CONTEXT/BACKGROUNDThe upskilling of Teachers and Trainers competences for fostering INCLUSION has been identified as a high policy priority by the EU in the Council Recommendation on promoting common values and inclusive education (EC Com2018/23), by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2016 Report on the right to inclusive education) and by the UN AGENDA 2030 for Sustainable Development (Goals 4 and 8). Moreover, the 2018 EC Report “Education and Special Needs: policies and practices in education, training and employment for students with special needs in the EU” confirms that to integrate SEN students in Education and Training, there is a need to prepare Teachers and Trainers to use digital and innovative tools, such as the Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). In the frame of VLE, the use of VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) is considered valuable and profitable for SEN students in initial VET when applied for facilitating their access to WBL at local and international/Mobility level. VETREALITY represents a reply to the mentioned needs as it will provide the target group – VET Teachers/Trainers – the required digital competences for tackling this innovative change in the SEN students' learning process.MAIN OBJECTIVES• Foster innovative learning approaches and methodologies and provide digital skills for teaching and training, as outlined in the EU Digital Education Action Plan (EU DigCompEdu/2017);• Increase technological competences on VR applications and competences for facilitating SEN students’ access to WBL;• Promote VR in the frame of Mobility as a mean to incentive the participation of SEN students and assure equity and inclusion in all VET environments.NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTSIO1-VETREALITY e-Compendium: 70 VET Teachers/Trainers will be selected at EU level and 56 stakeholders/VR experts will be identified by partners to participate to the 2 foreseen focus groups;IO2-VETREALITY Training Programme: a) Short-term Joint Staff Training Event (Pilot 1): 14 VET Teachers/Trainers will be selected among partner organizations to participate in a 5-day LTTA session in Graz/AT;b) National Pilots: 10 VET Teachers/Trainers per partner organization (70 at EU level) will participate to a 10-day training;IO3-VETREALITY Mobility Tool Box: 10 VET Teachers/Trainers per partner organization (70 at EU level) will participate to a 2-day pilots testing.ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGYVETREALITY Project is developed with a multidisciplinary approach designed to achieve the project objectives and ensures the delivery of the planned results, by integrating the methodologies specific for the following activities:• Management, including Quality Evaluation, Dissemination and Exploitation activities;• Development of 3 IOs;• Short-term Joint Staff Training Event in Graz/AT;• 6 National Multiplier Events and 1 Final Conference in Campobasso/IT.The activities are strictly interconnected, verifiable and preparatory to the next, with the progressive involvement of the beneficiaries and a clear and transparent division of work and roles according to partners’ expertise.VETREALITY will have the following RESULTS:• IO1: raising VET Teachers and Trainers’ awareness and knowledge on the best available VR applications to be used for facilitating the learning process of SEN students aimed at their smooth access to WBL (focus groups and collection of VR existing tools);• IO2: developing a training programme to provide the target group with knowledge, skills and competences needed for integrating VR technology into own teaching and training methods aimed at supporting SEN students’ access to WBL (EU and NA training programme and testing);• IO3: promoting SEN students’ involvement in Mobility, facilitating their integration thanks to VR technology and applications;• providing a sustainable model to other organizations and stakeholders at local/NA/EU level, interested in supplying innovative competences to teaching and training staff and fostering the use of VR in learning for supporting SEN students in the frame of WBL.In addition to the 3 core Intellectual Outputs VETREALITY will develop further results necessary to achieve its objectives in terms of sustainability: Communication and Dissemination Strategy and Quality Management Handbook and reports.VETREALITY will have an extended IMPACT on:• Direct participants (VET Teachers and Trainers) will acquire digital skills and innovative tools to foster an INCLUSIVE approach in the fields of WBL and MOBILITY;• SEN students will increase their participation to WBL and Mobility programmes;• Partner organizations will integrate the training programme in their curriculum and replicate it to reach more professionals;• Stakeholders and Associated Partners will access a wide range of materials in various languages thanks to the project website available for 5 years after the project end, ensuring a sustainable EU network of stakeholders in the field.

<< Background >>YOUTH MOVING aims to enhance care leavers participation in democratic life in Europe, through their empowerment as active citizens, especially addressing how to connect with, express their views and be heard by stakeholders in the alternative care field. For children and young people who have experienced living in alternative care, separated from their biological family, the process of growing up is extremely demanding because they are often left without formal support and a functional social network. They also face many other challenges that independent living brings. There is a relationship between youth's personal biography and the impact of the social and economic context in which they live, suggesting that policies and interventions can increase (but also limit) opportunities for young people coming out of alternative care to maximize their potential and ensure that they themselves are involved in shaping the services they need and receive. It is necessary to raise awareness among citizens, but especially among public policymakers about the additional support that youth from alternative care needs to express their opinion and to be given an opportunity to meet their needs in all spheres of democratic life in the community. A survey conducted on the general youth population in Croatia showed that 75% of young people think that they should have more opportunities to have their voices heard in politics, 40% think that their generation does not enjoy enough rights, and only 10% think that young people's interests are sufficiently represented in politics. Nevertheless, 80% of the respondents expressed an unwillingness to engage in any political function. Given that research has shown that successful social integration of young people depends more on family resources than on socially created conditions, young people from alternative care face an additional disadvantage when it comes to social exclusion and participation in democratic processes in the community. Available research on youth participation in democratic processes does not provide data on the participation of young people from alternative care in democratic processes. On the other hand, there is data that indicates that the opinion of young people from alternative care is still insufficiently taken into account when making decisions that affect them in all partner countries, which certainly suggests that participation in some forms of decision-making associations such as school councils and youth councils, is very modest and without an influence. The aim and activities of this project are focused on strengthening the competencies of people working with youth from alternative care, to encourage youth to actively participate in society, to overcome limitations and to provide opportunities for young people to express their opinion. All of the above will empower young people from alternative care and we will advocate for the improvement of the entire alternative care system, because the voice of those who know their reality and problems the best will be heard by people who work with them and by policy-makers.<< Objectives >>Given this context, the objectives of the project were set:1.Investigate the involvement of young people from alternative care in democratic processes in society 2.Raise awareness about the need of inclusion of young people from alternative care in democratic processes in society 3.Promote international cooperation of people working with youth from alternative care 4.Promote cross-sectoral cooperation of organizations and institutions working with youth from alternative care in representing the views of youth in the society<< Implementation >>Through the project we will produce 2 project results:PR1) Developed curriculum of workshops aimed at encouraging the participation of young people from alternative care in the democratic processes of society1.Conduct research on the involvement of youth from alternative care in democratic processes in the community (involvement in youth councils, youth associations, school councils, etc.) through the implementation of desk research, interviews (or focus groups) with young people, interviews with youth workers and policy-makers 2.Investigate good EU practice examples for active involvment of youth from alternative care in democratic processes in the community 3.Development of training materials for youth workers, based on research conducted with the aim of encouraging and teaching young people to get involved in democratic processes in the community *** after development of the material, an LTT activity will be organized - training in which youth workers and young people from alternative care will participate, and where developed materials will be implemented 4.Translation to all partner languages 5.Pilot training materials on one group of young people in each of the partner countries 6.Dissemination PR2) Developed video material for raising public awareness about the importance of participation of young people from alternative care in democratic processes- Involve young people from alternative care and youth workers in the production of video material that sends messages to youth workers and policy makers about the needs of young people from alternative care and their position in democratic processes in society 1. Preparation of the video production: finding suitable stories, creating scenario2. Filming of the video materials3. Editing the video materials4. Translation to all partner languages5. Dissemination<< Results >>Expecting to benefit around 300 people, the main expected results and impacts of the project are:1.Empower organizations involved in the project to actively advocate that views of young people from alternative care in designing the services they need and receive are taken into account2.To enable partner and associated organizations to share knowledge, insight into good practices and design the most appropriate forms of work with young people from alternative care for their more active role in society and reduction of social isolation3.To expand knowledge and competencies of people working with youth from alternative care in the field of active involvement of these young people in democratic processes in society

<< Objectives >>The GREEN MEME EFFECT project has three main objectives:[1] Foster and promote green thinking, lifestyle and attitudes in youth and marginalised youth.[2] Equip the actors in the physical and digital social space (youth workers, youth support, parents, peers, companies/NGOs/local authorities) to become green role models and inspire through micro-interventions.[3] Promote social responsibility, initiative and participation in eco-friendly and sustainable action in the local communities.<< Implementation >>In a 24-month project duration, 6 partner organisations from 6 EU countries (AT, PT, IE, IT, CY, SE) will produce an innovative methodology and a range of different practical, low-threshold materials to reach the project objectives. The target groups of youth and youth support workers will be engaged in various stages of the process and partners plan to meet F2F at critical stages for transnational meetings and learning activities. A transnational final conference will conclude the project.<< Results >>The project will produce these tangible main results:[1] GREEN INFO CARDS & VIDEOS & interactive online quizzes.[2] GUIDELINE on how to apply the GREEN MEME EFFECT methodology in informal settings.[3] COLLECTION of physical & digital materials to implement MEME micro-interventions in digital & physical social space of youth.[4] Educational GAME that can be played in typical youth work settings.[5] IDEA SET for theme days in youth centres to take eco-friendly actions in the local community.

Studies show that there is an urgent need for qualified personnel in Europe: As shown, for ex. in the 2 cited studies ‘How mobile is tech talent?’ by Centre for European Policy Studies, 2016 and McKinsey study, 2012 called World at Work the need for young talented people entering the labour market is very high. This study reached conclusion: employers in Europe and N. America will require 16 to 18 million more college-educated workers in 2020 than are going to be available. McKinsey consulting coined the term ‘War for Talent’ to describe this phenomenon. In many EU countries, this is a particular problem for SMEs looking to hire and keep personnel, as SMEs cannot compete with corporations when it comes to salaries and other incentives. SMEs may not be able to fill 1 in 10 roles they need, much less fill them with top talent.At the same time, Europe experiences unprecedented high levels of migration, many of whom are well qualified. In Eurostat report ‘Migrant integration’ from 2017 the result was concluded concerning migrants in Europe: the EU-born population recorded the highest share of graduates (36.7 %). This proportion was 4 pp higher than for the native-born population and 5 pp higher than for non-EU-born population. These statistics reflect potential benefits of migration of EU Citizens where more extensive recruitment of young people with migrant backgrounds or young refugees could help SMEs in finding appropriate employees. Especially that motivation to gain access to the labour market among them remains exceptionally high: e.g. 93,3% of the population in Germany with a migrant background retain that a fix workplace is an important factor for integration in the accepting country.In contrast with these facts however, 7 out of 10 (71%) of DE companies with trainee programmes don’t employ trainees with migration background. This figure is higher for SMEs with less than 50 employees. Those over 50 show higher rates of willingness to employ trainees with migrant backgr. but still 46%. (SVR-FB_Diskriminierung-am-Ausbildungsmarkt, p. 31). This situation indicates a strong tendency by SME towards risk avoidance: The risk is that financial consequences for SME of the trainee breaking off the apprenticeship ahead of time. Research indicates that due to the nature and size, SME give trainees and new employees more responsible tasks relatively early. This requires the trainee to fit in the company’s structure easily and smoothly (SVR-FB, p. 30). In order to avoid these potential negative consequences, decision-makers in SMEs are guided by the unconscious human preference for people like themselves based on the unconscious psychological assumption ‘people who are like each other, like each other’, which seems generally true and in so doing demonstrate an unconscious bias to trainees and employees who are from their own culture. Consequently, for the sake of financial security and social integration in the staff, when it comes to choosing the right trainees and employees, these unconscious decisions, however, lead to the exclusion of many talents only because of the cultural background.Existence of unconscious bias is the fact, there is a need to recognise it and to cope with it. The project’s main aim is to develop competences of SMEs managers and recruitment staff in understanding, recognising, reflecting on and managing the unconscious bias and validating those competences in order to enable SMEs to recruit suitable personnel. The main objective will be achieved through developing the vocational education tool - CUB@work system.Target groups:- Management and recruitment staff of SME- VET trainers and public officials responsible for VET policyIt is expected that the impact of the project will be significant at all levels. Local, regional and national levels will be impacted by the dissemination activities performed by partners in their regions and countries. The project is likely to have a sustainable impact within and beyond its lifetime, especially on the target group, management and recruitment staff of SMEs. The participation in the project activities will increase their vocational skills needed in the recruitment and in the workplace. They will become not only aware of unconscious bias but also will know how to recognise it and how to manage it. In effect small and medium-sized companies will be better able to recruit suitable coworkers, also from the migrant population. It is expected that over 1000 people will participate directly in the project activities and over 20 000 will learn about its results via different digital channels. The project will also have impact on all those institutions and organizations that operate in the field of VET education. As unconscious bias is becoming more and more important due to high immigration recently, the CUB@work system should be found useful by many actors across Europe.

<< Background >>The current pandemic has affected everyday lives of people around the world. Countries have introduced various forms of restrictions in order to fight against the virus and keep their citizens safe – including complete to targeted closures. The pandemic has had a huge impact on education system as well. A nationwide closure of schools has been common recently. These closures have affected the way of gaining knowledge not only amongst young people and children but adults as well. It is estimated that the current pandemic has affected the professional development in VET sector.The world in time of the pandemic is a different place: telework has gained popularity in many countries that did not use it before and ICT skills have become a basis for both – work and education environment. The ongoing changes in VET are demanding different kinds of support mechanisms for teaching staff globally. Mostly this concerns implementing new pedagogies, curricula and use of new technologies. However, this is not always easy or possible due to the scale and speed of the labor market changes. As consequence VET providers are often struggling on their own with the future oriented changes. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2020.)The current situation requires a transformation within small and medium goods producers in Europe. The existing patterns related to trade and export of goods do not work any more – they should be quickly replaced with new methods of communication and online marketing techniques. Furthermore, digital models are essential in order to open up to new markets.There are several organizations SMEs can turn to in order to gain assistance and support: chambers of commerce, clusters and VET agents. Entrepreneurs want to find a partner who will support them with their participation in foreign fairs, completing customs procedures and requirements for the import or export of goods, advertising goods on foreign markets, adjusting marketing strategies and more. The problem is that most common form of communication between SMEs and those institutions was a standard face-to-face meeting. However, in the current situation (the COVID 19 pandemic) there are certain limitations. Firstly, many chambers of commerce or clusters are not able to provide entrepreneurs with quick support in the field of opening / resuming foreign exports in the online dimension. Secondly, the traditional face to face mode is not available during the Covid-19 pandemic and so the entrepreneurs are left with no choice – the only possibility of communication nowadays would be digitalised communication which requires certain skills.The aim of the project: to strengthen the possibility of small and medium goods producers in Europe for successful transformation from traditional to effective and online transborder activities (import/export) by building capacity of Chambers and similar VET institutions for providing digital education support as well as the development and implementation of digital pedagogical competences of VET educators.<< Objectives >>The project focus is on two target groups:•T1: employees of chambers of commerce, regional development agencies, VET clusters, local authorities and centres for entrepreneurship development, VET teachers, trainers and mentors;•T2: owners and managers of small and medium enterprises involved in the production of goods and employees of sales and export departments in these enterprises.By implementing the project and its results the project partners endeavour to provide assistance to the forementioned target groups facing challenges which occurred during the worldwide pandemic of Covid-19. The main goal to be achieved is transforming small and medium goods producers in Europe so that they become effective and online transborder organisations. Moreover it is important for the Chambers and similar VET institutions to provide digital education and support and implement digital pedagogical competences.With the COVID-19 situation continuing and the new Erasmus+ program 2021-2027 with increased possibilities to cooperation and mobilities on a European level in mind there is a need to develop ways of cooperation and learning using digital and virtual methods. The project is a response to the European Union’s call for support for digital transformation in the coming years - illustrated by the recent proposal for the Digital Europe programme (for 2021-2027), which would be the first ever funding programme dedicated solely to supporting digital transformation in the EU.Thus, the project focus is on ICT (new technologies and digital competences); new innovative curricula/educational methods and development of training courses; entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurship education. Innovative practices in digital area are the core of the project.Moreover, the activities within the framework of the project will result in a raised awareness and knowledge of VET actors in the area of digital pedagogical literacy. The project will enhance access to quality trainings and qualifications in the area of: Development paths accounting for successful business launch or cross-border expansion; Specifying the transborder business strategies based on EU recommendations; New online marketing techniques for digitalized enterprises in the EU; Assistance in legal and customs procedures applied to EU member states Participation and presentation of products at online fairs or events.The aim is to include as many vocational fields that have been affected by the COVID-19 situation as possible. The emphasis is on organising very few face-to-face sessions and create the online work environment by experimenting and co-creation online. This way the project can proceed according to plans despite the pandemic of Covid-19 but at the same time increase the VET educators skills, competences and confidence to work online.Additional objectives of the project would include:•VET: Enhancing access to training and qualifications for all;•VET: Initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers and mentors in both school and work-based settings.<< Implementation >>The methodology that the partnership intends to apply is going to be based on proper, competent management and effective monitoring of the activities, on-going assessment and evaluation of project outcomes. Firstly there needs to be a project management plan created to make sure everything is according to the schedule. This step is strongly connected with planning, assigning responsibilities and minding completion of tasks as well as preparing reports. Another important issue is the Promotion and Sharing strategy which would consist of preparing a Promotion plan, deciding on promotion activities, evaluation and feedback collection, preparation of promotion materials and their reporting. There will be one leading organization which task will be to evaluate and monitor the quality of the project cooperation and results. Essential promotion and sharing materials will be prepared including:•Visual identity of the project (logo and templates with Erasmus+ emblem);•Project website;•Leaflets;•Newsletter ;•Articles (partners will prepare articles about the project in order to present its outputs);•Social media (there will be two social media channels created).The promotion materials are crucial for effective communication with the Target Groups of the project. However, the Project Results are the main goals and all the activities and action taken by all the partners are focused on developing the final results of the project. In order to prepare the results the partners need to arrange the very first meeting – the kick-off meeting. During this meeting they will update all working documents, update membership of groups, make detailed decisions and define tasks and responsibilities. Also the training about management system will take place. Details about implementation of all activities within PR1 will be made.During the first months partners will work on setting up and adjusting the m-learning environment structure. Then partners responsible for the individual modules will breakdown their parts into chapters and confirm the capability of contributing to digital education – this way the materials and methodology will be developed. The next step will be to conduct internal testing. In addition, m-learning course will be given for evaluation to external Experts who will provide opinions and recommendations. Works concerning PR2 will start with distributing templates for partners and content division for them to contribute to the works on this output. After introducing improvements agreed by partners after the internal testing and external evaluation, the final version of the m-learning course will be delivered to target groups for testing.The very last activity connected with PR2 will be monitoring the testing phase in partners’ countries. Based on the feedback gathered, the team of developers will fix all bugs and malfunctions identified, but also will implement all reasonable suggestions for improvements. After the establishment of the final version each of the partners will need to translate the content into their national languages.In the last month of the project, partners will meet in Spain. This meeting will be the time of summarising the project and plan the activities to be done by all partners in order to sustain the results after the project ends.<< Results >>During the project two Project Results (PR1 and PR2) will develop. The first result is Methodological VET handbook - methods for effective digital education. The agreed learning outcomes outlined in the Research Report will be the constant benchmark for partners’ work and this will allow partners to tailor content to suit local cultural and societal values. Demonstrating the flexibility of the Methodological VET handbook, it will also aid further transferability beyond the project consortium. Methodological VET handbook developed will specifically address the needs of the owners and managers of SMEs involved in the production of goods and of VET teachers, trainers and mentors regarding the appropriateness of learning environments, structure and relevance of learning content and accessibility of learning platforms.The proposed new Methodological VET handbook will consist of 5 main Chapters:1 – Development paths accounting for successful business launch or cross-border expansion;2 – Specifying the transborder business strategies based on EU recommendations;3 – Assistance in legal and customs procedures applied to EU member states;4 – New online marketing techniques for digitalized enterprises in the EU;5 – Participation and presentation of products at online fairs or events.The estimated size of a module will be 30 pages. The structure of the handbook will consist of the following parts:- the educational objectives;- the content with the description of the 5 modules (exercises, source texts, quizzes, practical advices etc.);- detailed description of the possibilities of using content modules, for further development and integration with other development topics;- tests verifying the increase of knowledge.The handbook should be used to increase competencies of the goods producers in the 5 topics (and consequently, to increase their chances of transborder digital readiness). Furthermore, it could be used by VET teachers, trainers and mentors and employees of chambers of commerce as a standalone textbook for courses aimed at increasing competencies. Finally, it will be a basis for the digital Methodological VET handbook that will be posted on the platform developed in PR2.The second result of the project will be the On-good m-learning training materials for small and medium goods producers. Because of overwhelming amount of information we have access to today, VET teachers can find it difficult to learn about the most efficient ways towards implementation digital qualifications aspects in their teaching. This is why the On-good m-learning tries to build upon the scheme of data/information collection – processing and matching – customised learning path presentation. The innovative character of the On-good m-learning is definitely its ability to perform a fully automated knowledge/skills diagnosis of each teacher and response to the results of this analysis with a customised learning path. This approach will ensure that the On-good m-learning is not aiming at delivering universal resources to all VET teachers, but will instead focus on presenting a set of action fiches that can be treated as a direct response to the analysis performed. The expected impact that the On-good m-learning will have on VET teachers is that these educators will be able to implement different actions that will help them engage in digital education related activities and therefore contribute towards better resources utilisation and consumption.