Psychosocial health is critical to fostering students’ ability and motivation to perform well at school. Especially, poor body image and appearance concerns are important aspects of adolescent psychosocial health and development. An estimated 50-70% of students in Western societies are dissatisfied with some aspect of their appearance (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2004). Further, a large-scale study of 47 schools across Europe found that the most common reason for teasing/bullying was differences in physical appearance (British Council, 2008). Migrant populations are also at risk for poor body image, with increased social pressure to conform to Western ideals of beauty, dress and appearance during the acculturation and social integration process. Poor body image and appearance-related discrimination is a significant concern for the education sector as they both have been associated with poor school performance and psychological and physical health problems including eating disorders, drug and alcohol use, suicidal ideation, low self-esteem, depression and difficulties to integrate into society. Moreover, students who are concerned about their appearance or experience appearance-related bullying are less likely to attend school. One of the main reasons for drop out is psychological health issues (School dropout and completion, Markussen 2011). The objectives are: Develop, implement and evaluate a training package for Youth workers in education who deal with refugees and migrants to: Increase awareness of appearance issues, including; body image, appearance concerns, TABU, and appearance-related teasing, bullying and discrimination and its impact on integration for migrants/refugees. The participants will mainly consist of youth workers and potential youth workers, but some trainers will be involved in each organisation for curriculum development and testing. The project foresees 5 transnational meetings, a national report, a pedagogic report, course development, piloting, finalizing the training materials, joint short time training event, blended mobility week and multiplier events. We will develop a course with 5 modules: 1- Social determinants, 2- Interventions, 3- Cultural and gender issues, 4- Psychological issues on body image, 5- Specific issues for Migrants/refugees. In addition there will be a theoretical report from each country about situation and a pedagocical report as a basis for the course.Methodology will be desk top research, development, testing, evaluation, training staff, implementation and multiplying.Impact foreseen: -Improved competences, linked to their professional youth work: the trainings aim to create an active and inclusive youth work base and enhance their exploring possibilities for inclusion of refugees and migrant youth. This is in line with the study of the European Commission “Working with young people: the value of youth work in the EU” , that identifies the factors that lead to successful youth work outcomes and describes the following as elements of quality youth work: “The youth worker’s relationship with young people; Active outreach to young people in need of help and support; Flexibility, accessibility and adapting to the needs of young people; Learning opportunities, goal setting and recognition of achievements;- Broader understanding of practices, policies and research in relation to young people with refugee/migrant background or those at risk of marginalization and their body image and TABU concerns..- Increased capacity to trigger changes in terms of inclusion of new groups and understand their concerns within their organisations: Youth workers will learn how to work evidence based towards young people with refugee/migrant background with body image and TABU concerns- Greater understanding and responsiveness to social and cultural diversity; Long term benefits: Enhanced quality provision in youth workers ability to deal with the psychosocial issues migrants/refugees have.New youth organisations use our training materials and improve their staff competence in this field.

There was and still is a considerable need to develop educational training for staff and volunteers working with youths with Down syndrome (DS) or intellectual disabilities, especially concerning physical activities. Down syndrome is a common learning disability, and the condition occurs in approximately 1 in 700 births (U.S Department of Health & Human Service, 2017). There is no cure for the condition; instead, interventions are encouraged to promote independence, social inclusion, physical and mental development (European Commission, 2017, European Commission, 2010, Heller et al., 2003). Many individuals with DS already have or will develop physical health problems, however many still have sedentary lifestyles with little physical exercise (Bull, 2011; Bertapelli, et al., 2016; Heller et al., 2003; Tsimaras & Fotiadou, 2004; Balic, Mateos & Blasco, 2000; Esposito et al., 2012). For individuals with DS, one of the primary reasons for participating in activities is the social interaction with peers (Sayers Menear, 2007); however, many people trying or considering including this group are feeling inadequately equipped on how to best support, motivate and include individuals with disabilities as they lack knowledge not only about their needs but also about their skills (Thai & Kingsley, 2017; Sayers Menear, 2007; Jones, 2003; Kozub & Porretta, 1998). However, being aware of needs and strengths can change attitudes and encourage staff to devise an integrational programme that promotes inclusion and engagement (Spencer-Cavaliere et al., 2017; Campbell et al., 2003); this project successfully accomplished this objective. Participation in our society relates to the fundamental rights of EU citizens, including full access to cultural, sports and leisure activities. The project adhered to the European priorities agreed in: a) The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020: A renewed commitment to a barrier-free Europe (November 2010), b) The Declaration of the European Parliament of 18 April 2012 on children with Down syndrome, c) The European Commission Communication 'The European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion' (December 2010) and d) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which entered into force in the EU in 2011. The outcome was a functional continuing education and training package for organisations that works or are interested in working with individuals with DS or intellectual disabilities. This enhances the possibilities for individuals with DS or intellectual disabilities to participate in sports activities and at the same time have the increased opportunities to become more integrated into our European society, which will contribute to their empowerment. The training course is in a modular form piloted on staff, youth workers, and volunteers in the partner countries that ensured the effectiveness and cultural adaptation. A website was developed that contains all the generated material, reports and outcomes in the partner languages. The project bridged the gap between higher education and user organisations with limited access to knowledge about barriers and variables that may affect participation in physical activities. By having a consortium of health/sport science, psychology and pedagogical experts in accordance with the EQF, ECVET and EQAVET frameworks together with NGOs that work directly with individuals with disabilities, we have ensured that functional training program was delivered as the results of the proposed programme of work. This was verified via pre and post-tests statistically on the 47 pilot participants. The outcome is a functional continuing education and training package for staff and volunteers in organisations who currently work or are interested in working with this target group. The inclusion of people with disabilities is a European-wide problem. By utilising a transnational project approach, we were able to generate training materials that function effectively in the context of European diversity in social and cultural aspects. By increasing knowledge and awareness of how to support and motivate individuals with DS or intellectual disabilities to participate in sports activities, we promote social inclusion and empower individuals to develop life skills and a better quality of life. The Multiplier events reached 185 participants. The developed material included training about equity, diversity and inclusion to combat segregation and discrimination. The longer-term benefits will be a framework of implementation strategies and skillsets for organisations to utilise via a succinct and economically viable training module. All the material developed is an open resource and available to download at the project's website. The dissemination and sustainability plan worked following the plan, reaching at least 18000 stakeholders (conferences, radio, events, TV interviews, newspapers, book chapters, social media).

Loneliness among older people is a growing issue globally, even if the numbers are difficult to estimate as loneliness most commonly is measured as social loneliness only. Social loneliness embraces social aspects needs for human relationships and is often measured in the form of the number of contacts someone has, how extensive the social network is, cohabitation or not, etc. Loneliness is, however, a complex concept that also involves physical as existential dimensions. The physical dimension involves the need closeness and touch, while loneliness in its existential form runs much deeper than social and physical loneliness and is described as an unavoidable condition of humanity. This means that even if other people surround you, you can experience profound loneliness in its existential form. Existential loneliness is usually described in association with death, dying, and cancer when questions about the meaning of life come to the fore. Studies involving health care staff (physicians, registered nurses, assistant nurses, social workers, physio- and occupational therapists) shows that the staff’s encounter with older people’s EE was experienced as both meaningful and challenging. ALONE project has two main objective: 1)To educate nurses about the different dimensions of loneliness to be able to detect and recognize loneliness in all its forms among older people; 2)To encourage nurses and strengthen their ability to encounter loneliness in general and existential loneliness in particular. The target group of ALONE project are: nurses and other health professionals working in home care, nursing home care, palliative care, primary care, hospital care, or pre-hospital care.The aim of the project is to develop a best practice collection in coping with older persons loneliness and a training package for nurses and other health care professionals who currently have limited or no training in how to cope with older persons affected by existential loneliness provide qualified and integrative care to this vulnerable target group. By using a transnational project approach, a collection of good practice, a functional training material and pedagogical guidelines that take into account the European social and cultural diversity in various elderly healthcare facilities will be generated and consequently the developed training material will be more easily adopted and used across Europe. By increasing knowledge and awareness about these aspects among partners and their networks, the project will also promote a broader health and social dialogue about the need to have adequate training on dealing with loneliness among older people in order to provide better patient care, increase life expectancy.

<< Objectives >>Many Europeans do not meet physical activity guidelines and inactivity has increased during the pandemic. Sport and physical activity has the capacity to improve body image and yet judgement is a barrier to physical activity engagement. This project will develop materials for current and future health or sport professionals, to enhance their capacity to create welcoming and inclusive physical activity and sport environments that promote positive body image, and embed these across Europe.<< Implementation >>At four physical and at least five online meetings, 6 partners will collaborate to prepare a 7.5 and 15 ECTS curriculum 'Body Image and Inclusive Physical Activity' that will be embedded in university courses for future health and sport professionals, and 3, stackable micro-credential courses to serve as continuing education for people already working in these professions. Courses will be embedded within partner university programs and multiplier events will enhance the reach of the project.<< Results >>Implementing these curricula for future and current professionals in physical education, health care, sport coaching, and public health , will improve knowledge, skills and attitudes of professionals working in this space. this will result in the creation of more welcoming and inclusive sport and physical activity environments that encourage greater engagement in physical activity across diverse populations, leading to a range of physical and mental health benefits for citizens across Europe.

STEM programmes are receiving increasing attention, and decision makers are becoming interested since these approaches are considered efficient for developing scientific literacy and increasing scientific and technological vocations. However, what can be understood as an integrated STEM approach is not clear: many different conceptions of curriculum integration for STEM coexist; there are few teaching models ; the didactical guidelines are often not specific enough for teachers’ implementation; and most initiatives are addressed to teenagers, although recent research points out that while children at early ages often have an intrinsic interest in STEM content areas, it declines as they grow up. Therefore, pre-primary and primary education stages constitute great opportunity for smoothing the way. The ERASMUS+ project Robotics and STEM education for children and primary schools has its focus in early education (children four-eight y.o). The project outputs were specifically aimed to provide in and pre-service teachers in Childhood and Primary Education with a new didactical model and research-based and tested integrated STEM activities involving robotics. botSTEM aimed to support educators in finding ground-breaking ways to adapt to the continuously changing reality. During the three years of the project the partners have been committed in developing high quality outputs to ensure botSTEM attractiveness and the potential scale-up of its practices.We developed a Toolkit, that won a prize at the Ciencia en acción 2019 competition, translated in 5 languages. It includes a new didactical model on a pedagogical basis and with methodologies for introducing STEM and computational thinking to young students; a selection of good practices in STEM education and robotics, produced and tested by teachers of different European countries; a group of new activities, designed within the model proposed, for developing STEM ideas and competences, making stepwise use of robotics, code learning, and physical Computation; and a selection of Open Educational Resources, useful for teachers wishing to introduce STEM approaches, collaborative inquiry teaching, code learning and programming. A free virtual learning platform, based on Moodle, was designed to help teachers to implement inclusive STEM + robotics practices for 4-8 y.o. The platform has educative videos, developed by the partners; complementary material, including guidelines for the assessment of STEM practices; an on-line quiz -- the botSTEM Game, to delve into aspects of what scientists and engineers do in HTML5-compliant application, suitable for most smartphones and tablet devices-- as well as different free STEM on-line games; guidelines to introduce role models strategies in science teaching to ensure visibility of women in science with biographies of women scientists and engineers from the partners’ countries; and the records of webinars developed during the project. This virtual learning platform is located at our website (https://www.botSTEM.eu/) where all the information and news about the project; the material produced; and recorded conferences can be found. The activities were implemented in schools of all the partners’ countries and studied in depth in Spain and Sweden, showing promising results in teachers and students. From these results, recommendations for stakeholders and for parents were produced in two different documents aimed to encourage scientific vocations already at early childhood education. Two events were organized. One in Verona, including conferences and workshops for researchers, teachers and students on 30th March 2019. The other, converted in an on-line event due to Covid 19 crisis, consisted in five talks, from 21st to 25th September 2020, given by renowned experts in STEM and robotics.The number of subjects reached by dissemination and implementation activities is valuable and far exceeds the foreseen impact: Teachers, researchers, professors and professionals: 8310 (foreseen 2170); researchers: 537 ; Associations and schools: 930 (foreseen 5); Policy makers and Decision makers: 778 (foreseen 15) ; Children and Families: 20035 (4540); Civil society: 63802 (foreseen 3740); Online communication activities: 13291407. The impact reached is high, in terms of participants and dissemination activities; results in schools; research developed (several final bachelor and master degree research projects; scientific publications and presentations in international conferences); and curricular modifications (introducing didactical strategies, from theoretical and practical perspectives, for integrated STEM, coding and inclusive robotics since early childhood) in the Bachelor degree of Pre-primary and Primary education at UBU and HKR preschools teachers’ programs. Finally, botSTEM model and practices inspired the writing of two KA3 Erasmus Plus projects for support of policy reform and one KA2 that have been funded by the European Commission.