<< Background >>The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the UN highlights the importance of sign language and strongly encourages the learning of sign language and the promotion of the linguistic identity of the deaf community. However, “only up to two percent of deaf children around the globe access their education through formal sign language” (McClain-Nhlapo, 2017).Concurrently, hearing impairment relates to low academic performance at school as well as low sense of confidence and self-esteem. (NCSE, 2011). This is related, among others factos, to the limited use of sign language at schools and to the fact that deaf students are not taught about the history of sign language, the successes of the deaf people and the overall opportunities that exist to foster their development. As a result, when deaf children grow up, they lag behind both in academic performance and in terms of personal development and self-esteem. They are lacking confidence but also a sense of a strong identity and a sense of belonging in a community of people from whom they can be inspired to pursue their own dreams in life. Consequently, they are usually faced with less opportunities not only to integrate in the working and civic life but also to step up, become extrovert, innovate, and drive positive change in their communities. In this context, the main mission of the ‘Sign for Change’ project is to enhance the extroversion of Deaf children and boost their self-confidence with the ultimate aim of encouraging them to develop personal skills and key 21st century competences that will help them integrate as equal, active and productive members of the society. This goal will be achieved by harnessing the power of sign language and developing an innovative and inclusive training and education package for teachers and students with hearing problems. The methodology to be used is the Social Innovation Education (SIE) model, which has been developed as part of the H2020 NEMESIS project and has been tested and validated for its contribution to personal and collective development in several primary and secondary schools around Europe.<< Objectives >>Particularly, the project aims to achieve the following: - Develop an innovative educational model through SIE that will allow teachers to adopt a new approach in teaching and learning for deaf students - Provide role-models to deaf children by connecting them with the Deaf Community and particularly with deaf entrepreneurs, artists and scientists. - Highlight and promote sign language as a tool for inclusive, innovative education. - Train teachers and enable them to apply the innovative Results of the programme to develop deaf children’s changemaking competences. - Bring deaf students from different countries together to connect and foster their self-confidence as they will view themselves as members of the broader Deaf community.<< Implementation >>The above objectives will be achieved in a 30-month project and the results will be totally open and free accessible to the public. The ‘Sign for Change’ project brings together 6 partners from 5 different countries: Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Spain with complementary skills and with necessary background to achieve the goals ofthe project. The coordinator is FAU-ILI, an academic research center and partners are STIMMULI, a social enterprise which design innovative educational methodologies, Turin Institute of the Deaf, Center of Greek Sign Language and two educational institutions/ schools with deaf students (Colegio Gaudem from Spain and LKNUC from Lithuania).Under the coordination of FAU-ILI the partnership will develop five Results, a training event for teachers in Spain, five physical and one digital partners meeting, management documents for the good governance of the project, pilot training and dissemination activities in all counties. This project will have impact at local, regional, national and European level in the school context of deaf students, educational policies, deaf communities and Sign Language institutions.<< Results >>The project will have the following Results:- A genuine study on the educational context and the changemaking potential of deaf children in Europe. - An E-book “Deaf Changemakers - role models and inspiring stories”. - A Social Innovation Education Curriculum for deaf students. - An online course for teachers and professionals working with deaf students. - Campaigning toolkits for guiding deaf students on creating their own campaigning videos. Regarding other outcomes, the project aims to have a meaningful impact not only on deaf students, teachers and professionals working with the deaf, but also on institutions of sign language, deaf communities and families of deaf children. More specifically:-Deaf students: At least 50 deaf students will directly participate in the activities of the Sign for Change project-Teachers: The project will directly train 15 teachers and professionals who work with deaf students during the training event and at least 100 as part of the Online Course offering.-Sign language institutions and deaf communities: The role models E-book, the adapted SIE model, the online course and the campaigning toolkits can be useful for various environments with deaf students and learners in general. It is envisioned that in the long term the projects results will contribute significantly in the introduction of Social Innovation Education practices in the deaf student’s context, which as an extension will bring a positive impact upon students’ willingness and competences to actively participate in society while strengthening their skills and competences.

<< Objectives >>The project focuses on the obstacles faced by the hearing impaired in their vocational training. Flexible and learner-centered teaching programs and materials will be developed for them. The outcomes of the project will be made available to everyone online and in open access, in a structure that does not require a membership system. Thus, the project will contribute to the transition of the hearing impaired to the labor market and to close the existing gaps in adults' access to education.<< Implementation >>Wp1: Preparation of eight modules that will form the Financial Literacy teaching curriculum for the Hearing Impaired Individuals,Wp2: Preparation of Financial Literacy Readiness Level Measurement Tool for the Hearing Impaired IndividualsWp3: Preparation of Digital Teaching Materials of Financial Literacy Teaching Curriculum for Hearing Impaired Individuals Wp4: Preparation of Financial Literacy Sign Language Glossary of Terms3 TPM, 1 LTT Activity, 2 ME Activity will be carried out.<< Results >>•Financial Literacy curriculum will be prepared for the hearing impaired,•A measurement and assessment tool will be prepared to determine the readiness levels of the users,•A measurement and assessment tool will be prepared in order to determine the level of users after vocational training,•Financial Literacy distance education digital contents for the hearing impaired will be prepared,•Financial Literacy glossary of terms will be prepared in sign language.

<< Background >>The aim of Career Paths Inclusive 2.0 (CPI 2) is to design, develop and test digital multimedia career guidance tools in sign languages. Deaf youth can plan their career paths unaided or in a supported setting (training) in their first language (sign) and are empowered and informed in their choice of future career. CPI 2 is a follow-on project to augment the existing tools and develop new complementary ones. Through CPI 2, we want to address the priorities, particularly relevant for deaf youth: Strengthening employability, inclusion and addressing digital transformation: Deaf youth - is particularly vulnerable to marginalisation, exclusion and unemployment. They experience linguistic barriers to participation in education and training systems throughout their lives (WHO 2021, p.46). The problem starts at birth - 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, so they lack an adult language model at home (Mitchell & Karchmer, 2004). Structural and linguistic limitations in education systems mean little or no bilingual instruction is available in schools throughout Europe. Most deaf children learn reading and writing without reference to sign language. Deaf youth often finish compulsory schooling with low literacy levels and few qualifications. Deaf students often demonstrate a lack of career planning (WHO 2021, p.46f), a lack of information about the job application process and a lack of employed deaf role models (Accessible Work 4 All 2020, Napier et. al. 2020, Hoogeveen 2015).Access to career guidance in sign language helps bridge linguistic barriers, provide access to information, enable self- study, self-determination and increased literacy levels, and enable fair and equal participation on the first labour market. CPI 2 augments the CPI toolkit, adding animated video tutorials, more careers videos, a training course for the job application process and an evaluation and guidelines of the quality of sign language in the outputs. The results are designed to provide deaf youth access to careers guidance in their first language. Self-determination is vital - bilingual content enables deaf job seekers to access digital content without the need for interpretation or communication assistance. Through the training course they gain practical experience guided by a trainer. With digital resources in sign language at their fingertips which they can refer to in their own time, replay and repeat, deaf youth can use the project outputs for self-study or in a training setting, thereby improving the transferable skills that they need to find a job. As a result, they are more attractive candidates in the first labour market. This is empowerment. Equipped with transferable skills developed through CPI 2, it is easier for deaf job seekers to work in companies interested in diversifying their workforce. Deaf youth have embraced some aspects of digitalisation, and many deaf users show more advanced digital skills and competencies than their hearing peers. Nevertheless, digitalisation relies heavily on written language, and even though the tendency is falling, 45 % of internet content is in English. Complex formulations and foreign languages constitute barriers to people with lower literacy levels, such as is (sadly) often found in deaf communities (Krausenecker 2006). This means that digital transformation needs to be carefully implemented using an inclusive approach. In the context of deaf youth, this means developing bilingual digital materials – in sign and written language – to ensure that content is accessible and easily understood by people who identify as native signers. Accessible digital transformation needs to include the accessibility of content, not just the infrastructure – digital content must include sign languages, but also supporting graphics, visual images or animation, as well as the use of plain language (easy-reading format). All of these enable full and broad access to all users across the literacy spectrum<< Objectives >>CPI 2 is a follow on project from the highly successful Career Paths Inclusive (2019 – 2021) project to design, develop and test digital multimedia career guidance tools in sign language (success indicators: unique website visitors: 46.765, users of interest profile: 800, Facebook Fans: 304, Instagram Followers: 332, YouTube views: 25,4 K/watch time 680h - 10.2021). The overall objective is to contribute to deaf youth empowerment and the realisation of articles 21 and 24 of the UN CRPD. The specific goal remains to inform and empower deaf youth, enabling them to plan their own career paths unaided or within a training setting through the provision of accessible career guidance information in their first language (sign language). We developed the Career Paths toolkit during the first project phase, which consists of an interest profile in Sign Language and numerous career orientation videos in 4 Sign Languages. The toolkit starts with CHECK YOUR PROFILE – a survey that invites users to answer 44 questions based on their interests, strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the survey, the three most appropriate areas of work appear as results. Accompanying the results are career orientation videos featuring 51 possible careers. We used plain language to facilitate a greater understanding of written accompanying texts, and there is a vocabulary section for difficult terminology. It combines picture or photo with the written word and Sign. CPI 2 augments the existing toolkit, adding additional resources and languages. We plan to develop four work packages: Output 1 consists of step-by-step explanation videos, which comprise animation and SL moderation on selected subjects such as job searches, interviews and CV/applications, and more. Output 2 consists of 40 videos in sign language about additional professions , output 3 is a training course about deepening the topics of the IO1 tutorial videos. For output 4, the partnership will develop an evaluation and guidelines on how to assess the quality of sign language in the project outputs. The tools are available in the following sign languages: Austrian, Dutch, Slovak and Italian, as well as German, Dutch, Slovak and Italian written languages. The use of plain language and focus on visual presentation means that the tools can be used by other groups such as people with intellectual disabilities or hearing youth wishing to acquire Sign Language skills and competencies. The tools can be used in integrative and vocational schools and organisations offering employment services, counselling, career guidance and support throughout Europe. There is a clear need for projects that provide bilingual tools for Deaf youth. Deaf or hard of hearing children and youth face many barriers in education, training and employment. Despite many advances in recent years, adequate bilingual education in sign language and written language is still not available in most European countries. That means in practice that many deaf children acquire only lower literacy levels, and there are currently few bilingual resources available to them. The first Career Paths Inclusive project had an exceptional resonance with the target group, which is why we would like to continue our work. The availability of career guidance tools in sign language enables deaf youth to decide for themselves, to plan and experiment in their first language, thereby facilitating greater self-confidence, self-determination, and inclusion.<< Implementation >>Activities are divided into 3 main areas. These are activities relating to project management, i.e. monitoring, reporting and quality management, those relating to the development of the 4 outputs, and finally, those relating to the dissemination, exploitation and long-term sustainability of the project outputs. Project management activities include communication and coordination, admin and financial management, maintenance of the logical framework analysis, work plan and Gantt chart, financial and narrative reporting, dissemination reporting, quality management and risk management activities.Through well-run and timely project management activities, we coordinate and harmonize activities between project partners while ensuring that the achievement of milestones and quality management are all assured, and all tasks are fulfilled in a timely way. Activities relating to the development of the outputs are as follows: Output 1 consists of 9 animated video tutorials providing careers guidance information on topics relevant for deaf youth looking for a job. Partners use a research template to ensure consistent information collection and topics are divided between partners. When the research phase is concluded, content is translated into written language and glossed for sign language translation. The animated video templates are produced by equalizent, and partners film the sign language moderation to overlay on the template. Completed videos are uploaded to the multilingual project platform. Testing throughout is undertaken by deaf youth and representatives of associated partners and other stakeholders (working and focus groups). Output 2 consists of 40 career guidance videos in 4 sign languages (160 videos) which focus on the daily tasks of a particular job, presented by a deaf role model. The careers and interview subjects are carefully chosen to augment the videos already available. The Dutch and Italian sign language version of CHECK YOUR PROFILE is filmed and added to the platform. Testing as described above. Output 3 Consists of a training course based on the topics of the tutorial videos in Output 1. A curriculum and a handbook are produced and piloted by 10 deaf youth in each country. The output is tested (as above). Output 4 is the development of an evaluation tool and guidelines on how to measure the quality of the sign language content. An information video is filmed at the MEs in each country, showcasing the outputs and the skills and achievements of the deaf youth themselves. Dissemination is undertaken using a mix of online and face-to-face approaches, project-specific channels using the existing CPI website and social media channels, as well as existing partner channels, websites, social media channels, and newsletters. We utilise existing contacts, fora and conferences to ensure the project is widely disseminated. Deaf community acceptance and use of project outputs ensures greater long-term sustainability.<< Results >>Deaf youth are empowered and informed in their choice of a future career, have access to and use bilingual digital tools and have augmented their transferable skillset. Verifiable indicators: By 2024, more than 100 deaf youth have used the tools independently. By the end of the project, 40 deaf youth have acquired transferable skills visible in their youth pass. By the end of the project, 80% of deaf youth participants express greater empowerment. 20 institutes, organisations and schools use the tools in their training programmes and career guidance.Output 1 - explanation videos: 9 animated explanation videos are available in 4 sign languages (SPJ, ÖGS, NGT, LIS), so a total of 36 videos. 20 deaf youth have tested the tutorials 20 institutes are informed about the tutorials and have tested them.Output 2 - Professions : Digital information on 40 selected careers is available in sign languages / in a multimedia format CHECK YOUR PROFILE is available in Dutch and Italian. 40 career guidance videos in SPJ, ÖGS, NGT, LIS (160 in total) 20 deaf youth have tested the tools 20 institutes are informed about the tools and have tested them . Output 3 - Training: Curriculum, blended learning training course and accompanying digital handbook on skills needed for job applications. Curriculum, training course & handbook available in English, German, Slovak, Dutch and Italian for download on the website. Training has been piloted by 40 deaf youth. 20 institutes, organisations are informed about the training and have tested it.Output 4 - Evaluation: an evaluation tool and guidelines on how to measure the quality of the sign language content. 5 evaluations (1 for each output of CPI and CPI 2.0). 1 final evaluation with guidelines to produce accessible teaching materials for deaf youth.4 MEs have taken place with at least 200 participants 80% of the user (tester) feedback is positive Effective dissemination of the project goals, activities and outputs has taken place.

<< Objectives >>-Ensure effective project coordination to align with ERASMUS+ requirements -Introduce non-formal learning opportunities in the form of extra-curricular activities as purported by the 2018 Digital Action Plan to provide VET teachers and students with a comprehensive training pack through the creation of 3D4DEAF@SOCIAL HUBS-Identify and equip individuals with SE skills to turn social needs into entrepreneurial plans-Ensure exploitation of results and well-through promotional strategies<< Implementation >>-Design and implement vital activities to ensure financial, management and quality coordination throughout the project period-Development of practical and essential results to offer a training programme on 3D and Social entrepreneurship to be applied in schools that responds to digital demands and ensures social and labour inclusion for people with deafness/hearing impairments . -Development of a CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM AND MOBILE APP: e-LEARNING, e-ASSESSMENT, e-COMMUNITY AND 3D4<< Results >>1.Digital tools:-CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM e-LEARNING, e-ASSESSMENT, e-COMMUNITY AND 3D4DEAF ENTREPRENEURS NETWORK-MOBILE APP for m-learning2.Training Material-Comparative Index & Practical Guidebook -Dual Competence Framework-Dual Educational Pack3. Training Mobilities:-VET TRAINERS IN-SERVICE TRAINING -WORKSHOPS4. Exploitation Activities and Results:-Recommendation Strategy-3D4DEAF@SOCIAL HUBS METHODOLOGY-ACTION PLAN FOR VET SCHOOLS-Dissemination and Exploitation Plan-Events

<< Background >>Due to the increasing complexity of the financial markets, ageing European population and development of the digital world that makes money practically virtual, young people are in a vulnerable situation, and financial literacy is a vital skill for the 21st century. However, most of students do not receive financial education before joining the labour force.The latest youth financial literacy statistics provide clear evidence of the growing need to raise awareness about personal finance topics around the world. The latest research (2018) of the OECD‘s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessed the financial literacy of 15 years old students. A survey found that 22.3 percent of respondents did not learn fundamental financial skills that are often applied in everyday situations, such as building a simple budget, comparison shopping, and understanding an invoice.Schools are well positioned to teach students what they may not be able to learn from their parents or by themselves, however PISA data reveal that 38% of the variation in financial literacy is not explained by mathematics or reading skills, many features of financial literacy are unique to the subject. Taking into consideration these aspects, the consortium partners saw the need of cross-curricular and interdisciplinary teaching of financial literacy making use of gamification and real case simulation methodology, especially for hearing impairments and other disabilities students for which special pedagogy is needed and who are subject to social exclusion, discrimination and low incomes.The 7 organizations found the opportunity in this Erasmus+ cooperation project to increase the level of financial literacy of teachers and students and to provide unified curriculum, training materials, education tools based on adequate and attractive teaching methods, in order to avoid special needs students social exclusion.<< Objectives >>The project aims to improve special needs and other students at risk of social exclusion financial literacy knowledge and skills for strengthening their social inclusion by enhancing cross-curricular and interdisciplinary collaboration in school education and promoting experiential, game-based and social simulation teaching methods and tools. FINGO will thus contribute to innovation in special education and to lowering the risk of social exclusion of the special education students. Project target groups are normal and special education teachers and students aged 14 - 19, with high focus on disables and disadvantages categories of students or at risk of social exclusion.The specific project objectives are:-Raise awareness on the benefits of financial literacy knowledge and skills and and equip over 12000 students from special learning and mixed schools with useful knowledge, skills, involvement and self-determination by developing workshop and photo exhibition guidelines for financial and entrepreneurial skills based on real case simulation techniques in 24 months.-Raise awareness, increase competence and equip 10000 teachers and educators from special education and mixed schools by providing them creative, effective, game-based methodology in financial literacy skills consisting in a training package - curriculum and training materials, best practice collection and stories of successful personal financial management for special needs students for the diminishing this important educational problem in the European schools in the 24 months project span.<< Implementation >>The FINGO activities that the consortium will implement are the 4 work packages resulting in the following expected tangible results:- the attractive and interactive game-based training curriculum and learning materials for the ``Financial Literacy Skills using games in Special Education`` for teachers, piloted internationally in Cyprus and tested locally in each partner country, -a best practices and stories collection of successful personal financial management for special needs students for improving the self-confidence, communication skills and creativity of participants and help their social inclusion, personal and professional development- guidelines for financial and entrepreneurial skills workshops and exhibition based on real case simulation techniques for special needs students which offers them the opportunity to practice financial literacy and basic entrepreneurial skills;The partners will be highly involved in the communication and dissemination activities which will be diverse and ongoing and are planned to reach over 10000 teachers and over 12000 students in the 6 countries and all over Europe by organizing multiplier events, creating a project webpage and Facebook account, by informing stakeholders, distributing posters, leaflets and highly using social media.<< Results >>Fingo will provide special needs teachers and students a new interdisciplinary training curriculum and learning materials in ``Financial Literacy Skills using games in Special Education`` piloted with 28 teachers internationally and 70 teachers locally, a best practices and stories collection of successful personal financial management, ``I am a financially successful person!`` guidelines for financial and entrepreneurial skills workshops and exhibition based on real case simulation techniques piloted with about 252 students from the 6 countries, a school awareness campaign organized in a unified manner and simultaneous in 6 countries in special and mixed schools, addressing to students and teachers in social media, schools, families highlighting the benefits of financial literacy skills for a better social inclusion, a project website, and Facebook account, 6 multiplier events with 290 students, teachers and stakeholders, as local participants and 40 participants in virtual events will attend the 6 multiplier events; minimum 560 stakeholders from the partner countries informed about project results, about 12000 students and 10000 teachers from special learning and mixed schools informed about the project and its outputs from all over Europe.FINGO project expects to increase the cross curricular and interdisciplinary collaboration in school education, in order to increase innovation, adaptability, practical learning, critical thinking, to increase the use of gamification in learning in order to make it more attractive and efficient, to improve special needs students financial literacy skills in order to considerably contribute to their welfare in life, to their employability, to their social integration on long term.