<< Background >>Citizenship is always implicitly present in the way the next generation is educated and socialised.The fostering of capacities and dispositions to participate in society and democracy are of vital importance – the role and concept of citizenship education has been undermined, and a great absentee on the debate kick-start of the next generation Europe. According to the Network of European Citizenship Educators (NECE), every major study shows significant implementation gaps and inequalities in all member states, when it comes to the delivery and quality citizenship education, showing deterioration in recent years. Nonetheless, education and democratic participation have an all-encompassing, transversal, and irreplaceable role in our societies.The pandemic has been a long-lasting moment to reflect on many things – and education was one of the most important, on the particular topic of citizenship education. Government authorities have called on the population to understand and recognized how their actions can have repercussions, consequences, and implications on others, have relied and counted on their citizens to deal with pressures and uncertainty, to understand and trust on scientific information and to think critically and wisely. Without citizenship education other priorities are not accomplishable to its fullest: Recognizing that citizenship education is a critical component of, for example, the green transition to global sustainability or maintaining democracy in a digital world. It is necessary to take advantage of every opportunity to establish learning opportunities and offers, materials, resources, and practices in each of these areas where Europe aspires to be a leader. It is necessary to focus on the crucial role and responsibility the competences of citizens in democracies hold, in the type of values and quality of citizenship that democracies seek to promote. On the other hand, all of these competences of citizens always return on the long term to the governments who fostered them.The European Education Area which the European Commission is committed to building by 2025 provides a framework in which the European Union could prioritise citizenship education. The Council of the EU has identified active citizenship as one of the pillars of the European Education Area, but as not yet made proposals for reinforcing this key competence of lifelong learning. Nonetheless, in order to foster social cohesion at a time of increasing social and cultural diversity, and to have basic democratic values flourish – citizenship learning offers are irreplaceable.These core issues are simultaneously both a deep concern and great hope. Hence, this project initiative proposes an opportunity to find solutions based on accessible learning settings, equality, empowerment, and autonomy, firmly established on a holistic conception of active citizenship learning. There is, therefore, a proclaimed and overwhelming need for active, digital, citizenship education offers, that can address these issues, complement and bridge the gap between citizenship learning, agents of change in communities, and the ones that are further away from it: marginalised adults – in a shifting society. European Commission (2020). Towards a European Education Area by 2025Milanese, Niccolò (2020). A watershed moment for citizenship education in Europe. Social Europe<< Objectives >>The START POINT project has the following objectives:-Develop attitudes of personal and social responsibility of young disadvantaged adults, particularly those between 20-30 years old, in the constitution their life projects, in a perspective of training for participatory citizenship, for lifelong learning, democratic participation and community engagement;-Empower social actors and facilitators of change and adult educators in the community to work with disadvantaged adults between 20-30 years old in citizenship learning, democratic participation and civic engagement;-Develop and apply key transversal citizenship skills, such as critical enquiry, social justice, media literacy critical thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, peacebuilding, and personal and social responsibility though a tailored digital learning offer matching up to date needs;-To promote a culture of freedom, participation, reflection, quality democratic, and European shared values highlight the responsibility of each one in the processes of personal and social change.-To contribute to the development of a democratic spirit and practice, through the adoption of participatory processes in public life and in the assumption of rights and duties as a guarantee of their individuality and of social cohesion.-Build and develop skills for living and contributing in changing societies of increasing diversity, multiculturalism, encourage intercultural dialogue and civic integration;-Participate in and contribute to contemporary global issues at local national and global levels as informed, engaged, responsible and responsive global citizens, and responsive global citizens.-Make clear that citizenship is the core value that gives people the knowledge and skills to understand, challenge and engage with democratic society including politics, the media, civil society, the economy, and the law.<< Implementation >>The START-POINT consortium proposes a holistic approach to supporting citizenship learning, civic integration and democratic participation of young adults with disadvantaged backgrounds. Partners will place adult learners of all ages and community educators at the centre of the pedagogic development and design process and ensure that the opinions and perspectives of the eventual target groups inform the development process. The project work plan is designed as a series of sequential phases that will contribute to the overall objectives of the START POINT project being met. Throughout five division of the work plan, the work plan milestones are as follows:Month 1:- All partners will sign the partner agreement with KulturLife.- The team will host the first TPM in Portugal.- CSI will present the Indicative content for the community audit tools - The Project Management Plan, Quality Assurance and Evaluation Plan, Dissemination and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and the Impact Plan will all be drafted by their respective partners.- The first press release will be shared online.- The project website, Facebook page and branding strategy will be developed by their respective partners.Month 2 – 8:- Partners will complete financial, administrative and dissemination reports in month 6.- Partners will complete quality assurance and evaluation activities.- The first newsletter will be produced and distributed.- The team will plan and host the second TPM in Finland.- Prototype modules for the Digital Citizenship learning toolkit will be developed by respective partners.- All prototypes will be tested and evaluated by Local Working Group members, project partners and members of the Project Management Committee.- INTERAKTION will lead the development of the Community Learning Programme and set the key learning outcomes to be achieved.Months 9 – 15:- Partners will complete financial, administrative and dissemination reports in month 12.- Partners will complete quality assurance and evaluation activities.- Relevant partners will complete 12-month impact assessment report, quality assurance and evaluation report and summary dissemination report.- The second newsletter will be produced and distributed.- The Audit Report will be signed-off in English, produced in English, translated into all partnerlanguages and produced in all partner languages.- The content of Digital Citizenship Learning Toolkit and the Community Learning Programme will be signed-off in English, awaiting translation into all partner languages.Months 16 – 20- complete financial, administrative and dissemination reports in month 18.- DRPDNM will develop an Exploitation and Sustainability Plan in month 18.-complete the implementation of the Local Participation Programmes;- complete quality assurance and evaluation activities.- The third newsletter will be produced and distributed.- The team will plan and host the third TPM in Austria.- plan for the C1 – Joint-staff Short-term training event in Slovenia in month 17.- deliver the Digital Citizenship Learning Toolkit for Parents to 10 adult learners.- deliver the Community Learning Programme for Parents to 10 community educators.- circulate the political action survey.- plan for the Digital Citizenship Learning Hub to be held in Germany, Portugal, Austria, Slovenia, Finland, and Cyprus. - plan for the final conference to be held in Germany.Months 21 - 24- participate in an impact assessment.- complete financial, administrative and dissemination reports in month 24.- complete quality assurance and evaluation activities.- The fourth newsletter will be produced and distributed.- The team will plan and host the final TPM in Germany.- inalise the Political Action Plan and present it in the Final Conference.- host the Digital Citizenship Learning Hub to be held in all partner countries.- host the final conference in Germany.<< Results >>The START POINT project has the following outcomes:-Develop attitudes of personal and social responsibility of young disadvantaged adults, particularly those between 20-30 years old, in the constitution their life projects, in a perspective of training for participatory citizenship, for lifelong learning, democratic participation and community engagement;-Empower social actors and facilitators of change and adult educators in the community to work with disadvantaged adults between 20-30 years old in citizenship learning, democratic participation and civic engagement;-Develop and apply key transversal citizenship skills, such as critical enquiry, social justice, media literacy critical thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, peacebuilding, and personal and social responsibility though a tailored digital learning offer matching up to date needs;-To promote a culture of freedom, participation, reflection, quality democratic, and European shared values highlight the responsibility of each one in the processes of personal and social change.-To contribute to the development of a democratic spirit and practice, through the adoption of participatory processes in public life and in the assumption of rights and duties as a guarantee of their individuality and of social cohesion.-Build and develop skills for living and contributing in changing societies of increasing diversity, multiculturalism, encourage intercultural dialogue and civic integration;-Participate in and contribute to contemporary global issues at local national and global levels as informed, engaged, responsible and responsive global citizens, and responsive global citizens.-Make clear that citizenship is the core value that gives people the knowledge and skills to understand, challenge and engage with democratic society including politics, the media, civil society, the economy, and the law.This project outcomes will be achieved through the planned project results: Firstly, an up to date, specific and comprehensive Audit Report (PR1) the will be based on a field research and provide the theoretical basis - and clear needs to respond, in which the following outputs will developed. Secondly, because nowadays, “digital” is the native environment of young adults, bridging the gap of citizenship learning only makes sense through digital design – therefore, a digital citizenship learning toolkit will be adapted and available in online format (PR2). Through the Community Learning Programme (PR3), this project will also be addressing facilitators who are potential change agents in the community, fostering the development of social and intercultural competences and intercultural dialogue in the community setting. The local participation projects will ensure the project not only analyses the possibilities and instruments for political and democratic participation of disadvantaged adults between 20-30 years old at risk of social exclusion and marginalisation on a theoretical level and provide important training and competences for adult and community educators to facilitate a democratic participation process but also realise a concrete participation Lastly, the Political Action Plan (PR4) for the development of a political action plan for empowerment and democratic participation of marginalised young adults people involving all relevant stakeholders in the partner countries.These outcomes translate in to 100 young disadvantaged adults completing the Digital Citizenship Learning Toolkit (PR2); The START-POINT consortium will gather efforts to ensure that at least half of our proposed qualitative reach for PR2 engagement will be target-group representatives with fewer opportunities in a local and national level. 60 adult and community educators will completing the community learning programme, and 18 marginalised adults having the chance to create and implement a local participation project, and a Policy Action Plan to reach a wide spectrum of decision-makers.

The understanding and awareness of culture is an essential factor in the process of integrating refugees and migrants into the host society, as culture brings people from all over the world together and unites them without having to speak the same language.In our project “EMPOWER IDENTITIES - explore the potential of creative learning” (hereafter IDE 3.0) we will concentrate on performing and visual arts that support creative learning and we will identify and exchange different art methods across Europe. The use of arts can have a positive impact on the well-being of migrants which can be a determinant of successful social integration (Fitzpatrick, F. (2002). A Search for Home. Art Therapy, 19(4), 151–158). The project will concentrate on the concept of culture as an integration mean and the use of creative learning methodologies with a focus on performing and visual art methods which has so far been underestimated when aiming to foster social inclusion.IDE 3.0 addresses migrants and refugees, but also local youngsters with fewer opportunities as social inclusion should not only be limited to the context of migration.Art methods will empower them to reflect on different impacts of their perception and the development of their identity to further foster resilience (especially important also when thinking about the global pandemic these days), they will also become more self-effective and learn how to promote their soft skills.Soft skills will include:- Awareness for one's own identity and values in order to understand one's own perception of other cultures- Rise of self-confidence and personal commitment as being involved in a co-creation process- Ability to express one's own thoughts in a verbal and non-verbal way by using art methodsOn the one hand, the key element of the project lies in exploring and identifying good practices that use performing and visual art methods to strengthen resilience and to foster social inclusion. A toolkit will be produced available free of charge containing the gathered pedagogical tools and materials for other youth workers and institutions. On the other hand, two Blended Learning Activities will give the opportunity to young people to get closer to the arts and culture both of their countries of origin but also of the countries they currently live in and to experience cultural diversity as a chance as well as to empower them to serve as multipliers and learn project based structures.They will be given the chance to experience new ways of learning as they will communicate via digital platforms, share their learning experience with peers, while becoming part of a network of young people around Europe sharing same interests. The target group consists of:1. Young migrants and refugees aged 16-24 years, but also local youngsters with fewer opportunities who need support to strengthen their identity and to build up confidence for a better social inclusion.2. Youth workers working with the above mentioned target groups, especially those who are responsible for the mentoring within their premises.3. NGOs which are dealing with the integration of migrants into society and which have already built an intercultural team or which would like to create a more inclusive team.4. Organizations in the cultural and creative sector as part of a synergy between them and respective NGOs working in the field of social inclusion. All of the above mentionned groups will be involved in different activities of the project by contributing to the creation of the toolkit, by participating in the Blended Learning Activities and by being beneficiaries of the project results.The project aims to:- Raise awareness for the need of social inclusion of migrants and refugees- Explore and identify good practices that use performing and visual art methods to strengthen resilience and to foster social inclusion- Support and encourage youngsters to experience change as a chance - Equip Youth Worker with creative learning tools + methodsAll European countries are affected by immigration and need to develop a common understanding regarding the importance of social inclusion of migrants and people with fewer opportunities into the local community as well as it is crucial to identify and establish a sustainable concept of social inclusion through art methods in formal and non-formal environments, leading to common European values and the prevention of discrimination. With our project, we will set an example of successful social inclusion through creative learning and performing and visual art methods. These methods shall be seen as a role model for other institutions and they shall motivate others to commit themselves to the social inclusion of migrants and youngsters with fewer opportunities.The project not only draws attention to the importance of art in general, but also raises awareness for the art and cultural scene, which is severely affected by the current pandemic.

"EMIRE (Empowerment of migrant and refugee women) aims to empower women with migrant/refugee background for integration to the labour market and foster social inclusion. EMIRE develops concepts and tools for social workers, employment advisers and volunteers to support the empowerment process enabling women to become self-effective in their own integration process. In addition, a positive perception of women with migration/refugee background in the labour market is supported and thus integration is promoted.Since 2015, about 800.000 women have come to Europe as a result of the refugee crisis, 44.1% of these are 18-45 years old while half of this stated group is not in employment in the receiving country. The main obstacles for women with migration/refugee background when trying to enter the labour market are: recognition of qualifications and previous professional experiences; lower language skills than men from the same group (common reasons: lower schooling level in the countries of origin, less practice due to lacking social contacts in Europe due to predominant family structures); gender inequality. For many women, Europe means a realistic chance of building up an own professional identity and adds to obtaining professional qualifications, as only 1/3 of them were in employment before migration. Furthermore, EMIRE helps to reflect on traditional family structures since women with migrant/refugee background mostly migrate with their families and remain in traditional family constellations. EMIRE addresses two main target groups:1) Women with migrant/refugee background between 18 and 45 years old who are currently not integrated to the labour market. This age group has high potential of establishing itself on the labour market in the long term and of gaining qualifications.2) Social workers, employment advisers, consultants and volunteers who work with adult migrants and who accompany women in the integration process.Both groups are actively involved in the EMIRE’s activities e.g. through participation in local activities, focus groups or training events. Furthermore, they contribute to the development of the project’s intellectual outputs to test and use them lastly.EMIRE produces 3 intellectual outputs:IO1 “Video platform: My personal pathway”In IO1 personal stories of women with migrant/refugee background about e.g. their approaches to find a job, to integrate themselves to the labour market, will be shared. To see and to listen to a personal story has undeniably a different effect on human beings than just receiving this information by looking at data and statistics. By choosing this digital format, content can be shared easily on social media and also women with migrant/refugee background who might mainly be within their families and homes, being therefore rather difficult to reach, will have access to it and can start a self-discoverage and their own empowerment process.IO2 “Toolkit: Support the creation of a female professional identity through empowerment of migrant or refugee women”A toolkit for social workers/employment adviser and volunteers who work with women with migrant/refugee background. The toolkit will focus on their practical day to day work. It will especially help with how to handle challenging situations which can occur during the work processes with women with migrant/refugee background. The methodologies will be based on: 1) Theory of resilience 2) Theory of non-violent communication and 3) Theory of Emotional Intelligence.IO3: ""How the empowerment of migrant women will lead to the integration into the labour market""Policy guideline in form of an interactive eBook especially designed for decision makers at local, national and European level. It builds upon the needs of decision makers and supports the local migrant initiatives when they reach out to decision makers.The desired impact on women with a migration/refugee background will vary depending on the starting situation of the women when being involved in the project, e.g. whether they live with their family or have come to Europe alone, whether they have professional qualifications etc.The main expected impact on women includes the following:1)empowerment2)ability to build an own professional identity3)knowledge and awareness of different family structures and the role of women4)image of women with migrant/refugee background in society will change5)sensitisation of future female generationsDesired impact on social workers/employment advisers/volunteers:1)ability to establish a trusting relationship with their clients more quickly2)increased competencies of stress and emotion management, communication, better understanding of cultural diversity among families and the special role of women in the migrant/refugee group3)ability to work in diverse cultural environments4)ability to apply non-formal methods to formal environments to empower women with migrant/refugee background"

ALL FOR ONE will be a 2-year project based on the values of social circus and artistic non-formal methodologies through gamification; a board game that will facilitate young people’s entrepreneurial ideas and enable them to write their own projects. Social, physical, and artistic activities focus on creating an environment of communication and social relations. Circus, dance and drama help to build support networks for further developments that can sustain a joyful culture and tradition. One of our main focuses is to create a board game that discovers and improves physical, artistic and social abilities of children and young people creating different platforms for children to express themselves. The transformative power of the arts connected with the problem-based learning approach of a board game will support both emotional and social development. The main motivation for this project is to introduce new non-formal methods that promote equal participation of all young people and encourage social inclusion alongside realising their gifts into every participating organisation through a Toolbox; board game. Through this process of creation and delivery in each partner organisation we will be improving people’s participation in society, particularly for people with disadvantage, through inspiring them to take part in circus opportunities, dance and drama workshops as well as access to resources, voice and respect for rights and is important for all society. - to promote a learning by playing methodology/problem-based learning able to get positive results with people of all ages and backgrounds, in particular people with fewer opportunity on a worldwide context;- to experience multi-disciplinary approaches between youth workers centres, circus and dance organisations, schools, public bodies, private companies, etc. on the focused issues;- Increase the capacity of all organisations in non-formal methods and promote an entrepreneurial spirit. - Sustain social inclusion within each partner organisation by increasing employees’ knowledge, skills and awareness through building a local network. - Inspire young people local partners to construct new project and their own social actions that supports their local reality. - Increase the knowledge of employees in the partnership of Erasmus+. - Build a network and cooperation between youth organisations in 3 continents. Europe, Australia, and Africa.- Provide European Volunteer Service/Solidarity Corps/Long Term Volunteers (EVS) opportunities within non-formal education providers.

"InterAct is a project to promote and validate the development of Intercultural Action Competences (IAC) for participants in international youth projects. It spans the entire length of international projects, including the initial project design, web tools to practice and deepen the learning result and digital group work to integrate the learning into the daily life. To react to the Corona pandemy, InterAct will also include virtual encounters such virtual volunteering or online workcamps.What is IAC?IAC is the competence to adeptly navigate complex environments marked by a growing diversity of people, cultures and lifestyles, in other terms, abilities to perform “effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself ” (Fantini & Tirmizi, 2006). According to the UN universal declaration on cultural diversity (2001), intercultural competences complement human rights as a catalyst for promoting a culture of peaceful and harmonious coexistence. In that sense, they play an important role in achieving the goals of international youth work both on a global and European level. The competences that will be acquired not only contribute to the successful cooperation in international youth work, but also contribute to the role of intercultural dialogue as a positive narrative (report 2015/2139(INI)) as necessary facilitator for the integration of third country migrants. ""There is a real urgency – in many aspects of our lives – for education, which can help citizens live together in our diverse societies. For this reason we all need to develop intercultural competence. The ability to understand each other across all types of cultural barriers is a fundamental prerequisite for making our diverse democratic societies work."" (https://book.coe.int/en/root/4943-intercultural-competence-for-all-preparation-for-living-in-a-heterogeneous-world-pestalozzi-series-n2.html)What is InterAct?InterAct is a very ambitious project that will develop a complete collection of tools organised around a web based app, that offers an approach to IAC, that is both well researched and fun to use. It will allow• the young participant to dive deeper into the world of interculturality, to monitor, practice and validate their own learning progress (IO1),• the youth worker to easily integrate practical exercises, games and reflective elements into the creation of international projects, such as Erasmus mobilities (IO2),• include a policy paper to be used by decision makers to help promote and support funding of IAC and mobility projects (IO3)Why InterAct?InterAct makes intercultural action competence (IAC)• Understandable, • Measurable and• Validable.The main goal of InterAct is to transform the concept of IAC from theory to practice, to make it easily understandable for youth workers and participants alike and to make it fun to work with. ""In multicultural societies one of the central aspects of education for democratic citizenship with its emphasis on “learning and living together democratically” must be education for intercultural competence if our vision of sustainable democratic societies is to come true."" (Josef Huber, CoE 2012). The A in IAC stands for the attitudinal and behavioural component of the learning process and is crucial for the practical relevance of intercultural experiences in societies. It'sOn an individual level, it will increase the effect of mobillity participation on perceived self-efficacy, employability, self-esteem and openness to diversity. The combination of the encounter with our learning tool will deepen the learning effect on the cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral dimension.On a societal level, the dissemination of IAC will lead to an improved level of international cooperation, which is a key element for the future of the European Union and the Sustainable Development Goals. It makes our society more resilient against xenophobia and chauvinism and increases our capacity to integrate migrants.Who will use InterAct?IAC is a key competence that is required for and practiced in every international youth encounter. It contributes largely to the Competence in Cultural Awareness, but also to many other key competences. Although IAC is central to youth mobility, it is often not sufficiently understood, and learning progress in this field cognition-focussed andnot properly evaluated and recognized. Gender mainstreamingInterAct is a project that promotes equal opportunities for all. In the context of IAC, gender issues are particularly important as they help to understand, analyse and deconstruct genderrelated cultural stereotypes, that frequently get in the way of intercultural mobilities with participants of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. As InterAct starts with amodule to integrate IAC in the project development, it will make sure that these aspects are part of the project design from the very beginning."