WeGovNow will tap into emerging technologies for effectively supporting coproduction by civic society stakeholders and collective proposition development, whereby citizens are partners as opposed to customers in the delivery of public services. By integrating a set of innovative technologies within a unified citizen engagement platform, the project will overcome the current limitations of existing digital tools for citizen reporting, e-participation, and communication between the citizen and the government. In doing so, WeGovNow will enable a new type of interactivity, enhancing and expanding the viability of and capacity for citizen coproduction in the public sector, not only in a traditional citizen-to-government dynamic, but also in an arrangement where the government informs, assists, and enables private actions, or where citizens assist one another, with IT replacing the dependency on administrations as a vehicle for collective action. Building on previous research and technology development, an ambitious programme of service process innovation and technology innovation will be pursued by a multi-disciplinary project consortium. Outcomes will be validated in three European cities. WeGovNow will offer solutions that are truly inclusive by addressing risks of digital exclusion from the offset and throughout the project’s life cycle. Legal, ethical and other framework conditions for implementing the WeGovNow approach and digital tools in day-to-day settings will be systematically explored and considered, with a view to optimising the democratic legitimacy of the WeGovNow approach and the exploitability of tangible project outputs. An evidence base on impacts will be generated through a dedicated evaluation programme, thereby adopting multi stakeholder perspectives. This will enable the development of evidence-based guidance on the further mainstreaming of WeGovNow solutions and provide directions for further research.

WE4AHA will advance the effective, large-scale uptake and impact of Digital Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing (AHA), building on a comprehensive set of support and promotion services. Through WE4AHA’s centralised administration, coordination and external communication, the relevant stakeholders will be mobilised to help develop and implement three EU guided activities: Innovation to Market (I2M), Blueprint Digital Transformation of Health and Care for the Ageing Society, and EIP on AHA. WE4AHA will support the definition and execution of an I2M plan, further development of the Blueprint to drive the policy vision on digital innovation, and the consolidation of EIP on AHA Action Groups and Reference Sites. It will connect demand- and supply-side stakeholders through matchmaking, twinning, assessing innovative interventions using MAFEIP, and fostering engagement and many other support activities. It will leverage additional private and public investments by mobilising a growing number of stakeholders in Europe’s digital health and care and silver economy sectors - industry, public authorities, end users, financial institutions, investors, insurers, and research communities committed to innovate on a large-scale. WE4AHA will draw on its numerous, strong synergies and links to relevant H2020 R&I actions and other EU and international programmes. The highly interdisciplinary consortium will ensure the proper execution of the work plan by leveraging the partners’ access to expertise and evidence. The consortium composition is an unparalleled matching of partners with strategic competences in health and active ageing and leading experts in policy analysis, research and innovation oriented to business, ICT enabling technologies, stakeholder engagement, communication, dissemination and the multiplier effect. Additional support is provided through a pool of experts and an Advisory Board of key stakeholder organisations with high-level competences in relevant fields.

The European University Association (EUA-Sept 2020) survey on “Digitally enhanced learning & teaching” reports that 95% of the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) opted for distance learning during COVID crisis. According to the The Economist (25th July 2020) new scenario opens to new challenges for HEI and their technological readiness, financials and business model will require a deep assessment and a probable reshape. In this context, teaching will have to be readapted and redesigned based on the digital learning tools and their capacity to engage with students so to be attractive and to offer valuable content. Therefore, the provision of high quality digital learning materials and contents in an effective, attractive and engaging way will happen only if the whole digital education experience is inclusive, accessible and easy to understand and use by all students, regardless their abilities, digital readiness and cultural background.The eTEACHERS project is going to develop a toolkit that will support and empower higher education teachers in building inclusive education materials, helping to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students with disabilities and contribute to the digital transformation of education, making it inclusive and attractive, contributing to the changing and reshaping of the present models.The objectives of the eTEACHERS project include:-To analyse the current situation with regards to digital inclusive education readiness of higher education teachers.-To identify, reuse and share good practices on innovative and open methods and tools for the provision of high quality inclusive digital education at university level. -To develop an online toolkit with selected resources based on user needs, test and validate it.-To develop a set of guidelines containing recommendations on inclusive digital education that can be scaled up to other European universities.-To collaborate across sectors to disseminate project results and engage universities and other stakeholders beyond the partnership.The project partners are European knowledge leaders in delivering digital inclusive education. The consortium is composed by three higher education institution with wide background on accessibility: JKU in Austria, UNED in Spain and MU in Czech Republic. For the market trends perspective and consiering its innovation capabilities, Funka Nu AB, a Swedish SME, market leaders in accessibility, completes the consortium. The main activities that will be carried out include:-Analysis of needs and requirements regarding digital inclusion competences for higher education -Collection of relevant open educational resources and tools to foster high quality digital inclusive education-Development of an online accessible toolkit for inclusive digital education -Testing, evaluation and refinement of the online toolkit for high quality digital inclusive education in the 3 pilot sites (AT, ES, CZ) -Elaboration of practical guidelines on how to foster inclusive digital higher education The project will mainly target:-Higher education teachers. -Accessibility support services staff within in higher education institutions.-National networks of accessibility support services.-National public providers of assistive technologies (AT) to people with disabilities.The project is expected to have an impact at the local, regional, national and European levels generating:-Increased knowledge and capability of the HE teachers and accessibility support services on how to develop high quality digital inclusive education.-More accessible teaching and learning materials that will directly benefit the students with disabilities at local and regional level.-The provision of more inclusive training supported by selected knowledge and open resources (toolkit).

<< Background >>The main objective of the ADORE project is to educate university teaching and training staff working in the field of communication on accessible content publishing and how to provide a more inclusive teaching experience in communication programmes. The project will establish a unique partnership between higher education institutions, training organisations and the private sector, with the overarching goal of mainstreaming accessibility skills in higher education curricula for communication disciplines, and to prepare students for the current and future needs of the economy and society.Context: According to the World Bank, one billion people, or 15% of the world's population, experience some form of disability. The prevalence of disability amongst the world population, coupled with a shift towards the provision and consumption of information in digital formats, has increased the need for accessible content publishing. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has made this need is even greater than before, with public authorities being forced to provide crisis information in a digital format. It is essential that this information is accessible and reaches all citizens, including underrepresented groups such as People with Disabilities (PwD), older adults and immigrants, leaving no one behind. What is accessible content publishing? The term accessible content publishing means the generation of information that can be used by people from a population with the widest user needs, characteristics and capabilities. For example, deaf people need information in sign language and visually impaired people need auditive information. What is meant by higher education communication programmes? This proposal refers to bachelors, Masters and PHD programmes or courses at European universities that focus on communication and include modules such as communication leadership and management, communication strategy, public relations, digital communication, media, marketing, amongst others. Why target higher education communication programmes? As of the 23rd of September 2020, the EU’s Web Accessibility Directive obliges public sector websites and apps to comply with accessibility requirements. Despite the implementation of this Directive in national legislation across the EU, most digital content is still not accessible to all users. It is therefore clear that those studying to work in the field of communication require access to specific training to be able to design and publish content in an accessible way. This, coupled with the growing insight that accessible digital content is better for everyone, will increase the demand for communication professionals who possess accessibility skills. However, there is not yet a corresponding supply of skilled professionals to meet this demand. Accessibility is usually not included within the communication programme curricula in higher education and more focus needs to be given on the different individual needs of the potential target audiences. As a result, many entry-level digital communication professionals are unfamiliar with accessible content creation.<< Objectives >>The main objective of the ADORE project is to educate university teaching and training staff working in the field of communication on accessible content publishing and how to provide a more inclusive teaching experience in communication programmes. The project will establish a unique partnership between higher education institutions, training organisations and the private sector, with the overarching goal of mainstreaming accessibility skills in higher education curricula for communication disciplines, and to prepare students for the current and future needs of the economy and society.The specific objectives include: Specific objective 1: to analyse the current situation and bridge the gaps with regards to •accessibility training needs of university teaching and training staff in the field of communication. •issues faced by underrepresented groups when accessing digital communication content. Specific objective 2: to clearly identify higher education courses and programmes related to the field of communication where there is an opportunity for accessibility to be included in the curricula. Specific objective 3: to improve the accessibility knowledge of university teachers and trainers in the field of communication. Specific objective 4: to facilitate access to the labour market for students of higher education communication. Specific objective 5: to stimulate the uptake of accessibility in the higher education communication curricula in European universities.<< Implementation >>The ADORE project aims to achieve the project results through the execution of activities such as: •Survey on accessibility training needs of higher education communications programme teaching and training staff.•Survey on issues faced by underrepresented when accessing digital communication content.• Mapping of higher education communication programmes where accessibility training can be included.• Co-creation and testing workshops for accessibility training toolkit• Online focus groups to develop the Personas • Accessibility Policy Workshop<< Results >>The ADORE project will achieve the following results:Result 1: Gap analysis on accessibility training needs analysis for university teaching and training staff in fields related to communication.Result 2: Mapping of higher education communication programmes where accessibility training can be included.Result 3: Co-creation of a needs-based accessibility training toolkit for university teaching and training staff working on higher education communication programmes.Result 4: Development of a set of personas representing professional profiles in the field of accessible communication.Result 5: Recommendations on the inclusion of accessibility in curricula for higher education communication programmes.These results will generate the following impact/outputs:Local and regional: •Increased accessibility knowledge and capacity of university teachers and trainers in communication programmes. •More accessible communication publishing.•Access to more inclusive teaching and learning environments in higher education communication programmes. •Greater awareness on accessibility in higher education communication programmes. •Enhanced employability of communication students. National: •Contribution to a more effective implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive in national law-making. The project team also hope that the project results will spur on more thorough compliance o the spirit of the Directive in public and private sectors.•Potential to use the project as a best practice to extrapolate the results to other universities at national level.•Positioning of ADORE partner universities as references in accessible communication programmes and inclusive teaching and learning environments. European/International: •A wider uptake of accessibility training within higher education communication curricula. •Access to effective training materials on accessibility in higher education programmes that can be adopted in other European universities. •Even out the compliance with the Web Accessibility Directive between partner countries and beyond.

Main purpose of the project „From Education to Inclusion“ (EDI) is to improve accessibility in environment, information and communication for blind and partially sighted people in order to enable their participation in all areas of life. In collaboration with the project partners, Teiresias Centre of MU (the Czech Republic) and Funka (Sweden), we will create, test and evaluate training modules on accessibility for people with visual impairment. Within the project we will at one hand improve competences of employees of local authorities who have direct impact on the level of accessibility for blind and partially sighted and on the other hand competences of leaders with visual impairment i.e. active advocates of rights within their community. All training modules, used methodology and good practice from involved partners will be summarized in the project intellectual outputs: 1) the toolkit for trainers, 2) the toolkit for employees of local authorities and 3) the toolkit for blind and partially sighted leaders. From a long-term perspective we are expecting a positive change in all areas of accessibility for people with visual impairment and most of all improvement of their social inclusion.