<< Objectives >>USE THE FORCE! intends to develop a collaborative Serious Game, using the concepts, values, and characters of the Star Wars universe, to educate young people in systemic thinking, giving them resilient skills to face the pandemic and post-pandemic situation. UTF! will act, first of all, on Youth Workers (direct target), educators who can accompany young people (indirect target, but final) in their path of personal growth and relational empowerment<< Implementation >>In 12 months, the partners will carry out 3 hybrid activities (remote/presence): 1. establishment of a development team, made of Youth Workers and youngsters, that will co-design and test the ALPHA version of the game;2. involvement of 3 external experts, evaluation of the feasibility and effectiveness of the game, and creation of a stable BETA version;3. creation of the final BETA, enlargement of the relational community, involvement of young players and beta-testers from all over Europe.<< Results >>The game, which leverages on the learning of systemic thinking through the events, characters, and concepts of Star Wars, will help Youth Worker to train young people in complexity, equipping them with skills that allow them to enhance their individual-psychological, relational, social, and occupational condition, in order to address the socioeconomic consequences imposed and exacerbated by the pandemic (socioeconomic marginality and civic participation, psychological disorders, ...)

"The project MAVEP – Managing Volunteers/Empowering People enabled us to employ European funding to further advance the support of our volunteers. Volunteers are the heart, the strength and the energy of the organisations involved in this project. Within this project, the development of the role of volunteers was our most important focus: teaching, coaching, making them welcome, getting everyone involved, building up a network, etc.The full name of the project is ‘Managing Volunteers/Empowering People’. This encapsuled where the accent lies: intrinsic parts of the organisation of volunteer work are talent management and the stimulation of its growth. Our aim was to make stronger people through the elaboration of a powerful learning environment.All the partners, Fo-Aarhus in Denmark, DAFNI-KEK in Greece and DINAMO in Belgium employ volunteers as teachers, coaches, mentors or in a range of support roles. The teacher training institute of the UCLeuven-Limburg, together with the partners, was using the knowledge available to create usable tools for the volunteers. The UCLL organised training sessions in a range of skills, such as instruments for language development, leadership, peer-to-peer coaching, appreciative lesson observation, didactic innovations etc.context/backgroundVolunteers play an essential role in adapting the adult educational organisation to the diversifying society in which it operates. Volunteers from minority and economically deprived groups introduce new methods, new ways of dealing with these targetgroups that are based on proximity and familiarity and less on formal skills and scholing background. At the same time working with volunteers on the teaching and mentoring level introduces challenges for the payed staff and has to be sustained by a vision on the introduction and application of a ""volunteer culture"". The objectives of the project for every partner were situated on two levels:1. volunteers as teachers, trainers, coaches and mentors - the volunteers are provided with skills and new didactical methods that they can use in their volunteer work. 2. volunteer culture in organisation - the organisations as such benefits from involved and skilled volunteers and rehances new and more difficult to reach targetgroups+ 3. dissemination - we reached the attention of other organisations in our broad national and European network, they wonder how we still recruit volunteers spontanouisly in a context where voluntary engagement is changingNumber/type profile of participants1. staff and volunteers of every single organisation - 625 staffmembers and volunteers of involved organisations 2. Target Group / audience - 5155 participants of involved organisations have direct access to the project results3. dissemination of ideas and results - 205 participants at the both conferences+ dissemination by every single organisation in their broad network+ dissemination in new networks (national and European level)Description of undertaken activitiesThree Trainings and two conferences were implemented where new insights and information was shared and co-created by the participants. These insights, methodologies and practices worked as energizers for the IO development.- Powerful learning environment (focus on learning, belief in growth) - teaching - coaching - learning communities- Working with hard to engage learners- Expressing talent Each organisation organised a lot of activities so what we learned could seep into the entire organisation, from staff to volunteers and participants (sharing results in information sessions and digital (website, blog, social media, newsletters,...), what we learned was immediately implemented. In 2 organisations the appreciative way of working with volunteers and belief in growth became a priority in the long-term policy of the organisation. Results and impact attainedWe all may say that this Project has a positive impact on our vision of working with volunteers. When you believe in growth and can give appreciative feedback to volunteers, you will gain a lot of energy and sympathy, you see people grow and give the best of themselves. During this project we all discovered this way of working with volunteers and vision on learning. After every training every single participant went home with a lot of inspiring thoughts and good practices. We used the periode in between two trainings as a test period and brought back experiences tot the group. In the end these findings found their way to the e-book and to the long-term policy of our organisations. long-term benefits - The findings are now embedded in the policies of any organisationVolunteers are now hard to find and bind themselves not so fast to one organisation. A good appreciative support is a sustainable way to bind volunteers to your organisation."

Context/Background:In recent years, environmental issues and climate change have become an important issue of debate globally. Young people are demanding that politicians and adults around them take action now and avert a global catastrophe. One of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals relevant to the environment is SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities. The UN SDGs are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. Youngsters4EcoCities aims to bring the SDG goals, particularly SDG 11 into the consciousness of young people aged 6-14. It will endeavour to improve the competences of teachers and educational staff by developing a curriculum and a training manual for them on SDG 11. As SDGs overlap, the training program will also touch on other SDGs such as: clean water and sanitation (6), climate action (13), life below water (14), life on land (15), etc.Moreover, this project will be inspired by the teachings of landscape architect and city planner, Ian McHarg which puts the environment first in planning the development of a city. By teaching young people about ecological city planning, we instill in them the value of sustainable development early in life. The project will provide teachers and educational staff with tools to develop young people's understanding of natural systems, urban landscapes and ecological planning concepts and will involve the LEGO© Group by using Lego bricks in the training curriculum.The objective of Youngsters4EcoCities are: -To advocate for an ecological approach to urban planning which focuses on social and ecological priorities;- To foster awareness raising and capacity building around sustainable development and particularly Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) through a large scale LEGO exhibition model of an ecologically planned city;- To provide teachers and educational staff with tools to develop young peoples' understanding of natural systems, urban landscapes and ecological city planning,- To support and enhance the knowledge of young people within the fields of natural systems and urban landscapes, as well as ecological planning processes for them to acquire social, civic, and environmental competencies;-To develop integrated non-formal learning material and innovative tools which will prioritize the need for a holistic understanding to resilient urban development;-To strengthen teachers, educational staff and young people’s abilities to think critically on urban development issues; and- To develop transversal skills and competencies in order to support quality education.Number & Profile of participantsThe main target group is teachers in primary schools and learning institutions. At least 20 teachers from the five partner countries will participate in the joint staff training event who will in turn roll out the curiculum to at least 3 classes of 20 pupils in each country (60 x 5 =300 pupils). The ultimate targets are the pupils themselves.A secondary target are school principals and politicians who have the power to implement the concepts of the project on a larger scale . Description of Activities & MethodologyYoungsters4EcoCities will develop a curiculum , on SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), that can be used in primary schools. This will be based on the the theories of Ian Mcharg (Design with Nature, 1969). The curiculum as well the the training materials and the training manual will endeavour to teach pupils the value of taking nature into account in urban planning. THe project has 3 outputs:1) Curriculum on SDG 11 targeting pupils in the age of 6-14. The curriculum will focus on building sustainable cities.2) Training Methodology and Manual for Teachers & Educational Staff: the methodology exemplifies the project’s paradigm shift through an integrated set of online interactive maps that will include the history of city-building techniques. The trainer manual provides teachers and educational staff with tools on how to teach both ecological urbanism and ecological building techniques. 3) E-learning portal: Development of a multilingual e-learning portal that will support the delivery of, and access to, all learning content produced.The teaching of the environmental concepts will be done with the use of Lego bricks, and as such the partnership will work closely with LEGO.At the end of the project. pupils will design their own concept of a sustainable city based on the realities of the local area. This will be exhibited at the multiplier events. Results & ImpactYoungters4Ecocities will endeavour to improve the skills of teachers in teaching environment and ecology, contribute to the curiculum available for pupils on the environment and demonstrate how schools and the private sector can collaborate to deliver quality education.

Today, according to the European Union Agency for fundamental rights, ethnic and religious minorities across the EU continue to face racism, discrimination, verbal and physical violence and exclusion; and it is not only witnessed in certain societal factions or in certain communities. Several reports confirm that this predisposition to racism, xenophobia and violence against ethnic minorities has permeated throughout all European countries. According to a report published by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2018, from 2015 to 2017, the anti–Islamic sentiment remained persistent in various countries such as Italy (60% of the population in 2017), Ireland (30% in 2017) and Austria (35% in 2017). In the same period, the report also points to a continuous and persistent sentiment of ‘migrant phobia’ in Italy (65% 2017), Ireland (22% recorded for the first time in 2017) and Netherlands (over 30% in 2017). In another report by the OSCE, focusing on Hate Crime, in Denmark, the number of hate crimes related to racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism has doubled in 3 years (198 hate crimes in 2015, 274 hate crimes in 2016, 446 hate crimes in 2018). According to the ENAR 2016 report on racism and immigration, vigilante groups linked to far-right ideology have increased their activity in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Sweden. While, we see from research presented in the OSCE’s latest report, that the majority of citizens who support a reduction in the number of immigrants in their country live in Italy (52%), Belgium (48%) and Denmark (45%). These are worrying statistics in a time when Europe is becoming more culturally diverse, and when this diversity should not only be accepted, but celebrated.As long as cultural diversity continues to be viewed as “threat” to Europe, and if the benefits that multiculturalism can bring to European society remain undervalued, it will be challenging to achieve an inclusive Europe harnessing the core values of respect for others, tolerance, solidarity and common cultural heritage. In this context, there is a pressing need to deescalate the growing polarization of the European society by creating a new social contract based on the promotion and the valorisation of cultural intelligence and diversity in order to reassert Europe’s ideal. To this end, partners from 4 EU Member States – Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands and Cyprus - have come together to join efforts to address this challenge. Consortium partners strongly believe that building the key skills and attitudes in young people to promote cross cultural awareness should be a priority to empower the European citizens of tomorrow to break the spell of multicultural scepticism and set the pathway to a more inclusive Europe, that openly accepts and celebrates its rich diversity. It is crucial to remember that diversity can be used as an important catalyst for societal, social and economic improvement, including the promotion of new intercultural learning dynamics within the European education framework. To support this change, the CIDizen project consortium proposes to create a compendium of challenged-based learning resources which will provide a suitable and effective framework for developing the key soft skills needed to enhance the cultural intelligence and tolerance of diversity among young learners. These resources will be engaging and interactive and will have a considerable potential transferability to other EU Member States where xenophobia persists. CIDizen will also develop and pilot a bespoke in-service training programme and MOOC for youth workers so that they can use the challenge-based learning resources developed to support young learners to develop their own cultural intelligence and so that they can develop their own challenge-based learning resources and apply them in their youth work practice.CIDizen will engage with 28 front-line youth workers throughout the implementation of the project, and 128 young people; supporting each individual to develop their cultural intelligence and to challenge their cultural bias and value orientations. To achieve this, the CIDizen project will see the development of the following project outputs:IO1 - CIDizen Digital BreakoutsIO2 - In-service Training for Front-line Youth WorkersIO3 - CIDizen MOOC

<< Background >>The Green Step project aspires to adopt a holistic approach to support, raise awareness, and build capacity about environmental and climate-change challenges in the sphere of adult education. The partnership has located a gap in adult education which still needs to be reoriented to help both adult educators and learners to develop knowledge, skills, values and behaviours needed for addressing and bringing issues, such as climate change into teaching and learning. In general, there is a lack of approaches and (local) activities to make citizens responsible for their own future in all partner countries. In fact, participatory methods are needed as well as innovative teaching tools and stimulating and engaging activities, in order to transmit fundamental issues of sustainability and climate change. Particularly, for the first target group (Adult learners, including migrant learners) there is a need to acquire new “green” skills that will support their transition to greener economies and societies, but also to help them transform themselves, i.e., to change their mindsets, which are made up of their values, beliefs, worldviews and associated cognitive/emotional capacities towards a sustainable life. Current behavioral patterns lie at the root of many sustainability challenges, thus working with those patterns can be important leverage points for change. For the second target group (Adult educators/trainers) there is a need for upskilling to enhance their (often low) sustainability skills. It is necessary to educate the population about these sustainability and climate change problems, how they arose, what are their causes and manifestations, but especially about methods to prevent and stop them. So, there is a need to train first the educators in this direction and to introduce into the curriculum subjects addressing those topics. This of course necessitates a whole community approach so that local communities and stakeholders (third target group) will employ strategies to become environmentally friendly and sustainable, including the support of green entrepreneurship. Given the above, we believe that through formal and informal education methods aimed especially at adults, our communities could set up the pathway to change.<< Objectives >>Through the Green Step project, the partnership aspires to: • To enhance awareness of the need for future-oriented curricula and methodologies for non-formal adult education that address the environmental and climate challenges of today’s societies • To experiment with new approaches to learning for sustainability and validate them empirically • To test innovative practices that will transform adult educators and learners, especially learners with migrant background, to eco-conscious, true agents for change • To promote a flexible, local learning programme adapted to the learning needs of adults, including migrants, around the issues of environmental sustainability, climate change and behavioral (inner) transformation • To engage the wider adult education community, as well as local sustainability stakeholders (local learning centres, civil society, NGOs, public authorities, etc) to support learners’, especially migrant learners’, transition to greener economies and societies by equipping them with skills for green jobs and motivating them to adopt sustainable lifestyles.<< Implementation >>Under project management and implementation a variety of activities will be implemented that secure the successful and time-effective development of the project. It is foreseen that a qualitative process, an impact assessment process, a communication and dissemination strategy, and a sustainability strategy will be employed throughout the project lifecycle to guarantee the accomplishment of Green Step. Moreover, a total number of 4 press releases/articles will be published and distributed via project and partners’ social media and websites that will coincide with important milestones of the project. Additionally, 3 dedicated face-to-face transnational partner meeting will be held in the Netherlands, Italy, and Cyprus in M1, M9, and M23 respectively. Moreover, a 3-day interactive training workshop for adult educators/trainers who have low sustainability skills and/or are interested in integrating training/teaching/learning sessions in their existing work with adult learners, particularly learners coming from vulnerable groups and/or having a migrant background will be held in Italy in M9. Dedicated multiplier events will be held in all partner countries and will aim to disseminate key concepts, objectives and results of The Green Step project; to introduce to attendants the personal stories of adult learners, including immigrants, who participated in The Green Step Community Programme; to build synergies between people; and engage the community, both local natives and immigrants. A final conference will be held in Cyprus in M23 with the aim to bring together all relevant stakeholders that participated in the Green Step forward-looking hubs of learning communities and share their experiences with regards to the development of a transnational sustainability network.<< Results >>The following project results will be developed by the consortium during the project lifecycle: PR1: THE GREEN STEP CURRICULUM aims to bridge the gap that exists in formal and non-formal adult education curricula and suggest an innovative curriculum that could function either as a standalone course material or as an addendum to existing integration curricula that lack the element of the education for sustainability. By using this curriculum, adult educators/trainers will help their learners, especially migrant learners, to understand and reflect on sustainability issues and how they could develop their competences in various sustainability-relevant sectors, as well as green skills in order to advance their social and economic empowerment and inclusion. PR2: THE GREEN STEP COMMUNITY PROGRAMME aims to promote the holistic development of adult learners by improving knowledge and skills associated with self-transformation in issues relevant to sustainability and climate action empowering learners of any cultural background to transform themselves and the community they live in; enabling a transition to greener economies and societies; equipping learners with skills for ‘green jobs’; motivating people to adopt sustainable lifestyles; stimulating learning and promoting core competences. PR3: THE GREEN STEP FORWARD-LOOKING NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES adopts a whole community approach to sustainability and climate action awareness in adult education which engages business, community leaders and public institutions and nonprofit sectors as to support local learning around sustainability and climate action, promote civic engagement of multiple stakeholders and offer life-wide sustainability based learning opportunities to anyone interested. Stakeholders mentioned above will work together to motivate and enable adult learners to learn green skills and key sustainability competences necessary to become active agents of change for themselves, their peers and community at large.