EU remains among the most popular destinations for migrants, asylum seekers & refugees (EU Commission, 2017) and Teachers’ are not prepared for the new paradigm of a Europe that is becoming increasingly diverse. By one hand, European classrooms are becoming more and more diverse, but by the other, teacher profession remains largely homogenous and teachers lack experience in diverse schooling environments. Teachers have difficulties managing classrooms and this is a fact. These difficulties have not only direct impact on their level of satisfaction (and consequently affects negatively the quality of the education offered) but also impacts on pupils educational achievement (that, at long-term, results in ESL, school-prison pipeline and society alienation). INN2DIVERSITY project focus on 1) preparing teachers for diversity and strengthening healthy relationships by providing to teachers a new non-formal process that stimulate their active engagement in career-long competence development; 2) diminish the application of measures/policies as suspension because suspension rates themselves are predictive of drop-out rates.Concerning the needs of the targeted group - teachers and pupils - INTO2DIVERSITY proposes a new methodology – mentoring – as a system level approach to empower teachers with managing diversity in classroom strategies & tools to better engage students & transforming teaching in a healthy profession.INN2DIVERSITY project has 2 main goals: 1) to reinforce competencies of the teachers to deal with complex classroom realities to better manage diversity and keeping students with disruptive behavior and disruptive academic engagement engaged during classroom time, by empowering them with the necessary competencies (based on the Framework of teacher competences for engaging with diversity promoted by the European Commission in 2017) to improve positive relationships between them and this students2) to create a mentoring model to support schools to transfer and replicate the good practices managing diversity and complex classrooms, and doing so offering them an additional tool to improve teacher’s levels of satisfaction in the classroom; reduce disparities in learning The project foresees the following objectives: 1)to develop, transfer & implement through transnational cooperation an innovative training curricula on diversity and disruptive classroom behaviors management2)to identify the suitable profile & personal skills to manage students with disruptive behaviour3)increase teachers motivation & satisfaction of students’ daily work in school thus contributing to increasing their teaching quality & introducing a virtuous cycle between students’ school achievement & teachers job satisfaction4)design a mentoring model to empower teachers and schools with the suitable methods, knowledge & skills to deal with daily difficulties at work & to manage students with disruptive behaviours5) evaluate peer-mentoring effectiveness as an in-service only focused on professional development to promote positive relationships between teachers & disruptive studentsDuring 3 years, INN2DIVERSITY partners will build a set of Intellectual Outputs, namely: O1 - Report on programmes and measures to support the development of diversity and disruptive classroom behaviors management competences in teacher’s continuous professional enhancement IO2.Training curricula on diversity and disruptive classroom behaviors management IO3.Mentors’ Coordinators and Mentors profile IO4. Courses Curricula for Mentor’s Coordinators and MentorsIO5. Mentoring programme for effective inclusionINN2DIVERSITY will try to target all interested parties that have personal, professional, civic, or financial interest or concern. It includes town council networks, education ministry decision makers, school administrators, school board members, teachers, students, parents, families, community members, local business leaders, non-profit association and NGO’s, advocacy groups. These stakeholders will be personally involved in activities related with validation workshops, open seminars and multiplier events After the project completion is expected _increased awareness of schools on the needed to put efforts to invest on the qualification of their teachers and to adapt the profession to a continuously changing educational environment;_teachers more motivated and satisfied due the investment on their needs of deal with diversity in the classroom_new and tailor-made tool that will allow teachers to self-evaluate themselves and generate awareness on needs of self-development, flexibility and adaptation to new realities _a mentoring process that can be individually fine-tuning to mentors and mentees_pupils with the sense of being valued by their diversity

The project is based on an innovative double learning approach which leads to double change! The participants are youth workers who learn to work for change by participating in the programme through workshops, from resource persons and their peers and in practice. At the same time, the participants work for change with marginalised and disadvantaged young people, who themselves learn and change whilst becoming actors for change. The eye-to-eye communication (resource people in the programme- professionals as participants - volunteers and young people) is underpinned by a participatory, asset based approach leading to empowerment which lifts up personal human dignity. Integrity of learning and learning to build up the integrity of personality go hand by hand. Learning, practice and spirituality are closely linked as the learning processes are close to everyday life and work. At the same time, learning and understanding gained throughout this learning and working process will be crucial for further research and developmental activities in the field. interdiac programmes integrate practice/action, learning and research. The added value of this project is that through an international process we can achieve innovative conceptual and practice based learning and produce working material which can be easily adjusted to other contexts, educational institutions and other organizations in the field. The materials will be transferrable to settings of formal and non-formal learning. The blended learning methodology ensures that the programme will be learner centred and rooted in diverse contexts. The recruiting of resource persons from diverse contexts of interdiac partner organisations and University partners will also ensure the relevance of the programme internationally. The contextuality will also be underpinned by reflective practice and the related co-learning through the 8 Mobility Exchange programme. 9 partner countries will participate in this project. The dissemination strategy will involve people and institutions in Europe and worldwide, as the applicant has strategic partnerships with worldwide umbrella organization, LWF. Authentic stories of the transformed young people as well as of participants and their organizations will be the best witness, ensuring a continuing life for the fruits of this project and at same time issuing an encouraging invitation to ‘Make Change Yourselves’.

Students from disadvantaged and/or migrant backgrounds have fewer opportunities in accessing digital technologies (first level of digital divide) and in the ways they use these technologies (second level of digital divide). In turn, this situation leads to students’ less participation in several aspects of society such as economic, social, political, cultural, spatial and institutional (van Dijk,2012). Especially by taking into account the online-offline blend of our society it is suggested that blended learning can help students to develop their digital skills. However, students need help from digitally competent teachers in using DT. According to the European Commission’s Action Plan for digital education, EU needs more digitally competent educators. Having digitally competent educators means that teachers are required to develop their digital skills but, at the same time, to revise their pedagogy (OECD,2016b). In this era, revising their pedagogy is related to being able to use digital technologies for including all children in the learning process, particularly those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Thus, the aim of the project is to empower educators in using blended learning in schools, in an attempt to deal with the social and educational exclusion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.The project has been designed for addressing specific national and European needs, regarding the project’s target groups, namely students and teachers, as follows:- To develop an innovative practical digital toolkit and a blended training course that will help teachers in using blended learning in schools based on the principles of inclusive education.- To foster the digital skills of teachers based on the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators- To empower students in expressing their views about their learning in a digital pedagogical context, enhancing in this way the collaboration between teachers and students in digital environments. - To contribute to the effective and permanent inclusion of all students, supporting their right for education, equality and self-realization.Regarding the target groups, at least 75 primary and secondary school teachers will participate into the project’s activities. Approximately 1300 students (including students from disadvantaged, migrant backgrounds, students with educational difficulties) will participate into the project’s activities.The BLENDI approach involves a combination of the BLENDI platform, the BLENDI toolkit, a blended training course for teachers, guidelines for creating dialectical-synergic blended lessons plans (co-creation of lesson plans between teachers and students) and the creation of such lessons plans. Teachers will be trained in using the BLENDI approach which focuses on the use of blended learning in schools based on logic of inclusion while students will be supported in decision-making regarding their learning process in digital educational contexts.The results of the project include: BLENDI methodological guidelines, BLENDI platform and toolkit, BLENDI curriculum and blended training course for teachers, the dialogical-synergic blended lesson plans, and the BLENDI set of standards. These results are bound to have an impact on the further implementation of practices towards inclusive education for all students in Europe, especially those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.

<< Background >>The COVID-19 pandemic put universities in an unprecedented situation, which led to the cancellation of face-to-face courses and their relocation to the online environment, generating major changes in teacher’s work. The rapid digitalization required teachers and students to use more complex technologies, generating stress related to a lesser-known working and learning environment involving unfamiliar teaching rules. Negative emotions, loneliness, uncertainty, and stress exacerbated the effects of the need to rapidly adjust to emergency remote teaching in the context of the lack of substantial prior experience of using technologies. The COVID-19 crisis heavily impacted education and accelerated the digital transformation of HEI sector.Our project answer the following needs of the target group: the need for support, overcoming digital fatigue, pressure to learn new things, uncertainty, low work engagement. Therefore, the rationale of this project is to help universities to find a balance between digital and nondigital tools in teaching:-The end of crisis will offer information about digital skills which could be integrated and further developed to sustain the teachers use of digital tools with direct impact on the quality of education-Lack of systematic training for the development of digital skills and the use of online teaching methods in neither of the partners’ countries-Unawareness of HEI’s about the consequences of the inefficient use of technology on their own wellbeing and on student well-being and engagementThe target group are university teachers who struggle with the need to adjust to digitalization which become more accentuated during the pandemic, leading to negative emotions, low institutional attachment, digital fatigue, technostress and low well-being. By supporting them to develop their competences to self-regulate their well-being, the project will enhance the quality of the university education and the preoccupation for continuous teacher training. The positive effects will be visible also on the students’ engagement.<< Objectives >>Teacher well-being is highlighted as a topic of concern in education. The use of digital technologies is considered and important aspect of the teaching profession but the link between the use of technologies and their influence on teacher well-being has received limited attention to date. The main target group of the project will be the university teachers working in a more and more complex and digitally challenging environment. The specific objectives of the project are the following: - Raise the awareness of HEIs about the need to implement strategies increasing the well-being of teachers with direct impact on student learning engagement and performances and sustaining an efficient adjustment to the digital era.- Provide teachers tools supporting both work and learning engagement, and digital well-being and resilience.- Develop teachers’ digital competences in the context of the emerging trends of integrating technologies in teaching and learning.The objectives contribute to the development of a healthy and sustainable learning and working environments. Promoting digital well-being eases the inclusion of digitalization in HEI’s more as a job resource than a negative effect. The lessons learned lead to positive effects such as the inclusion of digital skills in the teaching routines, increased collaboration teachers-students or between teachers, increased productivity, and satisfaction.<< Implementation >>Teacher well-being and the use of digital technologies to support teaching and learning) represent one of the main priorities of the European funding programs in education – digitalisation. Therefore, it is crucial to develop instruments and programs able to positively support teacher well-being. The activities in the project will focus on the need of HEI’s to enhance academics’ digital skills and competences for the digital transformation and also to help them cope with the increasing technostress. Teachers need the confidence and skills to use technology effectively to support student learning, to ensure access to learning resources (Digital Education Action Plan, 2021-2027). The specific activities implemented will be: - a quantitative research study on the factors affecting digital well-being of teachers in different European countries; - a transnational training activity for the mentors in each university; - the implementation of a mentoring program for university teachers and the development of a Virtual Centre for Academic Well-being. Mentoring programs will include workload support, coping with negative emotions, disengagement and burnout, dark side of digitalization affecting well-being. The project will focus on solutions to support teachers who experience digital fatigue and those waiting for a return to the “normal”. The results of the project focus on strategies to encourage to use digital tools even after the pandemic;- the development of useful tools to use in the mentoring program and in different teacher training programs ad support activities;- national dissemination activities.<< Results >>The main aim of this project is to enhance teachers digital skills both in the teaching activity and in coping with uncertainty, negative emotions, digital fatigue and stress given the prolonged online remote activity during the COVID 19 pandemic. To achieve this aim, the following results will be developed: -A research report - Quantitative study on the factors affecting digital well-being – An international perspective. -A mentoring program including relevant results such as a workbook for the mentors and a Booklet - Digital Wellbeing: A guide for teachers. These would be relevant outputs which will be used during and after the project, as an innovative approach for handling digital fatigue and challenges in the digital transition era. -Online tools and resources and an e-Learning course for teachers at university level (The Virtual Centre of Digital Well-Being) – as an important supporting tool for teachers.The project will be developed in close cooperation of 4 university partners from 4 countries. All the partners involved in this proposal because their key experts have identified the pressing need for support for university teachers on how to work effectively & efficiently in the digital transition era.

OBCD starts from the analysis of a new entrepreneurship paradigm based on the necessity of combining economic growth and social innovation, in order to contribute to creating more inclusive, creative and sustainable societies and economies. The project will investigate how open business approaches applied to social entrepreneurship (SE) can contribute to local development. This concept leads to new challenges for education and training since it highlights emerging occupations as well as new knowledge, competences and skills, for the development of the so-called SEs.The general objective of the project OBCD is to foster innovation in HE, c-VET, enterprises and the broader socioeconomic environment, by investigating the potential of the open business model approach, developing and testing new training modules addressing skill gaps in the SE sector.OBCD will analyze the emerging skills and occupations, identifying the learning outcomes (LOs) which could be used and adapted for the development of 2 new curricula (from EQF 5 to 6) and training modules, that will be tested at HE and VET level. These LOs will be identified according to the specific knowledge of the consortium partners from 5 EU countries, coming from HE, VET and social economy field, and this will ensure that skills to be developed will be consistent with the needs of an evolving labour market. The project will also promote the co-creation of knowledge between HE, VET, research, the public sector and the business sector in order to contribute to innovation in business modelling and in education and training. This will be pursued by fostering the development of “knowledge triangles” (HEI, VET, Business) working together for the development of innovative education contents and tools, and business ecosystems in the field of SE, aiming to develop aware, sustainable and connected communities able to generate business value and sustainable development at local level through Open Business models.