"The project ""Ensuring Continuity in Education for Refugee (Continugee)"" is based on the principles of the following declarations: 1951 Refugee Convention, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Lisbon Treaty of the European Union, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Treaty of the European Union, and the Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education (Paris Declaration 2015). International studies show that the School-age refugees and especially unaccompanied minors consist a population that moves between European member states before their final settlement.This situation creates two significant needs:First, to ensure that young refugees have a meaningful and rewarding educational encounter with the European way of life, in the sense of what EU President von der Leyen recently described as her vision for a Union of equality, tolerance and social fairness, and the founding values of a united Europe. Such an education, would involve the development of several literacies. It cannot be adequately provided in the difficult conditions of the Reception and Identification Centers, but has to be ensured once these people have been placed under international protection status. Providing refugee children and adolescents with an education that introduces them to European values and the “European way of life” within a structured schooling process, which would maintain and valorize students linguistic and cultural capital, will promote their wellbeing and the well being of their families. It will make them aware of the European context, their rights and obligations, and the main features and attributes of European societies which in several cases differ significantly from their national, ethnic and cultural background.The provision of this educational orientation to newcomers from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds, creates the need for the development of an effective curriculum, and the professional development of educators in order to teach them the European values through/via school courses, adopting existing resources and/ or valorizing their own as well as student’s educational, linguistic and cultural repertoires using teaching strategies which would actively engage refugee students, many of which have never attended school or have been away from school for a long time, usually years.Second, given the fact that in most cases the borderline Member State which was the refugee point of entry to the EU will not be the place of their final settlement, there is the need to ensure a degree of continuity in content and form of the education services provided and to facilitate their educational integration.The ""Continugee"" project specifically aims at creating a partnership, a. taking into account the present condition of refugee children and adolescents from the Reception areas to the places of “permanent” settlement, b. study best practices for the above-mentioned issues, c. develop a needs-based curriculum and an in-service training program and implement it in schools and education institutions of participant organizations, d. taking into consideration the local conditions and aiming at maximizing the European value along with refugees linguistic and cultural background of such interventions.Four (4) participants from Three (3) countries are part of the Project. Three Universities with long term experience in implementing European programs regarding education and social policy and an NGO and non-profit organization, with great experience in training and social integration programs. The Organizations that consist the Strategic Partnership, are:-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece,-Scientific Society for Social Cohesion and Development, (EPEKSA), Greece,-Fachhochschuele Kiel, Germany,-University of Urbino, Italy."

In a world that is increasingly defined by transnational mobility in almost every level, overcoming obstacles deriving from distinctions in educational systems is key to facilitating processes of economic and social inclusion and to prompting the employability of all. However, processes of recognition of learning certificates and skills are obstacles still frequently encountered by people throughout the world. In this context, OBEC primarily aims to explore the potential opportunities the innovative Blockchain (BC) technology may offer to revolutionize the educational field by simplifying and facilitating the issuing and validation of learning credentials across European countries in a unified and enforceable manner. Because BC creates an infrastructure in which certificates can be stored and issued while ensuring transparency, security and verifiability, it has the ability to bring about positive effects especially for OBEC'S target group, composed of migrants, exchange students, and people with alternative learning backgrounds (e.g. VET schools, work experience, training programs, and volunteering).Establishing a system that can guarantee trust, transparency, and reliability in a holistic manner in a transnational context is a challenge our societies must adequately address, as currently standardization of student records in Europe is still limited to institutions utilizing ECTS or ECVET. Consequently, “outdated credential systems limit our ability to create new pathways to education, in particular for those who lack access and need it most” (Joint Research Centre; Grech, A. and Camilleri, A. F., 2017). Indeed, the favoring of evidences of skills and learning achievements earned through formal education over informal and non-formal learning experiences may harm people’s ability to enroll in high-education institutions or to assess the labor market. Additionally, due to differences among national educational systems, migrants are commonly faced with long and difficult processes to recognize their certifications and skills. Such obstacles lead to delays in their integration into the host country’s labor market, also possibly rendering unfeasible the possibilities of their practicing their professions. In fact, more than 40% of the employed highly educated third-country nationals work below their qualification levels in the EU (European Commission, n.d.) This failure in promoting a fast and full integration of migrants in the labor market consequently hinders their ability to fully utilize their skills and realize their economic potential to positively impact the EU economy and societies. In this context, BC technology may offer a unique opportunity to overcome this issue of our current certification systems by creating revolutionary recognition tools in the EU. Emerging from the perception that such revolution is key to enabling people to move freely across countries while fulfilling their full economic and personal capabilities and aspirations, OBEC is a pioneer project composed of three outputs which will conduct:- A research of knowledge gaps and the current state of economic and social integration of the target group;- The development and implementation of an experimental badge system to utilize BC technology in EU systems of educational credentials within a upskilling training programme;- The composition of a set of case studies and videos, as well as of guidelines including good practices and mentor’s advice for practitioners which can inspire important revolutions in the educational context. The methodologies used to achieve these activities include desk-research, expert interviews, the elaboration of text reports, case studies and videos, and the development of digital tools for learning accreditation.Combining partners from four European countries that have different educational systems, OBEC aims at introducing the revolutionary possibilities BC can initiate within the educational field particularly by promoting the integration and prosperity of all, inspiring important changes. As a result, OBEC mainly seeks to positively impact social inclusion and employability in the EU, particularly benefiting the target groups as well as the involved European communities and economies. It is expected that OBEC will directly impact overall 215 individuals, and at least 645 others indirectly among the partner's networks. By exploring innovative digital tools to foster the notions of inclusivity and diversity, OBEC has the final purpose of contributing to the start of a process in the EU which can revolutionize the world through the creation of a barrier-free education system that can prosper through enriched diversity and increased transnational mobility.