CONTEXTThe 1Point project aims to transform a standard quality assurance method and information security process used in the industry into a creative and innovative training methodology for the VET sector. Our focus is the training of future maintenance professionals in order to improve IT skills, foster employability and develop innovative thinking. The training course will be designed in accordance with high quality VET standards in order to meet the labour market needs.The next generation of industry workers should be tech savvy, but VET programs and teaching methodologies have not caught up yet. 1Point will promote a work-based learning approach and the acquisition of concrete knowledge and skills. Therefore, training with the 1Point methodology will support participants to carry out and reflect on tasks that are directly connected to their future workplace (vocational context). The methodology will include the use of modern ICT technologies, accessible from different mobile devices (e.g. tablets, laptops) and will include gamification aspects (badges, missions). In this way, the 1Point lesson model creates benefits for VET providers, trainers, learners and the industry.MAIN OBJECTIVES1Point will identify current needs and key competences for maintenance professionals. Further, it will develop training content and contribute to a curriculum. Additionally, it will develop the 1Point methodology, a virtual Learning Motivation Environment, a skills and achievements framework and trainer guidelines.NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTSThe partnership comprises 6 partners from 5 countries: 2 VET providers, a consultancy, an ICT-SME specialised in maintenance, a European non-profit association on digital learning and a national research institute for VET. The project is targeted to VET trainers and VET students of the maintenance area, but will also pay particular attention to low-skilled maintenance professionals and trainees through continuing VET. It intends to form digitally skilled maintenance workers that are close to the market and aware of their future operational environment. Additionally, it wants to enrich the continuing training of the educational staff, by enabling them to create, use or modify attractive digital learning content. Finally, professionals and trainees requiring upskilling will able to improve their digital skills and, thus, will become more “employable”, competitive and innovative.ACTIVITIES1Point project will develop, transform, test, evaluate, improve and disseminate an innovative training framework comprising a new methodology along with an online training course. Based on these results, 1Point will provide a learning motivation environment, a skills and achievements framework, trainer guidelines as well as a validation and recognition plan.METHODOLOGYThe methodology proposed by the 1Point project is used under the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) approach in industries operating at World Class Manufacturing level. It has not been applied yet in the field of VET, nor anywhere else in formal educational settings. Our project proposes an innovative training concept that will allow the transfer and implementation of the 1Point methodology within formal and informal educational settings of the VET sector (VET centres and industry), enabling not only trainers to organise concrete knowledge information in concentrated and digital modular pieces, but also trainees and professionals to gain and claim ownership of the knowledge they acquire. The content-development and course preparation will be based on the results of an analysis of current learning needs and digital skills-gap and a comparative analysis of current maintenance-training offers. The training methodology will be developed through adaptive transformation of the 1Point methodology for the field of VET with focus on the specialities of the maintenance topic. The Learning Motivation Environment will be a responsive web application, accessible from different mobile devices (e.g. tablets, laptops) and will include gamification aspects (badges, missions).RESULTS AND IMPACT1Point will develop a new methodology (1Point) for the VET sector that will systematically prepare maintenance professionals. It will define the ECVET Curriculum of the Maintenance Expert and will design and develop a virtual Learning Motivation Environment fostering the use of ICT applications. Further, it will develop a skills and achievements framework and a set of trainer guidelines. Finally, it will develop one validated VET programme for maintenance professionals boosting key digital competences.POTENTIAL LONGER-TERM BENEFITS1Point will promote the organisation of knowledge in ways more suitable for the labour market and the competence-development of VET trainers. It wants to match the demand for training with supply and give better access to lifelong training for certain groups, and so support a competitive and innovative society.

Europe employs more than 278.000 people in more than 21.000 companies, mainly SMEs, adopting a development strategy based on higher quality of products and services, flexibility, short time to market, product differentiation and added value producing 3,2% of the 24.3 billion pairs worldwide (figures 2019 www.worldfootwear.com ). It is a very manufacturing intensive sector with more than 35% of the employees over 50, which highlights strong need of attracting motivated and qualified young talent to replace the future retirements. The Pact for Skills in TCLF (S4TCLF https://www.s4tclfblueprint.eu/ ) as a consequence of the European Skills Agenda, outstands the need of addressing innovative ways of delivering IVET and CVET to capture and maintain a younger generation of employees inside the sector and calls the attention to the urgent need of a digital transformation at the level of training/education.All these factors are currently further amplified by the impact of COVID-19.A survey performed by S4TCLF project to VET providers and High-Education institutions providing VET on the impact of COVID-19 in the training/learning activities resulted in the following findings:- Urgent need of changing the ways of delivering training, opting preferentially by “at distance” approaches- Difficulties in “delivering practical training”- Difficulties from trainers and teachers in adapting their own practices to the new “normal” due to the lack of digital literacy and materials adapted to the new approaches. difficulty in keeping trainees and student within the courses, calling the attention to the need of creating attractive pedagogical resources and environment.- VET providers surveyed also confirmed that after COVID-19 the training approach will change definitely compared to the past and nothing will be as it was, highlighting the priority of developing robust Digital teaching and learning approaches. Therefore, CTCP Portugal, CTCR Spain, POLICALZ Italy, TUIASI Romania, IPS Poland, together with CEC, the umbrella association, and a specialist on digital education, joined efforts to face up this European challenge, for the development of a Footwear virtual “learning by doing” approach targeted to:1st- Trainers/teacher/coaches in footwear sector willing to promote, develop, accompany and assess innovative digital training2nd- Students/trainees in footwear related IVET and CVET or others willing to go for a career in footwear sector and to know more about footwear manufacturing operations,And the expected contributes are at 4 levels:1-Preparation of VET Providers and HE providing VET and their correspondent staff, including trainers, teachers and coaches, for the implementation of comprehensive digital strategies for the learning By Doing in Footwear Manufacturing, including approaches, methodologies and autonomation in contents development.2-EU network of VET providers and HE providing VET to excel in the digital delivering of practical training, toward the development of the practical skills, in footwear manufacturing, including IT educational experts and Umbrella Association.3-Creation of a free complete digitally environment for training/teaching/leaning of practical skills in Augmented reality and correspondent contents.4-Creation of a joint international digital course certified at National level and recognized at EU level for the development of practical skills in Footwear manufacturing.The expected results will be in 3 groups and will be released in English plus the 5 languages versions of the partnership: Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Romanian.1- Joint International course for digital “Learning by Doing” on Footwear manufacturing for the practical learning on Footwear manufacturing, integrally anchored in digital strategies. 2- Joint virtual Shoe Fab Lab and correspondent contents in Augmented Reality (AR) This also includes a course for trainers, teachers and coaches on how to use authoring tools (for the development of innovative and attractive contents in AR. 3-Common methodology on training/teaching/coaching for training itineraries based on augmented reality (AR) which includes manuals for trainers/teachers, coaches and trainees and training opportunity for end users (students and trainees in IVET and CVET).

<< Background >>[MOTIVATION TO APPLY]Given that English is the dominant international language of the 21st century - spoken at a useful level by some 1.75 billion people (British Council, 2013) and considering the impact it has on various educational and professional aspects it comes as no surprise that attention should be drawn to making its acquisition by non-native speakers as effective and fruitful as possible. In Europe alone, the percentage of students learning English exceeds 90% (European Commission, 2012) and although the target language learning started hundreds of years ago through conventional methods in traditional classrooms, over the past years great emphasis has been put on coming up with innovative English language teaching methods that involve utilizing the latest technological advances (Carless, 2012). While available for quite a long time, the digital teaching methods had not been fully appreciated until the outbreak of Covid-19, which worked as the triggering event that brought more attention to distance learning as schools in more that 161 countries were forced to closure and virtual classrooms have replaced physical ones for more than a year now leading both ELT instructors and learners to embrace technology to carry on with their work. Suddenly, all the educational approaches that had been used in class up to that moment - such as problem- and game-based learning techniques that encourage interaction among learners and engage them in realistic scenarios - should somehow be transferred online by utilizing the available infrastructure to reduce the impact through remote learning strategies and explore innovative instructional methods without missing out on the benefits of classroom based learning. In view of the above, one would expect the ELT industry to be filled with a plethora of digital problem-based learning options allowing for a variety of learning alternatives to choose from; however, this is not the case and a noticeable gap is detected when it comes to available digital PBL experiences in the ELT field.[NEEDS ADDRESSED]Social distancing has affected all aspects of children’s education and priority has been given to finding new ways of making remote learning engaging for STEM subjects which have been affected the most from the loss of classroom based collaborative problem solving. However, ELT is also a subject that is missing out on the benefits of collaborative learning and can benefit substantially from a digital learning environment which facilitates PBL and collaboration such as the Minecraft Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) environment.English language teachers are in need of turnkey approaches for applying Problem Based Learning remotely, in virtual classrooms. The majority of today's approaches lack engaging lesson plans suitable for ELT. Even though Minecraft is an ideal environment for delivering PBL experiences, today there is no framework to fully support Problem Based Learning in a specific educational context, let alone for ELT. This is what Follow Me to Minecraft aims to change through the offering of a complete framework to support PBL for ELT in Minecraft.Follow Me to Minecraft will harness the power of Minecraft to create a fun learning experience through activities aligned to level A1 of the CEFR and are designed to focus on the skills and knowledge required by English language learners to communicate successfully at this level. Problem-based learning enables students to embrace complexity, find relevance and joy in their learning, and enhance their capacity to make creative contributions to real-world problems [Source: Sr. Preetha Ram, Microsoft Education, Using Minecraft: Education Edition in problem-based learning]The project is for teachers of English to learn how to adapt face-to-face teaching skills to a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) environment.<< Objectives >>Virtual classrooms have replaced physical classrooms and teachers embraced technology to continue their work. However, it is not straightforward or even possible sometimes to make up for activities which until now have significant educational value when carried out physically. Responding to this need, the project aims at filling this gap using Minecraft (a sandbox video game which works as an ideal digital learning environment for delivering independent or guided learning experiences) to promote PBL in ELT. FOLLOW ME TO MINECRAFT is expected to educate ELT instructors on how to administer remote PBL ELT experiences through digital learning channels so as to ensure students continue to harness the benefits of collaborative problem solving as they used to prior to the advent of COVID-19. This education will not be solely theoretical, as teachers will be equipped with concrete usable resources for delivering remote ELT through Minecraft without the need to devote a significant amount of time to integrate them to their teaching. This means that the ELT environment that will be developed in Minecraft, will work as a complete solution and will be a legacy for ELT instructors. Finally, there will be constant room for changes and improvement as a mechanism will be developed to collect the instructors’ views and learners’ experience of the venture in a fun and engaging way that will guarantee truthfulness. Thereby, ELT instructors worldwide will have a chance to discover what the challenges as well as the preferences around PBL in ELT are through the witnesses of associates that have actively participated in it.Since 2013, American and Swedish schools have been systematically integrating Minecraft into their schools, and it is being used around the world to teach science, urban planning and foreign languages. Masses of educational applications and experiences using Minecraft are available online. [Source: https://bit.ly/3ozg9Ns] The educational potential of Minecraft as a Massively Multiplayer Online Game has been explored by a few initiatives and conclusions are very positive as it can be asserted also by the growing community of Minecraft Education comprising teachers, educators and parents and the constantly increasing pool of Minecraft resources.The project will educate the teachers on how to administer remote PBL ELT experiences through digital learning channels so as to ensure students continue to harness the benefits of collaborative problem solving as they used to prior to the advent of COVID-19.Instructors and language schools will directly benefit from this tool, as they will become familiar with some of the most modern learning environments and acquire skills in operating them that will help them to stand out in the field of ELT and become more competitive. The greatest part is that they will be fully guided towards using Minecraft for ELT through a handbook with numerous specifications and methods, so they will not have to spend time navigating through the concept by themselves. Moreover, the teaching process will become an easier task for them as they will be able to keep their students’ interest alive through personalised activities that reflect today’s youth’s preferences. Learners will gain numerous advantages, too, since the learning process will become fun for them and a reason to be more focused and committed to their homework will arise.A Minecraft world based on a storyboard was created by ATERMON and HESO. This world served as proof of concept for the feasibility of the envisaged results. The demo world can be downloaded and used from here (there is also a video of the game): demos.atermon.nl/grammarion Minecraft is an ideal digital learning environment for delivering independent or guided learning experiences and the project will explore language teaching within the engaging and creative context offered by the world of Minecraft where children already spend significant time. Lets give them purpose!!<< Implementation >>FOLLOW ME will deliver a new educational tool to be used both in ELT classrooms and at home by instructors and learners respectively, comprising a teacher’s guide and a complete set of activities to be performed in a digital learning space. This will be achieved through a series of constant collaboration between subject matter experts (aka ELT professionals), game developers to first identify the needs and set the learning objectives, and later on implement them in a virtual environment. Stories help young learners remember their experiences in second languages and so an overarching narrative can tie together the puzzles for the learners to solve within Minecraft. Apart from facilitating the understanding of English, the game will also encourage skills that are important as learning outcomes, such as curiosity, creativity, perseverance, problem-solving, and collaboration.Project activities comprise:- Methods for delivering PBL experiences through Minecraft for ELT and PBL specifications for Minecraft environments: The elaborated methods will help the ELT teachers that will use the project outputs to make the best use of the FOLLOW ME Minecraft world and Minecraft in general through the conceptualisation of their own PBL challenges, ideally through co-creation with their students.- Lesson structure: The duration and structure of the lesson to be delivered through the game. Language focus will be on adjectives, comparative adjectives, answering questions - Students learn to follow instructions and explore linguistic challenges in a safe environment - Students practice spelling and communication skills.- PBL challenges for ELT: These are the challenges that will be delivered through the project dedicated Minecraft world.- Minecraft World: A dedicated custom Minecraft world to deliver to the learners the elaborated ELT challenges in the context of a mission to be accomplished.- Mission: The complete game scenario describing the non-player characters (NPCs), the game elements, the walkthrough introducing the different game areas and tasks, the after the game practicing session. - Parent's Guide: Designed for parents who would like to guide their children through the lesson at home. - Teacher Pack: Designed for teachers who would like to introduce the Follow Me to Minecraft game as part of their English Language teaching lessons.- LTTA: A 3-day workshop for training the subsequent trainers on the use of the results and in the process identify improvements and corrections- Feedback loop: The mechanism for obtaining an assessment of the administrators (teacher’s) views and the learners (children’s) experience.- Instructional material and guides will support the integration of the FOLLOW ME Minecraft Game to the ELT teaching - The results will be tested first internally and then an improved version based on the results of the testing will be subjected to a series of validation activities (A5) with the involvement of representatives from the direct target group, mainly ELT teachers.- Based on the conclusions of the validation exercises, a final release of the results will be provided towards the end of the project.- The use of the results and the integration of ELT challenges through Minecraft in the teaching process will be facilitated by a dedicated virtual space, the FOLLOW ME FOUNDRY, which will serve as the single point of entry to all FOLLOW ME results and offer support (synchronous and asynchronous) to the community of teachers that will use the results. The FOUNDRY will provide a feedback mechanism to connect the partners with the users so as to drive the corrective/perfective/evolutive maintenance of the results for as long as there is an interest.- A series of Multiplier Events (7) to generate awareness about the launch of the FOLLOW ME Collection- Roll out of the results<< Results >>IDENTIFIABLE TANGIBLE RESULTS - A set of methods for delivering Problem Based Learning (PBL) through Minecraft, specifically presented from the viewpoint of delivering ELT challenges- PBL specifications for Minecraft environments, accounting also for the different versions of the Minecraft platform (Education, Java, Bedrock, Pi)- A collection of PBL challenges for ELT- FOLLOW ME Handbook providing a practitioners approach to ELT in the Minecraft environment- The FOLLOW ME Minecraft World, enriched with resource packs and mods, used by the delivered ELT challenges which are part of the FOLLOW ME game mission- Instructional material and guides for teachers and parents to reap the benefits of the FOLLOW ME Minecraft World- A virtual space (FOLLOW ME FOUNDRY) serving as single point of entry to all results and providing resources and information for their use, as well as synchronous and asynchronous support infrastructure (contact form, email online chat, ticketing application, video conferencing). The FOUNDRY space will also facilitate a feedback loop between the teaching community and the partners with a view to drive the corrective/perfective/evolutive maintenance of the results and thus their sustainability.- A certification scheme for the recognition of the knowledge and skills acquired through the successful completion of the FOLLOW ME mission.The main outcome will be an increase in the use of digital learning spaces for delivering ELT learning experiences to children and in particular in the use of Minecraft as a delivery environment for ELT.Outcomes for English language teachers comprise:- Ability to utilise gamified activities for their students to practice communication skills in the English language- Understanding of how to enhance students critical thinking skills- Gamification skills for engaging students in problem-solving with curiosity and perseveranceApart from the direct benefits that are related to the improvement of the target language, the increase of attention span and the general pleasure they will experience, students are to develop further skills such as sharper critical thought, improved decision making, coordination and better behavior as recent study by the Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology indicated that gamification in the classroom is rather helpful for disruptive students suffering from ADHD.If the project manages to build a strong, big community of adopters by mobilising a critical mass of adopters through the FOUNDRY, then the objectives will be achieved and the results will be sustained over time leading to further use of Minecraft as an environment for delivering ELT experiences to learners.

<< Background >>ContextCultural Tourism (CT) is an integral part of today’s economy, even if seriously hit after the pandemic. Although it accounted for more than 37% of the tourism sector until 2019, there was a massive blow of 80% with the COVID-19 (TexTOUR Project, 2021). As the European Commission is committed to safeguard cultural heritage focusing on sustainability and innovation, advanced technologies together with hybrid skills required in businesses’ digital transformation are providing endless possibilities in the field of CT (European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage, 2018). In fact, technologies such as 360o photo, 3D printing, Augmented/Virtual Reality and serious games have been recently introduced in tourism for enriching tourists’ experiences through cultural heritage. An example is depicted in the Tourism 4.0 Heritage+ approach which aims at bridging the gap between the needs of local communities for promoting heritage values and sustainable development (Arctur d.o.o, 2019). Another example is EU UNESCO 4ALL TOUR, a project that has made art accessible to visually impaired people by combining tactile exploration with audio data (www.unesco4all-tour.eu). Those examples imply that cultural tourism is increasingly moving towards digitization, with accessible tourism being a game changer for destinations (UNWTO, 2020).Nonetheless, the pandemic was a huge shock for the tourism-related cultural sector, bringing into the forefront both the challenges endured by people working in the sector and the ways of how cultural life is weakened by the lockdown (Compendium of Cultural Policies & Trends, 2020). With almost 70 million fewer travelers, the pandemic jeopardizes the most important parts of cultural tourism (UNESCO, 2020). With more than 13% of museums being at risk of never re-opening, more than 80% of UNESCO World Heritage properties being locked, 75 million jobs in tourism being under immediate threat and most people working in the field of cultural tourism being currently unemployed, the need to turn into sustainable smart solutions becomes even more urgent. As digital jobs become more vital than ever, new skills are needed among the professional profiles of tourism. It is thus rational for digitally low-skilled adults pursuing job opportunities in the sector to be more equipped with digital competences so as to form a stronger workforce (UNWTO, 2020). Therefore, as there is an increasing need for digital designers with a deep understanding in usability, accessibility, interaction, narrativity and dramatic composition for exhibitions, digital jobs are constantly being developed with the view to make cultural tourism accessible (Compendium of Cultural Policies & Trends, 2020).Needs / ProblemWith the COVID-19 onslaught having forced cultural life to retreat implying a massive impact on the sector, the pandemic and economic crisis can be also regarded as a cultural one (A & Al-Said, 2020). In fact, the pandemic has revealed the true power of culture as an expression of humanity towards establishing sustainable development (Ottone, 2020). On the other hand, beyond its control, travel and tourism industry, as a vital resource for the cultural sector, has been significantly affected as well, with 75 million jobs in the industry being under immediate threat in 2020 (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2020). However, as there is an urgent need for digital designers with a deep understanding in usability, accessibility, interaction, narrativity and dramatic composition for exhibitions, digital jobs opportunities are constantly being developed under the prism of making heritage accessible (Compendium of Cultural Policies & Trends, 2020).<< Objectives >>The current project addresses innovative up-skilling practices based on experiential learning in order to equip low-skilled adult with the creativity and digital skills required in the cultural tourism sector within the context of a digital post-crisis world. The purpose is to enable them to create their own digital cultural tourist guide, while promoting local culture towards sustainable tourism.More specifically, the project aims at empowering low-skilled adults especially from rural areas to promote Cultural Tourism (CT) resources by developing their skills in Digital Design & Digital Thinking towards the digital transformation of CT. As the new era in cultural tourism integrates the concept of digital cultural tourist into cultural life, adult job seekers should be up-skilled with competences that allow them to become competitive among the close and yet vying industry of CT.Upon project completion, participants will have a deep understanding in digital design principles and be able not only to map out digital content that promotes local culture values but also to manage the tones of resources available in cultural life (museum exhibits, local products/food, places to visit, etc.) in an entreating manner.This will be facilitated by the creation of a practical interactive online course for adults already working, willing to work or left jobless in the field of CT due to the crisis. The course will be complemented by a cloud-based tool that will allow them to create their own digital cultural tourist guide, based on a pre-defined scientific methodology.Specific objectives:- To create a series of handbooks for adults' up-skilling including practical examples of how Digital Thinking & Digital Design is applied in Cultural Tourism- To develop a virtual assistant that will guide and support the participants in creating their own project, namely their ownl Digital Tourist Guide- To build an online European Network serving as a community of practice and giving the opportunity to the project network to work towards affecting European policies for cultural heritage tourism.Target groups:-Direct:o Low-skilled adults from rural areas that already have working experience in heritage tourism or are interested in promoting heritage tourismo Low-skilled adults that are interested in improving their digital competences-Indirect:oAdult trainers/educatorsoAdult training organizationsoTourism organizationsoOrganizations related to the creative/cultural industryoNGOs or other organizations/authorities taking initiatives towards sustainable developmentoDigital designers / Digital design / e-Learning companiesoPolicy makers<< Implementation >>In alignment with the aforementioned objectives, specific activities based on Agile methodology are going to be implemented:-A needs validation report serving as the basis of the white paper stating the current situation in partner countries regarding the post-COVID heritage tourism activities and the skills required to overcome tourism unemployment-The development of practical handbooks for low-skilled adults with useful guidelines and examples of Digital Design principles in Cultural Tourism Promotion-The configuration of a virtual tool that will foster the hybrid skills of participants towards empowering them to promote their own Digital Cultural Tourist Guide-The establishment of a strong network inside and outside the partnership towards the creation of CulTour Design synergies of practice through a digital community especially developed for the project enthusiasts-Project, Quality, Sharing & Promotion, Piloting and Exploitation plans supporting all the horizontal activities that will establish the impact of the project through top quality results-Development of an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) agreement to be signed among all partners ensuring the exploitation of the project and including succession schemes and revenue models<< Results >>The intangible results that will insure the project impact after its completion are:-Raising awareness about the current situation and actions taken in-response to COVID-19 as well as the impact on cultural tourism.-Implementation of novel ICT-enabled training methods for skills development helping rural citizens and tourism professionals to acquire digital skills while safeguarding the cultural sector.-Enhancement of smart solutions and e-learning strategies in E&T within the context of cultural and creative sectors turning to online solutions due to the crisis confinement.-Incorporation of open educational resources (OERs) and open software in the learning process complemented by motivating online learning activities-Development of a wide network of stakeholders providing the opportunity to open a dialogue among cultural tourism communities-Affecting policies related to cultural tourism initiatives across the EUThe main tangible project results to be available upon its completion are:1.A series of inclusive handbooks especially developed for adults seeking job opportunities in the cultural tourism sector. The handbooks aim at enhancing the digital skills of low-skilled adults with a focus on those from rural areas, focusing on the main aspects of Digital Design and Digital Thinking for efficient Cultural Tourism Promotion.2.A cloud-based assistant that provides pathways to users allowing them to put their newly acquired digital skills into practice while enhancing their hybrid skills (technical and non technical). Through this tool, low-skilled adults will be able to create their own cultural tours, utilizing digital thinking principles to design virtual products that promote their local culture and safeguard tourism sustainability.3.The CulTour Digital European Community that constitutes a dedicated online space serving as a single point of information and communication for the project practitioners and interested parties under the scope of increasing the project network and thus impact among European creative/cultural industries and policy making authorities.

"<< Background >>Background / ContextThe Internet and social media have changed the ways citizens access and engage with news. Many people turn to online media to get the information they want (European Commission, 2018). But one of the problems that online media come with is disinformation and fake news, as they may have severe consequences and can cause public harm, threaten democracy, and affect people in making decisions. The exposure of citizens to large-scale disinformation, and false information, is a major challenge for Europe [Source: http://bit.ly/3l0vdSP].Needs / ProblemAccording to a Flash Eurobarometer study (Fake News and Disinformation Online) 37% of the respondents believe that they come across fake news every day or almost every day. A large majority of respondents think that the existence of fake news is a problem in their country, at least to some extent (85%). Additionally, many Europeans (71%) are at least ‘somewhat confident’ that they are able to identify fake news or disinformation, only 15% say they are very confident. While fake news and disinformation is a problem for several years now, after the breakout of COVID-19, the amount of fake news has increased substantially, creating serious consequences to public health. Some examples can be found in the so-called cures that affected a lot of people and made them harm their elves, such as drinking bleach, eating garlic, wearing warm socks and spreading goose fat on one's chest [Source: http://bit.ly/3euDOfx]. Based on these facts, we can conclude that fake news and disinformation can create several behavioral patterns and affect someone's decisions. In fact, some studies have shown that exposure to fake news can subconsciously alter people’s behavior and affect their decision-making. (Greene & Murphy, 2020), (Bastick, 2021). Those who are more likely to be affected by fake news are adults over 55 years old, as they are less confident in their ability to identify fake news in comparison with younger adults (European Union, 2018).At the same time, European Commission has launched intervention programs such as the #SaferInternet4EU Campaign which are targeted at schools, while many studies show there is a need to target older people (Loos & Nijenhuis, 2020).<< Objectives >>Project Idea / SolutionBreak the chain aims to help adults identify the impact that fake news and disinformation have on their behavior and find ways to alternate the situation. The project will provide a holistic approach, focusing on introducing all the relevant information about fake news and disinformation, their impact on our decisions and ways to detect them.Project Objectives- Raise awareness about intentional disinformation and fake news-Assist adults in detecting and coping with fake news and disinformation online-Enhance adults’ media literacy skills-Support adults educators in developing innovative training approachesProject Target Groups- Direct: Adults (those aged 55+), adult trainers- Indirect: Schools, Training centres, NGOS, policy makers, Research Institutions, journalists<< Implementation >>Project’s objectives-Raise awareness about intentional disinformation and fake news -Assist adults in detecting and coping with fake news and disinformation online -Enhance adults’ media literacy skills -Support adults educators in developing innovative training approachesProject’s results-Adult educators gain new tools for enriching the provision of their training courses-Adults being in place to spot fake news-Adults understand the scope of disinformation and its impact on their behaviour-Adult educators improve their competencies and knowledgeEnvisaged activities: -Identification of the knowledge and skill of adult trainers on the topics of fake news and disinformation and the documentation of their current educational practices on these topics-Identification of the situation of fake news and disinformation in their country and the level of media literacy across their population.-Design of the training methodology and the documentation of desirable learning outcomes will support the elaboration of training material directed to existing knowledge and skills gaps and envisaged training practice.-Development of Manual that will be divided into two parts. In the first part, all relevant information about fake news and disinformation will be presented for assisting trainers to achieve a comprehensive viewpoint on the topic. In the second part of the Manual digital tools and methods will be described for supporting trainers to foster their media competencies and incorporate technology resources into their training programs.-Development of web application containing a pool of activities in the topic of fake news and disinformation, which will send reminders to users for checking the new activities.-Development of a Dynamic Demonstrator presenting real-life scenarios in the topic of fake news and disinformation that will be used as a complementary tool to the learning process.- Set up the Break the Chain Community virtual space to support the project's adopters and practitioners.- Promotion of the Community and the project's outcomes through dedicated multiplier events.-Promotion of the project's activities in the envisaged target group through dedicated dissemination activities.-Implementation of exploitation activities aiming to reach interested parties after the completion of the project.-Development of a webinar for adult trainers.<< Results >>The tangible outcoumes of the project are the following: -A guide for adult trainers aiming to provide innovative approaches in the development of educational activities about fake news and disinformation.-A web application containing several activities about the impact and detection of fake news and disinformation online.-A dynamic demonstrator that will present real-life scenarios of fake news and disinformation, aiming to facilitate the understanding of these concepts and deliver an engaging educational experience.Another tangible result will be the ""Break the chain Community"", a dedicated virtual space that will include all of the project's results and infrastructure to support synchronous (live help, chat, live video assistance, skype, GoToMeeting/webinar) and asynchronous communication (email, online forms channeling tickets to the appropriate persons, forum, FAQ section). The Community will be used by those wanting to use the project's outcomes. The infrastructure will support the project's sustainability by allowing Break the chain learners to be informed about the project’s results after the end of its funded life.The project is also envisaged to have some intangible results, which are the following:-Adult educators gain new tools for enriching the provision of their training courses-Adults being in place to spot fake news-Adults understand the scope of disinformation and its impact on their behavior-Adult educators improve their competencies and knowledge Other outcomes that will be produced during the project are: Other results of the project are:1. Project Management Plan: The coordinator (EduCentrum) will develop a guide for the overall management of the project, including the essential steps for implementation of the project and the financial procedures. 2. Sharing and Promotion Plan: A specific strategy for promoting the project, along with the definition of channels methods and tools will be produced by the sharing and promotion partner (HESO) and will be updated every quarter. Additional dissemination results comprise: - Project’s website-Project’s social media-4 newsletters-4 infographics-2 articles-4 press releases- Project brochure-Project presentation-6 Multiplier events - Backlinks to the project site on the websites of partners3. Graphical identity of the project: the project logo and the design of the promotional material will be defined upon the starting of the project. 4. Webinar: One webinar will be organized for introducing adult trainers on the topic of fake news and disinformation online.5. Exploitation and Outreach Plan: An exploitation plan and relevant indicators will be produced by P3-KOMICHA6. Quality Assurance Plan: ICMEDIA will develop a quality assurance plan and define the quality procedures to be followed during the project implementation and the elaboration of its results7. Validation Plan: E-SENIORS will develop a validation plan for ensuring that the results are addressed to the target groups’ needs and are of high quality."