<< Objectives >>By implementing this project, we create a partnership for digital education of adults. We are building a Digital Competence Laboratory in Poland, where we will organize training courses and workshops for 10 digitally excluded adults. These people were recruited from among the students of the University of Generations, operating at the International Institute of Science, Culture and Business. These are the people who obtained the lowest results in the digital competence test in our association.<< Implementation >>The first activity will be an international project meeting of the project partners. Then: Purchase of equipment to equip the Digital Competence Laboratory, Organizational meeting with project participants, Trainings and workshops in Poland, Training of participants in Malaga, Travel and accommodation of participants in the activity, Project management and its implementation, Internet marketing of the project.<< Results >>1. Establish a long-term partnership for adult digital education.2. Digital education of 10 adults from the University of Generations.3. Conducting the training in Poland and Spain (at the partner's premises).4. Exchange of knowledge and experience of partners in the field of digital education.5. Establishment of the Digital Competence Laboratory at our Institute.6. Improving the lives of people participating in the project.7. Creation of the project's website.8. Laboratory development.

The implementation of the project involved improving quality working with young people in the field of work with youth volunteers in sport, as part of establishing strategic cooperation between organizations from Poland, Turkey and Spain. The project was aimed to promote high-quality work with young people involved in voluntary activities in sport by extending the range of tools used by 35 employees and youth leaders to: * conduct an open, transparent and non-exclusive volunteer recruitment process, which enables reaching out with volunteering opportunities also to young people with fewer opportunities (including young people from refugee families, from a social margin, having learning difficulties), * conducting a meaningful analysis of the volunteers' needs and expectations, defining their strengths and weaknesses and educational priorities, * setting, by means of a consensus with a volunteer, ambitious, measurable and realistic goals, the attainment of which will guarantee the development of the volunteer's competence and provide him with satisfaction from the job, * supporting integration and team building processes in the international group, between foreign volunteers and the local community, * monitoring the development of hard and soft skills by the volunteer, the reachability of the assumed partial and strategic goals, * conducting, together with the volunteer, ex-ante and ex-post evaluation of the performed activities, supporting the volunteer in the process of self-assessment and indicating ways to improve unsatisfactory work areas by the volunteer.

"<< Background >>The priorities had been chosen starting from the detection of a PROBLEM in the youth participation and employment and the NEEDS of all the partners of the consortium. As P1, P3 & P4 are all hosting organizations of European Solidarity Corps and previously European Volunteering Service and are able to see the fact that volunteering is still not highly appreciated, as an experience developing skill&competences. Even if volunteering is an enabling environment for informal learning, and accordingly enhances employability, to have an effective impact, there NEEDS TO BE A BRIDGE BETWEEN VOLUNTEERING AND THE LABOUR MARKET. In this sense, NEXT project aims at CREATING VALUABLE RESOURCES, KNOWLEDGE AND KNOW-HOW OF PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING FOR YOUTH PRACTITIONERS AND ORGANIZATIONS, IN ORDER TO GUIDE YOUTH VOLUNTEERS UPON A SUCCESSFUL CAREER, ACCORDING TO BOTH PERSONAL NEEDS & CURRENT LABOUR MARKET REQUESTS. In the context of the ESC, volunteering is the main mechanism for promoting solidarity as a value, helping to overcome important societal challenges and addressing the needs of local communities. It also enables young people to acquire useful experience, skills and competences for their personal, educational, social, civic & professional development, thereby improving their employability and active citizenship.All the partners are sharing the same values of commitment towards the community, civic participation, by improving the participation of all young people in the democratic and civic life in Europe, encouraging active citizenship, volunteering, solidarity & sense of initiative & entrepreneurship. Therefore, promoting, engaging, connecting and empowering young people is a high priority for all the partners involved in the project and this project was conceived in order to create a bridge between volunteering and labour market integration. Our project will foster the development of so much required competences, such as problem solving, critical thinking, innovative thinking etc. We will also create an online platform, which will serve as a network involving stakeholders from all relevant fields of the labour market (companies, social enterprises, NGOs, public bodies and of course youngsters looking for a job).In addition, through our project we intend to prove that volunteering abroad is not only an activity for a gap year, but it is an important experience which can provide both personal & professional development, if a proper guidance & counseling is provided in the process of integration in the labour market or even undertake an enterprise.Volunteering is one of the ways to optimize social cohesion, sustainable integration into the labor market, through the creation of the necessary framework for acquiring specific skills and competencies. It prepares youngsters to face and adapt smoothly to the dynamic changes from the socio-economic environment. However, there is still a LACK OF TOOLS, SYNERGIES AND STRUCTURES TO ENSURE A DIRECT PASSAGE FROM VOLUNTEERING TO THE INTEGRATION IN THE LABOUR MARKET, which may cause youth frustration and even lack of motivation to volunteer.We have chosen these priorities to tackle the ISSUE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT and we expect positive changes, by achieving the objectives which will be mentioned in the following section.Moreover, our project also address other horizontal and field specific priorities, such as inclusion and diversity and increasing recognition of youth work, through the fact that the partners of the consortium are working regularly with youth with fewer opportunities, which will be involved in project activities leading to the creation of results, as well as through the fact that one of the project results aim to create a mechanism of recognizing and validating the volunteering experience, in order to facilitate the integration in the labour market and to create synergies among key actors in the process of youth employability.<< Objectives >>Through NEXT, our consortium wants to achieve a strong and extended network of key actors involved in the youth field, such as NGOs, (social)enterprises, public entities, universities etc., in order to foster the integration in the labour market of the current and former volunteers. This network will be created through an online platform in which all these actors can create their profiles and post opportunities (jobs, trainings, (volunteering) projects etc.). All young people can create their profiles, as well, however the current and former volunteers will have the opportunity to upload their youthpass in their profile (in the case of ESC volunteers) and to receive comments from their host organization, acting like recommendations for the possible employers. Through this mechanism we want to address the issue of recognizing and validating volunteering experiences, as opportunities to develop valuable skills and competences and to acquire knowledge, all needed and required in the current labour market. This platform will facilitate the process of selection of candidates and will provide a seal of quality to volunteering experiences. Moreover, through another project result planned, an Employability Guide – “From volunteering to employee and entrepreneur” we want to provide the needed tools and knowledge to youth practitioners, to support them in their regular activities of training, counselling and guiding youth and youth volunteers upon a future career path. Through this Guide, we aim to promote young people’s sense of initiative and (social) entrepreneurship, as well as to strengthen the employability of young people.OBJECTIVESThe objectives were set according to the priorities tackled, the needs encountered both inside the partners’ organizations and in the field of youth volunteering in general. These objectives were further correlated with the activities planned to create the main result, which is expected to improve the partners’ work in volunteering projects by integrating it in the daily activities.-To promote volunteering as a tool to raise employment opportunities;-To create tools, resources and synergies to ensure a network between all important actors of the labour market;-To support the development and improvement of youth skills and competences needed and requested in the current labour market;-To equip youth practitioners and youth association with the needed resources to guide youth volunteers towards employment and/or entrepreneurship.<< Implementation >>The achievement of the project objectives and delivery of the planned result depends on well implemented activities, according to the strategies and parameters set. Each activity of the project is thought and structured with the aim to target the priorities, to achieve the objectives and to create qualitative tangible results, especially project results and to have an important positive impact on the target groups, which also leads to the achievement of intangible results. Each activity has been assigned a leader to coordinate the working process, to oversee the other partners’ tasks and to ensure that deadlines are respected, as well as the quality of the result. We rely on agreements and quality plans which all the partners have already expressed their commitment.Activities from A1 to A15 (according to the Gantt) are financed under project management and implementation.A1 - Overall coordination of the project (P1), A3- Daily management (all) and A4- Transnational project meetings are all important to maintain a good communication flow between the partners and to organize the tasks according to the deadlines. A2- Actualization of Quality Management Plan and quality controls and A7- Evaluation of the project in terms of quality and impact are necessary activities to provide instruments and processes that guarantee the quality and the success of the project.A5 - Collection and provision of documents for interim and final report for the NA is a standard and necessary activity that enables the consortium to organize all the necessary documents needed to report on the project development. Sharing and promotion activities are activities which will ensure the visibility of the project and will create an online community interested in the topic of the project that will generate a wider impact and sustainability of the project result and the overall project. These activities are also generators of tangible results: photos, videos, articles, publications and posts.A9 Update the promotion plan & create monitoring tools A10 Create the visual identity of the project A11 Monitor all partners promotion activities A12 Preparation of project brochure & newslettersA13 Creation and maintenance of the project website A14 Creation and maintenance of the relevant social network pages A15 Webinar Events A6 - Actualization of the COVID 19 protocol for all the presential meetings and events is necessary in the context of the current world pandemic, in order to ensure a safe environment for the participants of all the presential meetings and events.A8 Create sustainability plan is essential in ensuring a further use of projects results outside the partnership after the project ends.The first project result is structured into 9 activities and the 2nd project result into 8 activities, following the steps of the Educational Design Research (EDR) and Agile methodology, transposed in the creation of a Guide and a online platform, which will serve to address the needs of the target group, address the priorities and achieve the objectives. The activities are planned for the following purposes:-better knowledge of the specific needs of the TG related to volunteering -creating the proper content and design of the tools-testing, validation & providing feedback -improvement in terms of concept and design and creation of the final version of the results-ensuring the sustainability of the project’s result<< Results >>NEXT expects both tangible and intangible sustainable results, which will achieve the objectives set and will target the priorities chosen. Since the very beginning, the project was planned with the aim to generate innovative, sustainable, impactful and transferable results to other educational sectors.The main TANGIBLE RESULTS will be the PROJECT RESULTS, which will be concretized into an Employment Guide - ""From volunteer to employee or entrepreneur"" (PR1) and a platform of Stakeholders Online Network (PR2). PR1 is an open educational resource (OER) which will serve as a tool for youth workers, volunteers’ mentors and tutors and any NGO who wants to support and counsel youth and young volunteers in finding a job and/or opening their own (social) business.PR2 is a free digital tool which will serve as a network among all the key stakeholders (NGOs, enterprises, public entities etc.) and youth and young volunteers to facilitate the integration in the labour market, by valuing the volunteering experiences, the knowledge and transversal skills and competencies gained during the volunteering service.These 2 project results are divided into activities which will generate DELIVERABLES, as tangible results.Deliverables of PR1:PR1/A1Research on the current changes in the dynamics of the european labour market and most demanded jobs & skills PR1/A2Research on the regular european opportunities (training, internships, traineeships etc.) PR1/A3 Index of the Guide PR1/A4Content of each chapter PR1/A5Practical non-formal activities to develop the needed skills and competences and evaluation methods and tools for each PR1/A7Proofread Guide PR1/A9Final version of the Guide according to the feedback of youth workers and youth volunteers Deliverables of PR2:PR2/A2 Database of stakeholders PR2/A5 Descriptions of the stakeholders PR2/A8Content of the Open call for further european stakeholders and youth volunteers to join the platform More TANGIBLE RESULTS will be generated through the sharing and promotion activities during the entire life cycle of the project. - Sharing, promotion and communication plan - The logo of the project- Content to be published on the project websites and on the partners’ website- Posts regarding the project to be published on the social media pages of the project and of the partners- Photos and videos taken during the multiplier events or any other sharing and promotion event- Project’s brochure and newslettersThroughout the project one of the priorities will be to make visible the project, the needs that we have demonstrated, the problems associated with those needs as well as the SOLUTION that we provide, in such a way, we are not only manifesting and making visible the problem but our interest in providing youth associations, centers, or any other sector easily accessible and useful digital tool.INTANGIBLE RESULTSThe intangible results are expected to be seen in the partner organizations, direct and indirect target group in terms of:. increased participation of young people in volunteering projects. improved collaboration between NGOs, stakeholders and youth. expanded knowledge and skills of the youth workers in using innovative digital resources to improve youth sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. hosting organizations and youth workers, volunteer coordinators enabled with a tool to provide to their volunteers support to access the labour market"

“Art Bridge“ project engages organizations working in the field of culture, including libraries, from four countries: Poland, Italy, Spain and Turkey. It is a direct answer to a consequences of a covid-19 pandemic, which caused a significant rise of mental and emotional problems among seniors and adults 50+ from a group of high risk health issues. Spreading of the virus brought fear and anxiety in many people from this group across the world. Our project aims to create a set of creative international meetings during which we will exchange ideas and knowledge about art therapy working with different media such as painting, ceramics and sculpture. We will create the common platform to exchange good practices, synthetize new methods of working to implement them in our local community. Various activities and workshops are directed at exchange of a good practices and developing creativity and cultural expressiveness among participants, using art therapy as a way to deal with difficult and unexpected situations like COVID-19 pandemic. Project is focused towards implementation of joint initiatives promoting cooperation, peer learning and exchanges of experience at European level, creating an awareness about the problem of social exclusion, especially among seniors as a high risk group, during difficult times of a social isolation during pandemic. We planned activities such as painting workshops, the talk about art therapy methods and problem of anxiety and how to deal with it in a creative way, creative workshops concentrated on a themes of local heritage painting styles, sculpture workshops developing sensory skills, multimedia workshops aiming at the multicultural exchange between adults and seniors, developing showing how to use different platforms to connect online and discuss issues, play interesting games, learn new skills and develop passions through internet, workshops about healthy and colorful eating and how it affects mental and emotional state of being. We planned also talk about social exclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine of the people that are sick and how they cannot feel left out. In result of those activities and exchange of a good practices we expecting to develop a new competences and skills to work with people in difficult emotional situations, socially excluded and left out during the pandemic of COVID-19 and therefore mostly affected through alienation. We will be creating a safe and comfortable culturally open environment for this target group, and bring them back to a social life, creating a bridge that they can walk on and connect with other people, engaging in a creative activities and sharing their knowledge, feeling and developing new talents and skills, enjoying the senior years of their life. We will create a publication with a know how about art therapy and its influence on health post-pandemic human, as well as short essays on creative thinking, social inclusion and cultural awareness all based on the ideas and information that we will develop throughout the project duration. The publication will be provided under the terms of CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

The project lasts 24 months (March 2021-February 2023) and involves 5 partners from 5 European countries: ARCS Arci Culture Solidali-Italia, CYCLISISIS- Greece, PFE-Bulgaria, Arrabal-AID-Spain, DRPDNM- Slovenia. ARCS (Coordinator, responsible for M&V); CYCLISIS (Leader of O1-YOU reSTART! and responsible for Communication), DRPDNM (responsible for Dissemination); PFE, Arrabal-AID. YOU reSTART! is a result of a shared feeling amongst youth and cultural workers coming from Italy, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Greece and Spain who, during last year, have been committed in guaranteeing spaces of aggregation, entertainment, promotion of cultural and artistic initiatives for people attending youth and cultural centres. In various contexts, the role played by digital technologies has been fundamental, allowing new opportunities for participation, generating creative content and cultural and artistic initiatives capable of overcoming the frustration caused by the interruption of the planned activity. YOU reSTART! aims to:strengthen the interaction between youth workers involved in the field of culture, art and creativity, through a platform facilitating the exchange of experiences and methodologies;create a heritage of shared skills and practices for the development of entrepreneurial initiatives in the field of culture and art including an innovative use of digital technology. The project involves 40 youth workers with experience in artistic, cultural and creative activities, who participate in partner organizations’ actions, either voluntarily or professionally. The project foresees the following actions: creation of the O1 YOU reSTART! Platform, which increases interaction, sharing and exchange of experiences and methodologies among youth workers involved in the fields of culture, art and creativity; creation of an LTT where youth workers meet and deepen issues related to the development of entrepreneurial and digital skills to promote artistic, cultural and creative activities; realization of a survey and a focus on conducted in partner countries and useful to widen knowledge and discussion with stakeholders on project’s issues. The platform co-created by the partners provides effective tools to facilitate interaction and exchange (both synchronous and asynchronous) among youth workers. The project foresees the realization of 5 multiplier events. These will be occasions for participants to meet and deepen the topics covered by the project and to present the O1.At least 200 participants are expected among young people, local organizations, stakeholders, policy makers and interested citizens. The project is expected to achieve:- The strengthening of youth workers’ skills involved in cultural, artistic and creative activities promoting the inclusion and creativity of young people;- The enhancing and/or increasing of digital skills (No. 3 of Digicomp) and entrepreneurial skills (Area 1 and 2) of youth workers especially in the field of art, culture and creativity;- The increase of youth workers’ sharing and exchange opportunities at European level;- The strengthening of youth workers’ network involved in art, culture and creativity themes and activities;- The creation of a toolkit of methodologies and good practices related to cultural and artistic entrepreneurship, both live and online, for youth workers. The short, medium and long term impact assessment is carried out in respect of the general and specific objectives and in relation to the following targets: organizations, youth workers and stakeholders. The project sustainability is measured according to a variety of parameters: social, organizational, technical, professional and economic sustainability. The project aims to be a pro-active response to the emergency crisis caused by the COVID19, by organizations and youth workers daily engaged in activities promoting culture, art, creativity and inclusion of young people.