<< Objectives >>The GO of the project is the training and capacity-building on ES&GE for kindergarten teachers. There are three main sub-objectives under this: 1) to cultivate an understanding of ES, while fostering the development of young environmentally-conscious citizens; 2) to foster the democratisation of climate action by including (DHH) children in the process; 3) to take ES&GE education a step further, by approaching kindergartens as enterprises with a CSR rather than merely educational institutions.<< Implementation >>WP2 collects & identifies educational gaps, best practices & theoretical info to produce a Virtual Learning Lab (VLL) with modules, interactive multimedia resources and micro-challenges on ES, GE & Experiential Methods that are inclusive to DHH. WP3 uses the VLL to train the teachers, produces & provides them with a pedagogical framework. WP4 engages children (esp. DHH) in opportunities to learn & link ES&GE to competencies related to establishing green enterprises that promote green behaviours.<< Results >>10 interviews with stakeholders & collection of 60 resources on preschool ES&GE for curricula in different countries culminating in 5 research reports identifying gaps & best practices (R2.1&2.2). Dev. & testing of a VLL (R2.3-2.6; R3.5) for min. 12 teachers’ training. Provision of OERs with 15 Ped. Sequences & 15 Gamified Activities for teachers to adapt in their classes (R3.1-3.3). (DHH) children engagement (R4.1) & feedback gathering in the form of an Audiovisual Implementation Report (R4.3).

<< Background >>Substance abuse is one of the biggest challenges EU societies are facing. According to EMCDDA, each year it is estimated that approximately more than 15 million Europeans use a class of drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamines, MDMA and opioids. At the same time, according to WHO, per capita alcohol consumption in the WHO European Region, including the European Union (EU), is the highest in the world. Eco-therapy is a formal type of therapeutic treatment, which involves doing outdoor activities in nature. It involves varying amounts of physical activity, depending on the type of programme. It can include activities that focus on:- working in nature, such as gardening- experiencing nature, such as physical activity in nature, cycling, etc. Eco-therapy, especially structured eco-therapy that incorporates aspects of psychotherapy and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) is found to be effective in managing health disorders. Specifically, eco-therapy has multiple benefits, which drug & alcohol abuse counsellors can tap into with the appropriate training: - It significantly reduces stress levels (Park & Mattson, 2009) - It helps against PSTD (Hawkins et al., 2016)- It improves physical health (heart rate, obesity, etc.) - It reduces pain (Malenbaum et al., 2008)These benefits can have a tremendous impact in the rehabilitation process of people suffering from substance abuse disorders, as stress, PTSD and pain management are important factors for recovery (Rosenblum et al. 2003; Gielen N. et all. 2012).However, despite the research done in the field of eco-therapy and its impact on health disorders, this method is still not utilized in the field of substance abuse disorders in Europe. In this context, the project aims at supporting drug & alcohol abuse counsellors in their important role at supporting and guiding people with substance abuse disorders, by providing them with a new and innovative tool for recovery and rehabilitation, the eco-therapy methodology.<< Objectives >>The objectives of the project are: - to educate professionals and build on their capacities to better support people with substance abuse disorders- to introduce the innovative approach of eco-therapy to drug and alcohol abuse counsellors - to respond to the need for high qualified professionals in the field of drug & alcohol abuse- to support VET institutions and therapy centres at adopting eco-therapy courses and sessions (respectively) in their structures<< Implementation >>The following activities are going to be implemented by the project- Mapping of best practices in the field of eco-therapy - Interviews with professionals & trainers on eco-therapy and its potential- Study of current curricula / gap analysis- Creation of the curriculum outline, teaching methodologies and curriculum plans- Development of the educational material and interactive training resources for trainers - Development of the digital eco-therapy toolkit- Creation of the piloting methodological framework - Networking and identification of participants for the pilot implementation - Reporting on the pilot implementation - Development of the EcoTherapy MOOC<< Results >>The following project results are foreseen in the project: R1: Guide for therapy centers and VET institutions on eco-therapy for substance abuse disorders R2: Eco-therapy curriculum and Open Educational ResourcesR3: Eco-therapy digital toolkit for VET trainersLTTA: Eco-therapy resources training for partners’ staffR4: Eco-therapy MOOCR5: Eco-therapy training sessions for professionalsApart from the above-mentioned results, the project will also produce results relating to dissemination. In detail these are: - A project website & project information material, which will be used to promote and disseminate the project to stakeholders and the target groups, as well as to host (website) the project results and to ensure open access to them- A Dissemination & Exploitation strategy, which will set the basic scope, aims, objectives and channels of the dissemination of the project and the considerations for the exploitation of the project results. Lastly, at the end of the project the following outcomes are expected: - Enhanced capacity of drug & alcohol abuse counsellors to support people with substance abuse disorders - Increased use of the tool of eco-therapy in substance abuse disorders - Better accessibility to quality services for people with substance abuse disorders

The BG2D project was born out of the need for a comparison at European level on how to support adults in the use of new technologies by improving their life skills, as both at local, national and European level it was noted that the two topics are closely linked. Fears, anxieties, technical difficulties and difficulties in understanding the use of new technologies are all factors contributing to potential social exclusion, especially in today's hyper-connected world, which is having a profound impact on the workplace as well. The exchange of good practices within the partnership allowed to understand what could be some solutions, expedients or methodologies to be implemented in the educational programmes of the institutions involved. In order to homogenize the results of the research, a common template was constructed in which the information collected was brought together. The documents with the results of the research were then made available free of charge on the project website, and were included in a short White Paper also made available on the project website. The White Paper also includes a presentation of the project and its objectives, as well as a section with some considerations from the partners on the impact of the pandemic on the project's themes. In fact, the pandemic has increased the impact of new technologies in everyone's life, in some cases exacerbating the digital divide that the project was intended to investigate. The project's general objectives met have been therefore the best practices to enhance the life skills useful to bridge the ultimate grey digital divide and the promotion and adoption of the best practices in the partners’ network and their stakeholders. During the life cycle of the project some of the staff of the partner institutions were involved as Project Management Team, some trainers of the institutions as a group that contributed to the recognition and definition of the needs of adults and finally the adults themselves who will benefit from the results of the project. As specified in the project writing phase, the main impact on adult educational providers and their staff is to become aware of the requirements of digital literacy teaching to meet the emerging needs of learners and to know the up-to-date best practices. The main indirect impact on learners is the enhancement of their digital skills and of their emotional and cognitive life skills in order to feel at ease with the use of ICT in their everyday personal life. We can say that the staff of the involved partners was highly impacted by the project, because of the increased used and need of use of new technologies imposed by the pandemic. The learners as well were highly impacted for the same reason. The BG2D project was in a way supporting the changes that have been taking place during the last two years of pandemic, and this can be regarded as the most important achievement of the project, because it supported the necessary change of perspective and shift from face-to-face activities to online activities that all of the partners had to go through. This can be regarded as a long-term impact and benefit as these changes may stay with us for a very long time if not forever.

The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu 2017) states the urgent need for educators to develop a specific set of digital competences in order to be able to seize the potential of digital technologies in enhancing and innovating education and Towards Maturity ‘The Transformation Journey’ 2019 reports that among Learning Professionals:•93% identified facilitating collaboration for learning as a priority, however in 2018 only 34% have that skill•92% identified digital content creation as a required skill, but only 31% have these skillsThe skills of Educators and Trainers are having to change from those of being the ‘sage on the stage’ (creating and presenting learning), to a ‘curator-concierge’ model - directing learners to excellent existing learning content. This is a shift in mind set as well as skill set. Educators are also increasingly confronted with the challenge of sourcing, filtering, creating and managing digital content to enhance learning effectiveness. Within the context of developing and delivering Blended Learning, Collaborative and Self-Directed Learning programmes for adult learners, the ‘Critical Curation and Collaboration in Learning’ (Cur8) project will focus on applying Critical Digital Literacy skills to learning content. Fundamental to this approach is the use of Critical Digital Literacy skills - skills that are needed in order to aggregate and filter relevant content. Critical Curation therefore plays an essential role in the learning process and serves as an important digital literacy requirement for knowledge workers. It occupies a central position in the ‘meaning-making’ process in a digital age (Betts & Payne 2016). Positioning Curation as an element of Critical Digital Literacy further enriches current conversations about digital literacy and educational technology.The Cur8 project addresses these challenges by supporting the development of the specific digital competences needed by Educators and Trainers (CVET and VET providers, Workplace Trainers and Adult Educators) in order to apply the ‘curator-concierge’ model in the teaching and learning strategies. It focuses on the development of the specific competences of:•curating, creating and sharing digital learning resources•managing and orchestrating collaborative and self-directed learning, and•empowering and actively engaging learnerswith the aim of fostering efficient, effective, inclusive and collaborative learning strategies for adult learners.Critical content curation offers the opportunity to source learning content in dynamic, learner-centred and socially-interactive ways in order to support an inquiry-based pedagogy. It is relevant to both Educators AND learners who, through the Cur8 project, will be encouraged to become digital curators who not only consume information that they find on the internet, but also evaluate and synthesise it to meet learning needs.The objectives of the Cur8 project are to addresses the urgent need to update the digital competences of Educators and Trainers by:Creating an innovative Train-the-Trainer format, with supporting Toolbox and Learning Experience Platform, for competence development in facilitating collaboration for learning and digital content creation Providing educators and trainers (direct target group) with useful skills and action-oriented methods on how to develop critical digital literacy skills for learning and digital learning content creationEnhancing the digital and self-directed learning competences of adult learners (final beneficiaries), Thus increasing the use of digital technologies by educators and trainers, especially through the application of critical digital literacy skills, learning content curation and collaborative learning techniques.In terms of concrete products the ‘Critical Curation and Collaboration in Learning’ project will develop:1.A Transnational Stocktaking Report and Educator Engagement Strategy 2.The Cur8 Train-the-Trainer Format for Educators and Trainers3.The Cur8 Toolbox for Educators and Trainers4.The Cur8 Learning Experience Platform5.The Cur8 Experience Report and RoadmapCur8 will be put into practice in a Transnational Training Activity with 18 adult educators, who then pilot the approach with other educators and adult learners in their respective country. 140 more educators, trainers and multipliers will be informed about the project outputs and instructed how to use them in the pilots and by multiplier events, and at least 120 adult learners will be directly involved in the project.The main outputs will be continued to be offered online after the end of the project and designed in a way which makes it easy for educators and trainers to apply the Cur8 training in different CVET/VET contexts.The partnership is led by Apricot, United Kingdom, and has experienced adult education providers from Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Sweden

<< Background >>In a recent Eurobarometer protecting the environment and climate change was considered as the highest priority for the EU by 67% of young respondents. Youth participation in various social movements for climate and environmental protection as well as consumption habits towards sustainable food and clothing further manifests the turn of the youth towards sustainability and alternative models of economic development. COVID-19 devastatingly also underlined the need to turn towards sustainable production and consumption and for alternative economic models in the future. At the same time, the percentage of youth unemployment is exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the unemployment is expected to soar, while young people have already been one of the most vulnerable groups emerging from the years of economic crisis and austerity (Eurofound). Projections on the full impact of COVID on youth in Europe is very dismal. The SYnC project sits at the intersection of these European realities and aims to develop an non-formal educational framework to introduce young people and youth workers to the circular economy and to unleash the innovation potential of the former.<< Objectives >>Specific objectives are: To educate and raise awareness of youth in particular those with fewer opportunities on the key concepts of sustainability and circular economy with a view to strengthen their entrepreneurial opportunities (SO1) Build the capacity of youth organisations to be able to inform and guide youth towards circular economy and to explore their entrepreneurship and innovation potential (SO2) Reinvigorate cross-national and cross-sectoral knowledge transfer to build momentum towards promoting youth entrepreneurship in circular economy (SO3).<< Implementation >>Result 1 How to? Toolkit for youth and circular entrepreneurship R1-A1 Research and analysis of best practices R1-A2 Testimonials from circular economy entrepreneurs R1-A3 Drafting and finalisation of the Toolkit Result 2 - Guidebook for raising awareness and building the capacity of youth workers R2-A1 Development of the GuidebookR2-A2 Organisation of the raising awareness and capacity building seminars R2-A3 Feedback and evaluation reportResult 3 - Non-formal online course and platform for circular economy entrepreneurship R3- A1 Co-design encounters with youth, youth workers R3-A2 Research and drafting of the course design R3-A3 Content development and instructional design R3- A4 Localisation and translation R3 - A5 Platform concept and technical definition R3 -A6 Piloting, feedback and evaluation Result 4 - Lessons learnt and forward looking educational strategies R4-A1 Lessons learnt and youth recommendations! How to SYnc-in youth innovation potential in the circular economy R4 -A2 Forward looking educational strategies<< Results >>The SYnC project in its 24 month duration will deliver the following results:-- How to? Toolkit for youth and circular economy entrepreneurship available in digital format and in 5 languages (EN, EL, PT, RO, DE)-- The Guidebook for raising awareness and building the capacity of youth workers, translated in 5 languages and available in digital format-- Four (4) raising awareness and capacity building seminars with the participation of 20 youth workers per country, to be implemented in Greece, Portugal, Romania and Germany.-- The SYnC online course and educational platform for introducing youth to circular economy entrepreneurship, available in 5 languages and piloted in the four (4) countries with the participation of 80 young persons in total.-- The Lessons learnt and youth recommendations! How to SYnc-in youth innovation potential in the circular economyreport and The Forward Looking Educational strategies report available in digital form in 5 languages.