For the elderly, it is necessary to engage actively in society, to be constructive, to deal with current and social issues. There is a substantial need for opportunities to promote senior’s active inclusion in society and lifelong learning, so they can connect with other people and their social contribution can be ensured.The project aims at the social integration of the elderly and seniors in a unique way where they can engage in social life through high-quality learning opportunities via digital learning solutions through various learning methods.The project will focus on the inclusion of seniors and elderly people in society, for that reason the GAP-IOS project brings together seven partners from 4 European countries, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Turkey who work with and for seniors and are experienced in life-long learning, training and online activities. The cooperation from different EU countries will ensure useful and good practices to the project. The project partners are chosen carefully according to their expertise and experience in the fields which this project involves. They will all bring their unique contribution to the project and its intellectual outputs. Target group will be elderly people and seniors over the AGE OF 65+ YEARS OLD.There will be three intellectual outputs in this project:The first intellectual output will be the GOLDEN AGE PLATFORM (GAP) which is prepared under a curriculum by experts of the related subjects, consists of basic knowledge on digitilization, health, financial, legal issues cultural and hobby activities (IO1) that elderly can use in their daily lives and protects them not to be cheated by malicious people. GAP is free of charge and is organised under the curriculum prepared by the academia and the experts in related subjects from public and private institutions with the collaboration of the project partners. The curriculum and the training programmes include different aspects of views from different cultures, sharing of experiences, searching for the best solutions in a transnational way.The second intellectual output is the TRAINING DOCUMENTS FOR SENIOR TRAINERS (IO2), which will consist of four tasks: Presentation and Teaching Techniques, Basic Teaching Skills, Basic Knowledge about Long-life Learning and Basic Models of Pedagogy. “TRAINING OF THE SENIOR TRAINERS” is organised according to the training document prepared in the (IO2) which will be organised as Short Term Training Activities (STT). These three workshops will be realised in Ankara(C1), Lisbon (C2) and Bonn (C3). The partner organisations in each country will be responsible from the organizational process of the workshop.The last intellectual output of the project will be COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION MEDIA (IO3), which will contain four tasks: Technical developments of the web, content production, social media activities and animation movies, online teaching materials, e-learning tools.During the GAP-IOS project, there will be 4 transnational meetings. From each project partner, 2 participants and from the coordinator partner 3 participants will attend to these four meetings and contribute according to their expertise. The purpose of these transnational meetings is, basically experience and know-how transfer between the project partners. The consortium of the project supports seniors as well as elderly with disadvantaged backgrounds through e-learning tools and digital platforms. The project aims at creating educational environments and provides a BEST PRACTICE MODEL that can be used in various countries to increase the living standards of elderly and provide their social inclusion into society.The project aims the social inclusion of the seniors and elderly people in an innovative way where they can join in social life by high quality learning opportunities on digital learning applications through informal and non-formal learning methods. For that reason all the document and training modules will be uploaded in the web pages of the partners and open axess for everyone.For multiplier event (E1) an international conference is planned “International Conference on The Social Inclusion of Seniors” in Turkey which focuses on the intellectual outputs of the project, besides “Experiences and Best Practises on Seniors” for 2 days in Ankara. The conference will be supported by all the project partners.During the project, the impact of the project is evaluated after every activity of the project by statistical methods via surveys and interviews. Project Management Board (PMB) will continuously monitor the implementation of the work plan, control the project budget and the project activities.The public will be informed from the project activities and results via EPALE.

<< Background >>A consequence of the growth of the world’s economy and its population is an increased global demand and rise in resource consumption: Our way of using things and throwing them away is an unsustainable and a waste of resources. Indeed, we need new, creative solutions for a sustainable future and it requires a circular way of thinking as to how we make our products and how we act as consumers.Recycling rates of municipal and packaging waste; and waste of electrical and electronic equipment are increasing in Europe, indicating a move towards using waste as a resource and creating a more circular economy (https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/waste-recycling-1/assessment-1 ). Recycling and upcycling have become a common undertaking at all levels of society in Europe. This creates new sustainable jobs for European citizens. The issue of environment and climate change is being addressed globally, as countries try to mitigate the effects of decades of waste and wanton disregard for the environment. The European Green Deal (EGD) aims transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society where there are no net emissions of carbon gases by 2050, and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use. The transition needs to be just and inclusive, as it will demand a joint effort to reach complete carbon neutrality. While addressing environmental issues, the EGD has people at the heart of the strategy. However, we tend to forget the human face when talking about environmental issues. The disadvantaged groups, in particular, are not being given enough focus: how can they contribute while having a good quality of life? For one, the employment gap between persons with and without disabilities remains high: A large number of persons with disabilities have a lower employment rate, are disproportionately affected by unemployment, and leave labor markets earlier. This is critical, as employment participation is important to ensure economic autonomy and social inclusion of persons with disabilities (https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8376&furtherPubs=yes).Research shows a neglect of initiatives equipping disadvantaged groups with competencies to get a job within recycling/upcycling. NGOs working with vulnerable groups need to professionalize the teaching of such skills, enabling them to become an active part of the labor market and to earn a decent living. By enhancing the competencies of VET-trainers and volunteers who teach recycling/upcycling, this project will equip disadvantaged groups with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to thrive in an evolving labor market with emerging green business opportunities. The disadvantaged groups will not just receive training but also improve their employability and gain better access to the job market.The project has two target groups: the primary target group: teachers and volunteers (seniors, retired teachers, professional craftsmen) that teach practical craft skills used for repairing, renovating, and restoring secondhand items to citizens; secondary target group: disadvantaged groups - people with learning disabilities and mentally vulnerable, unemployed people on the periphery of the labor market.By developing a curriculum and a training program (PR1), TRAIN-SUSTAIN addresses the need for professionalizing trainers of disadvantaged VET-students in the field of recycling/upcycling furniture, appliances, clothes, etc. The training program will focus on qualifying the social and technical competencies of teachers and volunteers.in addition, the project will produce a handbook for future VET-trainers and a compendium of good practices on socio-economic business models to serve as inspiration to the partnership and eventually to organisations across Europe.<< Objectives >>General objectives:•to enable VET-institutions and NGOs improve the competences of their trainers and volunteers to become more qualified for teaching the disadvantaged target groups - unemployed, mentally vulnerable, people with learning disabilities, migrants etc. – in upcycling, recycling and/or repair of furniture, appliances, clothes, etc.•to ensure that the disadvantaged groups get the training and support that is required for them to handle a job within the aforementioned areas, thus enhancing their employability.•To promote social inclusion by providing disadvantaged groups with professional training as well as ensuring that they are ready for the job market. •To contribute to the realization of the European Green Deal by promoting sustainable use of used materials through recycling/upcycling. Specific objectives: •To professionalize the teaching of recycling/upcycling of goods •To help enhance the skills of disadvantaged groups in recycling/upcycling of goods for commercial enterprises •to develop a curriculum for trainers of disadvantaged groups•to develop a handbook for future VET-teachers and volunteer trainers•to develop a compendium of good practices on different socio-economic business models within the field of repair/recycling/upcycling•to engage 88 trainers in professionalizing the teaching of repair/recycling/upcycling of furniture, clothes, appliances. •To train at least 120 disadvantaged VET-students in recycling/upcycling goods that could give them employment•To promote the project through a website and the production of recycled material<< Implementation >>The activities of the project and the responsible organisations are: 1) TRAIN-SUSTAIN Curriculum for VET-teachers and Volunteer Trainers working with Disadvantaged Groups (See PR1)Activity leading organisation: FO-Aarhus (responsible for part 1) and Lousada (responsible for part 2) Participating partners: All partners2) TRAIN-SUSTAIN Handbook on How to Teach the Curriculum to Future VET-teachers and Volunteer trainers (See PR2)Activity leading organisation: SpainParticipating partners: All partners3) Compendium of Best Practices (See PR3)Activity leading organisation: CyprusParticipating partners: All partners4) International Teacher Training CourseActivity leading organisation: SpainParticipating partners: All partners5) Local Teacher Training EventsActivity leading organisation: All partnersParticipating partners: All partners6) Local Multiplier Events Activity leading organisation: ALL PARTNERSParticipating partners: All partners7) A Final Conference Activity leading organisation: PortugalParticipating partners: All partners<< Results >>PR1: TRAIN-SUSTAIN Curriculum for VET-teachers and Volunteer Trainers working with Disadvantaged Groups (WP leader: Denmark and Portugal)The project will develop a curriculum for VET-teachers and volunteer trainers who teach repair/recycling/upcycling of furniture, clothes, appliances etc. to disadvantaged citizens. PR2:TRAIN-SUSTAIN Handbook on How to Teach the Curriculum to Future VET-teachers and Volunteer trainers (WP leader: Spain)A Handbook will be designed to provide future VET-teachers with tools to successfully implement and facilitate trainings on the aforementioned topic. PR3: Compendium of Best practices (WP leader: Cyprus)Partners will identify and select a set of good practices i.e. successful socio-economic business models which involve and engage disadvantaged citizens in the recycling/upcycling of different material. The selected practices will be composed in a Compendium of Best practices.Additionally, the project will develop the following:1) Project Management Report - which will include all guidelines as well as the Minutes for each meeting; 1 report2) Quality Assurance Plan - which will include the evaluation of the project on a continuous basis, to ensure that the project is implemented in line with the application and ensures the highest quality standards; 2 reports - Interim and Final.3) Quality questionnaires which will be developed by the Internal Evaluation Leader for a) collecting feedback about the projects progress from the partners after each meeting; and b) feedback from the beneficiaries about the Outputs' quality before and after their finalization.4) An Impact Plan which will outline an agreed set of qualitative and quantitative indicators for each of the proposed intellectual outputs and 2 reports that will measure progress towards project objectives; 2 reports - Interim and Final.5) A Dissemination Plan consisting of how the partnership plans to disseminate the project process and results to its target audience and an ongoing document that will list and document all dissemination activities of all partners through the duration of the project's lifecycle; 1 Report6) Articles to be posted on social media with information about the project, its advances and outcomes. The content of each post will be elaborated in English by the lead organization of the dissemination activities. Social media presence to keep stakeholders and other interested parties up to date with project development actions.7) A Sustainability Plan (on how each partner plans to continue the project beyond its funding)8) A Partnership Agreement document will be defined, agreed, and signed by all partners before the start of the project -1 document9) A website that will describe the project and its activities; will serve as dissemination channel; and will be available in English, Danish, French, Portuguese, Greek and Spanish.10) Logo for the identification of the project period; 1 Report11) Project's templates for PowerPoint presentations and documents to maintain a visual identity.12) Project's e-Brochure to be used in dissemination activities.13) Multiplier events in each partner country and a Final Conference in Lousada, Portugal.14) Training of teachers (C1) that will take place in San Sebastián, Spain.

"The URB_ART project is a response to the COVID19 crisis that has inhibited intercultural exchange and severely affected the cultural and educational sectors. This project aims to support low-skilled adults in marginalized communities through activities and concepts of Urban Arts Education. Possible on-going pandemic constraints and changes will be considered in the project by implementing innovative formats of (digital) education, communication, participation, dissemination, etc. To achieve these goals, the consortium will carry out activities to manifest Urban Arts Education as a tool for social inclusion.URB_ART will stimulate social inclusion and empowerment processes through its project activities and results. By providing scientific studies, technical literature, further trainings, and audio-visual toolkits on the potentials of Urban Arts Education, a sustainable awareness of the different target groups shall be created.The definition of Urban Arts Education is based on the conceptual triangle of arts education, urban adult education and urban arts. Thus, it encompasses the creative and personal development of the individual as well as the understanding of regional and international arts and culture in large, densely populated urban areas with a diverse population. Dealing with arts in the community of low-qualified adults from marginalized groups overcomes socio-cultural barriers and provides access to new social groups. Here, transdisciplinary art disciplines function as communication instruments for intercultural dialogue and social integration. URB_ART will incorporate linguistic concepts such as metro- and multilingualism to classify and implement an intercultural dialogue.URB_ART makes use of the correlation of these three concepts by realizing five project activities that build on each other:IO1: The ""Baseline Survey on Transdisciplinary and Multilingual Urban Arts Education"" will formulate national and transnational needs and challenges regarding marginalization in the fields of culture and education as well as success indicators with regard to Urban Arts Education, taking into account concepts of transdisciplinarity, metro- and multilingualism.IO2: The ""Compendium of Storytelling Resources Through Urban Arts Education"" aims to list success stories for transdisciplinary and multilingual Urban Arts Education based on the Baseline Survey. In this way, the Compendium will create specific knowledge about the resources of storytelling through urban arts and empower cultural and educational actors.IO3: The ""In-Service Training Package on Urban Arts Education"" offers opportunities for further education for adult education providers and community actors. The results generated from IO1 and IO2 are conveyed in a practice-oriented manner in training courses in all five partner countries, whereby the results and recommendations can be directly integrated into the thinking and actions of those involved in practice.IO4: The ""Toolkit of Video Case Studies on Community Urban Arts"" aims to present media-based successful transnational practices for the inclusion of marginalized communities in urban arts programmes and initiatives.IO5: The ""Policy Paper on Promoting Urban Arts Education"" deals with the potentials of Urban Arts Education regarding social inclusion. The aim is to develop operational and policy recommendations for decision-makers and policymakers in the fields of culture, education, and social affairs.In addition to these outputs, the partner consortium will regularly organize transnational meetings, a transnational staff-member training, national multiplier events to disseminate the project results and a European Symposium, to which policy-makers and stakeholders will be invited. In the project activities, artists will be directly involved to actively build a bridge between the educational and the creative sectors.The partner consortium consists of five non-governmental organizations from the United Kingdom, Iceland, Slovenia, Portugal, and Austria. In addition to the project partners, other stakeholders are directly and indirectly addressed by this project:1) associated adult and community educators, social workers, professionals from the cultural sector2) low-skilled adults in marginalized communities3) independent arts educators and artists of different art disciplines4) policymakers and decision-makersWith this transnational and transdisciplinary approach, URB_ART breaks down social barriers in times of COVID19 and promotes social inclusion through the concept of Urban Arts Education. URB_ART offers further training possibilities for associated adult and community educators, social workers, professionals from the artistic and cultural sector as well as for independent arts educators and artists of different art disciplines to establish access to culture and education and to achieve empowerment for low-skilled adults in marginalized urban communities."

"<< Background >>Among adults, the risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age, with older adults at highest risk. Severe illness means that the person with COVID-19 may require hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, or they may even die. As you get older, your risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases. For example, people in their 50s are at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 40s. Similarly, people in their 60s or 70s are, in general, at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 50s. There are also other factors that can increase your risk for severe illness, such as having underlying medical conditions. By understanding the factors that put them at an increasedrisk, people of all ages are making decisions about what kind of precautions the need to take in their daily lives. Those at highest-risk for severe illness from COVID-19 include people of all ages with underlying medical conditions, including people with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma; people who suffer from hypertension or have have serious vascular conditions; people who are immunocompromised perhaps as a result of cancer treatment, immune deficiencies and prolonged use of corticosteroids and other immune weakening medications; people with obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, with liver disease. It is widely accepted health fact that as people get older they are more likely to have some form of underlying condition that would render them in the high-risk category. There is a vast number of people in all EU Member States who would be easily classified as high-risk where Covid-19 is concerned. Many of the have been self-isolating, restricting their movements, reducing their social contacts, even resorting to extreme cocooning to try and protect their health. But how do they protect their livelihood? How do they protect their mental health? How do they maintain their place in society and economy?For some, the solution is to remote work and many people are lucky enough to have both the skills and the employment opportunity to remote work. There is also a large group of older adults who simply don't have the digital skills or the professional competences to remote work. Are they to be cast aside? If the EU economy is to recover from the devastating impact of Covid-19, it needs to build a solidarity between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' in our communities now more than ever before. Many older workers and workers with an underlying health condition have a considerable pool of experience, tacit knowledge and interpersonal skills that are of significant value to society and economy. As workers they are loyal, committed, trustworthy and motivated. It is surely worthwhile, in this time of great upheaval, to consider the training needs of these people and put a dedicated and targeted training programme together to build the necessary skills to enable them to continue to work and contribute to both society and economy in all Member States. By teaching older workers or those with an underlying health condition how they can work from home using today's technology, we can ensure that they continue to succeed, work, and prosper in today's digital world of work. We can help to integrate the elderly and prepare them to continue working without having to worry about retiring early or change jobs due to today's technological demands. Simultaneously training employers and building the digital skills of workers who are vulnerable due to an underlying health condition for effective remote working are the key aims and objectives of the RETAIN-ME project. The European Green deal and the Sustainable Development Goals propose a fairer, more equitable society where no one is left behind. RETAIN-ME responds to those ideals and will develop bespoke training resources to ensure that vulnerable workers can be retained in employment.<< Objectives >>The impact of lockdown has impacted different sub-sets of the economy and the workforce much more than others. Higher skilled workers in many sectors have been able to stay at home and continue their working life with minimum disruption to their earnings. While for some, remote working has resulted in a better quality of life without the need to commute for often long periods each day. There is, however, one very specific group for whom the decision whether to work from home or not has to be taken on medical grounds. All available medical evidence clearly confirms that anyone with an underlying health condition is more at risk of serious health problems if the contract the virus than others. Governments have gone to great lengths to shield these vulnerable groups, many of whom have been cocooning for many months in the past year in some partner countries. Although this cohort of the workforce played their part in society and economy before Covid-19 struck, they are effectively removed from the economy unless they have the possibility, but more importantly, the skills to remote work. It is an accepted fact that the older you are the more likely you are to have an underlying condition that requires self-isolation. Remote working skills among the older population are not as prevalent as they are within the younger digital immigrant and digital native workforce. These older workers need an opportunity to build key skills for remote working if they are to stay active in the workforce. Governments can ill afford to sustain the economic cost of a high number of able-bodied people unable to retain their employment because of an underlying health condition and a skills deficit that inhibits their chances of remote working. Building the skills of this cohort of society for remote working in a pandemic era is an innovative concept in this digital era. RETAIN-ME is an essential project for the health, mental health and social inclusion of workers who are forced to shield due to an underlying health condition. Through the results produced by the RETAIN-ME project team, our aim is to support older and vulnerable workers to embrace the digital transition in European workforces, so that they can continue to make active and meaningful contributions to European economic, civic and social life – all facilitated through embracing digital technologies and platforms.European society is being divided – not only through social distancing measures that we most associate with ‘living with Covid-19’ – but through the digital divide that we see between the digital natives who are comfortable working and learning in online environments and for whom the switch to technology-driven remote working has been less disruptive to their lives – we will call these, ‘the haves’. On the opposite end of the spectrum of this digital divide are the digital ‘have nots’ – these are older workers who are less comfortable in online environments, who can use social media, but for whom navigating new online collaborative platforms to actively contribute to the work on their team in this environment is a daunting task. While the switch to remote working for younger learners has impacted their socialisation severely, they did not have to overcome any barriers or challenges to working digitally and remotely – digital environments are where younger employees live and thrive. However, for older employees, as well as the anxiety they feel about their health, and the mental health concerns of living and working through a global pandemic; they are also faced with having to navigate new technology platforms and working practices; often without support or training, and this can severely impact their sense of pride and purpose in their work. Through the RETAIN-ME project, partners want to address these fears, anxieties and worries of older and vulnerable employees in our networks, so that they can be supported to live and thrive in our digitally enhanced, remote working reality.<< Implementation >>The RETAIN-ME consortium proposes an approach to raising awareness about remote working; aiming to support employers, vulnerable employees and VET tutors to take action by implementing a remote working policy in their business or life. The project work plan is designed as a series of sequential phases that will contribute to the overall objectives of the RETAIN-ME project being met. Partners have been allocated tasks and responsibilities under two distinct headings namely; (1) Project Management and Implementation; (2) Development of Project Results.1) Project Management and Implementation- BECREATIVE as project coordinator, will be responsible for the overall management of the project; update the mobility tool provided for the project; and oversee and support the development work of all partners;- SRC will develop a project branding framework for the project and design themes for all results developed. SRC will also produce a short promotional video for the RETAIN-ME project in month 18. The aim of this video will be to showcase the project results produced, and to support the further sharing and the sustainability of project results, by encouraging other VET providers and local businesses to adopt the RETAIN-ME training package in the up-skilling of their remote teams.- SKILLS ZONE will also develop and maintain the project website complete with a dedicated Dropbox or Google Drive for sharing all content developed. SKILL ZONE will also develop the project Facebook page and will develop a schedule for partners to share posting responsibilities;- FHB will draft a Promotion Plan and monitor promotion actions throughout the project life-cycle. - CARDET will produce newsletters every 6 months;- CARDET will also draft a Sustainability Plan to identify key exploitation targets in VET and business sectors to ensure that the results developed reach the appropriate targets for sustainability;- PM will manage the impact assessment process. Using the Impact+ Methodology developed by the Slovenian and UK national Agencies specifically for Erasmus+ projects. PM will organise Impact+ workshops to coincide with the beginning of each project result to agree the required impact at staff, learner, organisational and systemic levels. PM will conduct impact assessment exercises in months 12 and 24;- BECREATIVE will manage risk assessment and perform a risk assessment prior to every partner meeting to ensure the adequate progress of the project;- STP will lead quality assurance actions and conduct assessments every 6 months with project partners and with stakeholders engaged.(2) Development of Project ResultsPR1 - RETAIN-ME Employer's Toolkit – SRC, FHB, STP and PM will develop the learning content for masterclasses and the content for the manualPR2 - RETAIN-ME Vulnerable Employee Toolkit – BECREATIVE, SKILLS ZONE and CARDET will lead the development of the job readiness, job retention and job seeking resources. CREFOP will develop the step-by-step guides for vulnerable workersPR3 - RETAIN-ME MOOC & Community of Practice – CARDET will lead the development of the RETAIN-ME MOOC supported by FHB who will develop and manage the Community of PracticeAll partners will test all resources with their local advisory groups and pilot the resources produced in their own countries. Partners will translate and localize all content to ensure suitability before the project ends. Partners will each engage fully in the promotion and sharing of project results, most notably through the planning and implementation of RETAIN-ME Workshops in each partner country, where key stakeholders will be invited to review and test the project results, and the final conference that is planned to take place in Sweden in M24. To establish the Community of Practice foreseen in the project, partners will also participate in a transnational Virtual Multiplier Event.<< Results >>In the economic and social landscape that will follow this Covid-19 pandemic, governments, businesses and education providers are aware that there is need to adopt innovative practices to support employees who can work but who are nervous about emerging back into social life post-pandemic due to an underlying health condition that places them in the high risk category; and to support businesses to reduce their overheads and adapt their business models so that they can re-boot their businesses and help to re-start the European economy from the ground up. These are realities that will face every European country; and the RETAIN-ME project will support business owners and managers and individual vulnerable employees to take the first step towards re-building their social, civic and economic lives, by adapting to remote working. There are 3 main project results proposed within the framework of the RETAIN-ME project that are essential to its success:(1) RETAIN-ME Employer's Toolkit - this manual will act a ""Go-to Guide"" for managers wishing to adapt their business to fit within the scope of the remote working revolution. The Manual will be presented online as an interactive PDF, with the short video lectures and simulations embedded directly into the pages of the Manual. An offline version, of the Manual will also be available through the MOOC as a downloadable PDF, for business owners and managers to reference as they adapt their business model accordingly. The content of this programme will be suitably comprehensive and will include in-depth and practical information on the topic of remote working for employers.(2) RETAIN-ME Vulnerable Employee Toolkit - The RETAIN ME Vulnerable Employee Toolkit to be developed by the consortium aims to develop the remote working literacies of vulnerable employees so that they can manage successful remote careers. As such, rather than addressing just one element of remote working, the Toolkit will provide a complete suite of resources which addresses the issue from a holistic perspective. The Toolkit will comprise 18 Remote Career Planning Resources, which will be available online through the MOOC in all partner languages.(3) RETAIN-ME MOOC and Community of Practice - The proposed RETAIN-ME MOOC will provide access to the RETAIN-ME Employer's Toolkit and the RETAIN-ME Vulnerable Employee Toolkit. Learning content will be under-pinned by clear learning objectives to be achieved by those who have completed the learning exercises within a given period of time.Each individual learning resource will have a beginning and an end. Each piece of learning material will contain some quizzes and challenges that have to be completed as a skills demonstration to assess the knowledge acquired by learners. The social media features incorporated will support interaction between VET tutors, business owners and managers and learners from the vulnerable worker target group through the Community of Practice which will be actively promoted by all partners to achieve a critical mass of users and contributors.In addition, the following project outcomes are planned: - all project results will be produced in Swedish, English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Greek. All resources developed will be available online and made available to all interested parties without restriction in keeping with the open access requirements of the ERASMUS+ programme.- each partner will host an event, 'The Future is Remote Working - A Workshop to Promote RETAIN-ME' in their local area to engage a minimum of 20 employers promoting remote working and the benefits it can have for their business.- 40 business owners will complete masterclasses to improve their ability to manage a remote workforce- 40 vulnerable employees will use the digital resources produced to build their key remote working skills"

The extent and success of integration can be measured by the degree of parity or equality of outcomes with other members of the receiving or host community. The THRIVE project will directly address this 'parity gap' across the consortium by developing educational and innovative solutions to actively bring people and cultures closer, and help female migrants realise their true civic and social potential through education. Trust is also at the heart of the matter; social inclusion happens at the local level, there is significant value in working with local authorities and communities to cultivate a climate of mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation that THRIVE will build upon.During the second half of the twentieth century, all Western European states became countries of immigration and permanent settlement. Due to a number of circumstances; income inequalities between countries, processes of economic integration and labour market shortages in host countries - immigration will remain an important feature in these, and increasingly all, European countries until at least 2050 according to many current demographic projections.(appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu)The proposed model for female migrant integration in the THRIVE project is being developed and piloted in 6 very different EU Member States, 3 countries with a long history of immigration – France, Spain and Germany and 3 countries more associated with emigration for whom mass immigration is a relatively recent phenomenon – Ireland, Italy and Portugal. This will help to ensure that the processes and outputs are robust and have considerable potential transferability to other countries. The EC Action Plan (2016) on the integration of third country nationals recognises the need to harness the potential of technology, social media and the Internet at all stages of the integration process. THRIVE aims to harness the potential for learning within female migrant communities that comes with 'always on, always accessible' mobile technology platforms. However, partners are of the opinion that the project will only achieve its objectives if bespoke, online learning resources are provided. Interactive infographics are a new learning concept that provide access to learning content through QR codes that can be activated through the camera in any modern smartphone. They provide the perfect framework for developing innovative learning resources that will be appealing and accessible for migrants and third country nationals. To achieve these objectives, the THRIVE project entails three Intellectual Outputs:- Compendium of Interactive Infographic Integration Resources - to build key competences to support the Civic, Social and Economic integration of migrant women- In Service Training Programme - A comprehensive intervention to support the continuous professional development of adult education and migrant support staff- Infographic Learning MOOC - An online learning platform designed for a range of fixed and mobile devicesThe extent of integration can be measured by the degree of parity or equality of outcomes with other members of the receiving or host community. The THRIVE project will directly address this 'parity gap' across the consortium by developing educational and innovative solutions to actively bring people and cultures closer, and help female migrants realise their true civic and social potential via education.The target groups are; community staff and educators, trainers and mediators workers working in formal and informal community and adult education. Community organisations and agencies looking for new ways to integrate and engage incoming female migrants and third country nationals. female migrants and third country nationals themselves looking to integrate, assimilate, understand and claim a stake in the civic and social life of their new country. The impact of this project will be significant on a number of levels; cultural mediators, community educators and social workers will gain new tools to engage often marginalised and vulnerable female learners, organisations will be empowered to take the initiative in what is a very sensitive and politically charged area, end beneficiaries will have a better understanding of their host culture and all parties will be more have a better grasp of social and civic responsibility.