An increasing number of European countries is implementing online civic and commercial services to enable easier, cheaper and faster administrative operations for citizens. The future trend is obvious: the demand of such services will increase significantly and so will the implementation by governments and businesses. Even though e-Government and e-Commerce offer a myriad of benefits, taking advantage of such services requires a certain amount of digital skills and know-how, which disadvantaged groups of people often lack.The objective of My e-Start is to equip disadvantaged groups of people with skills necessary for using the most common e-Government and e-Commerce services in their countries and ensuring a positive (first) e-experience as well as a sense of digital achievement. My e-Start is focusing on a group, which is particularly vulnerable to digital exclusion, namely the elderly, those with low levels of education and training and those with a migration background.The main output of the project is the development of an extremely simple online course and a user-friendly e-platform adapted to specific needs of the target group. Both the online course and the e-platform will put a particular emphasis on the use of ‘easy language’, simple instructions, clear visual elements and well-structured content to avoid confusion and overstress of the target group. The aim of the online course is to provide disadvantaged groups of people with very basic knowledge about common e-Government and e-Commerce services in their countries (e.g. e-banking, tax declaration, e-card) and how to use them. To ensure an implementation of the course in different contexts and environments, My e-Start will design and develop a comprehensive manual for adult educators and/or training providers working with the target group and intending to implement the online course into their curricula. The explicit aim of My e-Start is to contribute to digital inclusion of disadvantaged groups of people and address the increasing digital gap by designing, developing and promoting sustainable and tailored products, which are widely applicable and highly impactful. The project consortium consists of experts, who have vast experience in areas including adult education, digital competence and the inclusion of disadvantaged groups. During the whole duration of the project and beyond, partners will ensure an extensive dissemination and valorisation of the project through established national and international networks of key stakeholders to guarantee high visibility and a widespread effect.

Early school and iVET dropout and NEETs in the last decade have been increasing in all EU countries, although with different rates and drivers, Preventing and contrasting ESL and NEETs is at the centre of the agenda both at the EU and national levels in order to support inclusive, competitive and sustainable development processes. That calls for a need of sharing and building models, resources and competences by actors operating in diverse job and educational systems. The student awareness, motivation and engagement as well as the trainers (and educational system) competences in designing effective, personalized and engaging learning and job orienting processes can address the key determinants of a vicious circle based on the progressive decreasing of both expectations and competences.This is exactly the focus of the project SAVE (Self Awareness, evaluation and motiVation system Enhancing learning and Integration to prevent and contrast ESL and NEET) aimed at define and validate innovative models, approaches and tools supporting personalized, active and engaging youth personal development processes, based on self-awareness, reflective and participative based learning models, preventing ESL and NEET phenomena, contemporaneously addressing:- Students’ engagement and motivation by implementing self-awareness/evaluation tools, inclusive guidance and learning solutions supporting reflective, engaging and active behaviours;- Trainers guidance and learning role empowerment: by adopting pedagogical models based on: self-evaluation, learning personalization, digital portfolio and technology enhanced environments;- School and iVET responsiveness: by implementing stronger dynamic link between education and job market, leveraging on the competencies’ recognition within the SAVE portfolio framework.The SAVE system has been: realized, starting from the valorisation of partners complementary competences, resources and experiences; validated within a wide piloting framework, both at national (IT) and partners countries level (ES; UK; CZ). Around 300 youths and 133 trainers were involved just considering the piloting action.Six partners from IT, CZ, ES, UK, with consolidated experiences and representing SAVE targets, carried out the project by expressing complementary competences and resources, related to: self-evaluation and learning personalization (Ciofs-Fp, Educomm, Apricot, Navreme); technology enhanced systems and models (Navreme; Educomm; Apricot; Cultorale); target representation (CIOfs-Fp; Sanviator; Educomm); VET methodologies and organization (Ciofs-Fp; Cultorale; Sanviator).Five intellectual outputs, 8 multiplier events and 3 final conferences, supported by robust communication, dissemination and project management actions and processes allowed to achieve the project goals by:- carrying on a transnational scenarios and need analysis on models, practices and experiences aimed at clustering the targets and focusing SAVE design drivers;- adapting existing (also by creating a common SAVE clipping base) and further developing innovative tools, strategies and resources on the bases of the main scenario evidences;- defining the overall SAVE models and its architecture in terms of web enhanced solutions supporting learning personalization and guidance strategies based on self-awarded, motivated and active processes;- developing the SAVE resources for both youths and trainers and integrating them within the web enhanced SAVE system;- validating and fine-tuning SAVE system and its resources within 11 Italian Centres and in each partner countries. An iterative and multidimensional design-integration-validation approach has been employed, valorising the involvement of targets since the very first project stage to its follow-up, supporting both its improvement and fine tuning as well as its sustainable valorization.The evaluation of the piloting action has also represented the basis for the development of SAVE Recommendations addressing contemporarily the three levels: the system, professionals (trainers, schools and VET organizations but also mentors and companies, job placement) and youths. The results achieved are: the integrated web-enhanced SAVE system, supporting innovative self-awareness and evaluation tools and strategies supporting the learning and development process; recommendations, toolkit and resources; a wide clipping basis of resources; a consolidated and further developed SAVE network; the resources produced for the wide and constant dissemination actions. SAVE main impacts attained refer to all the three levels (youths and system, trainers and organizations, job and placement) both at national and EU level. The expected long term benefits can be related to two directions: the reduction of youth exclusion by enhancing employability (and transversal competences) both as personalized, (pro) active and aware development behaviours and as organizational (companies, schools, VETs).

Media literacy is considered to be one of the essential competences needed to be mindful, resistant to misinformation and fake news, able to make reasoned judgments about our life realities. The project derives from the experience of project partners and addresses needs of adult educators and learners to be knowledgeable and skillful in media literacy for their own and future generations’ well being. Project aims at supporting adult teachers, who want and need to improve their professional competences working with diverse audience of parents and grandparents in order to deliver high quality media literacy programs. Project also aims at supporting (and grandparents) in making them possible to contribute to their children safe, meaningful and wise use of media tools (including digital), as well as developing critical attitudes and habits. This project seeks to promote media literacy as broad and comprehensive concept, not limited by technological understanding and skills, but as a concept that embraces all parts of it and serves for: a) widening personal horizons; b) strengthening professional competencies; c) encouraging and supporting inter generational, intercultural dialogue; d) empowering for critical actions and e) contributing for democratization processes in each separate country and at overall EU level. The project consolidates efforts of 4 organizations from Lithuania, UK, Germany and Spain. The partnership is going to work jointly on development of 3 intellectual outputs: 1) Training course and training materials for adult educators for work with parents (grandparents; 2) Methodology and materials for parents (grandparents) to be used for work with children (grandchildren) at home.; 3) Collection of the „APRICOT“ stories – narrative and digital testimonies of adult educators and parents (grandparents’) about attentive parental education for wise being and co-being in changing times. Project outputs will be developed in Lithuanian, English, Spanish and German. All three outputs are separate and interconnected at the same time. They are coming from the unified vision and concept developed by the partnership. The partnership is going to employ and adapt Critical Thinking, Inquiry Based methodologies in developing its own approach or production of the first 2 outputs; and Narrative History methodology for development of the third output. The first output is going to be tested during international teaching-learning event, the second one – during national ones in each partner country. All outputs will be presented during multiplier events at the end of the project and stay open for use of all interested bodies after it. Dissemination and valorization of the project results is embedded in the project design. Project partners commit to use, adapt, to disseminate and promote project at organizational, local/regional, national and international levels long after the project end. The direct beneficiaries of our project are adult educators/teachers and parents (grandparents), indirect - young generation. But the project is not limited to those groups. The partnership intends to develop products to be useful at certain extend by other groups as well - class teachers, that work with parents; family counselors, that work both - with children and their parents; media professionals willing to work with adults; etc.

As life expectancy in the EU increases, people face lengthy periods of retirement with proportionally less pension provision, unless they stay economically active for longer. Longer working lives raises key challenges both for employers and for prospective older workers.The concepts and practices of career counselling are today transforming from the traditional way of comparing working life and job requirements to an individuals’ skills and dispositions, towards a focus on developing and enhancing the individual’s relationship with working life as a whole and in the context of their life course. This is particularly relevant in Later-Life Careers.SASSI-Working On addressed the challenge of 'Working On' by developing and testing age-sensitive and ‘working-life’ approaches to career review and guidance. It did this within the context of Continuing VET (C-VET) and meeting the needs of older people (aged 50+) who have to or want to keep ‘Working On’ into their 60s, 70s+. Recognising an acute lack of Later-life Career Review and Guidance across the EU, the Partners developed and piloted an innovative training programme for C-VET professionals, HR Managers and career management professionals, career coaches, and advice and guidance professionals on how to promote and support “Career Pathways for Longer Working Lives”.It included:- Providing C-VET professionals, HR Managers and career coaches (direct target group) with action-orientated methods for Later-life Career Review, Advice and Guidance- Promoting Career Revitalisation Pathways, including the participation of older workers in learning and innovative work-experiences in order to maintain their workability and sustain motivation/productivity- Developing practical online tools and products to support the delivery of these approaches- Encouraging workplace mobility for older workers, ‘unretirees’ and job seekers through short-term secondment, sabbaticals and volunteering activities- Championing the value of trainers and older people gaining work experiences in other countries in order to improve intercultural understanding, language skills and engender more active participation in European society.The professional competence of C-VET providers, HR Managers, and career coaches was demonstrably enhanced by the attitudes, knowledge, and skills necessary to apply the “SASSI-Working On” approach. Recognising that competences are most effectively developed using action-oriented and productive methods, learning was cascaded and applied through Learning Projects. These were also the vehicle for the validation of competences in the effective provision of Later-life Guidance and Careers Advice through LEVEL5, a proven methodology for validating personal competences acquired in non-formal learning.The core of the project is a Methodological Framework including a Blended Learning course, learning modules and resources. The methods were tested and refined through a 3 phase piloting process involving 15 staff trainers (from partner organisations), who cascaded their learning to 41 C-VET/HR/careers guidance professionals through Learning Projects and who, in turn, applied the methods with 54 older workers, ‘unretirees’ and job seekers/changers.Tactics included:a) promoting work experience for later life career review and planning to test and evaluate the impact of these on revitalising and re-motivating older workers.b) Providing guidance to employers on deploying Career Management in flatter, more matrixed organisations and with an ageing workforce.c) creating a repository of tools, case studies and resources for use by C-VET providers, HR Managers and career coachesThe products developed and shared by SASSI-Working On are: - ‘Career Pathways for Longer Working Lives’: Methodology and Resources - An Ambassadors Manual - An Employers Guide - A Toolbox of Resources - An Experience and Recommendations ReportIncluding the project staff from the Consortium, a Virtual Final Conference, multiplier events and the successful piloting activities, a total of 397 participants were involved in the project, ensuring widespread impact.These Outputs are all available via the SASSI-Working On HUB. They have been designed to make it easy for C-VET professionals to apply the methods and approaches in different C-VET contexts. The sustainability and exploitation of our outputs is ensured; not only by the commitment of the partners to continue using the products in our own organisations, but by engaging a wide range of stakeholders; C-VET providers, advice and guidance organisations, employers, HR managers, Line Managers with people management responsibilities in the successful piloting of the products and through our dissemination and engagement activities. The SASSI-Working On partnership consisted of seven experienced C-VET providers and HR consultancies from Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Portugal and Belgium.

"Time4Society Europe aimed to develop innovative methods and tools that link ‘Continuing Professional Development’ (CPD) with ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).Based on the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the project developed ways to make Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for Educational Professionals more attractive by addressing attractive, meaningful and socially relevant topics and linking them to internal training topics. In doing so, the project placed a strong emphasis on the topic of Sustainable Development (SD) and a modular learning programme for staff, as this sub-topic showed the greatest acceptance, the greatest feasibility (within the framework of the UN SDGs) and also the greatest adaptability in times of limited meeting opportunities in social projects.The project pursued the idea of qualifying educational staff from adult education institutions as facilitators for CSR and SD. In this context, 27 persons were trained, who in turn developed projects for further training. These implementation projects could also be carried out under Corona conditions in all partner countries.The project proceeded according to plan until winter 2020. By this time, an inventory of possibilities and limitations of training in the field of CSR/SD had been carried out. The project follows a competence-based learning approach; therefore, a competence framework was developed, which describes the potential competences to be developed by the staff and trainers and divides them into competence levels along the LEVEL5 taxonomy. This enables both the competence-oriented development of learning modules (O3) and the corresponding piloting and validation in O5.Still in 2019, a first training of 11 staff members was carried out in Turin, some of whom were still able to carry out pilot projects in face-to-face CSR projects. Due to the limitations of the COVID situation, the T4S Europe concept had to be adapted and part of the pilots had to be carried out online. For this purpose, an SDG Explorer self-learning programme was developed on the T4S platform. This gave interested employees the opportunity to work out the topic of Sustainable Development Goals online as a tool for CSR projects in the field of sustainability. Another group of 16 educational professionals joined the second online CPD in 2021. As integral part of the CPDs, design thinking workshops were held in the pilots, from which concrete ideas for CSR and SD projects were developed. In the process, the adult educators were qualified as ""Facilitators of Design Based Collaborative Learning (DBCL) for Sustainable Development and CSR"".The T4S Europe learning platform (O4) served as a common development space (via mahara groups), LMS for app and trainer training modules (moodle) and validation tool LEVEL5. The platform was used in combination with synchronous and collaborative tools, creating not only real interaction but also a productive learning environment online. This powerful combination of asynchronous, synchronous and collaborative tools and actions was the main reason why the project was successfully completed with more participants than originally planned, despite the pandemic.Through the adaptation processes (learning modules, and the online methodology), the intended goals regarding the qualification of the adult educators and the pilot projects could be achieved. As an additional ""product"", the SDG Explorer was developed, which enables employees to initially educate themselves in the area of the SDGs. With the help of the acquired knowledge, employees can initiate projects and activities themselves that contribute to increased sustainability and CSR in companies. For the trainers (we call them ""Learning and Development Facilitators""), this gives them the opportunity to access an upstream learning programme. In combination with a self-validation, the participants receive an initial profile of their acquired knowledge in the 17 SDGs. The subsequent development phase, which was carried out for the first time over up to seven synchronous modules in combination with the learning platform, clearly showed that transnational cooperation projects can also be facilitated online, and can then be concretely implemented in local initiatives..This is ultimately the greatest impact of the T4S Europe project - the further development of a successful face-to-face format for CSR projects into an approach that makes it possible to develop relevant social and sustainable projects in European cooperation online. The experiences and concrete projects were presented in the context of two online conferences with more than 100 participants each and have already been implemented in the context of one KA1 course."