MEETmeTONIGHT (MEET) – “Face to face with the research” is the proposal for the European Researchers’ Night in 2018/19, happening in the two major Italian cities of Milano and Napoli, complemented by Brescia, Castellanza, Cremona, Edolo, Lecco, Lodi, Mantova, Monza, Pavia Sondrio (Lombardia region), Portici and Procida (Campania region). The goal is to realize a special occasion of meeting and interaction between the public at large and the world of research, where researchers – at the forefront of all the proposed activities – can show themselves and what they do, in a simple, spontaneous, informal and entertaining way, actively involving the public. People, by doing, find themselves learning, getting amused, and becoming aware of how much research is for everyone and all around us. All MEET activities aim at promoting research and its outcomes, researchers and their profession, with a special attention to the youngest generations on one side, and to the recognition of the role of Europe on the other. With five thematic areas and five flagship topics, MEET proposes interactive stands, hands-on experiments and live demos that reconstruct the research environment; conferences, video projections, interactive games; guided visits to scientific museums; meeting occasions with researchers; European Corners; live broadcast moments. A special attention is given to schools’ pupils, for which a number of dedicated activities are foreseen, at the goal of encouraging them to consider research career as a concrete option for their life.

The European Cities Against School Segregation (ECASS) project sets the objective of creating innovative solutions for local government to tackle school segregation in European cities. School segregation is a burden to achieve equal opportunities for all and social and educational inclusion. As one of the main difficulties to undertake efficient education policies in this area is the transfer gap between researchers and policymakers, the ECASS project has been designed as a collaborative workspace between recognised research experts and local education authorities in three cities: Barcelona, Milan and Oslo.The project will generate innovative solutions in five main policy areas: admission policies, school supply, systems of detection and enrolment of vulnerable students, communication policies and priority policies addressed to disadvantaged schools and students. The ECASS consortium is composed of professionals from three research centres and three local education authorities. The project has designed a methodological strategy to maximise collaboration and co-design to reduce the transfer gap, such as a system of co-leading and mixing teams from research centres and local government agencies. The consortium will collaborate intensely with the City Policy Platforms (CPP) from each city, which will be composed by education stakeholders, including school-parent associations, headteachers and teachers (especially working in vulnerable contexts), teacher unions, representatives of district school boards, other local technicians and policymakers and civil society organizations working with vulnerable children. The consortium and the associate partners will collaborate in the production of project outputs.The ECASS project foresees the production of six innovative products that will boost innovation in the area of desegregation education policies. These include a catalogue of indicators and datasets to facilitate evidence-based decision-making; a database of innovative policies to tackle school segregation; policy recommendations and guidelines to reduce school segregation in European cities; course materials for local policymakers and other education stakeholders; an interactive workspace for school cooperation and information packs for families.The project includes a comprehensive dissemination plan by which all these outputs will be open access and available to the general public in the project's website as well as in institutional repositories. In addition, some outputs will be included in the School Gateway portal as a useful resource for schools and local policymakers. The three cities participating in this project are facing important challenges in educational inclusion, especially linked to the arrival of migrant and refugee population. The transnational character of the project will provide extremely useful knowledge since the three cities must respond to similar challenges from three different systems of school choice and three different institutional frameworks regarding the role of local education authorities in education policy. Both the similarities and differences between cities provide an excellent context for evaluating different scenarios of causes and characteristics of school segregation and for producing innovative solutions that can be scaled up. ECASS will help to put desegregation policies at the forefront of priorities to achieve a real inclusive education. Its result will contribute to building more equal and cohesive societies in Europe.

MEETmeTONIGHT (MEET) – “Face to face with the research” is the proposal for the European Researchers’ Night in 2020, happening in the major Italian cities of Milan, Naples, Caserta and Padua, complemented by Brescia, Castellanza, Cremona, Edolo, Lecco, Lodi, Mantova, Monza, Sondrio (Lombardy region), Avellino, Portici, Procida (Campania region), Cassino, Frosinone, Gaeta, Ventotene (Lazio region) and Asiago (Veneto region). The goal is to realize a special occasion of meeting and interaction between the public at large and the world of research, where researchers – at the forefront of all the proposed activities – can show themselves and what they do, in a simple, spontaneous, informal and entertaining way, actively involving the public. People, by doing, find themselves learning, getting amused, and becoming aware of how much research is for everyone and all around us. All MEET activities aim at promoting research and its outcomes, researchers and their profession, with a special attention to the youngest generations on one side, and to the recognition of the role of Europe on the other. With one common macro-theme, detailed in five thematic areas and five slogans, MEET proposes interactive stands, hands-on experiments and live demos that reconstruct the research environment; conferences, video projections, interactive games; guided visits to scientific museums; meeting occasions with researchers; European Corners; live broadcast moments. A special attention is given to schools’ pupils, for which a number of dedicated activities are foreseen, at the goal of encouraging them to consider research career as a concrete option for their life, and to sustainability, one of the most important topics to be considered to achieve a better future.

"In June 2017 24 experts from 9 institutions, from Brussels, Hamburg and Milan, met in Haus RISSEN Hamburg and held an exchange-seminar together.The participants worked five days upon the social and participatory inclusion of young migrants in large European cities. They exchanged ideas about concepts of inclusion, integration and diversity, and discussed possibilities of the promotion of social and political participation through empowerment, political education and the teaching of values. Best practices from the three regions were shared, discussed and the core reasons for their success were worked out. The competences of the participants were promoted by the use of a multitude of methods, which in themselves can already be described as promoting the inclusion of all participants of a group.The differences between Hamburg, Brussels and Milan were analyzed in a workshop at the beginning of the seminar. Similarities and differences were worked out. Deficiencies in the integration and inclusion of migrants were discussed as well as public policies towards these issues. Especially differences in the way of cooperation between private organizations and public authorities in the youth and welfare sector were pointed out. Two best-practice examples were visited in Hamburg, where participants got an insight into the everyday work in the field of inclusive work with young migrants in Hamburg. 2 further projects were discussed with guest speakers, presenting their field of work in political youth education with young migrants. Each region presented projects of best practice character as well, in order to have an insight in solutions from Italy and Belgium. After having heard, seen and discussed about 8 different project approaches, the group worked out the conditions of success for inclusive projects. Obstacles and difficulties, which a project has to address, were worked out as well.In a workshop about the necessities of successful projects, which foster the inclusion of young migrants, new project ideas flourished. Connections between the regions were built and knowledge was shared. The group strongly agrees to further promote methods of non-formal education, in order to foster the inclusion of young migrants. Especially the concepts of ""open youth work"" offer a multitude of possibilities to include ALL youth of a designated area. All participating organizations plan to take this knowledge home and incorporate it into their work. At the end of the seminar all participants agreed to work on a future project together and keep in touch with each other. Even responsibilities and a timeframe for the development of that future joint project were set. Plans for a strategic partnership were made."

Inequalities in living conditions and health is a reality for many of the world's cities today. It is also the context of which the project Open the door for reading has emerged. The report, Closing the gap in a generation (WHO 2005), has resulted in strategies in many European cities, of which the partners cities Gothenburg, Bristol, Brussels, Milan and Turku are examples. The action plans undertaken by these cities address the general and specific challenges to enable better livelihood and equality for all. Support for social sustainability exists on all levels, for example the UN Agenda 2030, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the emphasis on social inclusion in the Erasmus+ program. Within this framework all five partner cities are committed towards implementing actions and/or policies to support a good start in life for all children. This ambition has been the common ground for the partnership and Gothenburg´s initiative “The city where we read to our children” has been a driving force for the project’s theme and content. Early language development and reading is perceived as a fundamental right of the child as it plays a vital role in a child's ability and motivation to learn during school years. Open the Door to Reading has been geared towards strengthening the support of children’s language and literacy development. The most important resource to encourage children’s language development are the parents. Focus has therefore been on developing supportive methods to strengthen parent’s ability to support their children. The partners have exchanged innovative practices as well as developed new tools within this field. The projects cross-sectoral structure involved professionals from pre-schools, library’s, child health care services and family Centres. The aim was to share and improve existing tools and methods and in partnership develop a training manual for professionals from different fields of expertise on how to reach children and their families. Transnational Partner Meetings (TPM) have been used to share and develop competence around reading promotion. Each partner has hosted a three-day TPM with a specific theme which included presentations of good practice, study visits and workshops. Workshops around the training manual were also implemented. The five TPMs enrolled 140 people participants (pre-school teachers, librarians, family centre staff, strategic planners in education, university teachers, adult education and teachers working with multilingual families). Two Multiplier Events have been held, in Brussels and in Milan which included representatives from different academic fields and professionals giving both an operative and a strategic perspective to reading promotion. The events reached in total over 250 people, far greater than anticipated in the project proposal. The Training Manual (TM) for professionals is a supportive guide and provides a selection of tools and methods professionals can use on a general basis as well as directed at specific targets groups. Over 190 professionals have taken part in the testing and local follow-up of the TM. The project has influenced the cities' in so many ways and has had an impact at both an operative and policy level. For example, Gothenburg´s programme has inspired Bristol’s new strategy ‘Bristol: A Reading City’ and Milan has implemented a group of Reading Ambassadors. The TPM in Brussels, presented kamishibai as a method to support language learning in early childhood education which generated great interest amongst the librarians from Turku who applied for national funding to implement the kamishibai in Turku. The cross-sectorial collaboration between professionals are the most prominent long-term benefit. Milan has for example introduced a strategic multi-stakeholder group, composed of the early childhood services area, library area and the Health Department. In Turku, the library sector has set up a new network between pre-schools, child welfare, NGOs, church, children culture planner, and director of early childhood education. The TM as an educational tool will also have long-term benefits within the cities. Supporting a continuation of reading promotion and the knowledge amongst professionals on the importance of early intervention and child literacy support. This is expected to have a long-term effect in the form of new co-designed approaches.The partner cities are now also better equipped to adapted reading promotion to meet the needs of children and parents. There is greater insight into steps needed to stimulate reading and literacy from a very early age and better understanding of the needs and challenges facing vulnerable families and their children. Hopefully, the knowledge and practices from this partnership, will lead to greater opportunities for young children, especially those children growing up in a non-literary environment. By supporting children’s learning conditions, we can contribute to the greater goal; social equality.