"<< Background >>Empathy is a pro-social behaviour and a critical life skill that undergoes rapid development in early childhood and can be practised and trained to promote equality and social justice among culturally diverse groups of others laying the foundation for effective global citizenship and resilience later in life. Emotional intelligence is an element that is often ignored in education or given less importance compared to rational thinking. However, they go hand in hand as emotions are necessary to anchor the theoretical knowledge into real-world situations, as is part of the process of developing self-regulation skills that are necessary to regulate themselves in accordance with social and emotional societal norms. The construction of empathy consists in developing the feeling of being ""different"" and identifying when an individual feels this way. Ultimately, it allows us to better comprehend the feelings surrounding intercultural encounters, both from the perspective of majority and minority groups. A prerequisite is that the situated experience involves cooperation in joint activities aimed at achieving common objectives, as in the case of collaborative learning (formation of groups of students that work together to achieve a common goal) that reinforces the idea that a plurality of perspectives is inherently positive.Multicultural classrooms present a unique setting for the development of empathy because of the great diversity of language, social class, ethnicity, and culture that exists within them. Here, students begin to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they will need to interact positively with people from diverse backgrounds in their present andfuture civic life. As children learn empathy skills by communicating cross-culturally with their classmates, those skills will transfer to their lives in their community. The deeper relationships that result from strong empathy skills have the potential to strengthen a community and build trust. The effects of community extend far beyond the four walls of the classroom.JOINclusion promotes a new approach to social inclusion based on empowerment and skills acquisition as factors able to bring behavioural change and approach to differences. The project has the ambition to achieve a new milestone towards the provision of innovative game-based pedagogy and assessment methods boosting emotional intelligence, empathy in particular, as a key pillar of pro-social skills fostering inclusion and accepting diversity.The project combines interactive multimedia technologies with the principles of technologically-mediated learning to develop a game-authoring tool for teachers. It defines psychological models of scenarios and applies them to engage learners emotionally and collaboratively, supporting cognitive engagement (i.e. mental processing and metacognition), affective engagement (emotion processing and regulation), behavioural engagement (gestures, embodied actions, and movement) and socio-cultural engagement (social interactions embedded within a cultural context).The collaborative serious game will serve as a tool to train children empathy, defined as the capacity of perspective-taking or capacity to understand another's perspective or mental state, enabling the interpretation of experiences or perspectives in intercultural context from more than one worldview. At a societal level, such empathy-induced altruism will improve attitudes toward stigmatized groups such as migrants and refugees, improve racial attitudes, and increase cooperation in competitive and challenging situations.<< Objectives >>JOINclusion is intended to foster the social inclusion of young immigrants (primary school students) and with a particular focus on refugees through the use of ICT tools and more specifically a collaborative mobile application. This tool will be designed by psychologists specializing in the field with the aim of developing empathy learning scenarios strengthening the impact of their use. The scenarios will be designed to promote dialogue between participants and facilitate channels to express themselves, promoting integration. Both the game and its scenario will be designed based on schools needs, involving end-users (not only teachers and educators but also students) in the early stages of the project development. Furthermore, the collaborative serious game will be boosted by machine learning techniques conceived to enhance user experience and optimize its efficiency as a tool promoting prosociality through personalisation based on affect detection. The interactions with the collaborative serious game will be also designed to encourage self-reflection and post-game interaction among the members of the targeted groups (children with and without a migrant background) while, for children at risk of exclusion, it will promote reassurance to encourage them to learn to act as equal members of their new community and find their place in society.<< Implementation >>The project will be organised into four core activities, each focusing on a different objective and producing a tangible result. Firstly, JOINclusion partners will conduct exhaustive research to properly define the user needs and requirements. This activity will involve several end-users institutions to ensure a wider range of use-cases. This activity will lead to the delivery of a Teacher handbook focused on the psychology, scenarios and inclusion-oriented content design. Secondly, a more technical activity will be conducted. In this case, the main objective is the development of the game-authoring tool for teachers together with all its functionalities such as the Artificial Intelligence mechanisms and the project website and cloud services. The third activity will be a core cornerstone of the project. In this activity, the JOINclusion serious game will be tested by end-users in real settings allowing a proper evaluation of the targeted impacts of JOINclusion. Divided into two rounds, the pilots will offer the possibility of detecting flawed assumptions on time and counteract in time, ensuring an appropriate implementation at the end of the project lifetime. Finally, within the framework of the project, several training and dissemination activities will be conducted. The former includes activities where JOINclusion partners (namely, FMD, ODYSSEA and UWC) will present the serious game to the teachers and other educators involved in the pilots to train them and facilitate a smooth integration of this tool within the daily activities in the classrooms. These activities will take place, at least, in the three countries initially participating in the first piloting phase (namely, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands) but potentially others (following an online approach, when needed/appropriate) to train educators in other countries such as the ones included as associate partners (see PilotAndDissemination annexe). In a similar vein, five multiplier events have been considered. Three of them will take place in the form of workshops in Italy, Greece and the Netherlands respectively. These events will be organized by the partners hosted in the relevant country and will be intended to disseminate the developments of the project and demonstrate the outcomes of the first piloting phase. The main objectives of these events are 1) to get visibility of the project in the education field and 2) to attract new partners and countries for the second phase. The other three multiplier events are intended as opportunities to present the final outcomes of the project but in these cases, focusing on two different target groups. The first one, organized by FMD will target stakeholders in the education field with the aim of providing continuity of the JOINclusion integration in the primary education system. The other two, organized by UNINA and ODYSSEA respectively will target a broader group, including but not limited to, other education systems such as tertiary education or vocational training, the business sector or policymakers.Additionally, all the members of the Partnership are committed to providing all the possible chances to disseminate the project and its results during, at the completion and after the project lifetime. Therefore, the partners will disseminate JOINclusion in any relevant event organized or attended by members of the team. Moreover, other associated partners (e.g. Studio Europa Maastricht) will provide further opportunities in that regard. In this case, events covering topics regarding immigration, its challenges and the required regulation adaptation will be of great interest and one of the core targets (see DisseminationAndExploitation annexe).<< Results >>The activities conducted within the project will lead to the following products:1- Users Requirements Report: results of the thorough analysis to be conducted to define core user requirements not only at a European or national level but also locally2- Teacher Handbook of Co-Created Scenarios and Inclusion-oriented content design: a complete guideline report containing the main outcomes of the project regarding the use of empathy-related strategies3- JOINclusion serious game scenario development: an improved version of the serious game scenarios used after the two piloting phases4- JOINclusion collaborative serious and social game authoring tool: not only a serious game but a complete authoring tool aimed at facilitating the improvement and expansion of the JOINclusion solution and its potential applications/target groups5- Pilot Study Report: detailed report including the main findings of JOINclusion after the pilots6- Data analysis and customization mechanisms: the AI mechanisms as well as an exhaustive report including their evaluation and impact regarding not only the acceptability and usability of the JOINclusion game and authoring tool but also the pedagogical and psychological principles applied.These developments will conclude with a comprehensive analysis of real-life experiences. This analysis will include artificial intelligence mechanisms to explore unknown and probably unexpected features (e.g. participant background and personality traits) that represent or can lead to marginalisation or xenophobic behaviours. Additionally, an equally important analysis will be done by experts from the psychological and pedagogical fields in order to validate the outcomes of pilots and the customization AI mechanisms and to present exhaustive guidelines reports with concrete directives based on the lessons learnt. This report will represent one main outcome of the project and will be not only focused on the social inclusion of immigrants but also on how to manage similar situations in different groups at risk of social exclusion such as gender equity, sensitization to health-related or intellectual-related conditions’ groups or gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination."

<< Objectives >>IA-ME purpose is to support teachers in the assessment, monitoring, planning of tailored educational plans for SEN students, using an innovative AI-based tool.IA-ME has three main objectives:-To increase school institutions awareness about the most inclusive technologies to be applied in inclusive education-To provide teachers with digital tools to automatize and standardize teaching process of SEN students-To increase teachers’ professional skills in taking on students with SEN.<< Implementation >>The activities that IA-ME wants to implement, organised in 5 WP, are:-project management and coordination within Partnership-drafting guidelines for teachers in implementing ICTs in inclusive education-design of the AI-based tool, enable to support teacher in fostering inclusive education -development of a MOOC for teachers, based on the application of the ultimate technology for teaching with SEN students -development of EU guidelines for the personalization of teaching paths for SEN stude<< Results >>IA-ME main results will be:-a manual containing guidelines for teachers in implementing ICTs in inclusive education-an innovative multilingual AI-based web app, able to automatically assess each pupil’s needs, define tailored educational objectives, and suggest inclusive technology to reach them-a MOOC for the continuous professional development of teachers dealing with SEN pupils.-an handbook, containing EU guidelines for the personalization of teaching path with SEN students.

<< Objectives >>The main idea of E-MEDIC is to provide methods and solutions adapted to the specific needs of the medical educators. E-MEDIC learning platform will be ease-of-use allowing the medical educators to learn also when they have short spots of time. The aim is to include innovative pedagogies based on distance and blended methods in the field of medical/veterinary education based on project-based learning (PBL), simulation, Competency-based medical education (CBME), and role-playing.<< Implementation >>E-MEDIC works on two main pillars:1)Innovative teaching practice.2)Digital transformation.The learning environment will be designed (and co-designed with them) starting from the paradigms of ubiquitous and mobile learning. The idea will be to develop learning tools (miniMOOCs) for teaching new distance learning methods in clinical (medical and veterinary) education. E-MEDIC project will include a game that will represent the laboratory part of the learning platform.<< Results >>E-MEDIC project aims to:●Define a practical review (WP2) of the best practices applied in medical education●Deliver a series of learning tools (miniMOOCs) aimed at teaching innovative methods of distance teaching in medical education to lecturers and professors●Provide a serious game (WP4), connected to the miniMOOCs, for training teaching methods in a safe environment applying the strategies leant in the learning area●Provide guidelines for a reapplication of the model in other fields

SENSE. will deliver a flexible roadmap for future-making STEAM education across Europe to radically re-configure the education of young citizens, by connecting schools with life and society with work. The lack of an appropriate pedagogical methodology linking formal science education with experiences of life and work in informal learning environments is the main reason for the limited uptake of results from prior initiatives. To achieve its ambition, SENSE. puts forward, tests, and implements a groundbreaking methodology - SENSE.STEAM -, harnessing scientific and artistic inquiry with reflective feedback to promote real-world learning that is culturally relevant and meaningful to pupils in their local communities. SENSE.STEAM goes at the core of teaching innovation and nurtures institutional and curriculum change. Multi-stakeholder engagement supports three progressive levels of maturity of the roadmap: awareness, action, and advocacy. At each stage, the SENSE.STEAM methodology will be implemented as part of in-country STEAM Labs, each one focusing on developing materials and actions and evaluating their impact on each of the four key thematic areas of Digitization, Green Deal, Health and Work Readiness. The Labs operate as hybrid collectives, sharing experiences and deepening impact across EU regions. The central outcome of the project will be the production of The New European Roadmap to STEAM Education, which provides resources and materials produced through in-country and across-countries STEAM Labs, and via a digital hub, the STEAM Academy, designed to support STEAM beneficiaries to co-create and take forward educational innovation. In this way, SENSE. shifts the STEAM landscape towards a new standard of interactional inquiry, reforming science education, generating a continuum of learning from school to employment, and harnessing the potential of future STEAM professionals to deliver on the ambitions of the new European society.

JUSTSAFE project aims to design and implement just and inclusive strategies for enhancing climate resilience and digital transitions, prioritizing the most vulnerable and marginalized social groups such as the elderly, children, women and girls in all their diversity and individuals with disabilities who disproportionately suffer from climate change impacts. The project underscores the necessity of local authorities making direct investments that impact vulnerable communities significantly. A recent workshop, "Digitalization for Climate Action: Co-Creation, Collaboration and Just Transitions," highlighted the importance of co-creative digital activities for inclusive participation, activism's role in digital and climate spheres, the engagement of political actors in prioritizing climate measures, and the support for sustainable innovations in cities to prevent the exclusion of vulnerable groups. This project aligns with the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change, promoting a comprehensive approach to inclusive adaptation to climate change.