Through research, we found that disability affected 15-20% of the world's population. This amounted to approximately 650 million people. The United Kingdom had the second highest prevalence of disability with 27.2% of the population having a long-standing health problem or disability.We found considerable evidence that students with disabilities were bullied and harassed by their peers. Students with learning disabilities made up a large percentage of the statistics. Examples of the bullying and harassment came in the form of teasing, physical aggression, spreading rumours, social exclusion, taking belongings, imitating and making fun of students.Bullying is a problem of international significance for all students. Its impact can cause a decrease in academic performance or lead to absenteeism, anxiety, depression, poor esteem, impaired concentration, self-harm and early school leaving.The Change Starts With Us project was made up of 6 partners with the goal of becoming organisations that promote and foster positive attitudes towards people with disabilities. We believed that many small steps could be taken to help include people with disabilities in our communities. The concept was that over time, many small actions undertaken by lots of people would lead to a more welcoming and inclusive community for people with disabilities. We are pleased to see that our project ''The Change Starts with us’’ helped to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to take personal and collective action, helping enhance the inclusion of people with disabilities.The project helped participants better understand what it meant and how it felt to be a young person with a disability and gave students the opportunity to learn more about their daily lives, how they have to adapt to their environment, go to school or live independently.In total, there were 116 participants who took part in the Learning, Teaching and Training Activities, with a total number of 46 representatives attending Transnational Project Meetings. The participants who took part in the project LTTAs were made up of young people from a variety of backgrounds, both with and without disabilities. The main project objectives achieved include:- Children were encourage to accept their peers with disabilities as people first and find ways to include everyone in school and after-school activities.- Increased the awareness and understanding of young people with disabilities living within their local communities- Encouraged schools to embrace disability awareness and inclusion as part of their core curriculum.- Helped to bridge the gap between children with and without disabilities to decrease the number of early school leavers amongst pupils/students with disabilities- Improved language and ICT skills of participants - Challenged discrimination, segregation, racism, bullying and violence - Enhanced participation and learning performance of disadvantaged learners, helping to reduce disparities in learning outcomes- Strengthened the international cooperation through sharing good teaching and learning practices - Prepared and deployed the education and training of professionals for equity, diversity and inclusion challenges in the learning environment - Encouraged active citizenship and entrepreneurship- Facilitated the recognition and validation of knowledge, skills and competencies acquired through formal, non-formal and informal learningThe project also highlighted the role of NGOs, local organisations and schools as a catalysts for change by offering the students and their communities the opportunity to engage in a positive and favourable experience in learning. The focus was on developing effective tools used to fight against the potentially negative influences of the media on schools and beyond by increasing the awareness of all participants. Some of the resources created included:- Project Logo- Project website- Disability and Equality in Education Handbook- Anti-Discrimination Handbook- Disability Awareness Questionnaire 1st & 2nd- Teachers Guide- Disability History Museum- “The Change” E-book- e-Twinning page- Disabled people who have made a difference- Raising Awareness Blog- You Are Not Alone Brochure- Disability & The Environment BrochureThe activities helped both learners and staff to explore, understand, describe and compare lifestyles across Europe.The project also enhanced European cooperation as partners exchanged knowledge and discussed common issues. This helped to improve open-mindedness through cooperation, transfer of good practices and a sense of personal well-being.

The context and objectives of WorkAble are to develop 12 good practice case studies through knowledge exchange visits between four partner countries; UK, Poland, Greece and Romania. The case studies are designed to give teachers, both within the project and across the EU, guidance in preparing innovative work programmes for disabled young people to strengthen opportunities for sustainable employment after school or college. Partners are chosen carefully, as each have innovative work based learning practices to share but also because disability employment is a key issue in each partner country. A Eurostat poll of October 2019 indicated the percentage of population of young people aged 16 and over at risk of poverty and social exclusion because of inactivity in the labour market because of disability in Greece at 32.3%, Poland at 29,5%, Romania at 37.6% and the UK at 32.2%. With the Highest in North Macedonia at 50.7%. Improving opportunities for young people with disabilities to enter employment is a key objective in vocational education and training. Professional development of teachers to deliver innovative work programmes through VET is essential, and this project aims to do just that. This project aims to provide guidance through developing and publishing 12 models of good practice across four partner organisations in the VET of people with disabilities. The focus will be on those schemes that provide innovative training and work programmes that support employment opportunities for disabled learners. These will include best practice in; •Giving advice and guidance services for future employment for persons with disabilities: •Work skills teaching programmes for Persons with disabilities •Employer engagement models •Setting up social enterprise models for employment •Developing Entrepreneurship •Establishing a work based learning curriculum •Learner voices – Models of student engagement and capturing feedback. Stories of successful employment placements and placements that have not worked well. •Good practice examples of specific vocational work suited to person with specific disabilities.Teachers will see 12 innovative models of best practice hosted by each partner and be able to develop their own working practice – Each partner will develop three case studies in detail and publish these in order to share through a project website to other organisations working in VET with disabled learners or trainees.The overall aim is to promote inclusion within employment for young people with disabilities across the EU – to look at what is working well and share this to enable others to develop opportunities in VET for greater innovation and inclusion in working practice for young people with disabilities.To do this the project will schedule one week long visit to each partner country by three representatives from each partner over two years of the project in order to observe specific examples of innovative work-based learning or and employment practice. The project will give opportunities for 12 professionals working within specialist work based learning from each country, to see and share examples of good practice. These will be developed into 12 case studies, 3 from each partner country and published to a project web site. Case studies will aim to give practice guidance on innovative methods and schemes that are successfully supporting employment and inclusion for young disabled people. It is envisaged that these case studies will provide an incentive of ideas that will be a legacy for all VET teachers working with young people with disabilities and employers looking for ways to improve access to the labour market across the EU.

"The European Council in its informal meeting in January 2012 agreed that Member States should increase ""substantially the number of apprenticeships and traineeships to ensure that they represent real opportunities for young people, in cooperation with social partners and where possible integrated into education programmes"". In addition, according to the newly adopted ""European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships"" (October 2017), European Commission identifies 14 key criteria that Member States and stakeholders should use to develop quality and effective apprenticeships. Among the specific criteria, is made a concrete reference on the necessity to exist a specific procedure for teachers, trainers and in company mentors to ""update their skills and competences in order to train apprentices according to the latest teaching and training methods and labour market needs"". In-company WBL mentors are in the core of quality WBL. However, in-company WBL mentors, in most European countries, lack standardized support and guidance which will set the expectations and boundaries clarifying and ensuring their successful contribution in the learning process. Thereby it poses administrative barriers to achieving the EU's targets for the promotion of a coordinated, unified network system on vocational education and the targets of the LLL-program to bolster cross-border mobility of workers. Based on the above and also the identification of the WBL needs and gaps by NetWBL, there is a significant need for the development of standards and qualifications identifying certain knowledge, skills and competences providing adequate assessment that will lead to valid certification ensuring quality in-company WBL mentorship by enterprises providing apprenticeships and internships. This proposal aims to: -develop ECVET compliant qualifications for trans-sectoral vocational skills, knowledge and competences necessary for qualifying high quality in- company WBL mentorship -boost the skills of in- company WBL mentors, while recognising prior learning which is now underdeveloped and non-qualified, through on-line training based on innovative learner-centred approaches incorporating the use of ICT -develop VET business partnerships for ensuring labour market relevance through high quality WBL provision from companies and accessibility to continuing VET learning -enhance, through a European certification scheme for workplace mentors based on a European skill card for mentors, transparency, recognition and validation of skills and qualifications via innovative e-assessment methods through the development of an online platform dedicated to competences examination -enhance prior learning facilitating the transition from education to work. Under the aforementioned rationale, #Mentor4WBL@EU project's partners were chosen based on their previous or current EU projects' involvement, their skill sets and their ability to deliver the project outputs. The consortium is composed by partners experienced in EU-projects such as, employers organizations (IME GSEVEE), public authorities (OAED), Certification bodies (EFCoCert), SMEs (ViaSyst and C4FF), Universities (BAU) and VET providers (IEK Aigaleo). The methodology followed by the project aims in the fulfillment of a twofold target. The first, to assure the validity and acceptability of project's results among the partners. The specific procedure will be guaranteed through the creation of a Steering Committee composed of project's partners, that will meet on a regular basis (e.g. managerial meetings, virtual workspace). The second to involve as many related stakeholders as possible, in order project's outputs to gain in validity and expertise. Thus, three multiplier events (i.e. United Kingdom, Turkey and Greece) and a final conference (Greece) will take place, in order a broader debating procedure to be implemented. In the framework of the project a number of IOs will be produced: -Course and Syllabus design for WBL mentors -Mentor Certification Scheme -E-course content development and platform -IT platform for online competence certification -Testing of the training and of the certification scheme -Exploitation report Finally and based on the previous mentioned activities, project's main impact can be summarized as follows: -development of skills and competences of in company WBL mentors -Improving the quality of apprenticeship and traineship -Transform of SMEs into quality WBL venues -Boosting of the ""culture"" of cooperation, LLL and certification for in-company trainers based on a common methodology -usage and dissemination of e-learning platform (and course) by the involved partners within national level -certification of mentor competences available in all Europe; - increase number of mobilities of certified mentors in Europe; - exploitation of the mentor certification scheme manual and of the e-assessment platform by other stakeholders (e.g. PCBs, national relevant authorities);"

Context/background of the projectFor several years the European Commission has stressed in each of its communiqués the importance of vocational education and training (VET) for the employability of (young) people as well as for the competitiveness and growth of the economy. In many countries strategies to foster VET focus, however, largely on initial VET. The project covers a wide range of European Life Long Learning objectives and priorities that are related to the core philosophy of Erasmus+:Contributing to Lifelong Learning:Apprenticeship is one of the key issues in Lifelong Learning and thus a flexible dual education system specialised for SME’s is going to be huge improvement. Not only from the perspective of education, but mainly from the perspective of individuals on the labour market: migrants, workers who want to improve their skills and/ or people who are looking for a (new) job.Contribute to the development of quality lifelong learning and to promote high performance, innovation and a European dimension in systems and practices in the field:The development of an innovative flexible certificated standard of apprenticeship system under European cooperation is going to set the foundations for the development of high quality apprenticeship systems. Additionally, project's results and dissemination activities will promote the development of common European and national policies related to apprenticeship and will enhance attractiveness of VET and Life Long Learning at European level.Lack of apprenticeship certification discourages young people to become apprentices. Additionally, lack of regulation framework discourages firms to benefit from apprenticeship programs. An innovative flexible certificated standard of apprenticeship system will improve the quality, accessibility and attractiveness for VET and lifelong learning opportunitiesSupport improvements in quality and innovation in vocational education and training systems, institutions and practicesThe project concerns an innovative apprenticeship system with improved quality due to its involving all interested parties .To enhance the attractiveness of vocational education and training and mobility for employers and individuals and to facilitate the mobility of working traineesAn innovative apprenticeship system integrating work-based and school-based learning promotes the mobility of employers, individuals and working trainees.Sector Skills AlliancesThe project will bring together bodies with metal construction companies' specific expertise in three complementary fields: the world of vocational education and training, the labour market, and VET policy makers with the help of a more flexible education system in order to identify skills needed by the energy sector and to integrate sectorial skills.Promoting equality between men and women and contributing to combating all forms of discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation

AT work in Europe - is a knowledge transfer partnership to improve the knowledge and skills of teachers, therapists and technologists in the support and delivery of assistive technology (AT) services for learners with disabilities undertaking vocational education, training and work. The partnership consists of four partners who have expertise in working with learners with disabilities but in a range of education and training contexts. Partners from Finland, Greece, Croatia and the UK span the length and breadth of the EU and represent different methodologies and approaches to using technology to support learners with disabilities. Two teachers, therapists or technologists for each partner organisation who work with learners with disabilities will share best practice and transfer their skills and knowledge through reciprocal visits. 32 professionals will be involved in knowledge transfers. Each hosted visit will involve a two day seminar workshop exploring assistive technology use in learning , how it is delivered and by whom. Delegates will explore different technology solutions and meet and hear from learners who are using technology to support their work. Two further days will be spent shadowing and working alongside assistive technologists or support staff working with technology understand assessment methodologies and the nature of the role. The final day will be working with specific technology and listening to learners in order to see the impacts of technology in practice. Case studies of effective practice will be developed following each knowledge sharing visit by participants. These will be available on a project website. An expert management group will meet for three days to develop an outline of the assistive technologist role, outline different assessment methods for assistive technology and relate these to the case studies. Four national dissemination events will be planned to showcase the project outcomes and promote the assistive technologists role. These will involve a minimum of 30 delegates (Teachers, Therapists, support personnel and managers from organisations working with learners with disabilities). A project report will describe the the impacts on the professionals that have been involved and how they will develop their roles in supporting learners in their use of assistive technology. These resources will be available for downloading fro the project website of which a link will be available on Erasmus + on-line platforms for dissemination across the EU.