<< Background >>According to the new skills agenda for Europe close to one fifth of young Europeans struggle with using digital tools and handling information and data in everyday life. The European Commission have said that Media literacy, our capacity to access, have a critical understanding of, and interact with the media has never been as important as in today's society. The global relevance of Media and Information Literacy has increased yet more significantly in recent times and in light of the COVID-19 crisis the need for literacy around health and wellness information and misinformation is forefront. In India, the United States and Brazil, fact-checking and media literacy organizations have been training citizens to confront the new coronavirus “infodemic.” Workshops have happened online, many employing a train the trainer model with attendees cascading their new knowledge to peers. Fact checkers in Spain have inadvertently come under fire as WhatsApp limited it’s message forwarding feature to limit the spread of COVID-19 disinfomation through chat groups, prompting a misinformed backlash from the public. At the same time cloned versions of the BBC and CNN news sites originating from Russia are pushing disinformation such as the idea that Ebola and Coronavirus are man-made pathogens.The approach and content of MIL must change, forced to adapt to the rapidly evolving challenges confronting young people in, among other matters, managing and interpreting the exponentially-growing volumes of information directly targeting them on social media, as well as development in the traditional media sector itself. The scale of the challenge for government institutions and educators is enormous.<< Objectives >>The Project Objectives are to assist youth and young people across Europe to better deal with the expanse of digital information and misinformation targeted towards them in relation to health, mental health, wellness and wellbeing by providing a skills set, a self assessment tool and a course directed at youth, alongside an accompanying kit for youth workers and educators. We will learn from the media response to the Covid19 crisis by collecting Best Practice from across Europe and beyond. We will build on the existing innovative DigiComp framework and extend it to encompass media, information and data literacy competences. The project outcomes will enable youth, young people and those who work with them to better understand, access and interact with information media relating to health and wellbeing in informed and agentive ways.<< Implementation >>The activities to be carried out during the project are;A literature review, Interviews with target group and stakeholders and best practice analysis feeding into a report extending the DigComp Framework taxonomy with new competence statements for facing the rapidly evolving challenges in MIL.The research, design and delivery of a self assessment tool.The design, testing and delivery of a MOOC covering the 5 Competence areas of DigComp 2.1 and the extended competences elaborated in the project. The MOOC will be specially adapted to the context of health and wellness information and misinformation.Research, selection and collation of open source and creative commons licensed materials and software to support MIL education and the creation of an adaptible toolkit for youth workers and educators<< Results >>The expected project results are;A research paper analysing the results of the interviews and best practices. New MIL competence statements.A web based self assessment app for use in a youth work context or by young people.An open Infodemics course (MOOC) for young people and educators.The MIL in a Crisis toolkit for youth workers and educators comprising a directory of open-source resources, software, OERs, best practice exemplars in MIL education and a white paper highlighting the project results.

<< Background >>Digital technologies can support Europeans working in agri-food sector in providing safe, sustainable and quality food. Not only do they help them “produce more with less”, but they can also contribute to fighting climate change. Digitisation can also play a role in creating a better life in Europe’s rural areas, as is highlighted in the Cork 2.0 Declaration (https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries ). It states that the use of digital technologies will increasingly be vital for farmers and other rural businesses to enable them to deliver sustainable solutions to current and future challenges.The European Commission (EC) aims to make the agricultural sector and rural areas in Europe digitised and data-empowered. Under the Digital Single Market strategy, the Communication “Digitising European Industry” (https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/digitising-european-industry ) sets out its objective to ensure that “any industry in Europe, big or small, wherever situated and in any sector can fully benefit from digital innovations to upgrade its products, improve its processes and adapt its business models to the digital change”. According to OECD report (https://www.oecd.org/agriculture/topics/technology-and-digital-agriculture/ ) digitalization of the agri-food system involves the risk that the potential benefits will be unequally distributed between rural and urban areas, gender, youth population. In the agri-food sector, the digital transformation will change the structure of the labour market and the nature of work. It will redefine the role of farmers and agripreneurs and alter the skill set required in the agri-food sector.Based on the reports from several EIP-AGRI events they have addressed the opportunities and challenges of digitalization in agri-food sector, we identified the six main domains of competences and skills that people working in agri-food sector would need to effectively take advantage of the digital transformation. Those domains have been used as the main input to design the different project results as they based on the conclusions of the EIP-AGRI events with experts from 27 EU countries. Specifically: - Attitude and open-mindedness- Comprehensive management- Communication and collaboration- ‘Bridging’ - Digital literacy- Advanced digital skills<< Objectives >>The aim of the project is to develop a model of digital skills vocational training course for persons working in agri-food sector and living in rural areas, so they can learn to assess and implement the best practices and technologies for their work.Specific objectives of the project are:- To design and deploy an innovative upskilling pathway addressed to persons involved in agri-food sector and living in rural areas.- To foster the development of digital skills and competences among persons working in agri-food sector and living in rural areas by proposing innovative flexible learning opportunities in different settings (face to face, blended and online)- To promote EUROPAS as a tool for participants to document their skills and experience- To Develop a digital repository of Open Educational Resources for digital skills development the meet the specific needs of persons working in agri-food sector and living in rural areas- To support VET teachers and trainers to develop and use their own resources by proposing a model of using learning scenarios.- To reduce the digital gap in rural areas in Europe through non-formal and informal education;- To Promote lifelong learning in rural areas as a tool for socio-economic development.<< Implementation >>The project has been designed to ensure the active involvement of all partners and to ensure that we capture the specific expertise and knowledge through the allocation of project results lead responsibilities.Partner Meetings - we will hold three partner meetings, which will be hosted by the partners in Poland, Greece and Italy. Six online meetings will be organised.Project results - we will have four distinct project results and partners will lead them according to their experience and expertise. All partners will be involved in the development of each PR. With the size, scope and importance of results we will have in some sub-leads where for specific elements of the Output. The summary of responsibilities is outlined below:Result 1 - Open Educational Resources for digital skills development for persons working in agri-food sector. WUELS who have experience in the topic as Agricultural University will lead this PR. The rest of the partners will be involved on the development of OERs and localization and adaptation in national context.Result 2 - Online self-assessment of digital skills that provide personalized learning pathways- SYNERGASIA ENEGON POLITON - have similar experience on lead the development of online platforms for in other projects. The rest of the partners will work on different competence statements and type of assessment activities for the 6 domains and sub-domains, they will do the initial testing, they ‘ll localise the user interface, the questions and the assessment report to their languages and they’ll pilot use the online tool with at least 100 learners from the primary target group (20/partner)Result 3 - Learning scenarios for the 6 domains identified by EIP-AGRI - Pontydysgu – who had experience on development of educational tools and methodologies and activities to exploit the project outcomes. Each partner will be involved in the development of at least 2 scenarios as will be agreed in second meeting and will prepare the translation of the PR3 in their languages.Result 4 - MOOC – SEDA - have proven experience on organising educational activities. Technical development of the platform will be done by SYNERGASIA ENEGON POLITON (ACP). The MOOC will be run in partner countries for 5 months (month 20 to month 24) with at least 150 participants (30 from each partner organization) and will involve at least 2 VET trainers from each partner (10 in total)Multiplier Events - Each partner will host a multiplier Event (Month 19) and will be responsible for agenda, venue with IT provision, creating database and inviting stakeholders from target groups, capturing evidence for reporting / dissemination, publicity and writing a brief report on the results of the eventDissemination - all partners are effective disseminators of local and European projects. These strengths will be harnessed by creating and delivery of Dissemination Strategy, led by CESIE.Evaluation - capturing evaluation to ensure project delivery and addressing needs of key target groups is important. Pontydysgu will be responsible for the internal evaluation.Sustainability and exploitation we will actively remember the need for the products to be meaningful in the medium to long-term. SEDA will lead in this activity using their technical and learning provision skills to ensure we pitch the product to key target groups<< Results >>The project is expected to produce important results both on an individual and a community level. Both the primary (people working in agri-food sector and living in rural areas) and secondary (VET teachers and trainers) target groups are expected to gain increased skills, competences and self-confidence and they can learn to assess and implement the best practices and technologies for their work.There will be four major groups of products designed to achieve these results :The first is the development of 12 Open Educational Resources will be developed around six domains related to digital skills for people working in agri-food sector and living in rural areas Attitude and open-mindedness, Comprehensive management, Communication and collaboration, ‘Bridging’, Digital literacy and Advanced digital skills. OERS can be used by VET teachers and trainers in different settings (face to face, online or blended trainings). As they will be available to all partners languages we expect to be used by a larger number of learners.The second group of results will be the development and test of a self-Assessment Tool will provide to people working in agri-food sector and living in rural areas with an overview of their own digital competences in line with 6 domains analyzed in previous outcome. It will highlight the competences in which they are strong and motivate them to work to improve the digital skills in which they are weaker by providing an upskilling pathway. As base of the assessment will be used the competency statements that will be produced by partners for the above domains. Competency statements will be inspired by the statements used in DIGICOMEDU framework of the EU and will be categorized in 3 levels Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced.The third group of results will be 12 learning scenarios for different 6 domains analyzed in first outcome and will create a model for using learning scenarios for VET teachers and trainers on how to develop and use their own digital resources. These scenarios will provide trainers with practical guidelines for learning approaches, activities and content when designing their own lesson plans. The scenarios will be also used as a model to inspire trainers to develop their own resources for different contexts, situations and learner groups. Learning Scenarios will be delivered as a publication that will serve as additional dissemination tool for VET providers and any other related stakeholders. The output will also include a model for the development of new learning scenarios.The fourth group of results will be the development and implementation of a Flexible and modular MOOC in all partners’ languages and will allow people working in agri-food sector and living in rural areas to adapt their learning pathway as they go along, to suit their interests and abilities. As learning materials will be used the Open Educational Resources developed and localized in PR1. Modular flexible structure can enable participants to learn in their own time and follow and adapt their own learning path as this defined by the online self-assessment tool (see above).All products will be available under open licenses. They are expected to have major impact after the project in Both the primary and secondary target groups.In addition to the four explicit outcomes, we expect the following results:- Effective dissemination throughout the project from 4 newsletters (distribution 2,000 contacts across the EU), project public Facebook page (300 likes), Project / Partner website (5,000 visits) with the result of increased awareness of the project across all European projects -Multiplier events: The events will be held at month 18 of the project in partners' countries and will promote results of the project.-Evaluation and quality assurance strategy which gives an overview of the evaluation activities within the project.

"One of the most successful actions promoted by the Erasmus + programme is mobilities. The UK Erasmus + agency explains the benefits of the mobility programme for individuals: ""Erasmus+ will help participants at all stages of their lives, from school through to adulthood, to pursue stimulating opportunities for learning across Europe, both inside and outside of the classroom. You will gain valuable life-skills and international experience to help you develop personally, professionally and academically and to succeed in today's world."" Benefits for participants include to: develop personally, professionally and academically; gain new transferable skills and boost your employability; broaden your horizons – physically and mentally; develop cultural awareness and open-mindedness; enhance self-confidence and improve and gain language skills. Such is the success of the programme it is not unreasonable to say that to live and learn abroad is the dream of many adult learners and apprentices all over Europe. But while it is feasible to encourage outward and inward adult learner’s mobility among institutions, organisations, training providers and companies, the main limitations are the high costs, socio-economic, political and health-related issues. People facing mental and physical disabilities have very limited options to participate in mobility actions or are being excluded of a wide range of them as the hosting organizations are not capable of providing a safe and accessible environment for them. Virtual Mobility (VM) has a great potential to dramatically reduce those barriers by adding the virtual component to mobility and to make mobilities accessible to all. Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange is part of the Erasmus+ programme, providing an accessible, ground-breaking way for young people to engage in intercultural learning. Working with Youth Organisations the programme is open to any young person aged 18-30 residing in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean.For Higher Education the EU has proposed incorporating virtual mobility in the physical classroom: post-lesson online forums, additional learning outcomes in terms of soft skills, creating new forms of mobility through distance learning tools: shared university pathways allowing mobile students to follow modules taught at other universities and Implementing an e-learning tutor:However, the uptake of VM in Adult Education is still low and the possibilities of VM including Virtual Internships and placements unknown to many educators and learners. According to a report on the Erasmus+ Programme by the Inclusive Mobility Alliance “While the overall number of young people and students experiencing Erasmus+ exchanges are increasing rapidly, the number of students and young people with disabilities taking part in Erasmus+ has been almost stagnating over the past few years. Participation in Mobilities by people with disabilities in Adult Education may be constrained by the many different kinds of organizations involved, the heterogeneity of adult education participants and the relative lack of use of technology in Adult education. The Moblities4All project proposes through a range of activities to expand the reach and scope of the Erasmus+ programme through Virtual Mobilities, which are technology-enabled people-to-people dialogues sustained over a period of time. The potential use of technologies has been seen in the flowering of online activities by cultural and social groups in the COVID 19 crisis.The aim is to support Adult Education organizations and those working with people with disabilities to promote VM. The main target group for the project are people with physical and mental disabilities participating in Adult Education but the concept of virtual mobilities has significant potential to be used by any learner in different educational areas such VET, School and Higher Education. The objectives of the project are to develop and pilot: - A framework of skills and competencies required by participants in virtual mobilities- An online and hard copy Guidebook - A Toolkit for Virtual Mobilities for hosting organisations and trainers including tools, software, hardware and methods - A self-assessment tool based on the framework (IO1) that provides a personalised path for learners- The t development and organisation of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)- Pilot testing of Virtual Mobilities and the production of a report on the pilotsThe project brings together a new consortium of organisations including universities, NGOs, youth organisations and SMEs. They share a common mission for equal opportunities and open education and a common concern to support people with disabilities. They also have expertise in how digital technologies can be used to support VM. The project is coordinated by the University of Education, Freiburg and includes partners from Greece, North Macedonia, France, Ireland and Spain."

Europe is becoming a learning society and citizens are required to constantly update their competences, not only with regard to the world of work but in an encompassing approach to participate in contemporary societies. Moreover, European societies face a rapid differentiation of educational pathways, opportunities and biographies. This increase in complexity from learners requires great effort into initiative taking, creativity, problem solving, risk assessment and decision taking, all of which requires learners to become stakeholders of their own learning process. It however has been demonstrated, that learner groups with a disadvantaged background or those remote from learning have great difficulties to take ownership of their learning, without being empowered. However, although a great deal of rhetoric about learner empowerment, adult education practice too often remains caught in traditional instruction methods, fixed curricula and pre-defined learning outcomes. It's in particular low achievers who suffer from this situation, because in the formal education system they often have made the experience that major parameters of their learning is out of their control, and thus never had the chance to develop a sense of ownership for their own learning. The PARTICIPATE partnership starts from the assumption that the impact on disadvantaged target groups can be greatly increased if education providers manage to adopt participatory approaches and methods, and this way support their learners to develop a sense of ownership of their learning and to become lifelong learners. The overall objective of the PARTICIPATE project is to promote participatory methods in adult education and, more specifically it will build a model for participatory design of learning outcomes. The PARTICIPATE project will identify and examine good practice in the field and, from them derive a generic model for the design of participatory evaluation and assessment of learning outcomes, whereby the adult learner is included in this process of setting their own outcomes and indicators. Instead of being initially presented with a final set of specific learning outcomes within an already agreed assessment framework, the learners are offered the opportunity to participate in determining how their course will be measured and evaluated. Complementary PARTICIPATE will promote participatory design of learning assessment, and support educators and practitioners on its implementation.The major target groups addressed in the framework of the PARTICIPATE project are migrants and refugees (Germany, Greece, Spain), traveller communities (Ireland) and Roma minorities (Romania) and adult education practitioners engaged with those target groups. A main result of the project will be the PARTICIPATE design model, which will reflect a) the elements and processes making a participatory approach, b) principles and guidelines for the participatory design of learning outcomes, c) recommendations on how the model can be integrated with existing adult education practice, as well as d) identification of capacities needed to effectively implement participatory design methods. The project will build a European community of practice, which shall help us a) to incubate the PARTICIPATE model in a collaborative setting and actively engage practitioners in the development process, b) to leverage the impact of the project through promotion and multiplying of project results, c) to continuously improve our work through critical debate with lifelong learning practitioners from outside the partnership, d) to identify and guide practitioners and organisations who would be interested in the application of our project results, and most importantly of all e) to ensure the sustainability of results. The partnership in all partner countries will organise focus groups, including adult learners from the different target groups. The purpose of the focus groups is to understand the perspective and needs of the target groups and involve them as stakeholders in the project design and implementation phase. The partnership in the course project will conduct 2 workshops, which will take place in Greece and Spain. The two workshops are described in detail, in Learning, Teaching, Training Activities.Last but not least the project will produce promotional materials and, promote the project and its results through a broad range of channels.The project is expected to have a significant impact on practices and attitudes of educational staff and practitioners. The participants in the course of the project will learn how to to include participatory approaches in course programmes for adults, and how to actively engage adult learners in the evaluation and assessment of learning outcomes. Moreover it is expected that the introduction of participatory methods positively affects the motivation of the target groups and, strengthens their sense of ownership for their learning.

<< Background >>This project has emerged from work being undertaken by the project partners and in response to discussions between the partners on how new skill needs can best be addressed.The advancement of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation and new forms of work and work organisation, has wide-ranging economic and societal implications now and in the future. At the same time the shift towards more sustainable and green economies are reshaping labour market demand and supply.The twin digital and green transitions and the disruptions induced by COVID-19 are bringing about significant structural changes in labour markets and will fundamentally change the skills requirements of many jobs. This increases the importance of building skills and new career pathways throughout life to bridge skills gaps, support labour market transitions and foster social inclusion (EC Pact for Skills, 2021, Consultation on Individual Learning Accounts).At the same time, a high and increasing share of workers are in atypical forms of work, including part-time work, temporary work, fixed-term work, casual and seasonal work, platform work and self-employment. Coupled with an increasing number of labour market transitions throughout one’s working life, this means that an increasing share of individuals are at risk of not receiving sufficient support for training from an employer (European Parliament resolution of 19 January 2017 on a European Pillar of Social Rights).Such a situation requires access to labour market intelligence for both those unemployed and those whose jobs are at risk due to AI and automation and the changing labour market including intelligence on new skills and job needs and access to training. Many existing workers will require training for these new skills and there is the need for new skills pathways for those seeking skilled work. Education and training providers also need timely information on future demand. Robust and actionable labour market and skills intelligence offers a compass for developing effective skills and productivity policies.Using skills intelligence tools in isolation is no longer sufficient to capture the nature, breadth and direction of changes in skill needs (Cedefop, 2021, Getting the future right: Towards smarter and people-centred skills intelligence). A key challenge is how best to make the most of evolving skills intelligence in a rapidly changing world and how such intelligence can be accessed. Historical trends alone no longer provide sufficient evidence for strategic public investment decisions. The Career Pathways project will develop and test new tools, providing access to labour market and skills intelligence to job seekers, those looking for training, education and training providers, employers and for regional policymakers.The project plans to address the need for career pathways for those seeking to develop skills for future employment and the need for VET organisations to provide new learning opportunities for individuals to acquire these skills. It also addresses the need identified by Cedefop for new tools for careers and employment professionals to support adults (especially those with low skills) in identifying new skills and employment possibilities.<< Objectives >>Organisations including Cedefop, OECD and Nesta have recognised the challenge that Covid 19 and changing technology brings for work in the future and the need for new skills. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, 54% of employees will require significant re-/upskilling by 2022. Significant skills shortages are emerging in European countries and at the same time lower skilled workers are facing increasing difficulty in finding jobs. There is a clear need for new skills, but traditional skills anticipation systems are too slow for the present speed of change and vocational education and training is not able to provide the opportunities needed to support skills required by employees.Cedefop have developed the Skills OVATE platform providing access to near real time labour market intelligence and Nesta have developed an algorithm to query ESCO data finding occupations for adults based on the extension of existing skills.However further work is needed to convert this promising work in VET to something which can benefit individuals and organisations including those seeking new ‘good’ jobs and VET organisations providing training opportunities. A present problem in many countries is the lack of transparent progression and access routes in VET towards acquiring the skills needed for new jobs. This is at the heart of what we want to achieve in the project.Working together with local VET providers and building on the work on Cedefop and Nesta we want to provide labour market intelligence that can offer support and ideas for those seeking to improve their skills through identity and career pathways.We also want to provide labour market intelligence that can assist VETproviders in offering training in skills presently and in the future in demand in their region. Finally we want to provide tools that can assist careers and employment advisers in offering advice and assistance to adults seeking new jobs and skills.Thus, the objectives of our project are to:a) Analyse present and future skills demands in different occupations;b) Provide careers pathways to training and employment for unemployed people and those at risk of unemployment;c) Provide data for employers, policymakers, planners and vocational education and training providers on skills and training demand related to national and regional markets;d) Train career advisors in institutions and Public Employment Services in using the Career Pathway tools.<< Implementation >>The activities will be undertaken by the project partners together with networks of associate partners in each country as part of a co-design and development process.The first stage in that process will be the identification of career pathways offering progression through VET for unemployed and low skilled workers to gain the skills for work in new ‘good’ jobs. These jobs will build on their existing skills.The careers pathways will be tested by at least 500 users in each of the partner countries. This work will include collaboration with Cedefop and Nesta, among other European organisations.The second will be the development of the Career Pathway Labour Market and Skills Data hub that will provide data for employers, policymakers, planners and vocational education and training providers on skills and training demand related to national and regional markets based on the Cedefop Skills OVATE data offering near real time data on skills demands.Once more, this work will be undertaken together with the members of the Associate Partner network and tested and evaluated in use by these networks.The partners will undertake an extended training needs analysis for Open Educational resources and face-to-face and online workshops delivered through the Career Pathways Professional Experience space for careers and employment advisers and for VET managers and staff in how to use Labour Market Intelligence, career pathways and the career pathways tools as part of their professional practice.The activities will be monitored on an ongoing basis, with regular feedback for associate partners allowing the review and interative design of activities and results.<< Results >>The project is expected to produce important results both on an individual and a community level. For the main target group for the project (adults, either seeking work or seeking a new job or training) are expected to have access to valuable labour market intelligence, they can assess their present skills and experience and match that to occupations which build on those skills and knowledge. For partners the project offers an opportunity to develop career pathways linked to national and regional skills demands and economic development and potentially to recruit new learners (especially adult learners).There will be three major groups of products designed to achieve these results :1. The first is the identification of career pathways offering progression through VET for unemployed and low skilled workers to gain the skills for work in new ‘good’ jobs. These jobs will build on their existing skills.2. The second group of results will be the my Career Pathway Labour Market and Skills Data hub that will provide data for employers, policymakers, planners and vocational education and training providers on skills and training demand related to national and regional markets based on the Cedefop Skills OVATE data offering near real time data on skills demands.3. The third group of results will be the Career Pathways Professional Experience space which will be designed for professionals working in careers development and guidance, Public Employment Services and VET to learn about the Career Pathways tools, how they can be used in professional practice and how to interpret and make sense from the data.All products will be available under open licenses. They are expected to have a major impact after the project in both the main target group but also in VET providers, career advisors, education planners and policymakers. The outcomes of the project will be sustainable, involving participation from local VET providers and economic actors, and provide a foundation for the skill-based economy.In addition to the three explicit outcomes, we expect the following results:- Effective dissemination throughout the project from 4 newsletters (distribution 2,000 contacts across the EU), project public Facebook page (300 likes), Project / Partner website (5,000 visits) with the result of increased awareness of the project across all European projects.- Multiplier events: The events will be held at month 31 of the project in each of the participating countries and will promote the results of the project.- Evaluation and quality assurance strategy, which gives an overview of the evaluation activities within the project.