"<< Background >>In Europe, the participation in democratic life is in constant decline for several reasons:- the affirmation of individualistic values;- the economic crisis that has pushed people to concentrate their energies on looking for work, forcing thousands of young adults to migrate.Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has made participation in democratic life even more difficult.The rise of anti-European movements is a evidence of this difficulty at European level. Our project- Memories Across Europe- aims to carry out educational activities for adults and seniors based on autobiographical methodologies and digital storytelling, in order to contribute to a common and positive construction of European identity, stimulate participation in democratic life, promote intergenerational dialogue and solidarity. In fact there is a very close relationship between storytelling practices and active citizenship. Storytelling is an effective tool that allows us to bring out and share the values and the learnings that are preserved in our experiences. Stories can ultimately connect people of different ages, backgrounds and cultures.The project will carry out educational activities for adults and seniors based on autobiographical methodologies and digital storytelling, with a focus on:- contributing to a common and positive construction of European identity - through the narration of the personal experience of Europe, linked to the importance of European values in people´s and community´s life.- stimulating participation in democratic life in Europe - ideas and proposals for a better Europe can emerge from personal and collective experiences.- Promoting dialogue and solidarity -storytelling can create a deep connection among people, able to overcome cultural barriers, prejudices and stereotypes.The project aims to:• develop a sense of European identity in relation to European Union´s values, described in the Treaty of Lisbon and in the ""Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union"": dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity, citizens' rights, justice;• develop forms of active participation, through storytelling methodologies, which are a way to contribute to a common knowledge and a way to enhance people´s experience.Therefore, the project responds to the priority ""Participation in democratic life"": The Programme addresses the citizens’ limited participation in its democratic processes and their lack of knowledgeabout the European Union, and tries to help them overcome the difficulties in actively engaging and participating in their communities or in the Union's political and social life. ""(Pag.10 Guide to the Erasmus plus Program 2021-28).The project involves the implementation of remote training courses, the use of interactive digital platforms and apps in order to facilitate the collection of stories related to the sense of belonging to the European Union. Those activities will promote seniors´ and adults´ ""digitization"" and active participation, as well as a better accessibility to educational paths, responding to other objectives, outlined in the Guide to the Erasmus plus Program 2021-28.Besides the project aims to encourage active aging and adults´ participation in cultural and educational activities through storytelling methodologies.Finally, Memories Across Europe improves the skills of professional and volunteers engaged in the field of adult education because it will give them additional tools to work with adults and seniors through storytelling methodologies.<< Objectives >>The project will carry out educational activities for adults and seniors based on autobiographical methodologies and digital storytelling, in order to:- contribute to a common and positive construction of European identity - through the narration of the personal experience of Europe, linked to the importance of European values in people´s and community´s life.- stimulate participation in democratic life in Europe - ideas and proposals for a better Europe can emerge from personal and collective experiences.- Promote dialogue and solidarity -storytelling can create a deep connection among people, able to overcome cultural barriers, prejudices and stereotypes.The project aims also to:• develop a sense of European identity in relation to European Union´s values, described in the Treaty of Lisbon and in the ""Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union"": dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity, citizens' rights, justice;• develop forms of active participation, through storytelling methodologies, which are a way to contribute to a common knowledge and a way to enhance people´s experience.<< Implementation >>The project will be structured following a series of Work Pakage in order to achieve the objectives.WP1 - MANAGEMENTWP2 - OUTPUT REALIZATIONWP3 - MONITORING AND EVALUATIONWP4 – DISSEMINATIONThe activities foreseen by the project include:- 5 transnational coordination meetings;- local activities for the realization of intellectual outputs;- C1 a Training Activity for Trainers and Staff Members, for the staff of partner organizations, dedicated to the development of intellectual outputs;- C2 a Training Activities for Adult Learners aimed at adult and senior students;- local piloting activities, aimed at testing the methodologies created by the project;- 6 Multiplier Events.<< Results >>The expected results from the implementation of MAE will be both measurable and not measurable.The tangible results will be the following:R1 - Memories Across Europe Tool Kit - Storytelling paths for adults and seniors, with a focus on autobiographical and storytelling methodologies, that facilitate sharing personal experiences related to the project´s topics: participation in democratic life in Europe and the sense of belonging to Europe . Besides these educational and cultural activities will be carried out also in informal places (centers for elderly people, associations, private homes, public spaces).R2 - MAE - Remote Cooperative Storytelling Workshops - remote storytelling trainings, for adults and seniors, focused on autobiographical and storytelling methodologies, focused on narration and sharing of personal experiences related to the topics mentioned in R1. These are activities aimed at the remote participation of seniors and adult students from different countries of Europe.R3 - Storytelling Volunteers Training Module - A training module for people that want to volunteer in order to collect adults and seniors´s memories, with a particular focus on the topic of European identity. The volunteers at the end of the training course will obtain the certificate of ""Memories Across Europe Storytelling Volunteer"".R4 - Memories Across Europe App (MAE App) - An App to facilitate the narration of people´s personal life stories, with a particular focus on the topic of participation in democratic life and European identity.R5 - MAE Platform - A digital platform to engage adult and senior learners in promoting European identity through the power of life stories and creativity. The platform will contain:- a digital archive for the stories of adults and seniors on the theme of participation in democratic life and European identity;- a space for the promotion of an informal network of Memories Across Europe volunteers;- a space to create and share proposals for the future of Europe.Among the activities for the realization of R5 we find the “Memories Across Europe” award, a storytelling competition linked to the theme of European Identity."

Integration is not just about learning the language, finding a house or getting a job. It is also about playing an active role in one’s local, regional and national community and developing and sustaining personal contacts through social and cultural activities and political engagement. It is important to involve migrants and minorities in all daily challenges that our societies face, to make them active participants in the integration process, which is essential to improving their social participation and integration outcomes. One of the key priorities in the agenda of the Von der Leyen Commission 2019-2024 is the European Green Deal, the new political roadmap that will make the EU's economy sustainable. It will turn environmental challenges into opportunities, will educate generations in sustainable behavior, making the transition inclusive for all. The RADIAL project will address the related horizontal priority of Erasmus+ on environmental and climate goals, together with the priority on social inclusion, and will give them human presence – sustainable green deal that is understood, transferred in personal philosophy and behavior, developed in eco–entrepreneurship and contributed to the social inclusion of disadvantaged adult learners (migrants, refugees, TCNs, ethnic minorities) residing in 7 EU countries. Additionally, the adult education sector priority of extending and developing the training competences of educators will be targeted by the project, focusing on environmental teaching approaches.The proposal aims to:• Contribute to the social inclusion of disadvantaged adults by providing recycled art training and guidance;• Support the European Green Deal priority, to enhance knowledge and understanding of sustainable green transition in the EU societies;• Create an environmentally respectful habits and opportunities for civic engagement of disadvantaged groups;• Strengthen the competences of adult education providers (AEP), developing innovative pedagogical approach on recycling, facilitating their work with migrants/ethnic minorities in multicultural environment;• Improve the cooperation between civil society organisations, public authorities and the private sector to develop innovative tools for the social inclusion of disadvantaged adults;• Promote the integration process of migrants/refugees/TCNs and ethnic minorities to the general public and make them part of this process.By involving 280 disadvantaged adults with migrant or ethnic minority background in trainings, the project will fill in the gap in education on climate issues and sustainable development. The activities will bring the disadvantaged adults from knowledge to practice by offering entrepreneurship tailored training, thus providing room for better social inclusion, labour integration and participation in the EU social life. RADIAL will also address the needs of AEP, developing innovative Trainer's Manual with full set of tools and resources on recycling, reusing and repairing to be used in multicultural environment, thus will enrich the sustainable development didactive tools. 140 AEP will be directly involved in test of the intellectual output with feedback and recommendations that will lead to multiplication of the products in their local/regional contexts. 280 stakeholders, policy makers, private and public institutions, directly involved in migration and education, will be involved in multiplier events in the project countries Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and UK. A rich set of dissemination activities and channels will widely promote the project outputs and results to external organisations at local, regional, national and European levels which will multiply the project efficiency. 60 staff members of the partners’ entities will enrich their competences and experience under the RADIAL project.Approximately 7000 indirect beneficiaries will be reached through the project website, Facebook page, flyers and e-newsletters distributed and being in place after the project end, ensuring sustainability of the results and deepening the multiplier effect.The project will bring innovation in the AE sector, allowing vulnerable learners to explore environmental issues and engage into climate actions. Thus, they will develop a deeper understanding of the Green Deal strategy and acquire the skills to make informed and responsible decisions, to take sustainable actions that will further facilitate their social inclusion and integration. The provided environmental education and activities planned within and after the project lifetime, will enhance the competences of the target groups, the staff and the involved communities. The RADIAL project will provide stakeholders and AEP across Europe with new, transferable training approach in recycling, reusing and repairing that will encourage integration via green entrepreneurship and green social economic integration of disadvantaged groups in 7 countries and abroad.

<< Objectives >>The Sparkle project will address the gap in the non-formal education of marginalised youth in 4 EU countries, reflecting on the importance of extra-curricular aspects of the arts and sports as tools for improvement of the youth key competences required by the contemporary multicultural European society. The project aims to facilitate the inclusion of young people in any disadvantaged situation (immigrants, refugees, NEETs, ESL, rural youth, ethnic minorities) and improve their employability.<< Implementation >>The main output delivered will be a Training Toolbox for Youth Educators, meeting the needs of marginalised young people. Joint staff training will gather youth workers from BG, DE, ES & PL to exchange best practices and acquire knowledge on sport & art approaches, which later will be applied in pilot seminars with young learners in each country. Two partners' meetings, video conferences, focus groups & social media form part of the management, dissemination, evaluation and follow-up activities.<< Results >>As long-term benefits are expected the empowering & re-skilling of marginalised young learners in the 4 partners' regions and other EU countries, thanks to the transferability of the developed outputs; equipping youth educators with new tools, using sport & art approaches; supporting the social inclusion of vulnerable youth, providing quality tailored education; networking at EU level for development of key competences and improvement of the basic and transversal skills of the young EU citizens.

"<< Background >>Fighting against the climate change and leaving no one behind in our societies are the two main challenges in this day and age. Our organisations share this position with Eramus+. Based on our organisations´ missions we already promote inclusion, solidarity, sustainability and the protection of the environment in our social circular economy businesses/projects for a long time. With the help of the project ""NICE"" we want to enhance the adult education potential of these businesses/projects in their communities in order to make them ""flagship"" stores/projects for circular economy & inclusion and a nucleus for ""ambassadors"" for circular economy & inclusion. For adult education professionals we develop a training curriculum of 10 steps for the development of their businesses/projects covering aspects like marketing, sales and public relation competences, strategies and arguments to start and maintain cooperation with other branches and stakeholders in the community, strategies to gain product design and store design competencies and creating awareness-raising material. For adult education learners we develop regardless their socio-economic backgrounds a training curriculum to become multipliers for issues of inclusion & circular economy. The training covers background information on production cycles, waste, consumption, recycling as well as on concepts of inclusion, reflection on personal consumption and status as well as on personal attitude towards inclusion, tools and techniques to create awareness and skills of self-representation. Through the project the local communities get inclusive learning places for adults (and their families) with expertise in circular economy issues for the whole community. Other adult education organisations and communities can use the material of NICE to stimulate equivalent developments in their regions.<< Objectives >>We want to enhance the adult education professionals in our and other social circular economy businesses/projects.We want to train adult learners to be able to multiply knowledge and the vision of inclusion and circular economy. Doing this we intend to empower the adult learners for their professional and private future lifes.We want to make the social circular economy businesses/projects as inclusive, attractive and inspiring places for the whole community dedicated to lifelong learning, to sustainability and solidarity.We want to bridge the gap between community members of different socio-economic backgrounds on the vision of circular economy and inclusion.We want to develop a role model for other NGOs and adult education organisations that can be followed and adapted.<< Implementation >>Beside activities linked to the project management and the steering of the project process the core activities of the project will exist of the development, piloting, evaluating, adapting and finalizing of the project results ""10 Steps to become a Flagship Store/Project for Inclusion and Circular Economy"" and ""European Training Curriculum for Ambassadors for Inclusion and Circular economy"". We do this by research and conceptual work, by the implementation of two LTTAs in Italy and Bulgaria, by a piloting phase of 10 months with 10 adult education professionals and 10 adult education learners in each participating organisation, by transnational mini-digital-training-sessions for the target groups and by layout and publication work. For dissemination we use a project website, the partners´ project websites, a newsletter and media releases. Multipyling events in all partner countries and the monitoring work of consulting committees in all partner countries contribute to the dissemination of the project results.<< Results >>We expect to produce two project results: ""10 Steps to become a Flagship Store/Project for Inclusion and Circular Economy"" and ""European Training Curriculum for Ambassadors for Inclusion and Circular economy"". The first one will be a training curriculum for adult education professionals with guidelines, tools, good practices and examples of adult education activities including awareness-raising material on waste and circular economy. The second one will be a training curriculum for adult education learners focussing on knowledge and issues of inclusion and circular economy and soft skills.In terms of visible project products there will be also awareness-raising material, a project website, a project ""teaser"" (bookmark or postcard), 6 newsletters and information material on the project.At the end there will be at least one multiplying event in each partner country with 50 participants on average."

"<< Background >>The COVID-19 pandemic and the confinement measures implemented in many EU countries have caused major upheavals in people's lives from multiple points of view. Indeed, the way in which people can relate to each other and carry out the most basic every-days tasks has been limited, significantly altering the regular implementation of education, training and youth policies. According to some studies (""Youth and COVID-19 Response, Recovery and Resilience"" - OECD, ""Living, Working and COVID-19"" - Eurofund, ""The European Youth Blueprint To Recovery"" - European Youth Forum) focused on the effects of current pandemic in relation to the employment situation and the mental health of young people, these are strongly affected with higher levels of depression, loneliness, tension, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.ACTMEM is based - within this context - on the importance of memory as a way to enhance resilience among young people. Memory, understood both as historical memory and as ""memory of the present"", nourishes the social fabric, enlivening the relationships between different generations, helping the crisis to be elaborated, also thanks to comparisons with the past.The project ACTMEM aims at creating an innovative learning experience addressed to young people and based on storytelling techniques, as a means to combat the sense of isolation related to the restrictive measures adopted by National Governments in response to the health crisis, while increasing key competences such as sense of initiative, social and civic participation and intercultural awareness and expression. The project idea stems from the will to promote a radical change of perspective towards the perception of being young in times of pandemic: from victims of unhappy circumstances limiting their freedom to move, meet, learn and discover, to protagonists of an absolutely exceptional historical era, who showed a great capacity to react and reinvent themselves and whose stories deserve to be recorded and told as sources of inspiration for the present and future generations.ACTMEM is focused on an emerging need stemming from the isolation and dramatic reduction of sociality of youth. Youth organisations recognise the need to involve with new methodologies youth in activities and experiences able to radically change the perception and the perspective of being young in time of pandemic through the implementation of narrative methodologies aiming at helping the expression, sharing and comparison among youth experiences of this historical period and emergency in a cross-border approach. Youth need to reflect on the current difficulties and understand their role as protagonists of an absolutely exceptional historical era, who showed a great capacity to react and reinvent themselves and whose stories deserve to be recorded and told as sources of inspiration for the present and future generations.ACTMEM wants to give new awareness to all youths as promoters of the communities. TARGET GROUPS of the project are:•YOUTH experiencing isolation during the pandemic but also active in solidarity actions within their own communities.•YOUTH with fewer possibilities and economical, social obstacles including youth with disabilities experienced the most difficult isolation: to listen to them and find solutions for tackling such disparities is one of the most compelling needs of youth organisations and society as a whole. •YOUTH Leaders in need to acquire new skills and methodologies for improving the involvement of youth in collective and individual solidarity actions.•YOUTH ORGANISATIONS are in permanent need to engage youths in active citizenship by promoting solidarity and a common sense of citizenship.<< Objectives >>Youth need to reflect on the current difficulties and understand their role as protagonists of an absolutely exceptional historical era, who showed a great capacity to react and reinvent themselves and whose stories deserve to be recorded and told as sources of inspiration for the present and future generations. Telling and sharing the ""memory of the present"", with reference to the new generations, means in particular:· the possibility, for young people, to narrate and share experiences related to the pandemic, as a contrast to isolation; both as communication to each other and intergenerational communication. We know how social distancing, the closure of schools, youth centers and social places generated deep discomfort in young Europeans of all ages, in a phase of life where the relationships with peers and with reference adults, even outside the family, are key.· At the same time, ""memory of the present"" means telling and sharing the experiences of resilience and solidarity that were achieved by civil society as a response to the crisis, and which saw the strong presence of young people. We are talking about different experiences of solidarity from the bottom: from the distribution of food and medicine to the most vulnerable people, to remote listening and support activities to combat the loneliness of the elderly, to the most various cultural initiatives.The project partners aim to actively involve young people in the process of collection and reconstruction of their individual stories and inspiring experiences related to the way they went through the pandemic and the different strategies they developed to tackle the new challenges brought by the virus.In particular, the specific objectives of the project ACTMEM are:• To transform the experience of the pandemic into an opportunity for the development of self-confidence and key competences among young people, such as intercultural awareness and expression, sense of initiative, social and civic participation• To promote inclusive, creative and innovative approaches to storytelling among young people, so as to combat social isolation and reinforce their resilience in response to the current health crisis• To foster the participation of young people in civil society by spreading good practices related to solidarity actions in times of pandemic • To promote the EU values among young people and in particular active citizenship and the pillar of being united in diversityThe project will achieve the above mentioned objectives by creating a blended training path based on storytelling methodologies. This result will lead to the realisation of a Manual addressed to youth leaders for supporting the involvement of youth by providing methodologies and practical guidance. Furthermore ACTMEM will realise an Open Narration virtual space for collecting individual and collective stories representing a priceless digital archive of the memory of life in times of pandemic from the perspective of young people.The expertise and complementarity of the partners inspired the overall design of the project by focusing on narration of individual and collective stories about pandemic and related solidarity’s action born under these difficult times, which, in no other example more than this, may boost the achievement of the general goals by:•Providing youth and youth leader with the possibility to engage with peers coming from different countries;•Providing the possibility to carry out a transnational experience through blended mobility will grant the target groups with an enriched and qualifying experience in different cultural environments.•Giving them the chance to know and to understand different experiences improving in this way both the knowledge about different countries and the sense of European citizenship.<< Implementation >>ACTMEM work plan is structured in such a way to show consecutive and intersecting activities that can be simplified in different phases. Phase 1 Setting up the ACTMEM instruments: the ACTMEM managers and working teams will set up the tool for a smooth and timely implementation of all the activities: management plan and tools, dissemination plan, quality assessment plan and tools will be prepared and placed in force. These activities will be carried out for the whole duration of the project. The internal reporting of project activities and outcomes will be performed on a six-monthly basis. The work on R1 - ACTMEM blended learning workshop will start with the establishment of the didactic team/ editorial team taking care about the analysis and methodology definition including contents for the transnational training event. This phase will see also the production of learning contents for the training event and tutorials (interviews, video, presentations). On the digital side of the project, in this phase also R2 - ACTMEM Digital space for narration will start with an initial definition and drafting features of the web platform, set up of the digital structure for the web platform including Blog and Vlog. In addition, it will start the realization of a set of guided storyboard tools for different thematic areas. The selection of participants for the transnational training event will start.Phase 2 Implementation of core activities: R1 activities such as the production learning contents and tutorials will be still ongoing but the first outcomes for organizing the transnational training event will be ready to be provided: trainers and trainees will meet to set up a common methodology of provision of learning content and a shared approach to the organization of the successive local workshops. Further tutorials, training contents and storytelling will be realized by the Youth Leaders attending as learners and at the end the learning outcomes and achievement will be assessed and validated.The realization of Manual for youth leaders, still under preparation, will benefit also from this first feedback. Concerning R2, the definition and realization guided storyboard tools and related virtual tools will be fine-tuned, while the definition and implementation of a co-narration virtual space for storytelling (Open Narrating Virtual Space) is under preparation for a first deployment during the Local Workshops activities. The Local Workshops will be organised by youth leaders for transferring knowledge about storytelling toward peers undertaking a pair working approach simplifying the realization of video narrations and storytelling with at least 50 youth per country. At this stage, the Open Narrating Virtual Space will be used: youth leaders and mentors will support youth in approaching this new tool, which will enable the remote collaboration among 40 people in building a collective story also with the support of tutors and facilitators operating on line. Phase 3 Validation, finalization and final dissemination : the Local Workshops and their final validation of the learning outcomes towards target groups will be finalised. The realization of the Manual for Youth Leaders will include feedback of young trainees whose contributions will be included in the verification and finalization of the digital tools as well. The dissemination activities will see their final phase with the organization in each partner country of the Multiplier Event. Along the three phases of the project, the partners will carry out an intensive communication and dissemination activity by involving also associated partners and relevant stakeholders in order to get an high outreach and to build the the basis of a sustainability plan for the future. A quality assessment activity will accompany and support the achievement of results.<< Results >>ACTMEM will realise two main Results:R1 – ACTMEM Blended Learning Workshop - Innovative methodologies for the narration of memoryThis result consists in the realization of a blended training path based on storytelling methodologies. The training contents will be realised by the partners and tested through the involvement of youth leaders during the project implementation (namely transnational training activity). In order to ensure correspondence to the needs of the target groups and facilitate their further enhancement, youth leaders will replicate the learning path by organising local workshops with peers. The whole process including feedback on training contents and learning path and validation of learning contents, will lead to the realisation of a Manual addressed to youth leaders for supporting the replication of the workshops by providing methodologies and practical guidance. Local workshops will be organised in each country’s involving youth groups: all the partners will experiment the educational activities and contents with different groups of young people. In particular: each partner will set up 5 storytelling workshops with the involvement of a very high number of young people: 50 per country and 200 in total. As an additional output the whole process will lead to the Manual including guidelines for Youth Leaders on adapting methodologies in different contexts and different groups of young people.ACTMEM Workshops is an innovative result, and will contribute to: -increase of skills in youth leaders/mentors and organisations regarding educational work with young people through narration methodologies, focused on developing resilience in young people in the pandemic crisis and leads to a greater ability to address the needs of the young people they work with.-increase of skills related to storytelling methodologies, enhancement of resilience skills and capacity to reflect and take action to face the pandemic crisis effectsR2 - ACTMEM web platform This result consists of an interactive virtual space targeted to young people where individual stories will be shared and by the end of the project around 240 stories will be available. The web platform constitutes a tool to facilitate the collection and constructive reflection on the experiences developed and lessons learnt during the times of pandemic, representing as well a networking tool aimed to facilitate interaction among young people at European level, thanks to the implementation of the feature “Open Narrating Virtual Space” allowing the collaboration of 10 to 40 people for the realization of a collective narrations across Europe. The platform will include tutorials, training contents and storyboards aiming at supporting the realisation of individual and collective narrations. The feature Open Narrating Virtual Space enables young people to co-creative sessions with peers, giving the possibility to open dialogue with different cultural approaches to pandemic and to increase the social aspect. ACTMEM Platform will contribute in creating the following benefit: -for young people the platform will facilitate the practice of some of the educational activities created by the R1, thus facilitating participation. -ACTMEM will not be yet another platform but, creating a historical memories archive, it will allow different study domains to access civil society and youth memories in order to analyze and acquire a more comprehensive knowledge about the social and moral effect of pandemic. Even when the pandemic is defeated, the experiences of resilience born in this period of emergency, the awareness and lessons learned from these experiences, can remain as a memory of this historic challenge that Europe is going through.ACTMEM results are highly transferable since the narration techniques and tutorials may be transferred to a plenty of different domains such as: social and demographic investigation, psychology research, and so on."