This project was created by five secondary educational institutions from FR, SP, IT , LV, RO and it was developed to meet the aims of the European Commission.Considering different rates of youth unemployment in the countries participating in this matter (LV: 10,6 %; IT: 25 %; RO: 10,1 %, SP: 25,7%, FR: 15,8 %), (source: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics) there can be a great need for innovative practice in this project. In the context of rising unemployment rates today, the aforementioned results come from the difficulty of graduates in finding jobs correlating with their skills and interests, abilities, or personality characteristics. Moreover, this project is designed to meet the necessities of young European citizens in educational institutions and allow them to choose a suitable career path also make the right career choices. Young people must be fully aware of their potential and have access to information about the general economic environment of the Europe job market. The project is designed around the main concept of exchange of experience and good practices. Participating people will have to expect and get better things from the expertise of professional specialists and the beneficiaries’ associated partners. They must assist students in transferring the information by applying it to a modern and dynamic educational environment. The project gives main focus on the developing of students’ entrepreneurial abilities and offers them opportunities to connect to the job market in and out of local/regional/European organizations or private companies with the same scope. It will help students to design a natural adaptability to the market at a local, national and EU level. The project will be two years long and there will be five Learn/Teach/Train Activities. There will have to be workshops during which student might exchange and observe good practices in the Italian and Romanian school. Those useful applications have to be integrated into the matter activities and in the second year, all the cooperating sides will have to apply the two actions. During each exchange, seminars must be given by professionals from the job market in order to guaranteeof the transition from school to work and shrink the job market division.The aim of the project is multinational. It will have to create a sturdy synergy among cooperating schools and it might provide inspiration for students to design their future career path. The project incorporates 2630 participating people in a direct and indirect way :- Students: All the project movement at local and multinational level might indirectly involve 1200 students/teenagers.- Teachers: Teachers will be introduced to the roles of both as instructors and beneficiaries by observing other educational institutions and their education system. There might be teams of 5 teachers in each participant organization so 25 in total will take part actively in the project activities. Approximately 150 teachers/adults might indirectly be affected.- Administrative staff: will manage the running of the legal issues of the project, concentrating on other school education systems and transferring good practice into the educational institution curriculum. Approximately 36 administrative staff might be indirectly affected.- Graduated students: Questionnaires will have to be applied on minimally as much as 100 students and this workout will offer the state of their professional specialists working life. 500 students might be involved in total.- Parents: The number of the family members will have to be 300 in total and they might contribute to introducing the host country and its culture and tradition. Most likely 480 family members might be indirectly involved in the project.- Job Market members: Minimum 15 members from the job market must be involved in this matter in every school. - Local community: Local communion members such as university staff, local press journalists, municipality, directorate of national education and PTA will have to help to disseminate the project to a wider community. Possibly 300 people from local community might be indirectly involved.

The project ‘EUROPE: MANY LANGUAGES, ONE VOICE’ engaged the total number of 146 students (181 including participating students from hosting countries) aged from 13 to 19 attending public secondary schools in 5 European countries: Austria, Poland, Hungary, Spain and France. They represented various social backgrounds and approximately 20% of them came from less privileged families with much restricted access to ICT facilities, including the Internet. Bearing that in mind, it was clear that they wouldn't have been able to get to know other countries and their respective cultures, make friends abroad, acquire knowledge on EU problems or learne foreign languages using modern media and ICT tools.The project aimed at developing the participants' language skills with regard to English, German from level A2 to level B2, acquired and developed ICT skills by both, teachers and students, applied new and innovative methods and techniques in foreign language teaching/learning (especially e-learning), created open-mindness towards other cultures, customs and beliefs; created equal opportunities for all learners especially for those with special needs or those coming from destitute and/or low-life background. The main project aim was to create innovative methods of foreign language teaching and learning. It created more effective ways of e-learning through multimedia and OLR in English and German. This goal was achieved by learning in virtual international groups (e-platform) with support provided by e-mentors, direct contact with native speakers and participation in 4 international intensive language workshops organised by the partner schools . The project activated and motivated students through the use of multimedia and ICT resources such as: computer software (e.g. i Tools), online publications, podcasts, videoclips, PowerPoint presentations etc. in a languages classroom. Products of the project included a ‘virtual library’ of OLR for learning/teaching English and German, published on the project blog site, training materials concerning innovative methods of language teaching and applied ICT tools to language learning/teaching. All of the above was made available on the project website, project blog, YouTube and Twinspace. The project resulted in the participants developing their key competences as well as their muticultural skills. They also expanded their knowledge of foreign cultures and highlights. What is more, local communities and school governing authorities had a better understanding of modern European educational systems and got actively involved in shaping the international cooperation in their local area.

ContextForest fires are a complex problem in Europe, especially in Southern countries. Fire can seriously impact the environment, rural development and economy. Forest degradation is considered a key to the spreading of human diseases, as COVID-19. Although wildfire research and substantial technical advances have been made in recent years, we have not been able to provide quality training in Forest Fire Management (FFM). This requires inputs from related disciplines and stakeholders, continual updating and hands-on experience. Introducing innovative approaches in the FFM training will contribute to overcoming the shortage of skilled workers and will boost employment in fire-prone regions with high unemployment rates. Objectives The overall aim of FacingFIRE is to encourage social engagement among students to improve the capacities in FFM training and gender-balanced employability. FacingFIRE introduces the Service-Learning (S-L) approach to develop training projects in areas impacted by wildfires. The scope of which will be further enhanced by the use of innovative online learning tools and international collaboration. Employability skills, with special emphasis on women, will be boosted by hands-on practices and direct contact with employers. To transfer the project benefits to society, multiple interactions between educators, researchers, forest companies/ NGOs and decision-makers are planned. The project will promote employment among recent graduates. Emphasizing the role of women in forest management will also be an important statement in the project. All this will be done in the context of the current health crisis (COVID).Number and profile of participantsThe consortium comprises 9 partners from the most fire-prone regions in Europe: Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. The 5 academic partners (4 HEIs and 1 VET center) have recognized expertise in FFM and teaching innovation. The 4 professional partners (1 Forest Association, 1 Research center and 2 Decision-makers) and associates will play a key role in identifying the main training needs and enhancing the impact of the outcomes. The coordinator (USC) has vast experience in managing S-L projects and other environmentally-related educational projects.Description of activitiesIn order to reinforce FFM training capacities, the project will provide training activities for staff (academic and practitioners) and students. The training will include a) S-L management, b) innovative online learning (ePortfolio) and audio-visuals tools (SPOCs) and c) joint events between academia and stakeholders to exchange good training practices.To enhance this strategy, two types of blended mobility are planned for students. Practical experience and employment skills will be provided via international S-L projects combined with solid online and personalised training. Certain outputs will have strong multiplier effects on academic and professional sectors: a) use of S-L to address specific problems and reinforce employability skills, b) publication of the first guide to implementing S-L in fire-prone areas and c) launch of the first FFM training network to reinforce training capacities. Specific actions are designed to buffer the indirect consequences of COVID-19 on forest fires and employment.MethodsThe project will be divided into three phases:1. Staff training and production of materials for interactive activities with learners using innovative virtual tools.2. Development of pilot S-L projects, in which trainees will participate in international hands-on practices and use the online learning tools.3. Dissemination/multiplier events aiming to a) exchange good practices in S-L management, b) promote flexible and blended training involving both educators and stakeholders and c) launch of the first network in FFM training network. Results and envisaged impactsAt the individual level, the envisaged impacts include access to innovative training strategies, improvement of language and digital skills and increased employability. At the organizational level, the associations/policy-makers/research centers will benefit from access to state-of-the-art methods and a greater supply of skilled workers. The HEI and VET structures (teaching innovation, employment, gender equality) will be also reinforced by new procedures and skilled workers. The outcomes will benefit decision-makers and practitioners facing one of the most serious cross-border environmental and social challenges in Europe.SustainabilityThe network on FFM training network will open multiple possibilities for future cooperation. The outcomes will be maintained after the project as a result of the institution`s structures and procedures reinforcement (e.g. S-L recognition, gender equality). FacingFIRE is based on different EU policies (“Green Employment Initiative”, “EU strategy on Biodiversity “EU Youth Strategy”) and on the “Strategic framework for European cooperation in Education and Training.