Circular economy philosophy can be explained by a paradigm shift where not only the producers but also the consumers apply a totally circular mindset, the young citizens’ behaviours are necessary to see a holistic change in the lifestyles of the people. In this respect there are two main points that circular economy touches: the environment and the business. The main reason behind the idea of circular economy can be explained by the main necessities of the economic model. Since this model does not need the increasing consumption of raw materials and natural resources; the less consumption, less waste and sustainable nature are the main motto; several European initiatives support this economic approach. The member states built their economic agenda on the natural resources and this makes them highly resource dependent. For this reason, the advocates of the circular economy underlines that this new approach will improve competitiveness and productivity of the member states. Briefly by adopting this new vision Europe will increase resource productivity by up to 3 percent annually. The primary objective of this project is to raise the awareness of future generations about less waste, especially for young people who become insensitive to society. Through formal or informal training, young people will be encouraged to be part of circular activities. CLAY will create an online platform that will enable young people to gain awareness on recycling and enable them to collaborate on this issue through the virtual network. Hard and soft copy training materials such as books, videos and a website on circular economy awareness will be developed to be used in parallel activities with this platform. CLAY aims to motivate young people to explore possibilities to cut waste, leakages and inefficiencies, as well as to recycle within each step and inbetween. The objective is to reduce waste, however not to influence consumers, i.e. they can keep the same standards and quality of life. Thus, this project aims to increase the awareness and the willingness of the young people to move towards a more circular economy which could deliver opportunities including reduced pressures on the environment; enhanced security of supply of raw materials; increased competitiveness; innovation; growth and jobs. The main target group of the project is young people aged between 16-25. The main reason that the project team targeted this group is the statistical data and pre-need analysis had been conducted in the partner countries. Accordingly, these findings indicate that the upcycling the skills of young people is vital for regenerating the future on the base of circular approach. In this regard expected results of the CLAY:1. To boost key competences of target groups through the creation of a methodological framework, mapping the potential loops in daily life in partner countries.2. To raise awareness and positive attitudes among young citizens towards circular economy approach.3. To raise awareness and positive attitudes among young citizens towards creating circular economy.4. To improve the skills of young people, and thus, supporting the introduction of Circular Economy competences in lifelong learning.5. To apply the circular approach which is necessary to see a holistic change in the behaviours of the citizens which cause a vital transformation in the lifestyles of the young people.6. To improve the capabilities of the young people to manage future consumptions.7. To support young citizens to convince their parents and social environment to be able to behave in sustainable and circular.8. To offer the resources and information about components of circular economy training programs.Within the CLAY project, the partnership foresees to create 4 main outputs:- identification of the potential loops in daily life in order to stimulate a mind change in young people;- an index to measure the involvement of young citizens in circular economy in partner countries; - a set of guidelines for providing pedagogical materials/educational scenarios for collaborative experiences in circular economy;- a collection of OER with virtual space which helps to increase accessibility, flexibility and convenience for young people in partner countries. The CLAY partnership involves 4 partnerships from 4 different countries. Since Austria is the frontrunner in recycling in Europe today, BIT Management/CPC Austria is the coordinator of the CLAY project and set up the consortium on the individual strengths and expertise of the partners. BIT Management and core partners SBTC from Turkey and Training 2000 from Italy - both have experienced in many projects at both national and European level- discussed how young people/citizens matters for circular economy’s problems. Besides ProEduca z.s. is a small private association providing development of new training courses for specific target groups.

<< Background >>The damaging effects that humans have on the environment has been shown and proven over and over. In fact, the recent coronavirus pandemic has clearly demonstrated how well our environment does when human destructive activity is reduced. Despite the obvious negative consequences of COVID, a clear positive side-effect was that most people became aware of how we are all interconnected. Especially with nature.As countries try to open up again, it is the perfect time to reconsider the importance of addressing global environmental issues. One of the main pillars of our society is education. It is, in fact, within the educational system that changes can be made in order to approach environmental sustainability, through tangible changes. Our project, PESEs, aims at raising awareness on important environmental issues that need to be addressed. It aims to have a ripple effect, where students who take part in our project continue the process of educating their families and friends. All partners in this project undoubtedly believe that we need to address environmental sustainability in our schools. Specifically ELC, a group of schools having first-hand contact with kids, felt the genuine need for students to truly understand environmental issues such as climate change, the circular economy model (reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse adverse practices). Younger generations are the future, if we expose them to these important environmental issues from a young age, get them involved, ask them to tell us THEIR stories, it will increase the chances of a shift in paradigm, to empower them and make them feel they are important players to improve the present situation. In fact, these young students will be future parents, stakeholders, perhaps even policy makers, and it is our mission to face this challenge in a constructive, positive way.<< Objectives >>The main, long-term goal of the PESEs is to introduce environmental sustainability in the school curricula, and make it a pillar of their education, which will in turn have a direct positive impact on the environment. We propose to create a hidden curriculum that can be integrated into their formal one, into their everyday lives.Our specific desired achievement during the duration of the project is to create a multinational community of people who take an active role in the promotion of environmental change. We want to facilitate the inclusion of environmental sustainability topics in the school curricula; in a way that is fun, interactive, and incites students to keep learning and take responsibility for their actions. One of PESEs’ main objectives is to bridge the gap between acquired knowledge and behavioural (actions) concerning sustainability in the younger population.<< Implementation >>There will be 2 international training activities (LTTAs), several national piloting sessions, amongst other activities aimed at increasing social awareness of environmental sustainability in a school setting. After the initial teacher training workshops on Digital Storytelling (DST), we intend students to produce their own and digital stories related to sustainability and environmental issues. The approach will be motivational and participatory within the school system. Partners will guide and engage secondary school students in the development of digital stories. The main goal is to empower these students to become vectors of this information and educational tools into their homes and their communities. Very importantly, they can also serve as catalysts for actions and social change. We also hope to use a self-generated means for students to voice their concerns, become engaged and seek more involvement from their local (and international) student communities. In terms of sustainability, the project is also targeted at improving the local and social economy and ecology. We will emphasize a participatory, hands-on design process by which students can generate ideas, share their own stories and create small projects. All results and proposals will be hosted and managed in an interactive, multilingual digital platform. This platform will be available even after the end of the project, so that other students, teachers and staff members can keep benefiting from the results of this project long after it is over.<< Results >>Specifically, the main outcomes of this proposal are: PR-1 (a): A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK for implementation. Presented in the format of an electronic book (eBook), this outcome will include a literature review, analysis and evaluation of the existing educational national examples based on the UN's sustainable development (environmental) goals (SDGs). The learning and training needs for our target groups will set the structure for both of the subsequent intellectual outcomes, PR2 ( a training curriculum with the SD topics), and PR3 ( a Training Toolkit for the resources). PR-1 (b): A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT providing access to the full range of educational resources generated throughout the lifecycle of the project will be set up by ELC and AdM with the help of all partners. It will include access to the eBook and its updates (downloadable), the training curriculum, and the toolkit. The final outcome will thus include a comprehensive compendium of all intellectual outcomes for PESEs, which will be presented in the final conference scheduled for M23 in Madrid, ES. PR-2: A TRAINING CURRICULUM AND SUSTAINABILITY STORIES on sustainability development. Initially, selected groups of teachers from all the partner institutions and associates will be properly trained on the DST methodology, in order to be able to transfer it at a local level. This will be done using one of the two training activities planned (C1). Each partner will previously select local target school student groups and volunteer teachers to guide them through the process of creating their own digital stories on specific environmental and sustainable development topics chosen. This intellectual outcome is one of the central ones. The compendium of personal digital stories will be hosted and organised in an online platform that will offer flexible educational paths for the use of these stories on environmental pollution and sustainable development. PR-3: A PRACTICAL TOOLKIT of guidelines and resources for teachers and practitioners who want to use the materials generated in this project. It is intended that professionals in education have an organised and easy access to the guidelines and tools generated so that they can run DST sessions on their own, anytime, anywhere they may be. All the intellectual outputs will be maintained at least 5 years after the lifetime of the project. Further results are also expected from the 5 national multiplier events and a final conference, all planned at the final phase of the 2-year project. All these results will be integrated into the platform and project network, and as part of the on-going evaluation, a report will also be presented to describe potential improvement tools.

"<< Background >>Digital media have created unprecedented opportunities to connect, communicate and learn, in non formal and informal environments. Digital badges are validated indicators of an “accomplishment, skill, quality, or interest that can be earned in many learning environments.” In education, badges are becoming the preferred way to recognize micro credentials, as qualifications on units of study that focus on particular skills or competencies. The project aims at boosting VET managers and trainers' abilities and skills in recognizing competences and certifying the learning process of learners in the tourism sector through a continuous professional development training on the use of micro-credentials. One of the general needs of this project is the invitation of European Commission in the 2020 EU skills agenda in order to work on the development of a shared approach to micro-credentials that guarantee quality, cross-border comparability, recognition and transferability of micro-credentials. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for flexible training framework contents emerged among the VET trainers. Other relevant need is that the tourism has been one of the sectors selected by the European Commission under the ERASMUS+ Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills. The project aims at developing a targeted strategy and concrete action plan to close the skills gap in the sector, through the collaboration of all relevant stakeholders. The other specific needs are: Given the importance of tourism in the European economy, the rebound of the sector is intrinsic to the economic recovery of Europe and in particular of the Member States. The key role of the sector in the Community economy highlights the need of skilled workers. Recent research reveals that EU employers and in particular SMEs in the tourism sector face challenges in recruiting workers that are highly skilled; skills gaps are related to different skills’ request by the new international scenario that needs new form of validation of these competences; micro-credential is a certification that outlines learning results gained through a short and transparently assessed course. - managers of the touristic sector need to guarantee the up-skilling of existing employees in order to respond to the emerging new trends in the sector, providing services to new targeted groups of visitors and clients - for example, elderly or people with disabilities or visitors seeking specific experiences such as sustainable/green tourism, cultural tourism, etc. - Digital skills, that have increased in importance during the covid-19 crisis, are also necessary for tourism entrepreneurs and managers, as well as green skills in order to respond to the increased interest in sustainability of all the activities and of the change in tourists’ preferences. Understanding the business and societal challenges that involve employment levels, thus skill profiles in tourism is necessary for designing and offering relevant and high-quality VET. Accordingly, the new acquired learners’ competences need to be validated through online systems (open badges) in order to respond easily to managers’ selection criteria. Micro-credentials will be used as validated indicators of skills, quality that can be earned in diverse learning environments. - There is a wide range of micro-credential providers and no standards are defined regarding the delivery mode, duration, assessment process, validation, stackability, or incorporation of micro credentials into larger credentials, thus creating confusion among learners, employers, and staff (managers and trainers). Therefore a training for VET providers on the use of digital badges and micro-credentialing will allow to create a common awareness and understanding of the topic.<< Objectives >>The importance of enabling learners and workers to clearly present their skills and qualification profiles, acquired in different settings has been underlined by the EC in several Europe 2020 initiatives and particularly in light of persistent high unemployment. Skills are the foundation upon which Europe will build a more prosperous and inclusive future and strengthening competences among trainers and training leaders is the key of this process. Educators and trainers have to be well-prepared and motivated to support higher quality training and education. This is one of the strategic priorities for EU cooperation in education and training towards the EU Education Area and beyond (2021-2030), as well as the objective to Improve quality, equity, inclusion and success for all in education and training. All the individuals have to be equipped with the appropriate knowledge, skills and competences, as education and training are the key for the personal, civic and professional development of European citizens. UNESCO recommendations (Digital credentialing: implications for the recognition of learning across borders – 2018) have highlighted a common international approach is needed to electronically document and validate people’s learning. This is fundamental for different stakeholders, in order to reach a trusted system of recognition of skills and qualifications within and across borders and to avoid talent loss for economies, thus allowing to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Agenda, including SDG 4. For this, one of the most urgent challenges for Member States is to modernize their education and training systems and upgrade the supply of skills to better match labor market needs. Micro credentialing practices are spreading in partner countries, pilot projects are documented in the EU at higher education level and the importance of their integration in VET is underlined (ref. Challenges and opportunities of micro-credentials in Europe, MicroBol Erasmus+ KA3 project). Despite the growing policies in using micro credentialing for different purposes and in a variety of contexts of application, there is a lack of training activities to support organizations and/or individuals organizations to implement and improve badging practices in the VET sector. VET organizations and trainers are one of the key groups to fill the gap between conventional education and learning and the developing prerequisites for an approach to show proof of validated, micro-certifications earned. Considering the above, during COVID-19 pandemic era, it can be said that not only Italy’s and EU countries economic performance has been deeply affected, but also the outbreak has paralyzed the global tourism industry, devastating national economy of the partner countries largely dependent on tourism. Accordingly, to guarantee an effective and comprehensive response to this crisis, a structural improvement is required that will ensure the acquisition of new competences by the personnel in the tourism sector. In this regard, this MAIN AIM is to support VET managers and trainers to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to create new and well prepared professionals of the sector by providing significant support and recognition for the progressive skills transformation of the tourism sector. This open and flexible type of credentialing allows to make training opportunities available to all individuals and could be a way to involve more and better prepared workers in the labor market. THE CONCRETE OBJECTIVES of the project: to support the revisiting of the sector, through a new approach of competences’ validation management; to support EU states as competitive and sustainable touristic destinations; to improve the contribution of VET institutions in tourism to innovation by reinforcing education and training, to strengthen their role in local and regional environments; to make training opportunities available to all individuals to meet the labour market needs.<< Implementation >>The first content-related step in the project will be to develop the guidelines and recommendations to set and define a standard process for describing competences in a process oriented way, taking into consideration different recognition systems (EQF, ECVET, etc.) and considering data needed for micro-credentialing in the tourism VET sector (R1). This result will be a guide for trainers and trainees of the continuous professional development course on how to practically integrate and implement micro-credentialing principles in the training process, including assessment and recognition. In the following step the partners will develop the training toolkit, consisting in open educational resources for VET managers and trainers of the tourism sector on how to implement micro-credentialing and digital badges in an adults learning path in VET. At the same time the Portuguese partner will take the lead in the development of the training path consisting of 5 modules as defined in R3 and suggesting tools and methodologies to be used during the continuous professional development courses. This final result will also create a handbook which will be the support for the use of the 3 results also after the project. All project results will be made available on the project online platform in English and national languages of the partners (Italian, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish and Finnish). This will allow for an easy access also from other European countries and beyond. In order to be sure that all material created in the three results are useful and efficient the partners will organize 1 international training in Finland, with 2 representatives from each partners country and a national pilot phase with the trainers from the tourism sector interested in implementing micro credentialing processes within the VET organisations. At the end of the international testing and national testing the partners will improve the material by integrating the relevant feedback. The project will be formally closed by the organisation of 1 multiplier event in each partners’ country. The creation of dissemination products on behalf of all partners will be the basis for all dissemination events and activities for the project and will be part of each partner responsibility within the project management and implementation.<< Results >>BadgeTour will produce a comprehensive set of tools and resources to provide VET trainers and managers in the tourism sector throughout Europe with opportunities to validate competence-based learning through micro-credentials. To reach this goal “BadgeTour” aims to create a continuous professional development training course for VET managers and trainers on how to ""create and use micro-credentials"" in VET learning in the tourism sector. In this regard expected results of the project are: 1. Boost key competences of target groups through the creation of a methodological framework; 2.Promote a continuous professional development (CPD) course for VET professionals in the tourism sector according to the European Qualification Framework (EQF) in terms of knowledge, skills and competences. 3. Train VET institutions in integrating micro-credentials into their support practices for VET training in the tourism sector. 4. Provide skills and knowledge on the benefits of the material for work environments. 5. To contribute to continuous professional development of VET trainers by providing an innovative platform. 6. To provide a set of guidelines for the validation of micro-credential units in the tourism sector. 7. To create micro-certification and digital badge ecosystem for VET organisations and trainers in the tourism sector. 8. Collection internationally comparable data for ongoing and future research purposes on continuous professional development in the VET sector and micro-credentialing issues. Within the BadgeTour project the partnership foresees to create 3 main results: - R1 - a set of guidelines for the creation of micro-credentials in the tourism sector, introducing a standardised process and support for trainers for the recognition of competences; R2 - a collection of OERs on the elaboration of micro-credentials to validate learning allowing for continuous update of professionals working in the VET tourism sector and mainly on micro-credentialing issues. R3 - a training course for trainers on the use of micro-credentials which allows to understand the underlying technical aspects of digital badges and the broader ecosystem for learners and the issuing organization. Besides the above mentioned results, partners will create: – Process Evaluation Report and Quality reports; - Dissemination strategy and report; - Dissemination material (newsletters, leaflets, articles) - In-presence transnational meetings with representatives of the partner organizations. - Sustainability plan."

"<< Background >>The ageing of the workforce is an issue of vital importance to everyone in the European Union (EU). Future economic growth, competitiveness and efficiency will increasingly depend on how effectively employers can utilise their ageing workforces.This project is aimed primarily at the organisational level in the education sector; it is intended to be a practical tool to assist those with responsibility for employment, such as school managers, policy makers and social partners, as well asteachers and trainers, (CPD trainers in particular) in ensuring that the school workforce ageing is managed successfully and that age does not become a barrier to employment.Age management is a commitment to ensure that the human resources (whom the employers work with, in this case the school staff) would be capable of work not only today, but also in some 40 years from now. From the point of view of educators, age management presents sets of actions for the needs of people of different ages (not only for the older employees) with the aim to prepare the educators (working environment, policies and strategies) for the moment when the school will be forced to employ significantly larger rate of employees aged over 50 than it is today.This project will address the school staff, VET teachers and trainers in particular; CPD program designed in our project will be aimed at professional teaching staff and reflect the current needs in the ageing school environment.<< Objectives >>Main objective of the proejct is to develop a set of practical tools for educators of all levels (especially VET providers) in age management in relation to education sector. The set of tools will consist of:1. collection of best practice examples on solutions of age-related issues in schools, 2. comparative analysis of the case studies and recommendation for the educators on the effective choice of age management measures, 3. curriculla for training of selected school staff in age-related topics, 4. model introductory training program - Continuous Professional Development program (CPD program) for VET teachers and trainers, 5. web platform providing all the previous tools in an online form to the public.The main project objective will be fulfilled by the following partial objectives:- to create a professional network in the problem area and contribute to it;- to involve age management trainers (teachers/trainers from VET providers) into the training activities;- to spread the results of the project within the professional networks of the partners.<< Implementation >>During the project life we will implement especially the activities directly linked to the intellectual output development, as listed above. These development activities will be complemented by training activity for staff, thorough evlauation activities and dissemination events in all partner countries.<< Results >>The project aims at close cooperation between all kinds of educators (as a target group) and VET schools (as professional training providers) participating in the project (as the main or silent partners) as well as the survey respondents that would result in a set of strong incentives for the design of the CPD program. We would like to bring together their experience and recommendations as well as requirements and expectations. This would raise awareness among the teachers and school management about the age management principles and the urgent necessity of their thorough implementation in educaiton sector.The fulfillment of the above mentioned aims will lead to a set of results. As the main result we consider: ADAPTATION OF THE EDUCATORS TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF AGEING POPULATION.The main result will be achieved by creation of five tangible intellectual outputs in form of ""products"" and several other outputs, outcomes and impacts, as follows:INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS (products)- IO1: CASE STUDY COLLECTION (on age management in education sector)- IO2: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS (on age management in education sector)- IO3: TRAINING CURRICULLA (for four different types of target groups/courses)- IO4: INTRODUCTORY TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL STAFF (on age management in education sector)- IO5: AGE MANAGEMENT MASTERCLASS (website)OTHER OUTPUTS (immediate results achieved soon after the completion of the projects and its activities)- improvement of the teaching/training skills of at least 84 trainers/teachers;- improvement of the awareness of at least 504 people (managers/teachers involved in the project activities) of the potential and usability digital training delivery;OUTCOMES (short-term effects of the immediate outputs)- improvement of the efficacy of the newly trained teachers/trainers in instruction/education;- improvement of the knowledge of the newly trained teachers/trainers in instruction/education;- improvement of the curricula/methodologies in the partners' organizations (or associated organizations);- involvement in further projects within the new network of partners.IMPACTS (long-term results that came about because of the activities undertaken in the project)- improvement of the readiness of VET schools (as training providers) for the ageing of the teaching staff;- improvement of the readiness of all involved schools for the ageing of the teaching staff;- improvement of the overall quality of the teaching and training in the partner organizations (or associated organizations) and thus their reputation;- improvement of the people care and well-being of the teaching staff in the partner organizations (or associated and participating organizations);- improvement of the overall potential of involvement in other international projects."

<< Objectives >>- To support awareness raising actions for young people in transitioning towards green economy;- Improve necessary skills and competences of young people in order to support their own green jobs career;- Improve necessary skills and competences of YECs, VETs, TVETs and HEIs in order to support young people’s green jobs career readiness process; - To support main target groups in order to become a successful green economy requires the consistent needs of existing green jobs across the EU.<< Implementation >>Project Management ActivitiesDevelopment of Green Skills Response Strategies for Jobs Career Readiness Report ActivitiesDigital Training Materials and Try Out Sessions ActivitiesDissemination and Exploitation ActivitiesSustainability Activities<< Results >>- Strengthened cooperation between partner countries through the development of a formal network based on structured communication and cooperation models - Development of Green Skill Response Strategies for Job Career Readiness Report; - Producing Green Read Digital Training Materials and Try Out Sessions; - Increased awareness of public regional, national and European bodies on the urgency to facilitate the transition into green economy and adopting EU legislations.