<< Background >>The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated existing inequalities in the education sector: around seven million children, 0.5% of all the world’s learners, dropped out of school in 2020 due to the pandemic (World Bank, 2020).The school systems, and namely teachers and school staff, tried to reshape methods for learning, in a short time and without tailored expertise, when shifting from the traditional learning to the e-learning modes. Some students lost their lessons and school interaction, especially those coming from disadvantaged households. In 2020, students suffered learning losses of about 10% more compared to the average trend in recent years (OECD, 2020). A new need has emerged to digitally power-up the school system to face new challenges, by equipping the whole school community with proper competences to deal with this change. In this context, STAND will address the following target groups’ needs:-Teachers, and staff from primary and lower secondary schools’ need of targeted ICT/digital support and new training opportunities to acquire digital competences and deal with distance learning, teaching and bureaucratic activities;-Students’ (aged 6-12) need to be granted equal access to education and protection against future risk of social exclusion and the risks linked to the virtual world; -Families’ need for basic digital skills and tools to support their children in distance learning and homework.<< Objectives >>STAND will aim at equipping teachers and school staff, as well as students and their families, with competences, tools and tailored support, supporting the digital transition of EU school systems and making them ready to face long-term challenges triggered by the pandemic. The project will pursue the following specific objectives:- To support schools in the digital transformation while guaranteeing inclusive education -To train and equip teachers and staff from primary and lower secondary school with ICT, digital literacy skills and digital strategies to manage distance and blended learning; -To raise awareness among teachers, school staff, students and families on issues related to digital identity and data protection policies;-To promote informal networks and peer-tutoring among parents, teachers and students, providing them with guidance and ICT-related support in dealing with distance and blended learning;-To encourage collaboration among education institutions, technology providers, ICT and pedagogical experts across the EU;-To support transnational cooperation and mutual learning among and within education institutions.<< Implementation >>The STAND partnership will involve 8 partners from Italy, Poland, Greece, Spain, to combine complementary types of institutions (non-profit organisations, schools, technology institutions) and support specific segments of the project.The following activities will be performed within the project:-Design of a Massive Open Online Course on ICT and digital literacy for teachers and school staff (R1)-Train the trainers workshop (C1) in Poland to prepare 7 trainers from partner organisations for the local delivery of the blended learning. -Delivery of the MOOC for 30 teachers and 10 school staff per country in blended learning mode (R1)-Implementation of 2 Design meetings in each country, involving 6 teachers in the co-design of the “Methodological guide: strategies and principles for effective digital education” (R2) -Delivery of 3 Workshops for 15 teachers per country on integrated pedagogical methodology through practical and non-formal activities (R2)-Development of the “Data protection and safety in distance learning” Handbook (R3)-Organisation of 6 itinerant info-sessions for teachers, school staff and students, and 2 online info-sessions addressed to parents to raise awareness of the handbook’s content - Set-up of the STAND Alliance platform’s constituent components (R4) and of the virtual learning community, and fine-tuning of the platform after ongoing monitoring-“Supporting access and digital practices in schools” events (E1-3) and STAND Final Conference in Spain (E4) to present STAND project and its results.<< Results >>STAND will produce the following tangible Results:•R1 - MOOC on ICT and digital literacy for teachers and school staff (EN, IT, ES, GR, PL)•R2 - Methodological guide: strategies and principles for effective digital education in primary and lower secondary schools (EN, IT, ES, GR, PL)•R3 - Data protection and safety in distance learning Handbook (EN, IT, ES, GR, PL)•R4 - STAND alliance platform (EN, IT, ES, GR, PL)Furthermore, the project is expected to achieve the following outcomes:•Acquired knowledge and skills on ICT and digital literacy and digital strategies among teachers and school staff to manage distance and blended learning; •Enhanced awareness among teachers, school staff and families on issues about digital identity and data protection policies;•Promoted informal networks and peer-tutoring among parents, teachers, school staff and students;•Encouraged collaboration among education institutions, ICT and pedagogical experts across EU; •Strengthened transnational cooperation and mutual learning among and within education institutions in the EU.STAND will support teachers’ continuous professional development, while meeting partner countries’ educational needs, thus contributing to the digital transformation of education in the partner countries and beyond, and to create a European Educational Area.