"El proyecto NO GAPS tenía como objetivo colaborar con el proceso de integración de solicitantes de asilo y refugiados mediante la creación de una metodología de intervención innovadora, eficaz y replicable a nivel transnacional. El propósito era centrarse en uno de los grupos más vulnerables entre los solicitantes de asilo y los refugiados, las mujeres jóvenes.Numerosos estudios demostraron la especial vulnerabilidad de este grupo dentro de su grupo de referencia. Los datos publicados por EUROSTAT demostraron que la mayoría de las solicitudes de asilo en la UE provienen de los jóvenes, y especialmente de mujeres.El objetivo principal era crear una metodología de intervención integral y replicable a nivel europeo para los profesionales que trabajan con mujeres jóvenes solicitantes de asilo y refugiadas. Una metodología que mejora la integración sociolaboral de estas personas gracias a una intervención integral en función de sus necesidades reales y que promueve su inclusión a través de la participación activa.Los beneficiarios directos del proyecto fueron trabajadores jóvenes y otros profesionales que trabajan con mujeres migrantes, refugiadas y solicitantes de asilo. Podrían beneficiarse de la metodología de intervención de NO GAPS, ya que se crearon varios productos intelectuales que les permiten adquirir los conocimientos, habilidades y competencias necesarias para utilizar la metodología y acceder a los recursos necesarios para aplicarla en su práctica.Los beneficiarios indirectos fueron mujeres jóvenes solicitantes de asilo, refugiadas, de minorías étnicas, recién llegadas. Podrían beneficiarse de la metodología NO GAPS en sus centros y entidades de referencia, pudiendo suponer una mejora de su integración sociolaboral.El proyecto desarrolló 3 productos intelectuales:1. Base de datos innovadora, que proporciona una recopilación exhaustiva de buenas prácticas, proyectos, políticas, metodologías, enfoques pedagógicos, recursos y herramientas en el área temática.2. Currículo de Formación para una intervención sociolaboral integral con mujeres jóvenes solicitantes de asilo y refugiadas, definiendo y desarrollando los conocimientos, habilidades y competencias que necesitan los profesionales que trabajan con estas mujeres para desarrollar el proceso de intervención sociolaboral integral.3. Recurso Educativo Abierto, que ofrece los contenidos teóricos y prácticos necesarios para completar el plan de estudios de formación; incluyendo pilotaje con un grupo de profesionales y mujeres jóvenes, y un paquete de herramientas profesional con todas las plantillas y materiales útiles para el desarrollo de una intervención integral. La metodología de trabajo consistió en la constitución de un consorcio estratégico transnacional formado por socios con contrastada experiencia en el campo de la intervención. La asociación estuvo liderada por la entidad española GUARANÍ, en estrecha colaboración con entidades de Austria, Bulgaria, Grecia y España. La implementación de No Gaps involucró activamente a todos los socios del proyecto a través de un proceso de co-pensamiento, co-planificación y co-escritura que condujo a una sólida formación y respuesta de necesidades, al desarrollo de matriz de marco lógico coherente y eficaz, y a la identificación de canales de difusión y datos fiables sobre el impacto potencial del proyecto.El mayor logro del proyecto fue la creación de una metodología transnacional que combinó la experiencia de un equipo multidisciplinario y fue validada a través de experiencias de una amplia gama de profesionales y mujeres de origen migrante y solicitantes de asilo en cuatro países de la UE. Durante esta búsqueda construimos una base de datos con 55 buenas prácticas en toda la UE. Por lo tanto, destacamos el trabajo de una amplia gama de organizaciones en Europa que trabajan en el campo de migración y la integración social de grupos vulnerables de mujeres. También enriquecimos los mecanismos europeos para compartir conocimientos y buenas prácticas en el campo. Nos inspiramos en la base de datos al diseñar los resultados de aprendizaje ""Manual y paquete de herramientas de No Gaps"" para profesionales en intervención integral con jóvenes solicitantes de asilo y refugiadas."

<< Background >>After the 2006 Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Key competences for Lifelong Learning, the updated Recommendation (2018) emphasized the purpose of key competences by stating that “in a rapidly changing and highly interconnected world, each person will need a wide range of skills and competences and to develop them continually throughout life”. The expectation is for “high-quality education, training, and lifelong learning for all, to support educational staff in implementing competency-based teaching and learning approaches, to promote a range of learning contexts from the perspective of lifelong learning, and to explore approaches to the assessment and validation of key competences” (LifeComp, p.7).Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, major changes occurred in our lifestyles forcing changes in education and training, workplaces and skills requirements at all levels. In this context, citizens need to “be able to reflect on and develop their personal, social, and learning to learn competencies in order to unleash their dynamic potential, self-regulate their emotions, thoughts, and behaviours, build a meaningful life and cope with complexity as thriving individuals, responsible social agents, and reflective lifelong learners” (LifeComp, p.8) This key competence is named “Personal, Social, and Learning to Learn”, and is defined as “the ability to reflect upon oneself, effectively manage time and information, work with others in a constructive way, remain resilient and manage one’s own learning and career” (LifeComp, p.8).Aligned with classical theories of sociocultural development, internalization (which stems from social interactions) is the catalysator of learning. The social interaction aspect is KEY for LIFEx project. LIFEx project is built upon this knowledge base and is aiming to have a positive impact on European workplaces, by contributing to the workforce skilling in the “Personal, Social, and Learning to Learn” competence, through a competence-oriented virtual reality training programme, focused on providing Immersive Learning Experiences (ILx) designed to train this competence and support target-groups into “fulfilling their dynamic potential, self-regulate their emotions, thoughts and behaviours, build a meaningful life, and cope with complexity as thriving individuals, responsible social agents, and reflective lifelong learners” (LifeComp). According to the Accenture report “Immersive Learning For The Future Workforce” (2020) the key benefits of immersive learning are a) providing environments that more closely mimic real-life situations allowing workers to reach greater levels of expertise in less time; b) the possibility of remote collaboration and other remote training activities; c) the reduced costs on employee travel for training and space on real estate; d) learning through inconsequent mistakes; e) increased engagement that leads to better retention; g) and better analytics with rich data sets (behavioural, eye-tracking, heat maps and gesture tracking).Immersive learning is already implemented in medical training for surgeons, retail training, aeroplane traffic control, and other technical fields, but Virtual Reality is NOT enough explored in the field of soft skills training.<< Objectives >>The LIFEx objectives are to contribute to human empowerment by increasing the Personal, Social, and Learning to Learn' competencies of the European workforce; increase VET internal capacity to respond to trainees and market needs through attractive and engaging immersive training offers; foster the progress on the way soft skills training through VR is evaluated; and support teachers and trainers in implementing VR in the soft skills training.<< Implementation >>LIFEx main activities are the development of the Competence Matrix in EN, IT, GR and RO; the development of the preview of immersive learning experiences; the Digital Badges allocation per learning experience; the development and implementation/testing of the LifeComp Immersive Learning Experiences in Ireland, Italy, Greece and Romania; the development and implementation/testing of the eTools for LifeComp ILx evaluation tools in in Ireland, Italy, Greece and Romania; the Peer-review stages by all partners; the C1:LifeComp ILx Pop-up session for trainers; the E1-E4: VR4LifeComp Pop-up Sessions; the ongoing Quality and Evaluation monitoring; and the Communication and sharing of project activities and results.<< Results >>The main expected outcomes of the LIFEx project are a) to foster the collaboration of different organisations to contribute to human empowerment by increasing the Personal, Social, and Learning to Learn' competencies of the European workforce; b) to increase the VET partners internal capacity to provide VR training based on LifeComp Framework; c) to booster teachers and trainers ability to implement and evaluate VR training based on the LifeComp Framework.The results that will be developed to make the above outcomes possible are:The “LifeComp Immersive Learning experiences (ILx) Competence Matrix”: the competence matrix will adopt a Learning Outcomes' Approach where a set of LOs will be developed for each Immersive Learning experience in terms of Knowledge, Skills and Autonomy and Responsibility. The competence matrix will also include the description of the Immersive Learning Experience and expected contact hours to complete the experience. At least 3 ILx will be developed, one for each area: Personal, Social and Learning to Learn.The “LifeComp Immersive Learning experiences (ILx) Training Methodology and digital training methodology. For each ILx the following will be developed: a conceptualization of the Immersive Learning Experience (eg. scenario) and the conceptualization and design of the Digital Badge allocated to the specific experience. Methodologies will be centred in: a) virtual reality scenarios where the trainee freely interacts/reacts to the scenario and later will be able to see the video footage of the experience (autoscopy methodology) or virtual reality scenario with multiple choices, where the trainee chooses among a closed set of options to advance.The LifeComp Immersive Learning Experiences training. ISQe will design and share the pedagogical architecture of the virtual experiences, followed by the design and development of the immersive learning experiences with contributions from all partners. Each partner will implement a training pilot with at least 5 persons. Each person can go through one ILx or the three ILx, as long as all ILx are tested overall.eTools for LifeComp ILx evaluation. Two different kinds of etools will be developed: a) a digital autoscopy framework, including the evaluation criteria for each ILx, where Trainees will be able to watch the recording of their ILx. This way they can compare the way they acted in each ILx to the performance criteria (in the autoscopy framework for that ILx) and register a self-evaluation; b) eTool for LifeComp ILx evaluation for trainers whereby repeating each experience, trainers can see the differences/(hopefully) improvements to the way trainees dealt with each scenario.The ILx will adopt a gender-inclusive lens throughout.Sustainability strategy. Document that defines the activities to be carried out to enhance the successful sustainability of the project outcomes and results in terms of application/replication of the products and its placing on the market.Other results comprise: the project management, quality & evaluation handbook; Financial reports; Action Plans; Project management, quality & evaluation reports - Interim Report and Final Report; C1 - LifeComp ILx Pop-up session for trainers; Communication and project promotion strategy; Graphic identity manual with logo; .word document template & .ppt presentation template; project teaser for social media; Press Releases; Newsletters, LIFEx website and LIFEx Social Media and VR4LifeComp Pop-up Sessions (IE, IT, GR, RO).

"1. CONTEXT Gender equality is a fundamental value of the European Union. Article 2 (3) [2007 / C 306/01]. The third gender equality index of the European Union shows that equality between women and men in the EU is not yet complete. Still, a gender disparity is apparent in terms of power, knowledge, work, health, time and money. The index indicates substantial differences within the EU. Adolescents in Europe today are confronted by new challenges on gender roles, which are brought to them by their personal environment, schools or the media, and have an influence on personal development. However, in their document ""Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019"", the COM also notes that the younger generation is still struggling with gender stereotypes. This conflict can be overwhelming, especially for ""disadvantaged"" young people who have little support. Youth and social work is challenged to respond to these demands with its services. It is important to spread knowledge about the developments described above and to develop a new methodological repertoire in youth and social work. With regards to social work with girls, many countries have already developed a variety of methods; social work with boys on the other hand, is still underdeveloped – there are only few concepts. 2. PROJECT OBJECTIVES We want to contribute to the achievement of gender equality and equalisation in different countries within the EU with regards to gender equality through: 1. Leading European discourses in 5 different countries 2. Increasing knowledge about the diversity of adolescent life situations, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, the appearance of gender stereotypes, the overlap of different forms of discrimination. 3. Expansion of the scope of action for young people in their personal development (gender and the connection to training, work, family and well-being) 4. Develop methods for working with disadvantaged young people of all sexes. 5. Formulation of minimum standards and extension of practical implementation strategies in order to be able to implement gender-related pedagogy in practice. 3. PROFILE OF THE PARTICIPANTS The described differences in gender equality in the EU are reflected in the choice of partners. With the help of organizations from DE, SE, NL, ES, and GR, the issue of gender-sensitive approaches in youth work is discussed in its big scope. All organizations share a common interest in discussing gender issues in a practice-oriented way in a European context and further transfer them in their own field of work. They work locally with young people from disadvantaged milieus in the youth social work. There will be 76 participants in the two learning activities. The TPMs are visited by 2 professionals each, or in certain cases one youth per organization. About 15 people work independently on the respective work packages at the on-site teams. The selection of the participants in the project activities is the responsibility of the project partners. 4. ACTIVITIES The use of a wide range of methods and modern media (keynote speeches, workshops, round tables, exchange of best practice) will be applied to the project. The project-relevant activities include the 4 TPMs, a 5-day Joint Staff Training regarding ""Attitudes and Approaches - Towards more Gender Sensitivity in Youth Work"" and a Blended Mobility of Young People on ""Gender - Family, Education, Work and Wellbeing - Perspectives and Realities from Young People "". These are closely linked to the two Intellectual Outputs developed in the project. 6. IMPACT With this project we want to make an important contribution to gender equality, professionalisation of youth and social work in Europe; it promotes the development of quality in youth work with a specific focus on disadvantaged teenagers in youth social work. The project makes direct reference to the horizontal priorities, in particular: ""Social Inclusion: actions that foster - in particular through innovative, holistic approaches - equality, gender balance and equal treatment in youth work"" and the sectoral priorities for youth ""Encouraging empowerment: to increase the social inclusion of all young people, taking into account the underlying European values; promote diversity, interculturality ... and the common values of freedom, tolerance and respect for human rights; that increase the critical thinking ... of young people ... """

"Disasters vary in types, causes, and consequences, they may result from natural causes.During the last decades, natural disasters caused by different factors pose a serious threat to life, property, and infrastructure in ways of material damage, economic losses, causalities and emotional well-being of humans for many parts of Europe.The natural disasters have disproportionate effects on people with disabilities like blind, deaf, persons with reduced mobility and their family caregivers.Specific reports from 2004 to 2014 showed that persons with disabilities suffered from natural disasters 2-4 times more than non-disabled people (Report on 2011 disaster of Japan). The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), in its articles 11 and 322, requires that persons with disabilities benefit from and participate in disaster relief, emergency response and disaster risk reduction strategies. Underlining the legal obligations enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, particularly with regard to Article 11 requesting the States Parties including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, to take all the necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters.Aligned with UNCRPD, European Disability Strategy 2010-2020: a renewed commitment to a barrier-free Europe which is aimed at raising awareness of the needs of persons with disabilities, including accessibility, in the area of emergency and humanitarian aid, as well as promoting the rights of people with disabilities and their families in the external action of the EU and the Member States. Also with the the drafted resolution on EU Disability Strategy post 2020, priorities to be effective in fostering meaningful inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities and their caregivers has been set.However, ""Living with Disability and Disasters"" global survey conducted by (UNISDR) in 2014 and scattered evidence reveal that PwDs still have no significant representation in building resilience to disasters and only a small percentage of respondents are aware of disaster management programmes in Europe and majority express desire to be included in these programmes. Within the given context, EMPOWER project aims to empower people with disabilities through effective disaster management; raise awareness of persons with disabilities and their caregivers about the increasing risks of disasters; to make PwDs and their caregivers better prepared for natural disasters through training contents and accessible learning materials on the accessible learning hub; support the caregivers in the disaster management processes; increase the knowledge and awareness of authorities and policy makers responsible for disability and disasters, volunteers in civil protection and professionals working with PwDs; to build a culture of disability and disasters in community-at-large; to mainstream disability into disaster management cycle.The target groups of this project are persons with disabilities (35 in online testing) caregivers(140 in pilot trainings), volunteers/professionals working in the field of disability and disasters, NGOs, local/national authorities, first responders. (160 in project activities; focus groups, round-table meetings, validation and valorization workshops)The following project outputs will be developed to achieve the foreseen results by focusing on ""earthquakes, fires, floods, and pandemics"".IO1 European Reference Framework on Effective Disaster Management for CaregiversIO2 Training Content on Effective Disaster Management For Caregivers of Persons with DisabilitiesIO3 Accessible Learning Hub with Accessible Learning Materials for Persons with Hearing and Vision ImpairmentsIO4 Disability-Inclusive Disaster Management Reference HandbookIn order to empower PwDs through effective disaster management, a participatory and holistic approach has been planned in the development and implementation of the project activities and outputs. That's to say that all interested parties persons with disabilities, formal and informal caregivers, authorities and policy makers will be actively engaged in the project through focus group meetings, round-table meetings, questionnaires, validation and valorization activities, pilot trainings and online testing.EMPOWER will have a direct impact on raising awareness about disasters, better preparedness of caregivers and people with disabilities for disasters, empowerment of people with disabilities through effective disaster management, resilience of PwDs to disasters, mainstreaming disability into disaster management. The envisaged impact will be development of high-quality and disability-inclusive disaster management trainings, developing disability-inclusive strategies and policies, as well as more accessible learning resources in Europe"

<< Background >>Women and girls, everywhere, must have equal rights and opportunity, and be able to live free of violence and discrimination. Women’s equality and empowerment is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but also integral to all dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development. In short, all the SDGs depend on the achievement of Goal 5. Gender equality by 2030 requires urgent action as by now, no country in the world is on track to achieve this goal, despite significant progress in advancing women’s and girls’ rights over the years. Moreover, the health and socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis are disproportionately affecting women and girls. To address this, the EU put forward an ambitious Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 and Gender Action Plan III to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment through all external action of the European Union. 2020 should have been a celebratory year for accelerating gender equality globally. Instead, COVID-19 has dramatically reversed the progress made over recent decades and has impacted women disproportionately – from loss of jobs to rise in violence against women and unpaid care work. As stressed by the abovementioned plan, gender equality must be at the heart of post-pandemic recovery. The EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility provides that gender equality should be taken into account and promoted throughout the preparation and implementation of national recovery and resilience plans. Partner’s organisations in the VOICES’ project, believe that post-pandemic recovery needs women at the centre, participating in public and private spheres and driving changes that serve both society and the planet. Building a gender-equal world is possible! And VOICES aims to build gender-responsive results to boost the understanding of gender roles and inequalities, encourage equal participation and contribute to close the gender gaps.<< Objectives >>VOICES' objectives are: *to raise awareness on gender roles and inequalities, as a means to identify and implement strategies that encourage equal participation and bridge the gender divide; *to improve professionals' competences in promoting gender equality and women's empowerment; *to challenge gender-biased stereotypes related to women's participation in the public and private spheres of their lives; *to boost women's willingness and capacity to take an active role within their diverse living contexts; * to promote effective lifelong learning and continuing professional development opportunities for women and the professionals who work with them (in adult education, public services, or civil society organisations) targeting gender equality and women's empowerment towards active citizenship and equal social and civic participation; *to create networking opportunities for professionals that enable continuous knowledge exchange within a community of practice focused on fostering women's participation and empowerment.<< Implementation >>Microlearning, digital storytelling, and real-world learning approaches will be applied for the development of the three project results to foster professionals' and women's capacity for action upon gender gaps, and overcome any gender-related constraints to equal women's participation in public and private life. Participatory methodologies will be valued for the development of all projects' results: 16 associated partners (2 per partner country) will take part in the local learning networks, providing inputs and feedback to all project results, and helping to identify and establish contact with the project targets; 80 women (10 per partner country, and at least 5 of them facing any education, social, and/or geographical obstacles) and 64 professionals (8 per partner country) directly working with women to foster their equal participation and empowerment will participate in the piloting phase; over 185 participants in the 8 multiplier events, representing a range of local stakeholders will become aware of the available resources, and help to disseminate and increase results' use besides the project lifetime.<< Results >>The project will produce the following results: 1.VOICES competences roadmap and resources for Local Learning Networks - a competences roadmap and a set of guiding resources will be developed to improving the competences of professionals on gender equality and women’s empowerment; these professionals will take part in the VOICES Local Learning Networks, created in each participated country to combine their expertise and join efforts for empowering women for equal participation and driving change, through working in local cooperation partnership. 2.VOICES thematic MOOCs - a set of thematic MOOCs will be developed using microlearning principles, storytelling methodology, and real-world learning, to raise awareness on key areas of women’s empowerment, in line with the Gender Action Plan III, including a) Ending gender-based violence; b) Sexual and reproductive health and rights; c) Economic and social rights and empowerment; d) Equal participation and leadership; e) Women, peace and security; f) Green and digital transformations. 3.VOICES digital learning hub - a digital learning hub, where the previous project results along with additional interactive activities and learning resources will be integrated into a toolkit for professionals and interactive thematic MOOCs for women, will be developed to facilitate, attract, encourage and offer every professional and woman lifelong learning opportunities.