Constantly changing European societies and economics require permanent focusing on new developments and hence quality of education.In our project we will focus on stimulating high-quality, innovative ways of teaching and learning through new approach. Our project will efficiently join using CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) method in teaching especially STEM subjects with digital technologies and devices. With this approach, teachers are no longer limited to the textbooks that their institutions provide. By using other resources in English such as video, audio and interactive learning, students have many different ways to learn. Teachers can find creative ways to teach their students in an engaging way. CLIL aims to develop an integrated educational approach that puts together various subjects and language that engages students in learning by doing, and solving problems which comprises acting, observing and reflecting on the data collected, while exposing them to the target language. Through collaboration with our partners we want to: - deepen competences in English and STEM subjects- facilitate a preparation of CLIL lesson- support students in acquiring professional and soft skills, needed for further education and working life- promote innovative teaching/learning methods with a great emphasis on language and multidisciplinary approach - create more attractive ways of learning and thus increase students´ motivation to study- promote teamwork at national/international level- strengthen use of ICT and digital media for teaching/learning- promote the professional development of teachers in methodology of developing CLIL lessons and large-scale materials for teaching and of student assessment with a strong support of ICT and digital media.To achieve and fulfil the objectives, we plan to develop these main outputs:a) Survey on using CLIL in partner schoolsThe result will be a document containing a number of teachers using CLIL and a list of subjects and/or topics/chapters taught in English in each partner school (it there are any), learning outcomes, sources used, digital tools involved, methods of teaching and assessing students in partner schools, experience with CLIL approach in teaching, examples of best practices.b) CLIL Manual It will be a methodological handbook for teachers on how to apply tools in CLIL context. It will contain practical guidance for planning and creating a CLIL lesson (incl. creating tests) and for implementing it in common teaching practice. It will also describe CLIL practice, advantages and basic theory and have case examples on how to implement CLIL in subjects. The manual will be a handbook for subject teachers, especially those who are new to CLIL and who need some inspirational materials with ideas and advice on best ways to prepare colleagues and students for implementation. It will also contain a lesson plan and a dictionary with a specific vocabulary related to each lesson. The CLIL manual will be used for teacher training and for individual learning, it will refer to/make use of lesson plans and the materials catalogue to demonstrate the attractiveness of CLIL and remove some of the known barriers to successful implementation of CLIL.c) Catalogue of CLIL lessons will form a portfolio consisting of CLIL lessons. They will cover at least two subjects in each school according to partner schools focus and needs. Creating the Catalogue will be followed by peer reviewing of the materials by the partner school, then by pilot testing and finally by adjusting them if needed to the final version. d) International team competition for students. Teachers of all schools will prepare together specific requirements and conditions for collaborative students´ work. Two students from each school will participate. They will form 4 teams and will produce a visual presentation on a given topic The competition will be held during the last C5 event.During the project lifetime, we will organize three staff training events for two teachers from each school and two blended mobilities for twenty two students alltogether, accompanied by one teacher from each country.

The general objective of our project “Teaching in the Digital Age” is to increase the quality of VET education by motivating teachers of maths and vocational subjects to use modern methods of teaching with a strong support of digital media. In our project we want to initiate a process of continuing professional development of teachers and independent learning by joint work among teachers of partner schools and thus to help teachers through informal learning by sharing experience and good practice of all partners to integrate IT in teaching/learning more intensely and to introduce new pedagogical methods essential for teaching in the digital age. Three to five teachers fo each partner school will participate in this partnership. At least one teacher of maths and three to four of vocational subjects according to the study programme of each partner school.In compliance with the vision of 21 century education - learning anywhere, anytime, through any device, with a support of anyone - we can indicate trends accelerating educational technology adoption in schools and important developments in educational technology. Among major trends belong: the changing role of teachers as a result of ICT influence, an increasing focus on open educational resources and on stimulating new models of teaching and learning practices using both traditional and virtual methods. Technological developments that can support these drivers of innovation and change are cloud computing and tablet computing that will make use of services such as Google Apps for Education, Skype and Dropbox. The important part of the project activities will be five learning/teaching/training activities/workshops focused on job shadowing, sharing information about using flipped classroom and cooperative learning, and on how to create e-learning materials (e.g. podcasts).During the project and on its completion we will develop educational and methodical digital learning materials for supporting cooperative learning and flipped classroom with the use of ICT created in native languages. Some of them will be translated in English (podcasts, video lessons). The important material created by joint work will be the Position Paper summarizing results from SWOT analyses on using digital media and teaching/learning methods where we declare our position about how the effective education should be, what can be improved, how can we contribute to it. The main benefit from the project for teachers will be knowledge of other and new options for use of information and communication technologies in education, the implementation of new methodological approach and higher motivation for further study. The teachers acquire competences to use new teaching methods and digital tools. Improved international teamwork and broadened their personal horizons will be another benefit. Another profit will be establishing new relations that can lead to further continuation of foreign cooperation.The schools will increase quality of teaching/learning vocational subjects by implementing innovative methods and practices in VET, increase their prestige, open themselves to more intensive international cooperation.Through e-learning materials for which the topics will be chosen by companies, the real activities and problematics of those companies will be transfered to school and thus students will get to know more about their future possible employers and jobs.Teachers involved in the project want to develop opportunities which this project has offered them and want to keep on using flipped classroom, cooperative learning and digital media after the end of the project.

"<< Background >>The project topic is hybrid learning for disadvantaged adults. We understand simultaneous hybrid learning as an educational model where some students attend class in-person, while others join the class virtually from home. The need for the present project appeared during the pandemic time since spring 2020. Most of the teachers and adult educators in the world faced the challenges to transfer the learning online, but later it appeared that even if we are able to work with our groups offline, there is always a risk that some participants can't join due to their illness, geographical obstacles or other reasons. It means that we have to find effective solutions for hybrid learning. This task is especially difficult if we work with disadvantaged learners.<< Objectives >>The partnership is looking for successful solutions of hybrid learning in order to help disadvantaged adults to learn, support inclusion and improve the availability of high quality learning opportunities. We see that the world will never be the same again and hybrid learning should be available for all people whereever they live and whatever special need they have. Improvement of the adult educators' competences will support the learners in achieving better learning results. The project team develops supportive materials for organisation of hybrid learning for disadvantaged adults and their implementation will make adult education at least in participating regions more inclusive and equal. In the project we focus specifically on the people with intellectual disabilities, immigrants and learners in rural areas. This choice is connected with the target groups we work with. In local and international partnership we are planning to develop a toolkit including methods and tools, which will support the learners in hybrid environments; a training programme and a e-learning self-study course for the adult educators.<< Implementation >>In order to reach the expected results of the project the partnership has planned the following activities described in chronological and logical sequence:- Online kick-off meeting- Learning programme in Estonia -Piloting of the toolkit with disadvantaged adult learners in the project partners’ countries- Learning programme in Malta- Piloting of the training programme on hybrid learning in the project partners’ countries- Learning programme in Spain -Local development work on the e-course- Piloting of the e-course in the project partners’ countries- Finalizing the intellectual outputs and preparing for the final project meeting and multiplier event in Turkey- Final project meeting in Turkey- Hybrid multiplier event in Turkey- Evaluation of the project and its results, finalizing and submitting the report.Three intellectual outputs of the project are interconnected and constitute the package of resources addressed to the educators and aimed at enhancing learning of disadvantaged adults in a hybrid way.Our methodology is based on the principles and values of andragogy, Paulo Freire's dialogic pedagogy, theories of self-directed and transformative learning.<< Results >>The project expected results are the following:1. One-week training in Estonia for the adult educators on the topic of ""Hybrid learning"". The participants will find out how to organise and lead hybrid learning effectively (each partner sends 2 participants to Estonia and 2 participants from each country work with us online). This form gives us a chance not only to learn how to teach in a hybrid way, but go through this experience together. During that week we also discuss which of the presented methods and tools can be used with our target groups.2. Two international learning programmes in Malta and Spain for the project participants, so that they could learn together and develop the intellectual outputs in a team.3. One hybrid multiplying event in Turkey in order to disseminate the project intellectual outputs (at least 100 participants offline and online).4. At least 15 adult educators took part in the project mobilities and developed their competence in organisation of hybrid learning including hybrid learning for disadvantaged adults.5. At least 20 adult educators took part in the project learning activities online and developed their competence in organisation of hybrid learning including hybrid learning for disadvantaged adults (12 of them during the learning programme in Estonia and the rest in other programmes optionally).6. At least 40 adult educators from the partner countries took part in piloting of the training programme on hybrid learning for disadvantaged adults and developed their competence in the topic.7. At least 20 adult educators tested the self-study e-learning course on hybrid learning for disadvantaged adults and developed their competence in the topic.8. At least 90 adult learners from disadvantaged background who took part in testing the toolkit for hybrid learning.The project intellectual outputs are:1. Toolkit of methods to use in hybrid learning for disadvantaged adults2. Training programme on hybrid learning of disadvantaged adults for adult educators3. E-learning course for adult educators on organising in hybrid learning of disadvantaged adultsNew training programme, toolkit and e-course offered to other educational providers working with disadvantaged people together with support for developing hybrid learning opportunities. At present hybrid learning opportunities have mainly been applied in higher education. The outputs developed in our project with certain adjustment could be applied in vocational, general and adult education."

<< Background >>The linear economy model (take – make – waste) currently in use is showing all its limitations over time. For this reason, the EU is promoting an alternative economic system designed to regenerate itself and ensure its eco-sustainability (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Financing the Circular Economy, 2020), called circular economy (CE). In fact, CE can help countries to reach the global climate goals, changing the way they produce and consume goods.Companies have started to consider the fight against waste as their priority, adopting more sustainable practices. This will also affect the job market because, as stated in the EU Green Deal (2019), “the circular economy offers great potential for new activities and jobs”, connected with low-emission production processes and sustainable products. Thus, it is essential that future workers acquire knowledge related to the CE and sustainability, strengthening their green skills (EC, Education for Climate Action). This is particularly urgent in the economic sectors identified as priorities in “The new circular economy action plan” (2020) of the European Commission (EC, A New Circular Economy Action Plan for a Cleaner and More Competitive Europe, 2020), such as wood, plastics and agrifood. A fundamental role in this changing process will be played by VET institutions, particularly those active in the priority fields identified by the EC, in order to “engage with pupils, parents, and the wider community on the changes needed for a successful transition”(EU, Green Deal, 2019). Including in their learning and training programs courses of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) related to the CE and its principles (recycle, reuse, avoid wasting, eco-design, etc.), would enable educational institutions not only to disseminate knowledge and skills in line with global priorities on the environmental protection and with the labour market, but also to make students aware consumers and, potentially, future aware producers. Sustainability must be conceived as a transversal theme in the courses of schools and VET institutions, that is, as a lens through which we can reconsider the other subjects that are taught (ACR+ & Zero Waste Scotland, Circular Economy and Lifelong Learning - scenarios, methodologies, in action, 2019).In this context, the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) identified the main challenges affecting the establishment of a CE and the role of green skills in supporting this transition (ILO, 2011):1- A lack of skills is hindering green economic development. In this skills shortage, it is reported that “many countries lack sufficient teachers and trainers in environmental awareness”;2- Many countries did not put in place development strategies for “green skills”;3- Green skills have not been sufficiently identified;4- Appropriate training has to be put in place to respond to this skills shortage. In particular, VET, which represents the bulk of training for green occupation, has been reacting more slowly than other educational sectors;5- The CE will have a profound negative effect on high carbon emitting sectors, such as petrochemical, manufacturing and agricultural industries. In all these sectors, workers, trainees and students need training in “green skills”.TREE project was designed to effectively respond to the context and the challenges listed above. In particular, TREE project will address the following needs:Provision of common definitions of “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sector;Provision of training for teachers to implement ESD in VET institutions;Increase of VET students environmental awareness and “green skills”;Integrating the teaching of ESD in VET institutions to provide “green skills”;Harmonization of educational policies for promotion of the green transition and the CE;Establishing closer cooperation between businesses and VET institutions.<< Objectives >>“Micro and project-based learning for Teaching ciRcular Economy and Ecological awareness in VET” (TREE project) aims to increase the employability of VET students through the creation of an innovative course on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and promote the CE through the infusion of new “green skills”. Drawing on Micro- and Project-based learning practices, TREE project will aim to provide a programme that can readily be adopted in VET’s curricula. The above goals will be reached, through the attainment of the following 7 specific objectives:Provide definitions of relevant “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sector: The project will aim to fight the skills mismatch hindering the development of the CE by identifying, selecting, and defining the “green skills” that workers of the plastics, wood and agrifood sector will need to participate in the green economy. In order to ensure the direct applicability of these skills in the job market, their definition will be established through a cooperation between education experts, VET teachers, job and HR consultants working in green companies of the three sectors identified.Integrate the teaching of ESD and the CE into VET institutions’ curricula:In order to contribute to the green transition, VET institutions all over Europe need to teach ESD as a transversal theme, integrating it in their current curricula. The TREE project will aim to do so, by establishing a training course based on micro- and project-based learning, to maximize its transferability and simplify its adoption in regular teaching activities of VET institutions.Promote collaboration between VET institutions and companies that adopt sustainable practices:The TREE project will aim to foster collaboration between green companies of the plastics, wood, and agrifood sector and VET institutions, in order to reduce the gap between education and the job market. In particular, companies will provide relevant support in defining the “green skills” needed by their workers, ensuring the effectiveness of TREE project training course.Increase VET teachers’ competences to teach ESD for the CE:As VET teachers are lacking the relevant competencies to teach ESD, notions of the CE and transfer “green skills” on their students, TREE project will aim to establish relevant training for them. The training will aim to increase their teaching competences, knowledge of sustainability and ecological awareness, making them active participants of the green transition.Promote the infusion of relevant “green skills” for the job market in VET students:Through the training course developed within the TREE project, students will obtain new “green skills” that will increase their employability and help them contribute to the green transition. The usefulness of the “green skills” identified within the project will be guaranteed by the direct involvement of green companies.Increase the ecological awareness of VET students and teachers, as well as promote the adoption of “green habits”:Within the TREE project, both teachers and students will gain relevant knowledge about ecological awareness and sustainable behaviors. In this way, the project aims to support the diffusion of “green habits” at the local level.Support policy harmonization at national and EU level for teaching ESD:The training courses will be based on extensive and comprehensive researches about national and EU policy relating to ecology, CE and ESD. These researches will be completed with the development of policy suggestions that will be presented to relevant institutions with the aim to foster harmonization of educational policies at national and EU level.<< Implementation >>The activities planned to reach the objectives mentioned above may be divided into three steps:Step 1 - Knowledge building: All partners will conduct researches to define:The appropriate “green skills” that VET trainees will need to participate in the green economy;The partner countries and European contexts in relation to current practices and methodologies for teaching ESD in VET institutions and their connection to the job market and the CE;How to integrate Micro- and Project-based learning to teach ESD and infuse “green skills” in VET students;Instructions on how to effectively teach ESD within VET institutions.This step will be mainly carried out through the integration of primary and secondary research activities. Primary research will consist in the administration of questionnaires, the conducting of semi-structured interviews and/or focus groups with VET teachers, VET staff and green companies, to better understand their opinions, expectations, wishes and challenges in relation to ESD, “green skills”, CE and the needs of the job market. Primary research will be mainly used to identify, select and define the appropriate “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sectors, as well as ensure that project’s results will answer to the needs of the target groups. On the other hand, secondary research will comprise a desk review aimed at collecting useful information on (i) national and EU policies, (ii) best practices for teaching ESD in VET institutions, (iii) knowledge on how to adopt micro- and project-based learning to teach ESD and “green skills”, and (iv) how to integrate the teaching of ESD in VET institutions. Step 2 - Training Course design and testing:Step 2 will be devoted to the creation of the project teaching material, the training of teachers and the testing in VET institutions. All partners will collaborate to create the modules of the course and define the methodologies that will be used in the training activities for teachers. Then, after completing the training of VET teachers, teachers will be asked to test the project’s course in their institutions. To verify the effectiveness of the teaching methodologies and the training course, all partners will carry out monitoring activities through the administration of questionnaires among teachers and students. The results of the monitoring activities will be collected to develop a final report on the testing of the training course.Step 3 - Digitalization:Finally, during Step 3, the material produced in the previous phases will be collected, digitized and uploaded on an online Open Educational Resource (OER) platform. Partners will cooperate to determine the technical solutions that are more appropriate to answer the needs of the target groups and develop multimedia material (such as videos, slides, texts, audios, etc.) to upload on the OER platform. The platform will provide both training materials for teachers, as well as pre-made lessons to be readily adopted in classes. Moreover, the platform will also include a section dedicated to the presentation of different green companies contacted to share information about their processes, products and in what way they contribute to the green transition, presenting relevant and concrete examples of sustainable industrial practices. Partners will contact these companies and involve them in the project as associated partners.<< Results >>Within TREE project three main Results (R) are foreseen:R1 - TREE Methodological Material (e-book)A comprehensive review of ESD, CE topics and educational policies related to sustainability in partner countries and at EU level, that will include:- A definition of the main topics and green skills addressed by TREE project course;- A description of how micro- and project-based learning will be adopted to successfully instill the green skills identified in - students;- A list of instructions on how to implement ESD in VET institutions - Good practices for teaching ESD in VET institutions- Policy recommendations on how to foster the teaching of ESD at national and EU level.Main deliverables: National and Transnational AnalysesMethodological Material (e-book)R2 - TREE Training ProgrammeA complete training programme on ESD and the CE, divided in two macro-sections, one devoted to the teaching of more general ESD and CE topics through “micro-learning modules”, addressing also sustainable behaviors that can be adopted on a daily basis, and a second one that will explain to students how CE and sustainability are declined in specific economic sectors (wood, plastics and agrifood), through the adoption of “project-based learning” practices. This result will also include a testing phase in VET institutions. Teachers will be trained to learn the methodologies adopted in course and update their knowledge about sustainability and the CE. After their training, they will adopt the TREE Training Programme in their institutions for a period of 12 weeks, during which partners will collect data to monitor the process and analyze the effectiveness of the content and the teaching practices. The data collected will be used to develop an analysis report on the impact of the training programme. Main deliverables:TREE Training ProgrammeTesting reportR3 - TREE Open Educational Resource (OER) platformA web-based online repository comprising all the materials developed throughout the project. The OER will be freely accessible and it will allow the dissemination of TREE results at EU level. The OER platform and TREE progrmme will be tested by external experts, in order to obtain data on their effectiveness, as well as relevant feedback and suggestions for their implementation in VET. Moreover, it will also include a specific section, called TREE Network Database, which will include information about companies of the plastics, wood and agrifood sectors that adopt relevant green practices, as well as international opportunities for VET students, such as internships, jobs or other relevant offers for them.Main deliverables:TREE OER platformReport on platform testingTREE network databaseIn terms of impact, the project will generate:- Increased knowledge and awareness about ecology and circular economy of VET students and VET teachers;- Establishment of a closer link between VET institutions and business;- Strengthening of VET’s institutions curricula towards ecological issues;- Increased adoption of eco-friendly habits in all target groups involved;- Infusion of “green skills” in VET students directly involved in the project's activities.Long-term benefits envisaged are:- Increased employability of VET’s students;- Diffusion of ecological habits at local, regional and EU level;- Increased awareness and diffusion of “green skills” at local, regional and EU level.

"PROJECT SUMMARY ""Education Development Guidelines for 2014-2020"" define the basic objective of the development of education - high-quality and inclusive education for personal development, human well-being and sustainable national development. To ensure the development of education, it is necessary to work on quality management and improvement in VET institutions. The main goal of the project „Change management forwarding to excellence in vocational educational institutions” was to improve quality management approaches in VET institution trough promotion of self-evaluation and benchmarking.Our concrete objectives were:1. To examine and research existing approaches for quality assurance in Vocational education and training sector in participating countries2. To carry out self-assessment based on EFQM and EQAVET principles to identify both strengths and weaknesses of the partner organizations3. To share and validate identified tools and approaches and learn from each other4. To implement change management in partner organizations based on the exchange of effective practices5. To develop a Guide of recommendations for effective practices and support their practical implementation in VET institutions.Project partners were from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania Slovenia, Bulgaria VET institution and Expert ""Biedrība Eurofortis"".The project was divided into 3 phases. In the first phase of the project, the partners made research and later in training activity learned about self-assessment which was provided with Excellence approach (EFQM) and quality assurance (EQAVET). After that organizations visited more than 20 VET institutions which are working hard to improve their organizations' quality in every aspect. Partners got many ideas from each other about VET institution in quality management and everyday school life that makes quality. At the end of the project partners shared not only in partnership know-how but also to a wider scope of VET organizations by developing a Recommendation guide which is available in the project website www.evet.lv. Project partners are surprised by the impact which is left after the project implementation:1. Deputy Minister of Education and Science in Bulgaria, which before was director of Sofia Professional High School in precision engineering and optics ""M.V. Lomonosov"", became as deputy minister and made changes in self-assessment in all professional schools. This person participated in good practice sharing of our project where she got inspiration to change that system.2. All partners started to care more about students and their wellbeing in school. Some partners in different aspects started to evaluate students and teachers about their feelings in school and what could be done better.3. All partners understood that there is needed better communication among administration, teachers and students. It is a hard job to make qualitative dialogue between different generations.The most important thing that VET institution more than 20 have started care more about quality management which includes Excellence. In the project website, it is possible to find more information about the project, recommendation guide, good practice, and improvements which were made in every partner organization."