The low success rates of students in science courses and the negative attitudes and perceptions towards these courses are frequently mentioned in the science education literature.As a solution of this problem,out of school environments can provide important contributions as a complementary tool in formal education.In this project,it is aimed to develop an out-of-school curriculum for teacher education programs by following these steps:(i)finding out about different out of school learning environments,approaches and resources used in countries where out-of-school education has been successfully conducted over years,(ii) acquire and possess high-quality skills, competences,knowledge and skills related to strategies,methods and techniques that can be used in out-of-school activities,(iii) collaborate with partners to construct scaffolds which will help us to develop an out-of-school curriculum,and(iv) test and refine the curriculum first in Hacettepe University (the applicant university)(v) translate and apply the curriculum in participant countries.The curriculum will consist of following aspects:interdisciplinary connections, STEM education,using mobile applications,virtual museums,augmented reality, assessment.Although in service and pre-service teachers (PSTs) know some out of school environments such as science centres,they have difficulty in planning how to follow a methodological way in these environments and learning how to use them as a complementary tool in their teaching.As a result, these kinds of trips are often an ordinary sight-recognition visits.To overcome these deficiencies,teacher education programs need a structured curriculum which will provide pre-service teachers opportunities to experience and implement out-of-school lesson plans.The goal of this curriculum is to combine the theoretical background with applied activities by creating on-site learning environments. The theoretical knowledge will be developed via intensive collaboration with the input emerged from national and international out of school practices and examples given by the teacher trainers and project experts.In order to support theory with practice,pre-service teachers will create learning environments by choosing one of the out-of-school learning environments (e.g. planetarium,museum,zoo, etc.)The project will start with a need analysis collecting input from different stakeholders (e.g. academicians, teacher educators from formal (private school [Sınav Koleji] and public schools [Etimesgut District National Education Directorate]), and informal institutions (Muğla BİLSEM). The need analysis will inform us what teacher educators, pre-service and in-service teachers expectations are from a new curriculum, what they believe that is important to focus on out-of-school learning.The project will be carried out by four program member countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Turkey) and three associated partners from Turkey. As a result, a common training content will be developed with the participation of each member. In this process, each country will hold a meeting and prepare a visit to out of school learning environments in that country. During these visits,out of school practices will be experienced in the European dimension.These meeting will facilitate to establish the theoretical infrastructure of out-of-school curriculum, and the team members will have access to reliable sources of information.The project will produce two major outcomes:(1)Out-of-School Learning in European Countries as an ebook,(2) The out-of-school learning curriculum for teacher education programs.To measure the effectiveness of the project; the quality of the out-of-school learning environments developed by PSTs during the implementation of the newly developed curriculum will be analyzed. Additionally, we will have different assessments for PSTs to help us identify how their ideas about out-of-school learning developed.These assessment tools include interviews during the course, documentation which presents PSTs’ experiences during the course (e.g. pre-service teachers’ journals),field trip evaluation form, lesson plan evaluation rubric, and course evaluation survey. Totally 7 partners will organize appropriate dissemination activities and meetings with relevant institutions.At these meetings, outputs of the project will be discussed in detail and detailed analysis will be carried out along with stakeholders in all participant countries.This last meeting of the project will host an Out-of-School Learning Conference including invited paper and poster presentations.The purpose of this conference is providing an opportunity for researchers to make connections with the practitioners and enable dissemination of the curriculum and the ebook.The project will be followed up on the webpage after the project ends with an emphasis on how the curriculum will be applied in different universities to ensure dissemination.

The ERFAL project is a KA2 Strategic Partnership for Exchange of Practices aimed at creating a thematic network for sharing experience on different topics in the area of integration of disadvantage people. The project developed a collection of good practices dealing with the integration of migrants and refugees, disabled people, NEETs and elderly and providing successful models for raising their skills and supporting their economic and social integration. The project objectives covered:-To establish a thematic network for sharing experience on different topics in the area of integration of disadvantage people -To improve the quality of the educational opportunities offered to disadvantaged people and raise their skill levels in a wide variety of sectors-To support disadvantaged people in their economic and social integration-To enhance the exploitation potential of existing educational projects focused on integration of various disadvantaged groupsThese objectives were achieved through the development of a Toolbox of 75 tools, initiatives and good practices for integration of migrants and refugees, disabled people, NEETs and elderly people from the partner countries and beyond, which are made available on the project website (www.erfalproject.eu). The Toolbox development and information included was continuously communicated with relevant stakeholders dealing with the integration of disadvantaged people. The project website registered 6,000 visitors since its launch.ERFAL used the methodology of the BarCamp participatory workshops where information and experiences are shared through different means and formats. A total of 4 BarCamp workshops were organised under the project, each one dealing with a specific topic related to the integration of disadvantaged people, and namely:-First BarCamp: Integration of migrants and refugees-Second BarCamp: Integration of disabled people-Third BarCamp: Integration of NEETs-Fourth BarCamp: Integration of elderly peopleDuring the workshops each participant presented a good practice dealing with the topic in question in diverse forms – presentations, educational games, national and European initiatives and projects for integration and education of disadvantaged people, first-hand people experiences, mobile applications, videos, educational digital technologies, etc. During the implementation of the project, the ERFAL partners created a network of 54 organisations and hundreds of individuals from the area of integration of disadvantaged people and used them for input and feedback at different project stages. The ERFAL outcomes were spread to relevant stakeholders within two rounds of national workshops aimed at exchanging experience on methods and opportunities for the integration of disadvantaged people. A total of 505 target group representatives participated in 24 workshops organised in the 9 partner countries. The ERFAL project was widely disseminated within 184 dissemination events reaching nearly 8,000 people; thousands more were reached through online dissemination and different informational platforms. In December 2018, the ERFAL project was awarded a Certificate for quality implementation of a project at an official ceremony during the annual valorization conference of the Bulgarian National Agency.

"The legislation in occupational hazards matter establishes that the workers must receive periodically a specific training depending on their working place. It is habitual that this training ends up being very general for all workers, instead of specific, and it is habitual also not to get the periodic training for the complications that the organization of the same one carries, especially in sectors as this one in which the workers are relocated by long periods. Therefore, the workers are not adequately trained in preventive measures with the consequent risk of accident.At present, the training in occupational hazards of the trawling fishing activity is given by traditional technologies of learning. Isn´t updated with the new technologies. Also, there do not exist programs of training of prevention of labor risks normalized to European level. The standardization of the training to European level and the use of ICT will give an added value to the same one, facilitating the mobility of the personnel and improving their qualification.Based on these needs identified in the trawling fishing sector in terms of qualifications and learning for an appropriate management of occupational risks associated with the activities of trawling fishing, the proposal ""SAFE FISHING"" arises whose aims are: - To provide and to advise to the sector of the trawling fishing in a transverse skills corresponding to the prevention of labor risks: “Program Normalized to European Level for the management of the prevention of labor risks in the trawling fishing sector”- To promote an educational innovative development in the sector with the use of the ICT: “DVD: SAFE FISHING”Adapting and improving the Spanish contents through the use of the ICT, the partnership will develop a specific, audiovisual training contents which will be used by the workers to develop their daily activities in safer conditions and fewer workplace accidents.Consortium:The project partnership is composed by six partners from five European countries with great experience in vocational training in the sector and in prevention of occupational risks.- ARVI (professional association): Spain- SGS TECNOS (multinational corporation): Spain- MARE (fishermen cooperative) Italy- IMP (institute of the sector): France- RTEU (University): Turkey- EUROPECHE (European Association): BelgiumThe activities of the project have lead to the creation of the following outputs:- PRELIMINARY STUDY AND IDENTIFICATION OF TRAINING NEEDS IN PREVENTION OF LABOR RISKS IN THE TRAWLING FISHING SECTOR- PROTOTYPE OF PROGRAM NORMALIZED TO EUROPEAN LEVEL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PREVENTION OF LABOR RISKS IN THE TRAWLING FISHING SECTOR- STANDARIZED AUDIOVISUAL PROGRAM AT EUROPEAN LEVEL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PREVENTION OF LABOR RISKS IN THE TRAWLING FISHING SECTORThe project has succeeded to reach the following impacts:- Promote the standardization of training as prevention of occupational hazards for this sector at European level.- Provision of learning and innovative learning materials.- Favor access to distance learning- To facilitate ongoing training (VET)The long-term effects sought are:- Professionalization of the sector to European level - Improvement of the knowledge in the use of the ICT for the professionals of the sector to European level. - Technological Development and improvement of the competitiveness of the sector in Europe.- To facilitate the mobility of the professionals between countries - To facilitate the linguistic diversity in the sector- Promotion of new European projects"

Institutions of adult education from Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Spain have established a partnership to develop a training program with a manual for trainers and a mobile application for various social groups in the field of home finances management which means home budget. Trainings, exercises and methods will be prepared by specialists from partner organizations in such a form that in an accessible form, raise the knowledge of adults as well as efficiently and properly manage the home budget. The training program will include elements of mathematics, sociology, economics, marketing as well as psychology. The training program will also concern healthy lifestyle, healthy eating and avoiding dangerous loans. Trainers will gain knowledge thanks to the exchange of experiences and the handbook on how to work with various groups, eg emigrants, socially excluded, disabled and adult pupils of educational and upbringing facilities to become independent. Thanks to the project, the participating organizations will expand their educational offer and the competences of their employees will increase. The main products of the project will be made available to other organizations and trainers, a textbook and a mobile application. Especially the mobile application with the training material will affect the universality of teaching about home finances and dissemination among educators.

“PAUSE: Practices and Approaches for Upskilling Educators” is aimed at exchanging experience and good practices for improving the skills and competences of educators working with vulnerable adults. Within a consortium of 8 organisations from 8 EU countries and extended networks of stakeholders at national and European level, the project will develop a comprehensive database of practices and initiatives that provide successful mechanisms for improving the teaching skills of adult educators related to promoting interculturalism, dealing with cultural and linguistic diversity, promoting tolerance and equality in the class room , fighting stereotypes, racism and discrimination,promoting inclusion and participation, paying attention to specific learning needs, etc.The good practices will be targeted at addressing skills needed to work with three groups of vulnerable adults considered a high priority on the adult education agenda, and namely:- People from disadvantaged backgrounds such as migrants, Roma, refugees and asylum seekers who can use adult learning as a means of strengthening social inclusion and active participation- Elderly people who need enhanced learning opportunities in the context of active aging- People with disabilities who need tailored educational opportunities for addressing their specific learning needsPolicy recommendations place importance on the fact that vulnerable groups have distinct needs and cultural patterns which must be respected and reflected in an educational context, and in a systemic and inclusive way that caters for diversity. In this respect, adult educators working with vulnerable groups can benefit highly from good practices, approaches and methods for making adult education more attractive, more accessible and more effective and thus improve the quality of their service.The project objectives cover:- To develop and disseminate a comprehensive database of successful and effective practices at EU level aimed at improving the skills of educators working with vulnerable adults- To build a European-wide network of practitioners developing national and European initiatives focused on providing quality adult education and to enrich their expertise- To enhance the motivation of adults from vulnerable groups to take part in adult education- To foster the exchange of experience at EU level and enhance the dissemination and exploitation potential of existing educational projects providing tools for improving the skills of adult educatorsThe good practices will be made available through a user-friendly search engine on the project website which will allow users to sort out their search preferences and search for good practices by impact targets, criteria, target groups, topics, countries, key words, etc. The practices will be spread to relevant stakeholders within a series of 24 national exploitation seminars for exchange of experience.In addition, PAUSE will create an EU-wide network of over 80 associated partners which will get involved in the process of research, feedback, quality assurance, dissemination and exploitation of good practices focused on quality adult education and inclusion of vulnerable groups.