised by the opportunity to connect with academic geography and other teachers, including through the website. There are a number of planned publications and conference presentations adding to those already complete. These will fuel new directions for the capabilities approach, and further collaborations. One such (for seed funding) is already funded and another is in process.