"Nowadays we are called to create a culture in which people are invited to understand other people’s points of view or ideas that are different to their own. To nurture this trustful and respectful culture, it is critical to ensure a safe environment for disadvantaged people. Listening to people, understanding and solving problems collectively, taking advantage of all the experience of aged people are all essential elements that contribute also in creating the sustainable development which purpose Agenda 2030. In this sense, the partners institutions, which have ample experience working with the elderly, and exactly because of this background, it has been detected that the level of personal satisfaction of the elderly significantly increases when they carry out volunteering activity. Therefore, the partners institutions of the project have identified the need to foster the elderly to carry out volunteering activity. In this way, a twofold aim could be reach, on the one hand, the diverse associations of disadvantaged might benefit from these collaborations with the elderly but, in turn, they obtain as a reward an increase of their personal satisfaction since are aware of their contribution to community and they can feel the are much more useful people to society.The main goal of the project is to support older people to connect to society and to develop an open attitude towards other people, stimulating and enabling older people to remain actively engaged in society. The project aims to increase the learners competences in new technologies and improve social awareness, which involve the ability to understand and empathize with others, particularly with people from different backgrounds than one’s own. Participation in the project will cause the learners to open up to other cultures, increase their knowledge about other communities and the change of view on the reality that surrounds us improving integration and contributing to overcome stereotypes. They will build and solidity social inclusion of different target groups by exchanges of innovative experiences using new technologies. All this will make them strengthen their social sensitivity and sense of ""European community"". Therefore, one vehicle to get older people to be volunteers is the new technology, it will make easier the participation in the activities of all the community for an inclusive society that will increase the number of people connected and integrated in the society.The partnership is made up of UCLM University (coordinator) and 3 other institutions from Poland, Chipre and Italy : Foundation AKTYWNI XXI, SYNTHESIS Center for Research and Education Ltd and LUMSA University.The main outcomes of the project will be the following:- Curriculum for Mentors: the first outcome will be the creation of an innovative training methodology and training program for older volunteers supporting the integration of disadvantaged groups. It will have an user-friendly downloadable format to develop and training courses organized in each partner country (O1).- AID-Software App Tool is an online web app, which offers support to mentors through at least 8 podcasts, 12 tools/practices and 12 reflection questions for the implementation period in their context from adult learners will be created “Adult Inclusive Design"" (O2).- AID-Multimedia Tool awareness-raising film reflecting the unique experiences of the project participants - elderly volunteers and disfavored people - and aimed at reducing existing misconceptions, combating society stereotypes (O3).- AID-testing: questionnaire on personal satisfaction of older people acquiring the skills as volunteers and electronic database of responses collected from volunteers before, during and after training and practice with disadvantaged groups (O4).The main results that we intent to achieve after the project include:- To raise digital competencies of those who work with the different target groups of vulnerable adults (50+ and staff of companies and organisations).- To increase the ability to understand and empathize with others.- To have and use and volunteering innovative method, which all partners can use.- To increase the social integration through ICT skills.- To Improve the skills of teaching staff at participating institutions.- One training event will be organized for the staff of all the partners.- 4 multiplier events will be organized in all of the partners countries.The project is likely to produce outcomes that will be relevant also for other fields of education, such as migrants/disfavored people training, than the field that is expected to be most impacted by the project. The project will have a substantial positive impact on the participating organizations and on their staff and/or learners, and this impact of the project on the participants and organizations involved is likely to occur during and remain after the lifetime of the project."

"In 2016, more than 700 000 refugees were granted asylum in Europe. These people face challenges gaining new knowledge and new skills, in a new country. Successful integration requires learning resources that take into account the refugees’ background, and the needs of the country in which they have arrived or in which they are transiting. The project ""Developing Online Training Resources for Refugees"", known as Advenus, has redesigned existing material drawn from the LIBE project (http://www.libeproject.it/) and developed innovative e-learning resources that improve the basic (literacy, numeracy) and transversal skills (problem solving and digital competence) of adult refugees in the age-group of 18-40. These resources foster the lifelong learning passage through training, university and the workplace. They are easily accessible and responsive to the cultural origins of adult refugee learners and different cultural contexts in EU countries. All courses exist in five languages, and can easily be translated into more. The project targets adult refugees in the EU who face significant challenges in adapting to their new countries. In part this challenge is about improving basic literacy, numeracy and transversal skills, and in part the manner in which available resources are not sufficiently culturally sensitive to their needs. With the large number of refugees entering the EU, access to e-learning resources is imperative and traditional face-to--face learning is not enough to meet refugee needs. Adult refugees and their trainers and teachers need access to open on-line learning resources to improve the attainment of high-level basic and transversal competences in a lifelong learning perspective. Advenus improves and extends the offer of high quality, culturally sensitive e-learning opportunities to adult refugees in EU countries. The e-learning resources in this project are trialled and validated so that they are interculturally sensitive to the needs of different refugee groups and to cultures of the countries in which they find themselves. The project promotes the Erasmus+ objective of equity and inclusion by addressing cultural differences faced by refugee adult learners. The Advenus project partners are well recognised for their work in the field of adult learning and the development of innovative e-learning for different stakeholders. They are: Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (former Lillehammer University College) (Norway): Centre for lifelong learning - LUMSA University (Italy): The Department of Human Sciences, the working group on Educational Research and Multimedia learning - University of Porto (Portugal): The Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences (FPCEUP) and The Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (CIIE) - The Association Community Development Institute (CDI) in Macedonia. We have developed a suite of culturally sensitive e-learning courses, and these courses are now open available in five languages (English, Italian, Portuguese, Macedonian and Norwegian). Further, to ensure dissemination and sustainability, a webinar and a MOOC for teachers and trainers have been developed (also open access). A key methodological aspect has been the involvement of the adult refugee target group from all partner countries in the project, and as members of the Advisory Board. This group has been of particular value during the needs analysis stage because one of the aims of the project has been to ensure its capability of fulfilling the learning needs of refugees and the demand of stakeholders involved in education and training. The refugee target groups have been involved in piloting sessions, a crucial factor in the overall evaluation of the Advenus e-learning courses, and in terms of final achievement levels, motivation to learn and self-efficacy levels in ICT. In order to map and benchmark the cultural needs of adult refugee learners, 12 focus groups with 64 participants have been undertaken in Norway, Italy, Portugal and Macedonia, where adult refugee learners comment on cultural component of the existing LIBE courses. Based on the findings from the four countries the LIBE e-learning courses have been redesigned and adapted to take account of cultural needs of different refugee groups. The e-learning courses, MOOC and webinar has been trialled and validated in the four countries by 267 refugees from 35 different nationalities and 102 educators from the four partner countries. Their feedback has been overall positive. Updates, information and course access have been shared with hundreds of relevant organisations at a local, national and international level. The courses are now taken into use by learning centres and asylum reception centres in a number of different European countries. Also, seven scientific articles about the project results are published or in progress, and the project results have also been shared on a number of conferences."

"The EU Climate Action Strategy considers young and childhood students a critical sector of civil society to promote Climate Action (CA). Youth and childhood ’s commitments (or lack of it) today will lead to institutional commitments (or lack of them) tomorrow. However, the Eurobarometer surveys highlight a noticeable gap between the concern of children and young Europeans for Climate Change (CC) and their personal commitments & skills on CA.Research conducted by education sciences experts confirm that scientific knowledge is not enough to change children and young attitudes to actively engage with CC. They require a social conscience and a citizen responsibility that emerge from values and education.In pre-school/primary formal education, the pupils are motivated about topics related to earth care and CC. But in the school´s curriculum these topics are only “touched on” and mainly in subjects related to science. Thus, motivation, opportunity and ability to act decrease when the pupils become aware that CC and CA seem not linked to their cultural, emotional and ethical values. Recommendations for new methods in young and childhood formal education are central to the EU Climate Action Strategy. With that on the mind, it is necessary that future teachers of pre-school & primary learn about how they can link the scientific knowledge about CC with cultural, emotional and ethical values to more effectively educate children’s minds and acts.The religious beliefs are some of the most powerful values to significantly influence a community’s understanding and experience of CC adaptation. Over the past years, most religious communities have released statements on CC and the need to educate in Climate Action. One of the most active religions is the Catholic one. The Francesc Pope´s encyclical LS 201 related to education on the UN Sustainable Development Goals has had a lot of impact on an international level in the context of the Agenda 2030.The CHANCES consortium is composed of 3 universities and a EdTech SME. These 4 organizations, expert in education sciences, catholic religion and sustainable development declare the ambition to innovate through a powerful tool: to construct a 3 ECTS itinerary for education degrees/masters coupled with new assessment mechanisms by means of digital OERs. With this itinerary, future teachers of pre-school & primary schools will learn how to bring the CC subject into the classroom linking Catholic religion values and science. These 4 organizations will work in association with several local working groups consisting of pre-school/primary schools and Catholic bodies which are responsible for the curriculum of the subject of Catholic religious education. The CHANCES methodology combines, for the first time, scientific knowledge with some of the most powerful values & beliefs, the religious ones, increasing the effectiveness of the formal education system’s understanding and experience of CC competences. The project aims to invest in HIE professors and students of education sciences degrees and postgraduate studies. Thanks to CHANCES, they will start and lead their CA venture for when the moment will come to teach in pre-school & primary schools.CHANCES develops next IOS:• An innovative METHODOLOGY will permit that the future teachers of pre-school/primary, who want to be specialised in the subject of catholic religious education, will learn how to bring the CC subject into the classroom linking religion and science.• By means of the new methodology, a new CURRICULUM on the topic ""How Catholic religion education can educate pupils on CC and CA"" will be developed for degrees/master´s in sciences education and Catholic religious education. The course will consist of 3 ECTS consisting of few face-to-face classrooms, most instruction being e-workshop and self-directed learning via e-portfolio.• A European E-PORTFOLIO will be adapted and improved. It will be used by students of the new CC curriculum to collect artifacts & reflections. The eportfolio will serve to:- Evidence of the new kind of competences & skills needed to link religion and science for CC teaching- Use it by HIE students during their practices at the schools. The result will be the first digital repository of best practices related to learning CA through religious education- Make HIE students more digitally literate when teaching religion related to CCThe IOs will be piloted in a degree and/or master at 3 universities and at pre-school/primary schools in Spain, Italy & Poland. Training & face to face or blending learning implementation actions, one transnational and several local ones, will ensure that the project is not only FOR professors, students & alumni but also BY them. CHANCES´ impact on deans, schools ‘principals & policymakers will make them permeable to the acquisition and validation of CC skills linked with the cultural and ethical values of students to increase their commitment towards CA."

"eLene4Life supports curriculum innovation in higher education (HE) through the development of active learning for soft skills, with the ultimate aim of improving students' employability. Much has been written about the need for soft skills to complement the disciplinary knowledge and specialist competences learners acquire through their studies, for example the 2018 European Commission Proposal on Key Competences which states that “Skills such as creativity, critical thinking, taking initiative and problem solving play an important role in coping with complexity and change in today's society."" Active learning is a proven pedagogical approach to support the development of such skills, enabling learners to demonstrate these skills in simulated or authentic contexts. eLene4Life built on the results of a previous project, eLene4work, which concluded the need for a full integration of soft skills in the curriculum, and consequently for teachers to become better equipped to do this. The main objectives of eLene4life were to: 1) overcome skills mismatches with respect to soft skills; 2) develop new innovative curricula and educational methods integrating active learning, addressing commonly encountered barriers such as large class sizes and physical spaces. 3) improve the relevance of HE curricula in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world. eLene4Life reached over 9000 stakeholders from the HE and corporate sectors. Over 40 teachers were interviewed for the transnational analysis of active learning for soft skills development in HE, and an equivalent number of corporate stakeholders contributed to the parallel analysis. The combined results of these two studies were transformed into a practical, easy-to-use collection of 30 active learning methods, the Dynamic Toolkit, consulted by over 4000 individuals. Fifteen teachers received direct support in curriculum innovation and the transformation of teaching practices, improving the learning experience of their 850 students, and almost 500 participants benefited from the wider professional development opportunity run by eLene4Life in the form of a discussion-based MOOC. Trainers, human resources and recruitment managers were involved throughout the project, contributing to several of the Multiplier Events, and participating in the cross-sectoral Community of Practice (CoP), which counts around 1000 members across LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. The results and lessons learned from the project outputs and activities are brought together in a series of three Lessons Learned Kits, including a comprehensive collection of ‘10 eLene4Life takeaways’ summarising key points and resources for the different stakeholder groups. The project results were disseminated widely through presentations at national and international events, newsletters and web publications. The eLene4Life partners ran a total of seven Multiplier Events throughout the project, involving nearly 300 HE and corporate stakeholders. Six of these events were held online due to the covid-19 pandemic, including the final eLene4Life international knowledge exchange run as a full day online conference. The pandemic represented both a challenge and an opportunity for the project. The most significant evolution came from the need to promote and support active *online* learning in a context where many teachers unused to the online modality were simply reproducing lectures for want of training in alternative approaches. The eLene4Life partners thus contributed to the introduction of active online learning in several of the pilot projects and widened the reach by publishing a blog series on the topic. Over and above the planned outputs and activities, elene4Life also used this opportunity to create additional high added-value resources to meet the needs expressed by stakeholders, notably a micro-learning course on active learning for companies, further enriched the Dynamic Toolkit by integrating resources from the MOOC and Pilot Projects, and contributed to DigiEduHack 2020 by organising an international challenge, the winners of which went on to feature among the 12 global finalists. Through this rich collection of high-quality and easy-to-use resources and the growing Community of Practice, eLene4Life has contributed to raising awareness among HE teachers of the needs and practices in the corporate sector in order to support curriculum innovation. Similarly, corporate representatives have gained a better understanding of HE practices. Ultimately, the impact for students will be a more relevant learning experience, offering them the chance to develop contextualised transversal skills during the course of their studies and thus be better prepared for the workforce and society in general, as competent and confident 21st century citizens."

"Since 2008, the most severe economic crisis provoked in Europe over 25 million unemployed. Entrepreneurship can be a powerful driver of economic growth and job creation (“Towards a job-rich recovery”, 2012) and an instrument to improve employability levels (Annual Growth Survey, 2013). Europe needs more entrepreneurs. In Europe, just over a third (37%) of workers prefer to be self-employed, whereas in the USA and China there are more than 50%. The “European Incubator for Business Ideas” project focused on people who have to face some of the key challenges of today's economic world, such as unemployment, economic stability and growth, young people finding a job, seniors of 50+, women, adults from disadvantaged areas or with special needs. The project aimed at enabling students and adults to acquire and develop skills and competencies needed for to improve their employability, to turn their business ideas into concrete actions and foster further learning, active citizenship and intercultural dialogue. Eight partners from six European countries, Edunet Organization and Teachers Training Centre Dolj from Romania, Organization for European Issues and Paphos Chamber of Commerce from Cyprus, Insignare from Portugal, CESO from Italy , Delado from Spain and Merseyside Expanding Horisons from UK, bring relevant and complementary skills and human resources to create an innovative European Training Model.The partners built a European Training Model based on the blended learning and developed training content, learning and evaluation tools, which are available on the project website www.eibiproject.eu.The main output of the project was a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) based on co-learning and co-creation, containing learning and self-assessment activities and tools. After training 72 facilitators from the participating countries to support and guide the learners’ communities on the MOOC, 384 participants from the project’s partner countries and approximately 500 from across the world participated in the training on the created MOOC. The MOOC was provided in English with translation of the instructions in Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese or Greek languages, enabling students to participate in discussions, write their blogs and prepare their outputs. The multilingual aspect of the MOOC promoted cooperation, communication, teamwork, respect for diverse opinions, sensitivity and tolerance to people from different cultures, backgrounds and increased their language competence, digital skills, flexibility and creativity. After finishing the learning process on the MOOC, 122 participants attended the five days of face-to-face workshops organized in partners’ countries. Most of the participants were people from disadvantaged groups: unemployed, young people searching for a job, seniors 50+, women, adults from disadvantaged area or with special need. Working together with their colleagues, they applied in practice the knowledge and skills acquired and made business plans. These workshops were real ""incubators"" of business ideas.At the end of the training, the participants presented their projects, their business ideas and plans in front of their fellow colleagues and representatives of businesses and received feedback. In this way, the participants were motivated and encouraged to move on, from their idea to action and initiate their own business. It looked as many business ideas would be put into practice and a start of a strong network with fruitful results in cooperation and partnership in the future business of the participants. To promote the entrepreneurship education and the product of the project outputs, six national seminars, were organized in the partners’ countries, which were attended by 192 stakeholders, managers, training providers and potential users, who all learned about the Training Model, the resources created and how to use the MOOC. All the Open Educational Resources (OER) produced are available on the project web site www.eibiproject.eu: the Key functions analyses and the Key competences needed by a person when starting a business, the report on the Training needs’ assessment, the innovative Training Model, the Educational resources, the Training guide for facilitators, the MOOC content and Guide containing the processes, learning methodology and protocols used in the course as well as the Good practices and business ideas created during the workshops. Our MOOC is available at https://www.coursesites.com/s/_EIBI and is anticipated to continue be used in the future by people across Europe and beyond."