According to the European Commission´s 2018 Report on ¨Equality between women and men in the European Union¨, although more than 9 in 10 Europeans think that promoting gender equality and nonviolence is important to ensure a fair and democratic society, its promotion, protection and, last but not least, implementation still requires a constant change of mind-sets, lifelong education and solidarity. Given the unstable social, political and economic situation not only in Italy but also in the other partner countries and the rest of Europe, we decided to form a Strategic Partnership as we believe that it is of utmost importance to address abuse and gender inequalities. The Partnership will be formed by the following countries and entities: -Italy: Petit Pas, association of social promotion,-Netherlands: Stichting voor Aktieve Geweldloosheid´s (Foundation for Active Nonviolence) Towards a Nonviolent World Department,-Poland: Fundacja Zielony Słoń (GEF), Foundation working with fewer opportunities communities,-United Kingdom: Creativity Works Preston, entity providing an alternative learning and employment centre,-Spain: Permacultura Cantabria, non governmental organisation working on social development.As for the learning activities planned for the WOMAN: Working On Mastering Adult Nonviolence project and their main objectives, through three study visits, in Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom, and a course in Spain we will better understand the reality of adult gender abuse victims which will further allow us to raise awareness of this problem among our adult service users.By visiting participating organisations´ local communities and other institutions they cooperate with we will be able to directly get to know their best practices in fight for a more just, discrimination and violence free society and round tables will let us benchmark our methods of working with adult learners against newly experienced ideas and initiatives.We will exchange specific tools to contribute to a nonviolent and more equal society for the benefit of our adult service users such as SVAG´s methods to work on identifying and breaking the cycle of oppression, GEF´s manual to address the issue of cyber abuse and discrimination, CWP´s method of identification of micromachist behaviours, Permacultura´s emotional management tools and Petit Pas´ experience on working on empowering women and gender and power abuse in the labour market.The newly gained skills and insights will be further passed on to other adults and adults trainers during internal workshops organised by the course attendees and subsequently used in defining and implementing future European projects.On the other hand, gender is not the only factor in women's lives as there are many more aggravating issues that undermine their well-being and social inclusion which is why education and training that explore diversity issues such as ethnicity or disabilities, in addition to gender, are also needed. Moreover, in many cases gender violence victims are economically dependent on their offenders which is why shame and emotional dependence add on to the problem. For this reason, the course in Spain will be focused on measures addressing adult nonviolence through emotional management tools and we will also visit institutions that work with women with disabilities or from cultural minorities, get to know their best practices and deepen our expertise on working with collectives, especially women, with fewer opportunities.As for the project’s impact:Adult trainers directly participating in the Project will broaden their capacities and gain new abilities for their daily work which in turn will create a direct effect on the gender abuse vulnerable collectives they work with advancing the benefits of the educational activities provided by their entities. Adult learners who participate in the course in Spain will acquire best practices relevant when facing abuse and discrimination in different contexts becoming more active as European citizens. Also, the multicultural environment and direct diversity experience will raise both groups’ consciousness level and improve their linguistic, task-management and communication skills.Our Strategic Partnership members will deepen the expertise regarding gender discrimination and violence improving the scope of their activities and their staff’s qualifications. They will also broaden their international networks and connections for the future initiatives.Last but not least, directly and indirectly through a wide dissemination campaign and adult trainers’ work more gender related violence and discrimination victims are expected to be reached and empowered. Also, European citizens in general will be better informed and equipped to provoke a social shift so that women are no longer underprivileged and gender-based violence and harassment is less widespread across our societies.

<< Background >>COVID-19 has caused devastating effects and schools are not an exception.According to the OECD, “school closures have had significant implications for the mental health of adolescents, as schools are not just places where students develop and progress their academic skills. While many adolescents have been able to keep online connections with peers, the loss of in-person interaction could have long-term negative consequences for mental health”.According to UNICEF, in Bulgaria 50% of students reported experiencing negative feelings, such as loneliness, insecurity, irritability, and anxiety due to reduced social contacts. Mental health in >35% of students and 44% of teachers is worse than before. The Study “Effects of Covid-19 confinement on the mental health of children and adolescents in Spain” by the University of Burgos, demonstrates that children in Spain, between 8 and 12 years old show anxiety, depression, rage control and problems with emotional regulation, rebellious behaviour and worse integration, besides social competence. Students between 13 and 18 years show higher levels of anxiety, depression, problems with emotional regulation and somatic complaints, as well as lower self-esteem and integration and social competence levels than children.According to the Study “Growing up in lockdown: Europe’s children in the age of COVID-19” by Eurochild, students from Romania who were not allowed to leave the institutions, not even for their daily routine outside (going to school, going out and meeting friends, going for walks etc.) had a negative impact on them and their reaction was often frustration which translated in higher predisposition for aggressive or self-harming behaviour.OECD declares “Across OECD countries, students indicating mental distress are 35% more likely to have repeated a grade and remain at elevated risk of early school leaving”. Mental distress facilitates access to young students to alcohol, drugs, compulsive use of digital devices, etc. On the other hand, our partnership, carried out online focus groups to determine the impact of COVID-19 caused in mental health, to teachers and students within their entities. We targeted students from primary and secondary who were older than 11 years old, as they are more vulnerable, due to their easy access to addictions and other negative behaviours. During these sessions students and teachers expressed they feel anxious, depressed, angry, lonely, etc., due to the uncertainty of their academic/professional future, the fast change from face-to-face to digital learning, the fear of losing relatives and friends, etc. Teachers expressed they feel powerless for not being able to help themselves and their students with their mental health challenges. Students are having bad performance at schools with difficulties in concentrating, think rationally and making decisions. Some students pass most of their ludic time with digital devices (videogames, mobile phones), losing interest in interacting with the outside world and participating in healthy activities. Although Khan Krum, Matei Basarab and Permacultura Cantabria provide psychological support, we do not have all teachers trained to identify our students’emotions and work on their mental health. These and other relevant needs were identified.<< Objectives >>OECD states “It is crucial that policies are put in place to ensure students are supported through to the end of their education including by resuming school-based mental health services and providing mental health training to teachers”.Khan Krum, Matei Basarab and Permacultura Cantabria need to open a door for teachers and students to heal from the COVID-19 effects.For this, the 3 entities want to carry out the project HEAL: Healthy Emotions And Lifestyles after the effects caused by the coronavirus.During the project, the participating organisations will develop an innovative emotional management framework. It will be included in a book with audiobook versions in English, Bulgarian, Spanish and Romanian. Also, the framework will become part of our key areas. With this, we will support teachers, school leaders, students, etc. with high quality learning opportunities.The main objectives of the project are:Objective 1: To deliver teachers and students innovative tools that contribute to their mental health, well-being and healthy lifestyles.Objective 2: To engage teachers and students in the healing process, as a community.Objective 3: To empower school communities in mental health and well-being.<< Implementation >>KHAN KRUM, Matei Basarab and Permacultura Cantabria have brought this Partnership to life to bridge the gap between our participants´ needs and their reality. We decided that the best way to reach our objectives is to carry out the following:2 Participatory Visits.Each visit will last 3 days. Their purpose will be to transfer tools and knowledge of each hosting organisations onto the rest of the partners. Firstly, we will meet in Romania to acquire tools and knowledge in self and social awareness used by Matei Basarab, and then in Bulgaria, where KHAN KRUM will share their tools and knowledge in community building & healthy environment integration.The knowledge transferred during those Visits will serve as a base for creating a new HEAL Framework, which later will be processed by the Partnership and described in the interactive book. For the maximum book inclusiveness, it will be also presented as an audiobook. Course in Spain.Permacultura Cantabria will prepare and host an 8 day long training, with the purpose of transferring the new Framework onto participating teachers and testing it (with help from the associated partners). Consequently, along with the interactive book, the Course will become a valid point of supply of innovative materials on mental health and well being of the members of education community.As we follow the eco-guidelines of the UE regarding diminishing the carbon footprint of the organisations and support the Digital Transition, the preparatives for the above-mentioned activities will be conducted entirely online.The interactive book, containing the innovative HEAL Framework and the outcomes of the project will be disseminated, with the purpose of reaching our target audience, through the Multiplier Events (1 day long conference in each country, promoting the book and the project outcomes), Consultation Period (2 month long period of time for consulting the peculiarities of implementing the HEAL Framework in each interested entity, supported by the Course participants) and Internal Workshops (events led by the Course participants for further transferring the HEAL Framework onto their colleagues and other members of the education communities interested in acquiring innovative tools and practices for mental health care and well-being).<< Results >>With this project, we expect to achieve the following impact on members of the education communities:Teachers and students familiarized with HEAL framework will present the following leaning outcomes:Define Emotional Management, healthy lifestyles and well-being and be aware of its benefits.Learn EQ, EI & Emotional ambivalence.Understand the difference between feelings and emotions.Learn healthy lifestyles and engagement tools.Acquisition of emotional management tools.Define and practice self-management, self-awareness, social-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation and empathy.Acquisition of capacities to manage stress, anxiety and other feelings during and after the pandemic, etc.Teachers familiarized with the HEAL Framework will be able to pinpoint emotions (felt by themselves and by their pupils) faster and act accordingly. They will reinforce their ability of creating beneficial learning environments by keeping track of the scale and depth of emotional responses, both their own and those of other people. Teachers will become better leaders with higher emotional IQ, demonstrating focus on self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision-making skills to inspire and capacitate others. They will gain the ability of transforming challenging situations into the opportunities for supporting integration.Students, especially from vulnerable groups and with learning difficulties will acquire the ability confront their mental challenges; set and achieve goals; and to develop interpersonal skills that are vital for school and life success.We will create an HEAL community, so its members can apply the framework on their daily lives. The community will:Establish a mental health-friendly environment that builds resilience.Ensure and provide a safe place to work and foster good mental health.Be developed close to the community. Its members will work together and will build strong supportive relationships.Build mental health working capacity available for future generations.Geographical zones within which the Partnership operates will present more safe spaces for mental health, robust lifestyle and well-being work, attended by more resilient and stigma-free groups of people, striving to counteract the adverse effects of the pandemic. We will also become a region of school and other communities that build bridges to work together.

Note: The project was presented in the last Erasmus call. We have adapted the project to all the evaluator's comments (reducing the amount of intellectual results, etc.). The current linear models of the industry in the world are mostly coming to an end. The bad management of our sources in production are causing daily tons of waste, shortage of resources, etc. making irreparable damages to our Earth: climate change, etc. To tackle this situation, there has been a slow transition from linear to circular models. The Circular Economy has begun to be introduced in the current economic and environmental policy of the European Commission, particularly through the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy presented by the European Commission to the European Parliament in December 2015. The idea of circular economy in project management is increasing in relevance during the lasts and over the coming years. However, most people do not know yet what circular economy is and its importance. Circular Economy principles and the ways in which it may be incorporated in project management are not already well documented yet in academic literature. There’’s still a gap between theory and practice Our strategic partnership composed by Medeina Foundation, Permacultura Cantabria and ASSO has decided to carry out the project “Join the CIRCLe with Erasmus + (CIRCL-E+)” to tackle this problem. We have identified in the most important project management methodologies, that none of them incorporates circular economy models. We conducted a survey among youth workers and youth from Poland, Spain and Romania (70 people from each country). The main conclusions show that young people are interested in: Protecting the planet and changing the world. Projects on sustainable entrepreneurship The use of a circular economy and sustainable tools in your life. Young people are confident that knowledge about the circular economy will open more doors in their professional lives. Most of them do not have the tools to define and implement the project and would like to acquire them. The main aim of the project is to empower youth workers and young people with tools for the creation of circular and sustainable projects as we are sure they are the key to accelerate this transition, as potential drivers for change. The objectives of the project are: 1To transfer the best practices carried out in our countries and our organisations regarding circular economy 2.To develop new tools and methodologies for the creation of circular and sustainable projects 3.To empower youth workers and young people with new tools and methodologies for the creation of circular and sustainable projects The main activities in our project are: There will be 3 participatory visits, one in each country (Poland, Spain and Romania) where partners will transfer their best practices and tools related to entrepreneurship, sustainability and the 7 key elements of circular economy in which they are experts. During the participatory visits we will carry out study visits and round tables with important organisations to know what it has been done in these countries related to Circular Economy. The best practices acquired will be the basis for the creation of new tools and methodologies to empower our target groups (youth workers and young people) to develop sustainable projects fostering the transition of linear to circular models. The new tools and methodologies will be documented, creating an interactive book. It will provide youth workers and young participants with: -A practical approach to implementing circular economy and sustainable development goals (SDG´s) in any project or organisation. -A simple way for transforming organisations towards circular economy. -A roadmap for young entrepreneurs who wish to create innovative sustainable projects. We will carry out 2 transnational meetings in Spain: 1 kick-off meeting and 1 evaluation meeting. We will carry out a dissemination campaign looking forward to providing the project’s activities, intellectual output, results, etc. in regional, national, European and international levels, increasing the awareness in youth communities of the importance of implementing circular models in their projects for the preservation of our planet. A brief summary of the impact expected is: The participants will have acquired new skills and tools in circular economy and will be able to create and manage sustainable projects. They will have increased their level of awareness about importance of circular economy for the preservation of our planet and will contribute to start new sustainable projects under this new model. Circular Economy will be part of Medeina Foundation‘s, ASSO’s and Permacultura Cantabria’s cornerstones. They will be able to empower young people and youth workers with tools and methodologies for the creation of sustainable projects under this new model, becoming reference organisations in this field in their countries.

The main aim of the project was the writing, publication, translation and exhaustive dissemination of the Youth Emotional Management Guide. This guide is a useful tool, so that youth workers could improve the competences needed in the emotional work towards their learners, giving pedagogical guidelines on active listening, emotional discharge and other strategies to work with young groups about the oppressions and mistreatment they receive and that are perpetuated by them. A teaching unit was also writing collaboratively to offer specific activities to organisations wishing to work with groups about this topic.Through the dissemination of the project´s results (the 3 versions of the guide and the teaching unit, both published in Czech, Spanish and Estonian) and the summary video of the conferences where the results will be presented) we would like to improve the quality of youth work, through capacity building on emotional management.The innovative and participative design of these two years project also provided a decisive strengthening of the professional skills, for the staff of the three participating organisations (Sokratovské rozhovory z.s, Permacultura Cantabria,EESTI PEOPLE TO PEOPLE). This strengthening was especially important, with regard to the emotional management in the youth work and non-formal educational framework, the employment of ITCs and the linguistic competences. Thus, they could, in turn, improve the quality of their daily youth work as well as their teaching and the learning of the young people with whom they interact.The specific goals of this partnership were:-Bestow the basic emotional management tools for non-formal education on youth workers.-To raise awareness, among those relevant agents in the educational decision-making, of the relevance of the emotional issues, in order to achieve an education of quality.-Introducing innovative improvements, related to the emotional management in youth training, with the consequent direct impact in the learning quality of the young people, their inclusive education and their future employability.-Broadening the knowledge about emotional management of the participating organisations, by means of online and on-site networking.-Laying the foundations for other future long-term collective projects in the emotional field.The main activities comprised in the Project included: (a) the realisation of three transnationals meetings (two were organised online), in which the representatives of the participating organisations reviewed the working plan and evaluated the project until that moment; (b) the joint online writing, publication and dissemination of the Youth Emotional Management Guide and the Teaching Unit on Emotional Management for Youth Workers, by all the participating organisations; (c) on-site conferences with different stakeholders relevant for educational decision-making, in each of the three participating countries that enhanced the results dissemination. After the conferences, the educational challenges identified were further addressed through teamwork.Long-term impact for the participating organisations included a greater confidence of our youth workers and trainers, to face the challenge of emotional education, a high-quality education, from the point of view of inclusion, academic and professional success, as well as the social and personal integrity of their learners. In addition, contacts were shared during the project, contributing to the creation of a transnational net of organisations interested in the emotional education, which, at the same time, could end up in future projects.Through the dissemination of the outcomes, the partners were also informing and persuading key educational stakeholders, so that the emotional issues were, definitely, taken into account, in all educational aspects (from youth work practice, to educational legislation). Thus, the organisations, that participate in the project, had also a greater European involvement, widening the influence of their role, as key actors, creating connections between different stakeholders, in the field of education.

<< Background >>*Note: This project was submitted in the 2020 October call, staying in the reserve list and not being granted. This new version has been modified according to the recommendations of the evaluator.Young people, especially females, are especially vulnerable to different ways of power abusive practices due to their economical, emotional, intellectual and social dependency. This phenomenon is often difficult to detect and counteract due to low reporting rate and its lack of visibility.The power abuse situation of each partner´s country is truly alarming and requires an immediate action, especially, in detention and preventive measures, since adequate specialized services are profoundly underdeveloped and there are no specific measures towards achieving gender equality.Whether it is physical, emotional, financial, laboral, discriminatory, sexual, psychological, domestic or any other type of personal or interpersonal violence, it needs to be counteracted, with all the strength that can be gathered.NGO Explorator as applicant organisation, together with the Italian youth Association ORIEL, and the Spanish NGO Permacultura Cantabria, will exchange knowledge, tools, best practices and methods to counteract abuse of power towards youth, with a special focus on gender violence towards young women and minority groups (Roma, disabled, juvenile former prisoners, LGTBQI groups, etc).Thanks to this project (YEAP: Yes to Youth Education against Abuse of Power) we will also boost the general awareness regarding the power abuse situations experienced by youth.<< Objectives >>The project “YEAP: Yes to Youth Education against Abuse of Power” objectives are to:-Exchange knowledge, best practices and methodologies, to counteract gender violence and power abuse, among youth.-Increase the awareness level regarding the abuse of power, experienced by youth, especially young women and those from minority groups.-Strengthen alliances, at regional, national and European levels, with entities that fight to counteract gender violence and power abuse.<< Implementation >>During this project, we want to build an international network, which will allow us to work, closely, and learn from each other. To facilitate the coordination of our actions, we will place youth workers, in a new environment, and will gather new best practices, tools and competences, which will be used for elaborating new solutions, to violence against young women.To achieve these objectives, we will carry out different activities:3 meetings to work together: a kick-off meeting in Spain, an online intermediate meeting, and a final meeting in Romania. Project and Dissemination Coordinators will attend them.We will also organize 2 participatory visits: the 1st one in Italy, where Oriel will transfer its knowledge and best practices for gender violence prevention and Non-Violent Communication, and the 2nd one in Romania, where Explorator will share its best practices for the prevention of power abuse and will transfer its Theatre of the Oppressed method, for raising awareness about violence. Coordinators plus one youth worker from each entity will attend. Participatory visits are planned for the best practice exchange, project network building and facilities visiting. Finally, the obtained knowledge and methods mentioned will be combined with the best practices in Emotional Management tools, used by P. Cantabria, during a Course in Spain where all the methodology will be transferred to other young people and youth workers. Participants will be the 2 coordinators, 1 youth worker and 3 young people from our entities.All participants will be actively involved in the activities and the dissemination of the project results.We planned a specific phase of application of the new tools and knowledge where the youth worker course participants, with the support of the experts and trainers of our organizations, will act as multiplier agents, carrying out Internal Workshops, to put into practice and transfer the acquired knowledge and tools, to other youth and youth workers, from our communities and organisations.There will be an open round table invitation, issued so all the organisations interested in the subject could participate, even if they are not involved in the Partnership. That way, we will gain additional project coverage, using those entities as multipliers. Round tables are planned for each of the learning activities.<< Results >>At the end of our project we aim to achieve the following results:*To gain knowledge and skills to decrease the cyberbullying and to respect non-binary gender individuals as well as learn “Non-Violent Communication” from the best practices and tools through the participatory visit in Italy, at ORIEL partner*To transfer the Explorator’ s knowledge and best practices for the early diagnosis and prevention of everyday sexism, violence and abuse situations, within minority groups. Also, to get deep knowledge on the “Shadow Theatre” and “Theatre of the Oppressed” tools, as well as their tools for raising awareness, during the participatory visit in Romania*Learn Emotional Management and Conflict Resolution tools, for youth education against power abuse during the training course in Spain at PC*To transfer the knowledge, best practices and tools acquired locally through internal workshops.*Develop new projects and initiatives defined by all the participants, during the Course in Spain, and Internal Workshops. Therefore, through this project we hope to be a space for coming up with new initiatives for counteracting abuse towards youth, foster social inclusion and gender rights equality.We will spread the project results through a potent dissemination strategy, carefully designed to reach local communities, but also the European society, as a whole, to accomplish the desired and expected systemic impact.We strongly believe that upon completion of the project, many young people, especially the most vulnerable ones, will have experienced and will be empowered, engaging in non-violent, gender-equitable and emotionally healthier relationships and environments.They will take action to protect their human rights and will be equipped with skills to effectively communicate their needs and with tools to manage any painful experience they may have suffered.We will improve our services, attending our organization’s users even better, with enhanced skills, and reaching more youngsters. Opening a safe space, for the free expression, will be a useful resource of support for victims of abuse of power.Youth workers and the organisations involved in the project will improve their skills and will be trained to introduce new working methodologies for social inclusion, gender violence prevention, peaceful and effective communication, bullying avoidance, etc., between young women and other particularly vulnerable youth groups with minority backgrounds.We will involve in the project other entities working on similar social issues to strengthen our local, regional and international alliances network, with whom to continue working on Youth Education against Abuse of Power.