"CONTEXTThis project began as the result of a Long-Term Training Course.The rationale of the project was the lack of understanding between youth and elderly. As recognized by the youngsters, the needs were the intergenerational gap between young people and elderly, with a lack of proximity between the two groups. This project created moments that diminished the feeling of being lonely and created conditions for a more inclusive community. OBJECTIVESThe main objectives of the project were to create a new communication channel among youth and elderly people; to equip youth workers with knowledge, methodologies and skills to cope with intergenerational learning; to create an entrepreneurial spirit among youth to become more responsible socially and active citizens; to create conditions and strengthen communication for youth and youth workers to focus on intergenerational issues and solutions within local communities and to build a network of European Youth who work in NGOs who will share best practices.NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONSBesides the four partners initially involved, there were more local partners involved for the project to have success. They were nursing homes, schools, and municipalities. These partners gave the possibility to include elderly and more youngsters in a safe and open environment. DESCRIPTION OF MAIN ACTIVITIESTraining CourseThe TC focused on intercultural dialogue, the role of the youth worker, the topics mentioned by young people to be developed in the sessions and the methodologies to create and improve the sharing of knowledge and skills among the elderly and young people.The TC created conditions for participants to focus on intergenerational issues and solutions within their local communities.Blended MobilityThe blended mobility lasted seven months and involved the young people who participated in the sessions with the elderly. This allowed the young people to communicate and exchange ideas on the topic of intergenerational dialogue, in the online phase.In the youth exchange, participants were able to share experiences, new ideas and ways of being in relation to intergenerational dialogue and learning. In addition, participants were challenged to accomplish missions related to the city, with their group spirit and intergenerationality.The final performance took place in the space of Agitágueda, being titled ""Grandpa Punk me More"", with the collaboration of the Senior University of Águeda.This experience has linked intergenerational dialogue and learning to positive and dynamic situations, where it is possible to understand and learn from the elderly. SessionsThe sessions were held once a month for seven months in all partner countries.Each country developed different topics depending on the young people involved in choosing and preparing activities and partner organizations.In addition, the methodologies used were different according to the needs of the group, some simpler and spontaneous, others prepared in a way to contextualize the topic and establish relationships through activities.Final ExhibitionAfter the end of sessions and blended mobility, the countries developed a final exhibition. The photos chosen reflect moments of the local sessions and the youth exchange.RESULTS AND IMPACTThe results of the project were young people aware of the advantages of learning through older people; increasing of social dialogue between youth and elderly; increasing knowledge and skills among young people, youth workers and trainers on intergenerational learning; young people more socially active in creating better conditions for their community, more aware of intergenerational needs and more proactive in finding solutions and a toolkit in intergenerational dialogue and learning methodologies.The partners were important parts in the implementation of a project intended to respond to their young people. In fact, the partner organizations have taken on other partnerships in their communities so that the project could be successful and bring together all those involved in its implementation.In this way, there was a strong impact both in the partner organizations and in other organizations involved, both for their constant involvement and for the motivation created throughout the project for its good results.The impact felt on young people was the increase in social-relational well-being, a sense of belonging and social identity with the local community; increase participation of young people in local community development issues, as well as their involvement and contribution to creating a positive image of youth within the community in which they live; greater relational and social skills, in particular critical thinking, self-awareness, empathy and relational skills; young people more aware of their role in social change and in their community and increase of self-empowerment in practices and contexts of active citizenship."

The European Council of October 2017 called for education and training systems to be ‘fit for the digital age’. However, according to the Digital Education Action Plan (COM 2018 12 final) “progress on integrating technology in education remains limited”. The recent “European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience” (COM 2020 274 final) stated that the Covid19 emergency revealed “the limitations of our current digital preparedness”, and especially in the education system.Our project is designed to target one of the most pressing issues in the educational landscape across Europe: how to make the transition of teaching and learning from the traditional face-to-face setting into the modern digital realm. This enormous task is further aggravated through the extraordinary conditions the Covid-19 pandemic has put upon schools and societies. Now there is the need to accomplish this transition in a very short time period. While there are a lot of objective obstacles to be overcome like the lack of hardware (especially with students from low-income-families), missing software or non-existing broadband internet access, the most profound hurdle is the mindset of teachers, students and parents. Digital education is broadly viewed as inferior and only acceptable as a substitute in times of an emergency. While the economy is making big steps toward a digital era (work 4.0), the educational system is persevering in a century-old setting.Our project aims to make a difference in the underlying triangle of teachers, students and parents and develop a growth mindset in all three points of this specific triangle. A growth mindset, according to Carol Dweck, enables individuals to overcome failures and open them for new experiences and skills. It gives us a fundamentally different view of our abilities and changes our perception of changes and challenges.This growth mindset is not only a suitable metaphor for the modern attitude within the current generation of students but rather the pivotal requirement for the successful transition of education into the digital realm. Only with a growth mindset, the educational triangle can support young people to acquire the skills needed for the labour market of the near future.This project has five objectives that we together aim to achieve:1. better teachers self-efficacy in regard to their digital skillset2. better usage of digital tools by students through growth mindset methods3. better the acceptance of digital tools within parents4. broaden the support for a growth mindset at schools5. practical growth mindset model for digital teaching We will engage members of all three points of the educational triangle as our target groups:- teachers- students- parentsDigital education inherently needs a growth mindset, because it is based on a fundamentally different kind of engagement of the students. While students might - through their age and their natural habit to be curious - be better equipped to develop this kind of mindset, teachers and parents have a much harder way to go. Thus, we will apply our experiences from different previous projects to helping the whole educational triangle to develop the necessary growth mindset.We will develop innovative practices that are based on the individual as well as the collective needs of teachers, students and parents.Digital education will be a key part of the European educational landscape even after the current Covid-19-pandemic is over. With a growth mindset, the necessary transition into the digital world will be much easier for everyone.Our activities:- four intellectual outputs (IO) with a focus on the support of growth mindset within the whole educational triangle, including a growth mindset model for digital teaching- two short-term joint staff training events for the project partners (Train - the - trainer event for growth mindset, Interactive workshop for design of growth mindset model)- one central multiplier event titled “Promoting growth mindset in the educational triangle” in Germany- five multiplier events titled “Best practices: growth mindset in digital education” (one in each country)- Pan European conference on the growth mindset activities in digital education. - four transnational project meetings, one of them as a virtual meetingLong term benefits and sustainability: the developed IO and the content will be made available online for the public in five languages. We will ensure that this website will remain online after the finalization of the project for five years. The teachers that were trained in the training activities will coach colleagues and disseminate the principles of growth mindset further. Our growth mindset model for digital teaching with its compendium of best practices can be used throughout the school landscape in the EU.

The COVID19 emergengy and the consequent adoption of online school sessions forced to a sudden acceleration of the use of digital tools in the school system. This phenomenon on one hand led to the adoption of alternative and more flexible ways of teaching and learning; on the other hand it highlighted the lack of innovative teaching approaches able to stimulate autonomy, motivation and involvement of the students. (Commission (SWD 2020, 209).Literature shows that quality and inclusive digital education requires time, skills and adequate resources for planning. GA.M.EL.EARN, starting from the analysis of needs examined by the partnership, aims to: 1) support the transition from “remote emergency education” (OECD, 2020; Hodges C. et al., 2020) to a systematic process of integrated digital didactic paths based on the game-learning pedagogical approach, very effective for increasing students' motivation in digital environments; 2) reduce the gap in classroom dynamics and in the interaction between distance and face-to-face learning; 3) improve school results by reducing anxiety and difficulties especially in subjects such as mathematics, science, mother and foreign language (Coleman Money 2020; Wang et al. 2018; Yusny, 2013).From a survey carried out among the partners, the following problems emerged:1-Difficulty in designing courses by using the pedagogical approach of game-based learning.2-Difficulty in conceiving digital game-based learning paths.The project target group is made up of second and third year teachers of upper secondary schools . The main beneficiaries are students.The general objective of the project is to increase motivation and participation of students through game-based, effective and quality digital teaching courses.The specific objectives are:1) improved effectiveness in designing learning paths based on game-based pedagogy;2) raised the quality of learning paths for an integrated digital teaching, where three intervening components effectively interact: (A) game-based pedagogy, game-based learning (B) digital (online synchronous / asynchronous) and (C) integrated (online and in person) 3) maximize the potential of integrated game-based digital learning in European schools. Schools that are called to effectively answer both to new learning styles of generation Z (dynamics and processes of the game and the digital environment) and to a progressive and massive integration of digital and face to face teaching.GAMELEARN will develop two intellectual outputs strongly practical oriented:IO1: a professional course in MOOC mode that provides teachers with the basics on how digital game-based teaching can be adopted in integrated digital teaching processes. Teachers can learn how to teach through the digital game-based approach.IO2: a curriculum aimed at students for the learning areas with unsatisfactory results in the OECD PISA survey: science, mathematics, mother language and foreign language. The curriculum is also equipped with some practical tools that guide teachers in its implementation. The IO will allow teachers to integrate, in a pedagogically effective way, digital game based learning resources that increase the level of attention and motivation of students to learn, by creating the conditions for improving school performance.It is also expected a learning activity aimed at teachers who will implement IO2.The project aims to produce positive impacts at local, national and European level, to a wide range of players; the main ones are:- Teachers (target group)- Students (beneficiaries)- Families / Parents- School leaders- Participating schools (project partners)- Staff of the school innovators and of the game-based innovator (project partners)- Stahekolders- Other schools.The project has different elements of innovation:● IT TAKES THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE DIGITAL GAME-BASED (DGB) TEACHER, by innovating his approach to teaching.● STUDENT LEARNING: games stimulate and increase the willing to learn.● TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP: it is radically innovated; it becomes dialogic and definitively overcomes the traditional approach.The GAMELEARN project is perfectly aligned with the Digital Action Plan 2021-2027 (COM 2018, 12), revised and updated after COVID 19 (COM 2020, 624).

The digital transformation is radically changing the market and the nature of work. Future jobs will require a wide and cross-sectorial set of basic, soft and technical skills that current VET systems are not able to provide today. Automotive sector plays a key-role in Europe and this role in growing continuously. Automotive workers must be prepared in facing emerging needs coming from competitiveness. Several reports and studies on Industry 4.0 highlighted that there are many gaps in levels of competences and certification of workers. In the automotive sector the critical point lies in the fact that it is not clear which will be competences required in 3/5 years, which will be job-profiles needed by companies. That could slow down or even block the transformation underlied in Industry 4.0 with relative negative impacts (decreased competitiveness of automotive sector, considerable growth of unemployment). Some attempts in anticipating skill needs have been already carried out. But here the project aims to tackle the problem from a new perspective; The problem that this project aims to face is that information provided are still at a general and undefined level that doesn’t allow to pinpoint detailed and specific training contents. Two simultaneous needs come to light: - To know in details key-soft skills and new jobs needed from companies in order to realise Industry 4.0 changes. - To understand which are the specific needs for an effective re-training of workers to be done in advance respect to real necessity. Specific objects: - To develop and test a method able to clarify and describe in details 4.0 key competences and job-profiles used by companies belonging to clusters involved. - To deternine conscious choices about re-training and career steps for workers involved - To create OERs useful to develop key-competences for workers and strategic for Industry 4.0 transformation of supply chain involved Project target group is 200 qualified workers, vulnerable but “re-trainable” respect to 4.0. They can keep or increase their employability level by expanding their set of skills. The project will be implemented by a strategic partnership involving: - a group of European organisations in charge to manage clusters and network of automotive companies (AIC, NAA, Dekra) led by the applicant IAM - a group of VET providers ((Dekra Akademie, HETEL, KZN Solutions) running in automotive sector - two specialised VET providers (ilmiolavoro e Steinbeis) with expertise on Industry 4.0 implications of competences and human capitals of companies Partnership will be completed with Associated Partners as automotive companies, other VET providers and automotive clusters and important stakeholders like Research Institutes, associations of companies, Trade Unions (CISL and IGM METAL) able to involve automotive other automotive companies and workers. Intellectual Outputs expected: IO1 European Automotive Technology & Skill Foresight 4.0.: it contains description of key-soft competences in Automotive 4.0. IO2 European Automotive 4.0 cross-skills open education resources: it is a set of OERs useful for automotive qualified workers to develop 4.0 cross skills. expected activities are: 1) foresight of key-cross competences in Automotive 4.0 through the use of innovative methodology Technology & Skill Roadmap. 2) development of career guidance and 4.0 OERs tools. 3) test and evaluation of career guidance paths and updating by using 4.0 OERs on online platform. The methodology is based on a system process who draw an evolutive loop. That, moving from Technology & skills 4.0 foresight, help workers and companies in taking 4.0 training decision and in implementing 4.0 re-training actions. The project provides positive impacts first of all on automotive qualified workers who will develop their sustainability/employability according 4.0. Secondly it provides positive impacts for clusters that will be able to realise 4.0 transformation and for VET providers who will increase their ability to promote employability according 4.0 revolution.

<< Background >>Over the last years, the European Commission has been promoting awareness-raising about environmental and climate change challenges. In particular the topic of circular economy is part of a broad and articulated international path towards a more sustainable world and has a key role in achieving some of the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations.According to the key players at the political level, issues affecting our planet need a prompt and effective response. Circular economy is getting more and more relevance among EU strategies and it needs to be tackled not only at economical and environmental level, but with an integrated European action that takes into account several dimensions, including the educational one.In order to spread this important and complex concept among citizens, the whole system of education and training plays a crucial role.Before starting to write the project proposal, the partnership conducted a feasibility study in order to understand the needs of the target groups as well as their own needs. According to secondary data analysis (strategic documents, global reports) and interviews with VET teachers from different EU countries, the current situation of circular economy and entrepreneurship competences in the VET field has the following challenges:-Students still have a narrow perception of concepts like circular economy, green capital and green entrepreneurship. Most students still understand entrepreneurship just as the ability to start and run a business. Despite the efforts of the EU and Member States, a broader understanding of these concepts is still missing.-Whereas climate change and sustainable development are social and economic challenges, which affect all sectors and need to be addressed by different professions, VET schools still lack knowledge and skills to integrate these concepts into their subjects.-Teaching entrepreneurship in VET schools often depends on the proactivity of individual institutions and teachers. Experiential learning in teaching entrepreneurship is still neglected. Comprehensive and holistic didactic materials for teachers are still rare.-Structured project-based collaboration between companies and VET education institutions to foster green entrepreneurship competencies of students is still missing or at least it is not so well implemented in the project countries.-A cross-curricular approach to circular economy and entrepreneurship is still not 100% perceived and implemented in the countries participating in this project. Very often green entrepreneurship is still meant as a separate subject instead of as a transversal competence to be implemented across all disciplines.As a consequence, partner organisations share the same concerns: VET students seem to have only a very general and abstract idea about circular economy, green capital and entrepreneurship. They do not catch the importance of these concepts and are not able to take concrete actions in order to really play a crucial role in the society by implementing them, meant in terms of being creative, proactive, able to see reality with an open mind and catching potential business opportunities in line with the principles of circular economy and taking into account environmental and climate-change challenges. Growing Green project puts a special emphasis on linking the concept of circular economy with the need to boost entrepreneurial competences for future European citizens. The starting point is to raise awareness about environmental and climate-change challenges and circular economy topics among VET students, by practically reinforcing at the same time their entrepreneurship competences through workplace learning.With GROWING GREEN we want to “bring education to life through practical experiential learning models and experience of real-world entrepreneurs” in order to give students hands-on experiences of green entrepreneurship and a clear understanding of what green entrepreneurship means.<< Objectives >>Growing Green project aims at enhancing awareness raising about circular economy and at developing related green-entrepreneurship competences, in line with the European strategy on these topics.The general objective of the project is to reinforce green entrepreneurship competences (according to the EntreComp definition of entrepreneurship) among VET students. We will implement an experiential workplace-based model of teaching green entrepreneurship to VET organisations in order to boost quality and frequency of cooperation between VET institutions and local businesses of different sectors. The specific objectives of the project are the following: -To introduce a new practical green entrepreneurship model by working on real cases in business and industry;-To deliver new green-oriented entrepreneurship training materials for teachers and students to support work-based learning about green entrepreneurship;-To equip VET teachers with skills for mentoring and guiding students towards green entrepreneurship;-To support cooperation between VET institutions offering courses in different economic sectors and local businesses with the aim of offering more experience for developing green-oriented entrepreneurial competencies of VET students;-To strengthen cooperation between VET and businesses for creative solutions and product development by joint work between students, teachers and local businesses.Moreover, by cooperating at the transnational level, the consortium is expected to get the following benefits:-Access to a bigger set of knowledge and experiences in different countries about circular economy.-Exchange on methods and contents about the integration of circular economy in the VET curriculum.-Different expertise and points of view, which will enrich the design and development of materials and project outcomes, also through co-creation of PRs.-Creation of a network of partners interested in the topics of circular economy and sustainability, which can lead to new potential projects/activities in the future.-Increased work satisfaction of the staff involved in the project by working with peers and by visiting schools and companies from different countries, which is always an enriching and open mind-experience.The transnational dimension of the project represents an essential prerequisite for strengthening and promoting among the partners the implementation of this experiential workplace-based model of teaching green entrepreneurship. It is a shared belief of the partners that a common model, coming from cooperation among organisations with different backgrounds, expertise and experiences (VET schools, entrepreneurship providers, organisations expert on circular economy and recognition of skills, companies), will have an additional value in terms of potential and impacts, and can easily be extended to other organisations in other countries. The basic idea is to build a model that, inspired by the European recommendations on circular economy, green capital and entrepreneurship and implemented and tested in different contexts, can be easily used and replicated all around Europe, by raising the awareness about environmental and climate-change challenges and at same time stimulating people in being proactive and undertaking related initiatives.<< Implementation >>Growing Green project, in order to materialise its objectives and achieve planned results, comprises a set of tasks for each project result, an international learning activity, 5 multiplier events, supported by management and monitoring activities and by a well-defined sharing and promotion strategy that will ensure the use of results even after the project has ended.In particular:The 1st step of Growing Green project aims at defining the Growing Green Entrepreneur, a manual based on an experiential approach of teaching green entrepreneurship in cooperation with local business. In order to achieve this results, co-creation activities, analysis of existing contents and production of training materials will be implemented by partners. The 2nd step of the Growing Green project will produce the Growing Green Gamification, which combines gamification with green principles. In order to achieve this result, co-creation activities for project partners will be organized as well as an online conference for the collection of success stories implemented by external VET schools. Finally, associated companies will be called to propose challenges for the game. Partners will meet in Slovenia in M16 (Growing Green Capacity Building- step n. 3) in order to finalise, experiment and validate The Growing Green Entrepreneur and the Growing Green Gamification previously designed and to envisage the work to start and evaluate the pilot, assess key results and create some tools for the integration of the products created into VET schools offers. This activity will be necessary for partners to implement the pilot in their countries in the most effective way.The 4th step of the Growing Green project foresees the pilot implementation in the four countries and the collection of all the projects implemented by 160 VET learners with the collaboration of 60 VET teachers, entrepreneurial providers and local companies. Finally, 4 Growing Green workshops will be organised to promote project results in the different countries in order to guarantee the uptake of the Growing Green materials and methodologies by other VET providers as well as the presentation of projects implemented by VET students in collaboration with teachers, entrepreneurial providers and local companies, with the final aim of guaranteeing sustainability of the project itself.A final online conference will be organized for all VET students, VET teachers, companies and project partners to share and promote the projects and prototypes realized in the different schools and exchange key findings/success stories/challenges encountered.Sharing and promotion activities will be fundamental to assure the involvement of target groups and to boost the project impact in the longer period. The partners will implement a multi-media campaign to reach the different target groups. Management and monitoring activities will be extremely important to assure the smooth implementation of all activities. All face-to-face meetings will involve knowledge sharing activities and exchange of practices, co-creation activities to shape the project results or peer review of project results, review of project milestones, project intangible results and costs, visits to associated partners. Additional online meetings will be organised.All activities will be implemented in the most sustainable way considering both the environmental and social aspects as part of the Growing Green approach.<< Results >>The main expected concrete results of GROWING GREEN project are:-The Growing Green Entrepreneur: a teachers Manual, a sustainable collection of materials, tools, activities and process roadmap for Growing Green experiential approach.-The Growing Green Gamification: a practical game built up combining training methodologies with green concepts.-The Growing Green framework: a set of tools and instruments to evaluate, assess key results of the pilot and integrate the Growing Green approach into the educational offer of VET schools.-The Growing Green Compendium of prototypes collecting projects and prototypes prepared by VET students participating to the pilot.Other project tangible results include:- N° 9 partner organizations actively participating to 10 transnational meetings.- N° 5 monitoring reports drafted.- N° 1 learning activity organized, which sees the participation of 17 staff members of the involved organizations.- at least 10000 stakeholders reached through sharing and promotion activities.- at least N° 60 VET teachers and N°160 youth participating to the pilot.- at least N° 120 people participating to the multiplier events on site and at least N° 300 people online. Project management results:-Effective project sustainability (social and environmental) efforts achieved: conditions provided through the application of equal opportunities for all, Inclusion and Diversity Plan, projects results adapted to VET learners at risk of exclusion, sustainability principles applied to project meetings and to the C1, etc.-Successful implementation of the project and impact achieved: conditions provided through the professional cooperation partnership establishment, careful planning, human and financial resources allocation, Project Management Handbook, Quality Management Plan, quality and monitoring sessions, etc.-Successful project sharing and promotion efforts and solid provision of project sustainability: conditions provided through the Sharing and Promotion Plan, outstanding outreach provided through planned activities and networks available, etc.-European dimension of project results and cooperation between the organizations involved directly and/or indirectly: due professional cooperation partnership establishment, addressing common hot topics, providing relevant and adequate, etc.Outcomes for participants in the project activities include:VET students:-with a comprehensive knowledge about the concepts of circular economy and green entrepreneurship.- with improved entrepreneurial mindset and an higher possibility of employability thanks to the relevant skills acquired and the practical experience gained in working with companies.- with reinforced open up mindset for transnational cooperation and participation to work-based projects.VET teachers:- with better capability to work on green oriented entrepreneurship with companies and entrepreneurial providerswith a greater network at international level- with an increased awareness of green entrepreneurship as a way of working simultaneously on customer, technical and business perspectives.- Entrepreneurial providers with a better knowledge on circular economy and green-oriented business and a better capability to work with VET teachers and studentsCompanies with an increased capacity to work internationally and willingness to include green principles in their businessOther outcomes:- Higher motivation of VET schools reached by sharing and promotion activities for teaching green-oriented entrepreneurship by connecting the world of business to the VET through the project and workplace teaching model. - Better awareness of experiential implementation of green-oriented entrepreneurship competences among VET schools (students, teachers, other players and staff resources inside the institution), decision makers and PA.- Application of the new green entrepreneurship model in the countries involved.