"<< 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."

The project aims to promote quality, innovation and recognition of youth work through the platform and outputs, as this is an overarching theme and strategic objective of the 2019-2027 Youth Goals. Increasing and maintaining the quality of Youth work across Europe is key to achieving the Youth Goals, and this can be done by ensuring youth organisations and youth workers are able to learn from each other by recognising and sharing good practices of other European youth projects, increasing the quality of youth work, the skills, competences and understanding of youth workers and in turn, facilitating high quality opportunities and support for the youths engaged with them.To address these priorities, the project will strengthen and support the mandate of the EU Youth Coordinator (to ensure that youth issues are mainstreamed and well connected with all policy areas of the EU that affect young people) through the use of an innovative tool (within the YI+ digital platform), which will increase transnational collaboration between youth organisations, promote “sister project” collaboration, engagement and sharing of lessons learned. The project will support and facilitate the dissemination of project results, outcomes and the impacts of European funded youth projects by connecting the youth work sector, to achieve the objective of mainstreaming youth lead initiatives.We have selected the above priorities, to ensure the project is aligned with several of the 2019-2027 Youth Goals, which also shaped the project's objectives.1. Enhance recognition of Youth Work through European funded programmes across Europe at national and EU level2. Improve sectoral cooperation, including through the EU Youth Coordinator's mandate, to give youth a voice in shaping EU policies3. Support the capacity building of youth workers and youth work practices4. Reinforce links between policy, research and practice and promote better knowledge about the situation of young people and youth policiesProject Outputs:IO1: YouthImpact+ Digital Tool and PlatformIO2: YouthImpact+ Training e-CourseIO3: YouthImpact+ Community of PracticeIO4: YouthImpact+ Tool Assessment and Policy Recommendations

"The project is aimed at increasing the educational potential of disadvantaged adults (eg. unemployed, people 50+, disabled, immigrants, low-skilled people, people from low-urban areas, etc.) in terms of opportunities and motivation for lifelong learning. These people often show deficits related to competencies that determine effective participation in social and professional life, such as: information acquisition and processing, critical thinking, problem solving, self-motivation, self-analysis, creativity. This affects the occurrence of problems such as unemployment, poverty, social and cultural exclusion in these groups. The tool of support for these groups in the project will be the development of a training methodology based on principles of neuroandragogy. According to the knowledge of the functioning of the human brain, neuroandragogy emphasizes the development of learning skills in accordance with abilities and cognitive conditions of each learner. This model is adequate for people of all ages, with different educational experiences, in different socio-economic situations and experiencing different reasons for exclusion. It attaches importance to the affective aspect of learning, building self-motivation to learn, which is particularly important for disadvantaged people. The innovativeness of the project involves several areas: • knowledge: promoting in adult education a teaching methods based on the latest research, which is continued, concerning brain development, previously used primarily in the context of work with children and youth • transferring the scientific concept of neuroadragogy into a practical use in adult education • introducing a new target group which may benefit from the achievements of neurodidactics – adults from disadvantaged backgrounds, threatened with social exclusion • promoting a new competencies for teachers and adult educators: the ability to design a teaching process using the assumptions of neuroandragogy; ability to build motivation to learn in case of adults; ability to individualize the learning process by taking into account the cognitive preferences of adult learners and their personal and professional experiences; ability to develop learning materials for adult learners in accordance with neudoandragogy • internationalization of the subject of neuroandragogy as an effective method of teaching adults from disadvantaged groups - cooperation of European educational institutions in this field, exchange of experiences, etc. Main beneficiaries of the project will be adult people from disadvantaged groups, threatened or affected by social exclusion. The second main target group for the project is teachers, educators, trainers working with adult learners or cooperating with anti-exclusion institutions and organizations. There will be the following project outputs: • A teachers’ training program “Neuroandragogy in adult education at risk of exclusion"", including educational materials. • Training materials for disadvantaged adults, developing their skills of effective learning, using the rules of neuroandragogy. • An interactive educational platform ""Neuroandragogy against exclusion"" • Publication: „Neuroandragogy against exclusion"" All project outputs will be tested by the main target groups –teachers and disadvantaged adults– during pilot trainings. The project results will help teachers realise the great potential offered by neuroandragogy in adult education. They will develop their knowledge concerning the assumptions of teaching based on knowledge of brain functioning. They will obtain information related to use of neuroandragogy in personalisation of work with an adult student. Participation in the project will also allow teachers to acquire lesson planning skills in order to support the adult students’ motivation to work and development and include their individual capacities related to the learning methods. Due to the project disadvantaged adults will develop one of their basic competences – the ability to learn. Neuroandragogy will help them organise their own learning, will increase their motivation, and point to effective methods of overcoming their difficulties related to the life situation resulting from being a part of the disadvantaged group."

The project COOLSKILLS- cultural heritage as a fountain of modern youth skills collects 4 partners in strategic partnership: FRDL MISTiA Kraków (Poland)- leader of the project, EDUCentrum Zu (Czech Republic)-project partner, Vidzemes Planosanas Regions (Latvia), Powiatowa i Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna im. Marii Fihel w Miechowie (Register of cultural institutions number: RIK Nr 1/00)The main aim of the project is to identified new, more effective youth education tools and best practices which connect culture and heritage education with soft skills development needful for new type of creativity in Entrepreneurial learning - entrepreneurship education and social entrepreneurship / social innovations. The project is based on innovation and exchange practices among 4 partners during 24 months. The main target group: youth staff- project coordinators, coaches ,trainers, members of boards responsible for youth work, key youth local policy makers.

This Strategic Partnership which addressed more than one field of learning was made up of 4 European Countries (Croatia - Leader, UK, Czech Republic, Hungary) who were working together to develop and test a series of intellectual outputs and materials than could be used to better engage and support disadvantaged young (and other) learners through the use of media and arts.Creative Youthwork Network was a cross field partnership of Youth, VET and community organisations engaging with young people and others. The partnership developed innovative education training methodologies and outputs better support disadvantaged groups to reconnect with learning, training in developing skills and having fun whilst addressing a multitude of issues that they face personally and professionally. The project was inspired by the need to find engaging and attractive ways for bringing young people back to education. It was notable that young people who were neither in education, training nor employment (NEETs) had become so because of their personal history of learning (that was often neither fruitful nor enjoyable), a lack of motivation to strive for targets that appeared unobtainable, and their lack of confidence in themselves. Media and art themed workshops could address each of these obstacles; provide engaging and enjoyable learning, recognize and enhance current capabilities, develop confidence, and ultimately help young people to set personal targets and take action towards participating in further education and towards employment. Our rationale and need for the Creative Youthwork Network project was common across our partner countries and more broadly across the EU as it addressed high levels of unemployment particularly amongst people with deprivation and disadvantage.This project first designed and delived a workshop that developed skills and competences in youth workers to design and facilitate educational workshops aimed at engaging and inspiring hard to reach young people, such as NEETs. Then the workshop built the skills of youth workers to design, resource and deliver themed workshops. The project progressed from an outline workshop programme to full content and resources. Having contributed to the overall design of the workshop, each of the project partners sent youth workers to participate in the workshop. All materials used in the workshop were made available as OER. Through this process of first developing the skills and competencies of youth workers (target group 1), the project then had built capacity to reach and impact directly onto young people (target group 2). The delivery of such media and arts themed workshops to young people may be regional or national event, i.e. delivered through the national funding received by the project partners.