CONTEXT AND NEEDSThe 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme is, based on a number of mid-term evaluations in all EU-countries considered as one of the EU's best-known successes not only impacting millions of individuals but educational systems at large. The forthcoming Erasmus+ programme period (2021-2027) will increase the focus on mobility, providing learning opportunities to 12 million people (three times as many mobilities as in the current programme), building a European Education Area and strengthening the European identity. This all means that more schools, in particular schools with disadvantaged students will need to build capacity for Erasmus+ participation in order to for the programme to reach its full impact. This also implies that widening participation in the programme is necessary in order for the Erasmus+ programme to be successful. The BE+ partnership, consisting of school, local school authorities, municipalities and transnational networks from Sweden, Italy, Norway and Germany have found that the participation of schools in the Erasmus+ programs is either not widely spread in their local communities or happening in a way it can fully lead to school development. OBJECTIVESThe objectives of BE+ is to increase the administrative and organizational capacity in K-12 school education so that teaching and management staff is better prepared to transnational collaboration within the Erasmus+ framework. More specifically this means to: -Support schools in identifying their needs in relation to capacity building -Develop innovative methodology and tools to meet the training needs of school staff-Improve the skills of school staff in understanding and implementing a project cycle management -Develop a toolbox that will prepare schools for the next generation of Erasmus+PARTICIPANTS AND ACTIVITIESMore than 500 school staff and policymakers will take part in activities that will be disseminated and have the potential to reach and benefit a minimum of 2000 K-12 schools.The line of events/activities have been organized into 4 core activities ( Project management, IO1 A Self-Assessment guide for need analysis in Schools, IO2 Training course on capacity building and IO3 Capacity Buildning Toolbox) that are key elements in reaching the overall project objectives.Activities related to IO1 provide the partners as well as the project with a more profound, up to dated understanding of the needs of schools in a more holistic manner and will result in a self assessment tool that sets the stage for the other intellectual outputs. Building on IO1, IO2 will start of with a content development phase for the training courses that will be tested and evaluated during 2 Learning Teaching and Training activities. Core activity 4- IO3 summarizes the entire project by collating all of the resources in one accessible and easy-to-use place. The toolbox makes it more likely that the outputs will be used by a larger cross-section of teachers, educators, policymakers and other stakeholders, going beyond the project partners network, beyond the partner countries and beyond the project timeline thus ensuring the sustainability of the project, upon its ending.RESULTS AND IMPACTThe project will result in many outputs related to capacity building, from identified needs of schools, the development and testing of innovative tools and methods, increased knowledge about the Project Management Cycle, increased confidence in engaging in application for Erasmus+ funding to the uptake in in new school contexts and the strengthening of the European dimension in K-12 Education. The long term impacts of BE+ are ultimately to increase the administrative and organizational capacity in the entire educational system so the Erasmus + program can be used as a vehicle of the modernization of European educational systems.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals contain a specific focus on shared decision-making for all groups, with the aim of creating ‘responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels’ (SDG-target 16.7). Furthermore, the global definition of social work notes that human rights principles are central to the profession. Within this, much attention has been given to social work and children’s rights and there has been progress nationally and internationally. However, the participation rights of young children (aged 12 and under) remains an ongoing concern because professionals across Europe experience shared difficulties and barriers regarding implementation. There is much learning to be had across and between countries to secure an inclusive society for all children regarding their involvement in decision making.The overarching aim of this project is to promote the participation of young children (aged 12 years and under) in decision making in a transnational context through strengthening professionals collaboration with young children involved in child welfare/child protection services by collating and disseminating learning materials for social workers, managers, policy officers and trainers. There are four objectives: first, to increase the competence of social workers/professionals; second, to support organisations to create the conditions for participatory social work with young children; third, to provide a framework for policy officers and managers to support the implementation of a participatory approach to social work; and fourth, to provide trainers of post-initial training to teach new tools and methods. To achieve this, 8 partners (drawn from managers, policy officers, academics and trainers) from 4 countries (B, Es, N, UK) will work together. Guided by an Advisory Board which will bring in the voice of the child, all project outputs will be codesigned in cooperation with all stakeholders and offer an integrated approach to enhancing knowledge, skills, values and practice in collaborating with young children. The project will comprise tangible outputs, namely the development of one online platform with three outputs comprising: a media library for all stakeholders; a framework for management and policy officers; and a toolkit for trainers. The media library will be accessible to all stakeholders in a transnational context and will reflect the principles, targets and goals associated with SDG 16 and the UNCRC (both internationally applicable frameworks with obligations attached). It will comprise: methods and tools accessible for social workers to use in their interactions with young children; podcasts of interviews and testimonials; vimeos that explain specific methods and tools; reports (written and vimeo) of the explored practices; and reflections of participants on their use, views and experiences of new methods.The management and policy framework will be informed by the conditions and contextual factors commonly shared in a transnational context that enhance opportunities to strengthen the competence of social workers to work with young children. The new framework will enable managers and policy officers to develop implementation strategies for new models of participative social work in child welfare/protection services; provide guidance to managers in the supervision and appraisal of their staff thereby helping to create the conditions for their staff to work in more participatory ways through collaborative approaches with young children.The toolkit, accessible to all, will comprise: vimeos with demonstrations of methods and tools in use with young children; vimeos with demonstrations of challenging situations in collaborating with young children; and exercises that stimulate self-reflection. The project will also host multiplier events and 3 transnational learning events that will be organised once a year, for 3 days duration each in Belgium, Norway and the UK. In this way, hundreds of people in this field of work will be reached. Regional Innovative methods will be collected, explored and trained. New practices will be co-produced. Between the transnational learning events, regional peer learning sessions will be held to transfer and experiment in their own context. Tangible results and impacts from the project include: children in child welfare/protection participating and collaborating with their social workers; social workers gaining competences (knowledge, skills, attitudes) in collaborating with young children; policy officers and managers creating the culture and context for improved participatory social work; and trainers enhancing the competence of social workers. Impact will be measured using indicators and principles associated with SDG 16 and the UNCRC. Within these parameters, the Advisory Group will assist in developing the most appropriate impact indicator framework.

Monitoring work-related stress revealed high heterogeneity between European states and recent surveys show that one in every five European workers endures work-related stress. This project had the aim of describing key research and activities useful for stress and anger reduction in the five participating countries: Romania, Spain, Cyprus, Italy and Norway, based on previous projects aiming at improving HR policies and therefore the psychosocial environment in organizations. The specific goal was to compare strengths and weaknesses of practices for stress reduction with a transnational view, in order to improve the employee’s capacity to manage the work related stress and negative emotions; the employee’s skills to work with persons with personality disorders with consequences in criminal behavior as wel as the employees’ capacity to perform needs assessment and interventions for offenders with personality disorders in order to reduce the risk to reoffend.The strategic partnership targeted the achievement of: 01. Scientific research, Protocols, and needs analysis for anger, violence and stress reduction, Output 02. Manual for work related stress and anger management applied in law enforcement and correctional field, Output 03. Upgrading the online platform with specific resources and producing Output 04. The Miniguide for employees in dealing with aggressive personalities.The collection of scientific evidences gives strength to practices supported in this project, designed at the end to give practical suggestions to professionals and provided valid data for the development of documents that support measures and decisions regarding stress in the workplace. The main results derived from the intellectual outputs were delivered to the employees during project implementation, through professional training sessions, and will continue to be disseminated with the support of the VET departments: the protocols for work related stress and anger management applied, which is a detailed collection of techniques for the reduction of stress and anger and the miniguide for employees involved in activities with higher rate of psychosocial risks, a brief ready-to-use guide with simple and fast techniques for managing aggressive personalities.We involved 846 participants and 18 researchers in studies regarding stress and anger in the workplace, 234 trainers and coordinators in dissemination at national and European level, 12 officials and 30 professionals from other European states in multiplying the results. The benefits of this project were multiplied during events in each partner country, webpages and press releases informing about the project results, to the relevant stakeholders and policy makers in the field of VET. The outputs, the protocols, miniguide, tools and instruments for scientific research become available and free on the project webpage. The impact was measured at the end of the project, during the multiplying events, by an independent company and 85% of beneficiaries reported the the events had risen to expectations regarding the deliverables, techniques and lecturers.We consider that the project results stand as a solid base for training on improving management of negative emotions, stress, anger, the usefulness of such a program being presented by the respondents, with reference to the following aspects: personal development and optimization; improving interpersonal and organizational communication; increased frustration tolerance and self-control; increased confidence in one's own forces and in the work group; optimizing the working climate; reducing the risk of conflict occurrence and manifestation; efficiency of professional activities; prevention of possible professional behaviors at risk. Forming and training professionals in law enforcement and penitentiary staff is difficult and with this project we took a solid step in trying to create a correlation between what a worker actually does and what he needs to know and do. Excessive work-related stress has a strong impact on the lives of all employees, regardless of the position they occupy. To conclude, the project provided the opportunity to develop continuous training for staff working in activities with higher rate of psychosocial risks and for development of programs focused on stress reduction strategies for physical and mental health of staff. The strategic partnership provided the context for a wide range of professionals and organizations across Europe to exchange expertise, to work together for common goal and to create added value to their work and also, at European level. The project partners established long lasting networks of cooperation, improvements, sustainability and beyond, looking forward for new project opportunities.

CONTEXT/BACKGROUNDPROTEUS started with a key question in education from the EC: “How to inspire teachers to be proactive, reflective professionals who take ownership of their own professional development?” There is an international drive to enhance collaboration between teacher education, largely based in universities, and schools. The aim of PROTEUS was to enable key stakeholders to better integrate the academic and practical elements of learning to teach, by investigating the effectiveness of initiatives that promote university/school collaboration, such as university schools. At the same time PROTEUS has, with the involvement of teacher educators, teacher mentors and student teachers developed understandings of ‘new professionalism’, across boundaries of research and teaching practice. With the involvement of different stakeholders to teacher education, PROTEUS has also involved larger sets of actors with ideas and exchanges of experiences that can contribute to the development of teacher education. OBJECTIVESThe main objectives of PROTEUS have been:1. To identify the opportunities and constraints of existing university/school collaborations2. To evaluate the potential of ‘university schools’ as a specific model of university/school collaboration3. To evaluate the capacity of university/school collaborations to develop 21st century professionalismPARTNERSPROTEUS consists of seven universities/university colleges and two university schools, covering all levels of initial teacher education, from primary to higher secondary schools. The partners represent a broad range of European education systems and hence are able to produce detailed evidence about the opportunities and constraints of university/school collaboration and its integration into national systems. ACTIVITIESPROTEUS has worked with a range of university/school collaboration models. Participants saw these approaches at first-hand and, through transnational meetings and the production of the PROTEUS intellectual outputs, considered their strengths and weaknesses, whilst learning from each other.RESULTSThe project has produced knowledge about university/school collaboration, both locally at the partner teacher education institutions and internationally, through exchange visits and workshops with student teachers, school (mentor) teachers and university staff. The following basic principles have emerged from the work of PROTEUS:1)The ultimate goal of teacher education, as implemented through USPs, is to provide pupils with the best possible educational and personal outcomes from their time in school. 2)A subsidiary goal of USPs is to make the teaching profession sustainable, by increasing the effectiveness of teachers whilst reducing stress, burnout and attrition.3)University schools, as a subset of USPs, should be research-informed, meaning that they actively refer to research results as evidence for pursuing specific practices, but with a critical and inquiring attitude to research, and with the possibility of pursuing research in specific local contexts.4)University schools should be a form of clinical practice, involving varying degrees of responsibility and with active dialogue between student teachers, mentors and other in-service teachers, as well as teacher educators and researchers.5)USPs should maintain mutual respect and understanding between all partners/stakeholders6)Mutual expectations should be clarified at an early stage in partnership development.7)Systematic Teacher Professional Development should be an integral part of USPs8)USPs should have a clear plan for mentoring new teachers, as part of an induction scheme, even if this is not mandatory at national level.9)The roles of PhD and masters studies within USPs should be agreed at an early stage and steps should be taken to maximise the value of such studies to participating schools, for example by aligning research topics to local issues in teaching and learning.10)Spatial factorsshould be taken into account in USPs. Staff should feel at home in both school and university environments, with the possibility of a 'thirdspace' for dialogue or 'trialogue' involving all stakeholders.11) Spreading the word about the benefits of USPs is important, and communication channels and messages should be discussed by all partners/stakeholders.As a summary recommendation, we suggest that schools and universities involved in teacher education should create long-term structures to support ongoing dialogue regarding their relationship. This should cover not only practice arrangements for student teachers, but also the role of research and researchers in both school- and university based teacher education.IMPACTPartner institutions enabled to reflect on, and refine, their collaboration practices.LONGER-TERM BENEFITS Better pupil outcomesReduced teacher attritionMore cost-efficient teacher education

DataPACT develops novel tools and methodologies that enable efficient, compliant, ethical, and sustainable data/AI operations and pipelines. DataPACT delivers a transformative approach where compliance, ethics, and environmental sustainability are not afterthoughts but foundational elements of data/AI operations and pipelines. DataPACT contributes to the design, implementation, and management of data/AI operations and pipelines by embedding compliance, privacy, and environmental sustainability at their core design. It delivers compliance by design for data/AI operations and pipelines by developing innovative technical tools (DataPACT Compliance Toolbox) and tool-supported methodologies (DataPACT Compliance Framework) for compliance assessment and realization of data/AI pipelines designed, deployed and executed through a set of pipeline management tools and techniques (DataPACT Compliance-aware Data/AI Pipeline Toolbox). DataPACT validates its core results through a strong selection of seven complementary use cases offered by SMEs, large companies, and public sector organizations in relevant areas, including media and entertainment, healthcare, smart cities, law enforcement and security, customer relationship management, manufacturing, and public data. DataPACT helps them ensure straightforward and cost-effective compliance with existing and emerging regulations and guidelines, shorter time-to-market for compliant data solutions, fair and unbiased data-driven systems, respect for privacy and other fundamental rights, and lower and transparent environmental impact for intensive data/AI pipeline operations. DataPACT gathers a balanced consortium of 18 partners from 16 countries, consisting of two large companies, two public sector organizations, four SMEs, two research centers, and seven universities, covering relevant aspects related to legal, ethical, social, environmental, and technical compliance of data/AI operations and pipelines.