"<< Objectives >>In this European project, the partners Support Group Network (SGN) from Sweden and Volkshochschulverband Baden-Württemberg (vhs BW) from Germany - representing in this project Volkshochschulen from Baden-Württemberg, also from rural areas - will exchange on concepts of political and social participation of immigrants at the local, regional and national level. They will explore empowerment and political education offers - dedicated to the target group of immigrants - and identify best-practice.<< Implementation >>In this project, the international exchange and the way in which project partners can benefit from each others the expertise is clearly the most important reason for collaboratively working on a transnational level. This European partnership provides an opportunity for working professionals to share and update their knowledge about the target groups and empowerment methods. Together, the partners discover an innovative field and co-create activities together with the immigrants in question.<< Results >>Past projects focusing on empowerment e.g. concerning labour market access, have already proven that an educational empowerment approach for groups with fewer opportunities (refugees) has the capacity to be spread throughout Europe. The project partners intention is to achieve the same level of European attention with the ""Your Voice Matters"" project."

A fully sustainable future depends on a culture emerging from engaged and informed citizens committed to a green, safe, and economically thriving society which can only be achieved through a deep and reflexive learning process animated in all educational and lifelong learning domains.SMALEI aims to improve the sustainability of adult learning and education (ALE) providers and organisations and increase their capacity to contribute to an ecological transformation of society. Through self-reflection, cooperation, and peer-learning, ALE institutions will take concrete steps towards more environmentally friendly, engaging, and collaborative practices and policies.The key project deliverables are:- Database of resources, promising practices, and experts- Sustainability self-assessment matrix- Guide to using the matrix in a collaborative way- Case studies to showcase the piloting experiences- Policy recommendations and the road map to develop sustainable communities- Digital academyThe consortium is composed of 7 partners representing ALE providers and national/regional associations, a regional public authority, and 2 European networks (EAEA and EARLALL). Partners will act as initial stakeholders in piloting, adopting, and validating the sustainability self-assessment matrix. The project deliverables will be promoted among the project target groups following a sound dissemination plan and an effective exploitation strategy, which will ensure a high project reach and impact.The project increases the capacity of ALE centres, teachers, and staff to become greener, more engaged, and forward-looking which will lead to concrete progresses towards sustainable development on the local, regional, national, and European levels. In the long-term, the project contributes to raising awareness, creating partnerships, empowering individuals and communities for promoting and living a flourishing, environmentally friendly lifestyle and inspires cross-generational climate action.

Offering quality guidance services to all citizens at any point in their lives is an important challenge for regions. All regions participating in the ERASMUS+ strategic partnership BRIDGE have established guidance systems that support the access of citizens to training and further education. However, these guidance services didn't reach all target groups to the same extent. Above all, only a small number of low-skilled people used lifelong guidance in BRIDGE regions and the participation of low-skilled adults in up-skilling training activities was significantly low. In order to raise the percentage of lower-skilled target groups in guidance and up-skilling activities new innovative concepts were needed. The BRIDGE project was designed to find such new ways of reaching lower skilled persons. As specific objectives of the BRIDGE project partners aimed at1. analysing the access to and quality of guidance services for low-skilled adults in Baden-Württemberg/Germany, Bretagne/France and Jämtland/Sweden from different perspectives and with different methods and activities and to adapt, test and transfer best practice tools and processes in the field of guidance from one region to the others,2. describing ways of addressing low-skilled adults e.g. through guidance in cooperation with companies,3. analysing and increasing the quality of guidance services by learning from the partners' experiences and from the results of two surveys, by transfering tools and strategies and by training professionals in using these tools and strategies,4. developing self-evaluation tools that help to evaluate the access to and quality of guidance for low-skilled people. Long term goals of the project were ...1. to strengthen guidance networks, co-operations between organisations and measures to support low-skilled target groups through European mutual learning,2. to innovate the access of low-skilled adults to lifelong guidance in participating regions and beyond,3. to improve the quality of guidance with a view to the needs of low-skilled adults by supporting professionals in guidance services and,4. consequently, to increase the participation of low-skilled adults in up-skilling activities.Seven organisations from four European countries participated in the BRIDGE project as full partners. In addition, four silent partners contributed to the project. The following institutions were full partners of the BRIDGE consortium:Volkshochschulverband Baden-Württemberg e.V. (Co-ordinator) as the biggest provider of adult education in the south-west of Germany and the co-ordinator of the regional guidance network Landesnetzwerk Weiterbildungsberatung Baden-Württemberg (LN WBB).Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport Baden-Württemberg which founded and finances the LN WBB.FONGECIF Bretagne whose mission is to inform, advise and support employees in their professional transition and development, e.g. in phases of reconversion, graduation and professionalisation.Région Bretagne that has in place a regional network of several hundred information centers which can offer basic information about training opportunities and orientation to more specialized guidance services. Lärcentrum Östersunds kommun, responsible for all matters regarding adult learning for citizens in the area including education and career guidance.IUC Z-Group which is a cooperation between manufacturing companies in the county of Jämtland, provides and verifies training and education to member companies. EARLALL, the European Association of Regional & Local Authorities for Lifelong Learning. During seven project meetings, the BRIDGE project partners investigated best practice measures and tools of guidance in the participating regions, described and analysed the measures and worked out success factors. Around 20 activities were followed up in detail. Powerpoint presentations on the different activities and reports were produced.The reports formed part of a study and handbook which collects information, good examples and suggestions on successful educational and career guidance. The study addresses several thousand professionals working in the field of guidance in the participating regions and beyond. It offers an overview on existing measures to reach low-skilled adults in the BRIDGE regions and puts the findings of the BRIDGE project into a broader context. The study and handbook also includes results of two surveys among counselors and low-skilled people, it defines key-performance factors for counseling as well as self-assessment-tools for institutions that are active in the field of guidance. The BRIDGE regions have successfully implemented several of the best practices in their guidance structures, used project results in policy processes and provided financing for new guidance strategies. In one European and three regional multiplier events results of the project were spread to other regions.

<< Background >>We applied for this project since we want to find new solutions to old problems. For decades, the number of young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) have remained at high levels. Instead of blaming them for not being job-ready for another decade to come, this project wants to raise the question; how could we improve our own modus operandi, making our activities more relevant for NEETs in question? Thus, in spite of the project title NEETs for NEETs, the main target group of this project concerns our staff members working with young adults (i.e., NEETs). By applying for this project, we want to give these staff members the opportunity to work co-creatively with their target groups, by embarking a journey consisting of pilot trainings and Learning, Teaching and Training activities (LTTs) on self-empowerment activities for - but (most significantly) with- and even by - NEETs themselves. Thanks to years of work experience, together with the collection of data through research publications - as well as the voices of NEETs themselves, obtained thanks to conducted meetings with focus groups - we are convinced that the modus operandi of public administrations, educational sectors, and civil society organisations (CSOs) will become a lot more relevant according to NEETs if we start including themselves in formulating the problems and challenges affecting them. When NEETs start to fully understand their potential as driving forces in their own lives, an opportunity appears where they are capable of becoming subjects in shaping their own futures, instead of mere objects targeted by professionals and experts, who decide which activities lead to empowerment and which do not.<< Objectives >>For eliminating these above mentioned obstacles - and thus facilitating conditions for NEETs to finish school or obtaining long-term employment - the main project idea is to solve the problems together with the ones affected by them. In other words; creating with rather than creating for the target group. With the NEETs for NEETs-project, partners from Sweden, Germany and Norway aim to exchange best practices and commonly develop/improve new and innovative instruments and activities - formed together with the target group. Taking its starting point in best practice, the project will broaden and modify the ReACT Self-Empowerment model, developed by Save the Children Sweden and the refugee organisation Support Group Network (SGN). The purpose of the ReACT model is to support self-organisation and strategic collaboration for better integration. ReACT was first used by SGN in asylum-seeking accommodations in Sweden. The mobilisation process of SGN resulted in refugees living in camps initiating, implementing and coordinating activities themselves. ReACT was later on embraced by Stuttgart city, used as an embedded method throughout activities within the EaSI-project FIER - Fast Track Integration in European Regions 2018-2020 coordinated by the applicant of this proposal. The proposed NEETs for NEETs project will learn from these experiences and practices, adapting them to the challenges and possibilities of our target group (NEETs), thus improving the ReACT model by making its co-creative and innovative approach applicable to new segments of disadvantaged citizens throughout Europe.<< Implementation >>We feel confident in adopting the ReACT model on new organisational settings, thanks to the innovative move initiated by the city of Stuttgart, using the ReACT model as embedded method throughout activities within the EASI-project FIER - Fast Track Integration in European Regions 2018-2020. Thus, the city of Stuttgart is currently engaged in self-empowerment work with asylum seekers, based on ReACT. The proposed NEETs for NEETs project will learn from these experiences and practices, adapting them to the challenges and possibilities of the target group of our educational and guidance staff, thus improving the ReACT model by making its co-creative and innovative approach applicable to new administrative and educational sectors - and thus new segments of disadvantaged citizens throughout Europe. We do not want to reinvent the wheel, by only initiating completely new co-creative workshops, instruments and activities (solely) on a general level. Instead, we have decided to stick to already existing local initiatives, but improving them by adding innovative components, characterised by co-creation and co-design, critical thinking, intuition-spurring training initiatives and methods on building trust and active citizenship. These components will be possible to upscale, regardless of organisational setting (civil society organisation, public administration or educational institution, etc.). In accordance with regional needs and type of organisational structure, the partners’ activities will entail, in short: - Improving and broadening the ReACT model for self-empowerment developed by Support Group Network / Save the Children to include NEETs in activities on issues affecting them. - Encouraging, supporting and safeguarding prerequisites for the involvement of young adults in forming co-creative activities and instruments at European, national, regional and local level. - Exchanging best practices of competence improvement among professionals, especially regarding examples of co-creative processes together with NEETs. This will be done practically by carrying out local pilot trainings, as well as (most significantly) two Learning, Teaching and Training Activities (LTTs): 1. The first one will take place in Stuttgart, where a total of 16 selected NEETs and 16 selected staff members gather from all eight partners EARLALL excluded taking part in activities where 1.) trainers are training NEETs and staff members working with NEETs, related to output no. 4). 2. The second one will take place in Borås Stad, where 8 selected NEETs (trained by trainers in LTT no. 1) gather from all partner countries, training 16 other “new” NEETs and 24 “new” project staff members at European level (related to output no. 1, 2, & 3). Moreover, as mentioned above, pilot trainings are expected to be held by each partner organisation at national level, where NEETs are taking part in activities where 3.) NEETs are training NEETs at local level, and 4.) NEETs are training experts (related to outputs no. 1 & 2).<< Results >>The NEETs for NEETs project will face numerous interesting project results (i.e., outputs) at local, regional, national as well as European level - with different characteristics depending, again, on organisational setting. For example, educational institutions (such as municipal adult education and folk high schools, job centres, departments for working life) have the ambition to provide pilot trainings related to courses where NEETs become included in the co-creation of curricula and other teaching materials, while, e.g. labour and welfare administrations have the ambition to elaborate on pilots involving labour market accession initiatives together with their target group affected by the initiatives in question (that is: NEETs). Civil society organisations, in turn, will improve their self-empowerment and guidance services, making them applicable to NEETs. Eventually, pilot training and (most significantly) LTTs will result in compendiums and/or curriculums as well. With all this being said, we are able to depict five outputs (1-5): 1. A compendium on a training concept “NEETs training NEETs at local level” 2. A compendium on a training concept “NEETs training experts” 3. A compendium on a training concept “NEETs training NEETs at European level” 4. A concept for a low-threshold Train-the-Trainer workshop concept for NEETs. 5. A handbook with guidelines on how to implement reverse training concepts with NEETs. The guidelines will provide adult education centres and other institutions working with NEETs with know-how and inspiration. The handbook also summarises best practice approaches as tested during the project lifetime. The guidelines will be published in the form of an e-book with 80 pages that will be available in pdf format. Moreover, at this current stage, we envisage four main outcomes (with C. functioning more as a long-term impact) as positive implications of the above mentioned project outputs, correlating with each and every output (1 correlates with A, 2 correlates with B, and so forth). A. Increased sense of coherence at local and national level among NEETs themselves, strengthening young adults’ democratic engagement, and thus enabling active citizenship. B. Establishing a change in perspective, where a reversal of roles has taken place. I.e., NEETs become architects of their own lives, while staff around NEETs adapt to their new roles as disciples, learning from the life experience and expertise of NEETs in question; thus strengthening the relevance of their initiatives vis-a-vis their target groups (i.e., NEETs). C. In a long-term perspective, NEETs are becoming more active in their role as EU citizens, with gained trust towards European institutions and supranational democratic governance overall. D. A broadening and improvement - and in some sense a reinvention - of the ReACT model has taken place, now applicable on self-empowerment activities vis-a-vis NEETs as well. Thus, consortium members’ organisational and administrative staff has been provided with an innovative approach as regards co-creative self-empowering initiatives together with their target group (NEETs) instead of activities for NEETs. E. Better integration of best practices have taken place transnationally among one of the project countries’ key actors on inclusion of diversified young adults. An increase in attractiveness of participating in education, training and other activities has taken place, making them more inclusive and relevant for NEETs.

"<< Background >>Health status and behavior of men are often unsatisfactory. In addition, men in all target groups are not reached enough by health education and health promotion offers. This is all the more true for the group of educationally and access-handicapped men with fewer health opportunities, who have so far hardly found access to health education offers.In order to overcome the underrepresentation of men in health education and promotion, new approaches and qualified trainers, mediators and actors are needed. They are considered ""key people"" in health education of disadvantaged men: professional and voluntary employees or part-time freelance workers as well as program managers in educational institutions. If we want disadvantaged men to be able to take more care of their health, an essential precondition in terms of education and accessibility is that they can be better reached by health education. To this end, key people, especially as trainers must be sensitized and qualified; also new forms of learning are needed in which disadvantaged men can inform and educate themselves in a self-organized manner.The HelpMenTTT project reflects that qualification of health educators, together with suitable didactics, are essential preconditions and success criteria for improving health education of disadvantaged men. The project thus combines current research results with content-related results of the strategic partnership HelpMen (2017-19), transforms them into a training concept and brings them into a process of qualification and application with newly developed content, methods and media products. The project also concretizes the WHO's “Strategy on the health and well-being of men in the WHO European Region” from 2018 and helps to implement it.The project starts with the skills and practices of key people as trainers. It develops and tests a specific training concept for trainers and actors in men's health education. Although it is known that disadvantaged men in particular are barely reached by health education, there is currently no training concept to reach the target group ""men with educationally disadvantaged access and accessibility"". This covers an open need in health education and that new content, innovative approaches, methods, tools and materials are developed and tested. In the sense of a training program, the project partners hold exploratory qualification events for the trainers, mediators, actors in men's health education. Embedded and as part of their qualification, these key people design accommodating and low-threshold pilot events for the target group of educationally disadvantaged men and implement them in their practical context as target group-specific adult health education. As a result, the training concept is subjected to participatory testing, which is also evaluated.The experiences from TTT and pilot events are evaluated, summarized and the results are didactically prepared. The products of the HelpMenTTT project then emerge from this experience:- development, content creation and operation of an online learning platform on the subject of health education for disadvantaged men as a tool pool for trainers, health educators and those responsible- a print manual for trainers, intermediaries, actors who work with disadvantaged men in presence or in blended learning eventsBoth products are made widely available to those responsible, trainers and specialists and are made available to promote work with the target group of disadvantaged men even after the end of the project.<< Objectives >>The implementation of the project addresses the health well-being and quality of life of educationally and access disadvantaged men and increases the participation opportunities of these men. Their health behaviour and health status are to be improved by the project. Especially men with educational and access disadvantages have so far not been reached by health education. Therefore, the project aims to increase the underrepresentation of men in the field of health education and promotion and to create the conditions for this to succeed better. As a link between health education and the disadvantaged men, key persons are identified and addressed as health mediators. So far, they do not have access, methods and suitable tools for the health education of disadvantaged men. The project aims at informing and qualifying such key persons - actors, volunteers, full-time and part-time professionals, trainers - in such a way that their skills in health education for men are strengthened. In the European Erasmus+ context, the project aims to translate outputs from the strategic partnership ""HelpMen"" - which worked from 2017 to 2019, was awarded ""Best Practice"" in the final evaluation and scored 95 points - into a training concept and thus into health education practice. In this predecessor project, a curriculum was designed, but without offering a qualification concept for such professionals and actors in health education. The HelpMenTT project develops such a training concept and programme and implements it, supported by innovative tools, in explorative qualification events. This enables multipliers in the field of health education to be qualified and motivated so that they can become active themselves. The target group of disadvantaged men is reached in exemplary implementation formats that are integrated into the TTT activities. Here, the project opens up new approaches to disadvantaged men and, with their participation, develops suitable content and innovative methods that are tested and evaluated in a participatory manner. The target group of men with educational and access disadvantages is thus better reached by health education, their health-promoting behaviours are strengthened and they change health-risky behaviour.The project will evaluate and summarise its findings, analyses and practical experiences in a further step. They will be integrated on a learning platform with innovative educational tools for disadvantaged men. In addition, the training concept for health education of disadvantaged men will be developed. This concept with information and methods will be made available online on the learning platform to all interested parties and responsible persons and will also be made available for classroom or blended learning formats as a print manual. The learning platform will be established during the project period, but will also be operated beyond the end of the project; it will be interactively expanded by users, discussed in chats, updated in terms of content and maintained.Finally, it is a concern of the project to disseminate its most important results and to sensitise those responsible for health education to this important topic. Therefore, central results of the project and the project products are communicated to multipliers and responsible persons in seminar conferences. The last multiplier event aims to disseminate the results throughout Europe (in non-German speaking countries).<< Implementation >>Central activities in the HelpMenTTT project are, in addition to the partner meetings accompanying the project, the development of the innovative training concept, its testing, evaluation and dissemination as well as the development of relevant didactic materials and media in the form of a learning platform and a manual. In the process, modules of the training concept are tested in exploratory qualification projects with key people. This includes the implementation of practical activities with disadvantaged men who have health educational needs. The project results are published in a print version of the manual as well as online on a learning platform and presented at regional seminar conferences.The project follows a methodology of intervention and action research that integrates a theory-practice transfer. The project partners form and see themselves as a focus group. The focus group works actively on the examined topic, which is made available for practice in order to qualify those engaged in health education. In addition, experts and trainers in TTT seminars are reached and also men in the target group are actively involved in pilot projects. Methods of collegial advice are practiced for the international exchange of experience and knowledge transfer. The quality of the project is regularly assessed using self-evaluation methods.The process of developping, testing, evaluation and dissemination of the HelpMenTTT training concept is developed by the project partners and coordinated in the partner meetings and implemented in the joint work on the product ""Modular Training Manual"". The following elements are included:- Exploratory analysis: practice analysis, research for good practice and for TTT qualification approaches (in the specific subject area of the project)- Concept development: development of the TTT training concept (on the basis of the ""HelpMen"" curriculum)- Development of educational tools: e.g. basic presentation ""Basics of men's health promotion"", interactive methods for face-to-face and online situations (e.g. online quiz, e-learning module for self-directed learning)The TTT qualifications are then offered with a working version of the training concept:- Qualification of full-time and part-time trainers, intermediaries, actors in adult education and health education- Testing of educational tools (face-to-face and online)Part of these qualifications is the application in exploratory pilot events. These are designed as implementation projects by the trained key people for the target group of men who are disadvantaged in terms of education and access. Here the concept is tested in different contexts and checked and evaluated for its practicality.- then if necessary revision and additionThe participatory, low-threshold pilot events make it possible to test and evaluate the concept and its elements. The participating men are also involved in the quality development of the content and the project products through feedback rounds.One goal of these activities is to implement qualification for key people in men's health education and to anchor them sustainably. For this purpose, a conceptually secured, evaluated and permanently established training concept is developed, which is incorporated and implemented in the relevant contexts.This process with its knowledge and experience leads to the production of the two products of the project: the interactive learning platform and the print manual for health educators.<< Results >>Through its practice-related approaches, the project provides inspiration and impetus to include, establish and further develop men's health as a qualification topic in (non-vocational, non-medical) areas of health and adult education. As a result of the project, appropriately qualified specialists become active themselves and become actors in men's health education. This helps to reduce the underrepresentation of men in the field of health education and promotion, and creates the conditions for health and social participation, especially for men who are disadvantaged in terms of education and access.The project participants embark on an exchange, innovation and development process on TTT experiences in the field of men's health. This project work leads to the development and formulation of a working version of the HelpMenTTT training concept and program.This concept - another result - is implemented in exemplary TTT training activities with trainers in adult education, e.g. in the form of workshops or seminars. In this way, full-time specialists, freelance workers and other actors are reached in the project regions and (basic) qualified for health-related educational processes with men.These key persons are supported in the design of their own pilot events, these are educational activities aimed at men who are disadvantaged in terms of education and access. These activities are part of the qualification and are also used for participatory testing and evaluation of the training concept.The developed content, methods, materials and the evaluated experiences flow into two products of the HelpMenTTT project: On the one hand, the online learning platform on men's health for disadvantaged men, but also for trainers and responsible persons. On the other hand, a print manual for those who prefer haptic materials. Both products for basic qualification on health education of men are made widely available to responsible persons, trainers and specialists.""Modular Training Manual"". This manual for specialists and responsible persons in institutions contains TTT-relevant basic information, didactic materials, tried out and tested methodological approaches as well as presentations, work materials, learning controls, etc.The manual is printed in extracts and made available as an online platform. In addition, the project organizes multiplier events in which those responsible for training are informed and motivated in order to spread the manual and didactic concept and to reach men (better) with health-related educational processes.HelpMenTTT creates a conceptual basis for professionals and educational organizations by implementing basic training approaches for men's health education at an institutional level. This indirectly enables health skills to be sustainably strengthened, especially in disadvantaged groups of men. The online learning platform enables men's health education to be self-directed and independent of time or space.The jointly developed training manual and the published practice materials are freely available to other institutions for adaptation and further development. The project will ultimately also promote and consolidate Europe-wide networking in the field of health education for disadvantaged men."