The covid emergency that hit the world at the beginning of 2020 has imposed radical changes in our society. Most aspects of everyday life have undergone changes caused by this emergency: from the emotional to the working sphere, there has been no area that has not to deal with restrictions, changes and new organizational structures.The area of training, of course, was one of the most affected, forced to respond quickly to a situation in which part of the skills and tools have proved obsolete. Of course having to face this crisis represented an opportunity to accelerate modernization processes, but it is undeniable that this situation has also exacerbated social inequalities and the difficulties of particular contexts of society: among these, certainly the prison context is the one that has suffered the greatest backlash.In the penitentiary system, access to training is of enormous importance both for the quality of life during their stay in institutions and for the possibilities that people can access once their sentence is over. As explained in the summary report created for the European Commission by GHK, a high percentage of prisoners in the EU have a rather low level of preparation and training and these low qualification levels have important negative effects on the job prospects of prisoners close to release, a condition identified as one of the key factors for relapse.Access to adequate and quality training was a central challenge for the penitentiary system in the pre-Covid era, with the explosion of the health emergency and its repercussions these issues have become of vital importance. In fact, issues have emerged that can no longer be postponed: access to the internet and digital education, the preparation of prison staff, the basic digital skills of trainers and learners, are aspects on which to focus our efforts, being essential tools to guarantee the right to training and therefore to an effective rehabilitation process.The STEP - Supporting distance Training and Education in Prison - project aims to support and enhance the use of digital tools and distance learning in prisons. To succeed in this aim, we believe it is necessary to support educators and prison staff in the acquisition of adequate skills for the implementation of these tools.A fundamental first step to succeed is to adopt a common methodology through the collection of European good practices in distance learning in prison and comparing the response that different contexts have given and are giving to training needs. With the STEP project we will therefore build a comparative research between at least 4 European countries, proposing short vocational paths hops in each penitentiary institution and monitoring the organizational and management methods of these paths in vivo. This research will lay the foundations for an analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of each intervention with the aim of building guidelines for the enhancement of distance learning in prison and ad hoc training courses for prison staff and for the civilian personnel working in institutions. The Step project will be divided into 2 years and 2 phases:Phase I: Inmate training and comparative research●Analysis of the training courses in prison in the partner countries●Distance learning course for prisoners in each partner country●Construction of a grid of observation and comparison of the paths: analysis of virtuous organizational processes and of the criticalities encountered●Collection of good practicesPhase II Guidelines and training●Guidelines for the enhancement of distance learning in prison●Training for prison staff and civilian staff working in institutions

<< Background >>Young people in Europe (14-19 yrs, secondary school age group) are getting lost in their own virtual bubbles.A Eurostat study (Being young in Europe today) shows that in 2019, 80% of the EU-population aged 16-24 (young people) had basic or above basic digital skills. 98% of the EU-27 households with dependent children had access to computers and internet. 94% of youth in EU-27 used the internet daily (vs 77% of the whole adult population). When away from home, mobile phones are the preferred device to connect to the internet: 92% among young people (against 71% of the whole adult population). This share was only 78% back in 2014. Mobile phone use for internet access in our age group per partner country was: HU: 72 to 92%, NL: 90 to 98%, LT 70 to 95%, BG: 54 to 89% (2014 to 2019 again).Their way of life seems to have shifted online, with activities that take up an increasing share of their daily lives: sending/receiving e-mails (88%), watching internet streamed TV or video (85%), or participating in social networks (84% - in our partnership this is 90-91% for NL, HU and LT, 80% for BG)). So instead of reading books, they prefer to watch movies - the genre of the film is simply a built-in part of their life. They get their info from movies for their conversation, their actions/reactions. According to recent surveys they are “omnivorous”, with preference to series, mostly comedies - that they watch at least twice a week, at home, on-line, mostly alone. A 2017 Eurobarometer survey shows that in EU-27 only 65% of the youth (15-19) took part in any cultural or active participation activities. Their perception of the real world, of social issues are based on the information they get from these online sources. And the problem with social media is that in many cases it just transmits non-reliable or one-sided information.Although digital solutions are very useful to bridge distances, in the end society is built upon direct personal interactions that seem to become scarcer nowadays. Virtual solutions simplify the world around us – in the end they omit responsibility, kill compassion, destroy the fabric of society. Tools should never become aims of existence.Teachers are seeking new methods to contact the newest generations and to improve their knowledge at the same time. Psychologists found that unusual solutions that make them get out of their well-known surroundings can help the change of perspective. According to recent (2019) studies, adolescents are contrary to most things (an age speciality), but are also curious – help is neded to guide them to the right direction.Finding the medium to this is essential. We propose documentary films: they show the world “as it is”.Comparing high school curricula in our partner countries we see that only in HU are film history and aesthetics part of the education. In NL, HU and LT we can find huge documentary film festivals, often with student education programs (but not enough to get deep knowledge about social issues). We suggest documentaries should be used more frequently and consciously in education.<< Objectives >>The project’s objectives are to help secondary school teachers to connect to and guide young people.This we hope to achieve by the making of a new method to highlight the importance of the social issues, using documentary films – helped along with collecting knowledge in the field, film screenings and workshops, and collecting data through students’ feedback, in order to produce effective tools to bring students closer to reality in a protected environment and thus offer a model to the teachers and other educators.The project’s primary target group are secondary school teachers, willing to tackle social issues in class and open to using documentary in education.By developing a curriculum for the use of documentary in schools we hope to give a useful tool for teachers and educators in order to form young people’s minds – to lead them back to reality before it gets too late.We want to gather teachers who are curious about new methods, are interested in films and like to watch them.We want to create a platform that inspires participants of the project and possible future users, and creates awareness and build resilience and knowledge for a conducive teaching and learning enviromentWe also wish:- to foster the use of documentaries which give a sensitive and sensual portrayal of segments of reality with loveable, real-life protagonists and - in general - have an anthropological approach.- Develop a method for teachers to improve and maximise their knowledge - Introduce a new mindset - use the potential of the documentaries- Students - soft skills development, fostering mutual understanding - Teachers can understand better the new generation - intergenerational gap decrease<< Implementation >>The project will last 36 months, from 2022 to 2024.We are planning to prepare a whole range of project results:- a curriculum (R1)- an online database (R2)- a tutorial video about the organising of field trips (R3)- a professional video diary of the project (R4)- a pedagogical manual (R5)- a survey on students’ viewing habits (R6)- a short training course for teachers, adapted to 4 countries (R7)- a manual (a multimedia tool) about student feedback (R8)- a toolkit/exercice book on good practices (R9)We also plan 5 short training activities, and 8 multiplier events that will help us in disseminating project results.<< Results >>The main outcome that we expect is that the topic of using documentary in education will be brought to the fore, and also that various social issues (the fact at all that social issues exist) will be more embedded in the minds of young people.The main result of the project is the curriculum (R1), a complex that will include various tools 8that also figure as project results), and that gives a methodology on how to use documentary films in education, when tackling social issues.The online database (R2) is equally important; it will contain all the tools that are necessary for the successful use of the Curriculum. It is in the form of a website where the users can find all results uploaded. The structure of the database is a blog where all news, information and visual materials can appear. Our mission is to raise the discussion about social issues in an innovative way and foster activities.Our experience is that the pleasing design which uses the symbolic element of the message(es) of the project, is successful. That's why we create a brand which is an image that people will have in mind when thinking about the project both in a practical (results, website) and emotional (experiences) way and we build a community around the project and/or brand. Result 3 is a tool, a tutorial video about the organising of field trips when tackling a social issue with the students through a documentary. It will contain all the advice necessary in such a situation, and will be shot and produced by professionals.Result 4 will be a video diary of the project, focusing on the professional aspects – again made by professionals, observing all GDPR regulations.Result 5 is another important part, a pedagogical manual closely linked to the Curriculum: the methodology elaborated, with data collected throughout the project.Result 6 will be a survey on students’ viewing habits, conducted in all 4 participating countries.Result 7 is a short training course for teachers (and its variations, adapted to each countries’ needs and conditions), that will also be sent to accreditation in at least 1 country.Result 8 is a manual (a multimedia tool) about student feedback, collected after the filed trips of the Film Activity Packages.Result 9 is a toolkit/exercice book on good practices from teachers using various media in teaching, collected internationally.We’ll also organise 5 trainings for teachers, to explain the methodology, and 8 multiplier events in total, targeted at professional publics.

Prison art work is a type of work that requires different rules and possibilities in terms of establishing contact, freedom of movement, opening certain topics and thinking carefully on its ethical dimensions, as well as keeping in mind the professional obligation to keep information, that artists might receive or the insights they gain while working in prison space, confidential. Before they could start any artwork in prison space, artists involved in the project need to go through proper education. Through certain forms of education, artists need to understand that working in a prison space requires not only a different approach to work than the one they are used to, but also a different approach to the people they will encounter while working in that space. The reasons for this belief are found in the experiences of previous projects. Lack of familiarity with the way of working and behaving often causes the artist to be obstinate. That behavior then results in superficiality and inappropriate work. Resistance to learn something or apply something that they have been suggested has led us to think about the need to carry out a project where artists would undergo certain forms of education before working in prison.Continuing on all the facts, the idea has been developed to produce and publish two educational books (manuals) explaining and displaying different aspects of art work in the prison.Projects to promote education in prisons, through the search for professional associates, the exchange of knowledge and the dissemination of good practice, have been implemented in the European area for a long time. The reason for the transnational implementation of the project is the fact that both the applicant and the project partners will use the specific knowledge and expertise that each participant brings to the project.By educating the prison system's expert staff about this domain of artistic activity, which actually falls into the scientific field of medicine and we can say psychology, we are placing it in the area of one of the important lifelong literacy processes. This type of education is important because in this way the form of acting through the arts is more successfully embedded, on an equal footing with other skills (using art therapies and working with prisoners) in the penal / prison community. For artists, the effect we expect is to increase understanding of the needs of the community in which they perform the artistic interventions and to respond better to the needs of that community. The long-term effect is to increase artist interest in participating in projects related to prison systems.Following the implementation of the project at the partnership level, the results of the project will be used to: educate artists interested in the subject of painting and aesthetization of prison premises, educate employees in prison systems on the effects of art on behaviour and stay in prison, and educate students during their studies.All materials produced by the project will be fully available to the public as follows: the books will be uploaded to the ISSU database, where the HDLU places links to catalogs, which are then made available to the public for reading and download.We plan to update the books over time, in line with the progress of projects in prison systems and the experiences we will gain over time, and we also intend to supplement the books so that they can be applied to hospital facilities.The long-term plan is to create a catalog of interventions performed so far in short-text brochures, which can then be placed in hospital waiting rooms, so that patients can gain insight into the purpose of artistic initiatives.Brochures will also be developed for prison interventions and made available to prison systems to provide prisoners with insight and information on intervention projects and results.

<< Background >>The project, CRESTART - CReative rESilienT leARning communiTies meeting COVID challenges, involves partner countries from Bulgaria, Hungary, Netherlands and Cyprus.Context: COVID situation brought unexpected and new challenges for local communities in almost every field of their lives. We selected local cultural activities as subject of our project: because of lockdown and keeping distance policy cultural activities needed to be rethought. Our project focuses on these changes and all the novelties it brought in local communities, which will definitely shape the cultural life after the pandemic as well. We will collect and share the best practices we find.The aim of the project is to map the cultural changes before and after COVID that have developed and will develop in certain dimensions of the institutional and national culture of the participating countries.Furthermore we aim to develop and share a complex, participatory and user-friendly toolkit for strengthening the creativity and innovativeness of local societies on how to successfully tackle similar challenges and reduce cultural risks. We plan to involve different types of local communities: big cities (Nicosia, Rotterdam), a town in the metropolitan area (Érd) and a medium size town (Lovech).Objectives- Understanding and mapping the old cohesive traditions of the local societies and their chances to survive in the 21st century.- Mapping the impact of the COVID pandemic on the culture of local societies in the participating countries and pilot settlements.- Mapping the community resources in the pilot settlements, with special regard to the creative capacity among the target groups.- Cultural consumption and culture shaping best practice collection in the participating countries, with particular reference to geopolitical and cultural differences in the Netherlands, Hungary, Bulgaria and Cyprus.- Searching for opportunities to involve locals by target group (young people, the elderly, working-age adults) in order to achieve the main goal.- Assessing the possibilities of offline and online activities and developing new solutions by target group in the pilot settlements.- Capacity building of local residents to become active culture shaping stakeholders and community organizers locally.- International exchange of creative solutions, adaptation of new creative methods in local level. Our direct target group consist of1000 (250/country) persons in total who will participate in the (online-offline) mapping during PR1 research work.120 adult learners in total (30 professionals and active residents / country) who will take part in multiplier events and want to take an active part in shaping the community and cultural life of the municipality.120 adult learners in total (30 participants / country) who complete the e-learning curricula (PR3) and learn new methods, tools and attitudes60 adult learners in total (15 participants / country) who will participate in the training workshops during the multiplier events and dealing with cultural and community events in the municipality. Our indirect target group consist of: · people who will benefit from the changes taking place in their towns;· toolbox users;· reached audience through dissemination activities.<< Objectives >>We want to equip local community organisers and stakeholders with the knowledge and toolkit to organise local communities’ events, activities in challenging times: that will have an effect on the mental health of the community, also will contribute to the community cohesion. Our project focuses on community organisers from the field of culture, but knowledge can be used in other fields as well.<< Implementation >>We will carry out online and offline research in the 4 participating countries to map the local communities: traditions and impact of COVID-19 on local communities (related project result PR1). Our plan is to develop an online platform: design and implementation - training materials, elearning, creativity toolbox, etc. (related project result PR2). Connected to the eLearning platform, we also plan to develop eLearning and contact training curricula by target group (related project result PR3). A collection of good practices will be carried out and also sharing experience between participating countries (related project result PR4). At the end of the project we prepare a Social Impact Report (related project result PR5). Capacity building among local stakeholders is crucial, to support it we will organise training workshops, multiplier events in all participating countries, etc. To provide smooth implementation of professional activities we are organizing five Transnational Partner Meetings (TPM1-TPM5), and short online meetings, if needed.<< Results >>We are planning to design and develop five project results, these are the tangible results of our project: PR1 Online and offline research report on the local communities and cultural life before, during and after COVID-19 pandemic;PR2 eLearning platform for active citizens;PR3 Curricula on public involvement for community organizers;PR4 Creativity development toolbox;PR5 Social Impact Report;We also expect that as a result of our project, local communities involved will be more prepared for unexpected events and will have a wide range of tools to use during “normal” and “extraordinary” times. Involvement of local residents in community (cultural) activities will increase. We hope that the involvement of local residents will result in a better psychological state (in general) of the residents involved in “extraordinary” times. Community cohesion will raise.

The Validation and Motivation for Informal and Non-formal Learning in Prisons (VALMOPRIS), set out to facilitate the recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning through the design and delivery of competence-oriented learning activities in prisons and criminal justice settings in the EU. The objectives were to:•Explore the role and impact of non-formal and informal learning validation in prison alongside its potential to encourage learning and further competence development•Maximise the motivational potential of non-formal and informal learning, and validation in prisons through the introduction of validation processes and competences relevant to those leaners and the socio-economic disadvantages they face•Actively contribute to policy discourse on prison education, and promote/enhance the role and potential of non-formal and informal learning validation within prison education and justice settings•Interact with prison services, raising the profile of the social and personal competences acquired through informal learning (in line with the Council of Europe Recommendations on Education in Prison)•Support professionals working within prison to validate informal and non-formal learning through training and the creation of a framework, resources and materials required to undertake future and self-directed validation•Establish a train-the-trainer programme for prison teachers throughout the EUThe project saw professionals and teachers from 7 EU countries, 5 of whom deliver education within criminal justice settings, working in close partnership to design, deliver and validate competence development, as a result of our learners' engagement with a wide range of non-formal learning activities.•New College Lanarkshire (Scotland, UK) deliver wide-ranging educational provision within 7 Scottish prisons •EPPEA (Latvia) are an NGO who deliver prison education offending prevention strategies and resettlement support•Euro-CIDES (France) deliver training and development opportunities within the field of prison education•Centrul Educativ Buzias (Romania) is a closed detention centre for young offenders, subordinated to the Romanian National Administration of prisons with a core focus on education values•Changes and Chances (Netherlands) use the arts as a tool for those who come into contact with the criminal justice systemTwo partner organisations specialist in training and education concepts: •Die Berater (Austria) develop adult education and VET programmes for HR development – including specialised e-learning solutions•Blinc eG (Germany) develop training concepts, networking and exchange and host the REVEAL network and the LEVEL5 validation methodologyThe project explored the impact of competence-oriented learning and non-formal modes of learning on the motivation of prison-based learners to engage in learning – and ascertain the types of competences that were most relevant within prison and justice contextsAs a result of our research and findings, which was carried out with over 90 prison learners and 30 practitioners from 5 EU countries, and pilot activities with 30 teachers that reached 90+ learners, we delivered a set of recommendations for the development of future policy to help all stakeholders to recognise the value of informally-developed competences; as well as a series of practical resources which could be utilised within prisons and criminal justice settings to support practitioners to deliver and validate competence-oriented learningThe VALMOPRIS project produced 4 Intellectual Outputs (IO’s):•IO1 Study and Policy Recommendations includes full details of our research methodology and findings on the importance of education, competence-development and the validation of learning•IO2 Competence Frameworks has 40 competences designed for prison and criminal justice settings, which include frameworks for practitioners to develop and adapt within their own learning contexts as well as a catalogue of pilot learning activities•IO3 Train-the-trainer Programme developed as an online offering through a Moodle platform for learning professional across the EU•IO4 Practioners’ Guidebook offers advice on how to deliver competence-oriented learning available in partner languagesImpact of the project activities were:•Increased opportunities for professional training in the delivery of competence-oriented learning and the validation of non-formal and informal learning•Increased understanding of the benefits of and subsequent engagement with COL and validation processes•A consistent but flexible approach developed for the delivery of competence-oriented learning and development of the well-established LEVEL5 validation approach for use within prison and criminal justice settings across the EU•Higher numbers of learners engaging in competence-oriented learning and seeing the psycho-social benefits of their engagement with non-formal learning validation.