"With the EU economy in full recovery mode it is important to recognise that certain sub-sets of the population have not as of yet fully benefited from the return to growth. There remains a significant number of younger adults commonly referred to as NEETS - neither in education, employment nor training - on the margins of society and economy in all EU Member States. In autumn 2018 the NEET rate was at 12.7% in Lithuania; 16% in Czech Republic; 16.1% in Ireland; 20.9% in Bulgaria; 19.6% in Spain; 17.1% in Poland; 18.5% Croatia (Eurostat).The term NEET gathers a multitude of individuals under its classification. It broadly includes adults between the ages of 20 and 34 years who are on the margins of mainstream society. For most NEETS education has not had the desired impact where essential skills for employment are concerned. They don't have sufficient qualifications for further education and many in their ranks come from disadvantaged backgrounds. For the vast majority of NEETs education and training were not regarded as a priority in their early development years and in many cases their family educational history is one of under-achievement. Despite these educational impairments most of today's NEET population are digital natives and have some level of proficiency in digital and social media. Partners believe that this digital know-how can be the bridge to re-engagement if the right educational intervention is provided.If NEET-IDEA is to successfully re-engage marginalised young adults the proposed intervention must be completely different from the formal educational provision that has failed them previously. Project partners will therefore look to their digital activities and the most popular technology devices - smartphones - and design a training programme that uses inquiry-based and embedded-learning methodologies to develop a wide range of skills and attitudes that are essential for personal growth and personal fulfilment. The project will focus on building the self-confidence and self-esteem within the target group which all indicators show are badly lacking.Today's young digital natives use their smartphones for a wide range of activities. NEET-IDEA will focus on the use of these devices by target group members to produce digital media content which many of them upload and share on a variety of specialist social media platforms. Of particular interest to project partners is the use of vlogging, blogging and photo sharing platforms by digital natives to upload content they have created or to share content created by others. NEET-IDEA partners will build an entire training programme to train the NEET target group to make short films using only their smartphones for producing and editing the content created. The training will be focused on building small media production crews/teams of 4 or 5 individuals and assign different roles in the short-film production, editing and marketing actions required. This will allow partners to address the following skills or attitudes:- research skills will be developed in conceptualising the theme or idea for the short film- literacy will be addressed through the writing of a short script for the film- numeracy will be addressed by the requirement of every team to produce a budget for the film- a wide range of digital skills will be addressed in the production and editing of the films- teamwork skills will be central to the success of the production process- inter-personal skills will be developed through the engagement of others in interviews, etc.- planning skills will be developed by ensuring that all the correct permissions and consents are in place before filming commencesThe partners will encourage learners to make different types of short films like a 5 minute comedy sketch; a documentary; a mockumentary; a short film with a serious theme; etc. NEET-IDEA is primarily a project about developing specific key transversal skills; building self-confidence; taking responsibility; working in a team environment; being respected and respecting others, all key skills for inclusion. As Woody Allen once said ""...everybody wants to be in the movies..."" and the NEET- IDEA project will give young digital natives the opportunity to be part of a film crew in a role that fits their personal preferences or personalities. This is the way to achieve the inclusion and up-skilling of NEETS that partners are proposing."

In 2006 the Economic Policy Committee and the European Commission estimated that “the working age population in the EU will decrease by 48 million, a 16% reduction, between 2010 and 2050, while the elderly population will increase by 58 million, a gain of 77%”. Retirement is a universal phenomenon. It is experienced by Europeans in all countries, from all walks of life, from all social classes. It is, however, a period in life when inequalities between different subsets of the population become more pronounced. Either because of the sudden increases in free time, or because of a decline in their personal health, the newly retired are one of the most vulnerable societal groups when it comes to depression and mental illness. The road to inactivity for older workers is more often than not a road of no return. Research shows that prolonging the active engagement of recent retirees’ impacts positively on their personal self-esteem, their mental and physical health and well-being, fights social exclusion and offers recognition of their continued importance to society. As the ageing of the EU population continues apace and the percentage of retirees grows exponentially it is incumbent on service providers in adult education to take the necessary steps to foster positive mind- sets and encourage seniors to plan an active, fulfilling and rewarding life in retirement.Digital Literacy is increasingly becoming an essential life skill and the inability to access or use ICT has effectively become a barrier to social integration and personal development. With the convergence of different media forms in recent years, access to technology platforms can no longer be considered as real barriers to digital inclusion. The real issue where digital literacy is concerned, especially for seniors throughout Europe is about their ability to use the now widely available technology platforms. It is not that there is insufficient training available; On the contrary, there have been dozens of initiatives focused on developing digital skills training for seniors. For many educators who work with seniors, the biggest single barrier to building the digital skills of seniors is the complete lack of interest they show in new technologies which is perhaps masking their fear of these new pervasive technologies. Around 170 million people or 44% of adult Europeans have low or no digital skills. The more you move along the age profile of adults, the greater the percentage of those with no or low skills. Lack of need or interest and insufficient skills are the top reasons cited in the European Digital Progress Report (2017). It is the typical 'chicken' and 'egg' scenario. Do older people have a lack of interest because they have low skills; or do older people have low skills because they have a lack of interest.The VINYL WARRIORS project proposes to develop an embedded learning training programme for seniors that encourages them to recover their musical youth. In the course of the project activities, participants will learn key digital skills to enable them to record in audio and video the musical performance they enact. In this pilot phase, a minimum of 20 seniors in each country will be engaged in producing the proposed musical performance and building their digital skills.To achieve the desired outputs the following resources will be developed:- Digital Skills Training Programme for Seniors divided into 4 categories to support building digital skills for seniors taking responsibility the different roles in the LIVE Performance and Production Team - The Band; The Groupies; The Roadies; The Managers. The proposed embedded learning resources will address a wide range of issues associated with planning, designing, rehearsing, producing and performing at a live VINYL WARRIORS event.- In-service Training Programme and Handbook addressing the pedagogic challenges associated with; (1) online learning and working in dynamic online environments; (2) overcoming motivational deficits through innovative course design for attracting reluctant learners; (3) overcoming digital skill deficits when working with seniors to build digital literacy skills.- A MOOC - a dynamic mobile online learning portal to support the work of adult educators

While the right to work is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it is far from being a reality for many people living with a disability or a long-term medical condition. The Europe 2020 strategy objective aims at reaching 75% employment rate in the EU. However, at EU level, about 47% of persons with disabilities are employed, compared to 72% of persons without disabilities. Women with disabilities, young disabled persons and people in need of high-level support are more likely to be discriminated against and excluded from the labour market. At the EU level, 19% of young people living with a disability are early school leavers compared to 11% of non-disabled young persons. The high rates of early school leavers among young people living with a disability can in most cases be related to accessibility issues and the absence of adapted programmes.Social entrepreneurship can act as an important bridge to inclusion for people on the margins of mainstream society. Online social entrepreneurship is an especially relevant area of endeavour for young people living with a disability or a long-term health condition. Sharing life experiences and demonstrating that living with a disability or a long-term health condition is possible; explaining how obstacles have been overcome; directing others to appropriate support services or networks; opening a forum for discussion and debate; connecting other young people in similar circumstances; are all potential social entrepreneurship opportunities that the INFLUENCER project consortium will explore.Technology provides opportunities to level the playing field for youth living with a disability or a long-term health condition like never before. It can support more equitable societies; more inclusive communities. It can help to build support networks for people of all ages who live with a disability or care for someone with a disability. It can help to demystify certain medical, physical or cognitive disabilities and create a more understanding and empathetic society. Partners believe that the areas where they work will be significantly impacted by the outcomes achieved by the INFLUENCER project.The key actions to achieve the aims of the project are:1. Developing an in-service training programme to introduce Best Practice Guidelines for youth providers on supporting the inclusion of young persons with disabilities through online social entrepreneurship while also guaranteeing their safety online2. Developing an EASY READ TOOLKIT for youth living with a disability on how to develop their social entrepreneurship idea into a sustainable entity. 3. Developing an EASY READ TOOLKIT for youth living with a disability on how to stay safe in online environments and a suite of media-rich resources to build digital and social media literacy.4. Developing an accessible, bespoke online environment to support the new young social entrepreneurs to launch their online careers where networks of youth living with a disability who are interested in developing their new social enterprise can congregate; build key skills; support each other; and exchange ideas and knowledge

The SOMRA project offers an innovative approach to tackle two major challenges of the 21st century, namely climate change and refugee crises, by engaging refugees, asylum seekers and low-qualified migrants in meaningful occupations that transform them into environment role models with a sustainable impact in their new and previous home. The main idea of the SOMRA approach is to enable these main target groups to become true factors of change that influence positive environmental habits that are first established on a local and regional level, and eventually even beyond the borders of the EU.Therefore, the SOMRA project will pursue the following objectives:I) Facilitating environmental change on local and regional level through grassroots activities organised by green NGOs and the SOMRA participantsII) Fostering common values and civic engagement of migrant communities in their new environmentIII) Offering low-threshold learning opportunities related to environmental measures that increase the employability by strengthening key competences for low-qualified migrants, refugees and asylum seekersTo achieve these aims, six partner organisations from six EU countries (UK, AT, IE, FI, PT, CY) have joined together and will develop three main intellectual outputs and a variation of additional results:1) The SOMRA Holistic Study Report (IO1) will provide a reliable reference instrument for professionals working with low-qualified migrants, refugees and asylum seekers as it combines relevant information on supporting meaningful occupations in the environmental sector, legal restrictions and obligations for migrants in accessing the labour market and participating in civic life as well as motivation and perspectives of the target group themselves.2) The SOMRA Green Entrepreneurship Model (IO2) is the heart of the SOMRA project. It will be an accessible handbook for the main target group and provide crucial facts, strategies and calls for action that supports low-qualified migrants, refugees and asylum seekers to take charge and either participate in or even found their own green NGO properly and sustainably. Additionally, an online media library with green hack videos, testimonials and a short film documentary about the SOMRA project will be available and continuously updated.3) The SOMRA Green Entrepreneurship Training (IO3) will be concepted as a modular blended-learning course featuring tiny learning bits in form of challenges on topics relevant for becoming a green entrepreneur, founding and sustaining an NGO, organising eco-friendly grassroots activities and occasions to get in contact with the social and civic environment in their region.4) The SOMRA Induction Training will be a short-term staff training event for 12 staff of the partner organisations who will implement the national piloting phases in their respective countries.5) National Piloting Phases testing the SOMRA Green Entrepreneurship Training in all six partner countries in a real context with 30 low-qualified migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, who will be the first to directly benefit from the competences acquired in the course.6) National Multiplier Events planned as “Target Group Engaging Events” in Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, Finland and Portugal and as an open SOMRA event at the Edinburgh Climate Festival 2022 in the UK.7) Dissemination Results such as the SOMRA project website, SOMRA social media channels, 5 different dissemination materials and gadgets, a dissemination guideline, an exploitation and sustainability guideline, regular impact assessments via 6-monthly reports by project partners.8) Quality Assurance Results such as a Quality Management Handbook, quality assessment instruments such as questionnaires and surveys for internal and external evaluations, quality evaluations of the intellectual outputs at suitable development phases through feedback of the main target groups, regular evaluations of progress, product and impact quality.9) Administrative Results such as a Variance Analysis Tool for continuous monitoring of progress, potential delays and risks, regular budgetary and progress reports of project partners, agendas and minutes of partner meetings, an interim and a final project report.Overall, 330 persons will be actively involved in the project activities and directly benefit from the SOMRA results during the 24-month project’s lifetime. Furthermore, approximately 250.000 persons including the main target groups and wider stakeholders will be reached through extensive dissemination and exploitation efforts on local, regional, national, European and international level. This will ensure a huge multiplying effect and sustainable long-term impact on the target groups of low-qualified migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, as the competences acquired in the SOMRA project are transversal and sustainable, preparing participants for tackling environmental challenges of an uncertain future in a resilient manner.

<< Background >>The project “An Emotionally-intelligent Approach to teaching Speaking in a forEign language,” or EASE for short, aims to improve the effectiveness of adult education in a foreign language by applying an emotionally-intelligent approach to teaching speaking skills. Six partners from five countries (France, Ireland, Spain, Romania, and Poland) will come together to develop resources for foreign language teachers in 6 languages: French, English, Spanish, Romanian, German, and Polish. There is much evidence to support the fact that there is in fact a link between speaking skills in a foreign language and emotional intelligence (EI). Over the past ten years, dozens of studies have confirmed a positive correlation between high EI and oral communication in a foreign language, and it has been recommended by linguistic researchers that foreign language educators utilise the benefits of social and emotional learning to enhance their students’ speaking skills, especially for those with low EI (Afshar & Rahimi, 2016 ; Sajad & Saeed, 2017; Mendez Lopez & Tun, 2017; Shabani, 2018; Esmaeeli et al., 2018). Regardless of the body of research that exists on the topic, the available teaching materials which adopt an EI approach available are either from scientific journals and quite difficult to digest, or not substantial in nature and merely touch on the topic. In fact, preliminary research carried out by the partners prior to writing the proposal revealed a serious lack of practical teaching materials in each of the project’s languages aside from English, with English still only producing limited results. EASE will thus attempt to create materials that are practical, digestible, and substantial to fill the gap in EI-related language teaching tools with a focus on oral communications.<< Objectives >>The overall aim of the EASE project is to improve the effectiveness of adult education in a foreign language by applying an emotionally-intelligent approach to teaching speaking skills. With this broad aim in mind, the specific project objectives are: - To improve the quality and availability of foreign language teaching resources for adults, particularly in oral communications, by creating original and innovative educational materials - To improve the capacity of foreign language teachers to break down emotional barriers to learning speaking skills through blended CPD sessions, thereby improving their quality of teaching, - To promote and implement an innovative approach in teaching speaking skills in a foreign language by using research-backed techniques to simultaneously improve emotional intelligence and the acquisition of a foreign language - To improve the resilience potential for adult language teaching institutions by creating materials adapted to face-to-face and online environments, thereby easing the transition between face-to-face and online learning environments - To increase adult learners’ communicative competence in a foreign language by encouraging self-directed learning and reflective thinking using an innovative digital platform<< Implementation >>In order to meet the objectives stated above, the partnership will carry out the following activities: Development of Project Results: Three innovative results will be produced as part of the EASE project. Each Result lead has the required expertise to direct the production of each result. The intended outcome of these results is to create freely-accessible materials to support foreign language teachers in their application of the Emotional Intelligence approach while teaching speaking in the classroom, as well as to support learners to become more self-directed and improve their skills outside of class as well. Publicity: A publicity plan will be developed by the lead partner which will focus on the promotion of the project’s aims, objectives, and results. Adult education institutions and other relevant stakeholders will be targeted through a wide outreach effort by the partnership via online and in-person communications. Transnational Project Meetings: Five TPMs have been planned, one in each country represented by the partnership. Multiplier Events: Toward the end of the project’s life and after the Results have been developed, each partner will hold a national Multiplier Event which will showcase what we have created with the expectation that invited organisations will use the products. Evaluation: The partners will follow an Evaluation plan created by the lead partner which will evaluate the extent to which the project is meeting its objectives and intended outcomes, plus the effectiveness of the partnership. 4 evaluation reports will be produced during the course of the project. Sustainability: The partnership will create and conform to a sustainability plan which will ensure that the project’s results will be used long beyond the duration of the project.<< Results >>The primary target group of the project is foreign language teachers in adult education, and the secondary target group will be adult learners of a foreign language. The EASE project will centre around the development of three innovative Results which are based in linguistic research and supported by the European framework DigiCompEdu: Result 1: Booklet on incorporating EI in foreign language teaching Result 2: Blended face-to-face and online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions for language teachers on using EI approach Result 3: EASE Self-Directed Learning Platform Aside from the production of these results, we will also produce: - Project results in 6 languages (English, French, Spanish, Romanian, German, and Polish) - Management plan - Publicity plan - Evaluation plan - Sustainability plan - 5 Transnational Meeting agendas and minutes - 5 online meeting agendas and minutes - Multilingual project website - Project social media pages - Editions of digital newsletters - Editions of physical leaflets - Evaluation questionnaires for internal and external stakeholders - 4 publicity reports - 4 evaluation reports The project is expected to produce a number of intangible outcomes as well, including: - Improved quality and availability of foreign language teaching resources for adults - Increased capacity to successfully teach speaking skills - Stronger interpersonal relationships within the language classroom - Exchange of knowledge and best practices among partners on the topics of EI and language teaching - Increase resilience to changing circumstances (switching from face-to-face to online teaching) for adult education institutions - Increased emotional intelligence among the target groups - Heightened theoretical knowledge about EI’s application in the classroom - Improved ability among teachers to recognise and break down emotional barriers to learning - Increased communicative competence and confidence in a foreign language among students - Heightened ability among learners to engage in self-reflective thinking regarding their own language acquisition - The creation of an open and accepting foreign language classroom atmosphere for the institutions involved