<< Objectives >>The project has the primary goal to improve the effectiveness and inclusiveness of empowering and learning paths addressed to persons with disabilities designing and testing an intervention methodology, based on peer-to-peer, participatory and inclusive approach, aimed at measuring and assessing the impact of these paths on the Quality of Life of beneficiaries.It aims to empower persons with disabilities and to enhance among operators a set of competences useful to develop impact measurement.<< Implementation >>- 1 online kick-off meeting - 4 in-presence meetings with representatives of the partner organizations - min 20 online meetings - 1 Blended training activities for partners' staff (20 persons) - 4 Online webinars, 1 bootcamp in Italy (inpresence) - peer-to-peer national training activities (at least 50 persons - partners' staff) - 1 multiplier event/country - 4 surveys (reports)/country on staff involved in the project - 1 survey on final beneficiaries involved in stakeholder<< Results >>Methodological Guide (MOOC): how to develop a peer-to-peer, participatory, inclusive approach for impact assessment of empowering paths in the field of disability (design/pilot), IndicatorsToolkit to Measure Impacts of Empowering Paths on Quality of Life, Digital Resources for Inclusion of Beneficiaries (design/pilot); Interactive Dashboard for data collection; EU Community of Practice.Active role of persons with disabilities and trained staff for greater effectiveness of empowering paths.

"The strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (known as ET 2020) adopted a benchmark to be achieved by 2020, namely, that the share of early leavers from education and training should be not more than 10 % in the EU-28.According to the Eurostat ""Early leavers from education and training"", In 2017, an average of 10.6 % of young people (aged 18-24) in the EU-28 were early leavers from education and training, in other words, they had completed at most a lower secondary education and were not in further education or training during the four weeks preceding the survey.Early leavers from education and training may face heightened difficulties in the labour market. Those not in employment may or may not want to work. In 2017, the 10.6 % of early leavers from education and training were composed as such: a 4.7 % share of the EU-28’s population aged 18-24 were early leavers in employment, while 3.7 % were early leavers not employed but wanting to work, and the remaining early leavers (2.2 % of the population aged 18-24) were not employed and did not want to work.Education and career guidance plays an essential part in motivating students affected by SLD and SLI and keeping them engaged in education. It not only provides them with information on the study options and work prospects available, but also helps to identify the careers that may interest them. Guidance staff also support young people suffering from SLD and SLI in developing the skills they need to make good decisions and they enable them to manage their choices better and take responsibility for their own personal growth and development. ""Step by Step"" (SBS) project is aimed at reducing the above mentioned phenomenon by sharing good practice among EU partners in order to duplicate successfull supportive scheme for school teachers / mentors, business mentors with the puropose of keep SLD and SLI learners motivated by means of Work-Based Learning WBL interconned activities. SBS is aimed at creating a network of international partners actively engaged in fighting early school leaving by stimulating the pro-active attidute of SLD and SLI learners and entrepreneurial spirits. Expected Results:1) WORKSHOP FOR TRANSFER OF INNOVATION TRAINING FOR TEACHERS / TUTORS AND WORKPLACE TUTOR during which the PP will transfer to the users referents the necessary knowledge to implement programs directed to Training teachers / tutors and workplace tutor in dual learning logic. 2) CREATION OF CONDITIONS FOR REPLICABILITY OF PRACTICE through the translation of educational contents of two Training courses for Company Tutor and Lecturer in Logic Dual Learning and the agreement for use of e-learning platforms to be used for the realization of part of the learning activities provided in the form of short-term mobility. 3)TRAINING FOR WORKPLACE TUTOR WBL 4)TRAINING FOR TEACHERS / TUTOR IN LOGIC DUAL LEARNING.The learning of all participants will be evaluated and certified in accordance with the ECVET. 5) METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE6) TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS TUTOR AND WORKPLACE TUTOR. 7) WBL LOCAL PROGRAMS FOR SLD AND SLI STUDENTS.Expected impact:Learners/Participants :We expect all participants of the project to enhance their self-esteem being more active in supporting inclusive entrepreneurial education of SLD and SLI youth. We expect them to be ready to share their new knowledge, to be pro-active and encourage others to get involved. In identifying new, creative methods we except the participants to become curiouse themselves and start to be motivated to participate in WBL. Knowing their rights as European citizens and knowing new tools and methods in participation will motivate the participants to become a more active and smart citizens, feeling integrated and fully part of the system.Participant organizations: We expect the participant organizations to get motivated to improve their hard and soft skills in the field of social entrepreneurship and inclusive education. The organizations will improve their capacity to perform trainings in a SLD and SLI friendly atmosphere and modify their already existing curricula with new, innovative and inclusive methods. SLD and SLI students/youngsters:In the project we are focused mainly on youngsters affected by SLD and SLI that feel excluded from the society and often affected by bullism. SLD and SLI participants to the WBL Local Programs may: a) Have increased focus and purpose; b) Better understand real life issues as they learn academics in context, c) Be more goal-oriented; they have a reason for and interest in continuing education, d) Develop better problem-solving skills and e) Understand the concept of work and work ethic."

As it has been the case in the European Union (EU) during the last few years, large migration waves of people in need of international protection have arrived from countries and territories that suffer from war disasters, dictatorships, etc. in pursuit of a new home. In order for those people to live, work and prosper along with the receiving communities, they need to be integrated into the host countries’ environment – and this has been the greatest challenge for almost all EU countries. The most effective way to accomplish integration and social inclusion has proven to be by learning to communicate with the local population and get acquainted with their cultural particularities and their lifestyle.In this regard, the main objective of “BIG STEP: Learning through Gamification – Integration of the vulnerable groups” has been to develop an innovative educational 2-D serious video game, which helps refugees, immigrants and other vulnerable groups to integrate through learning core elements of their host country’s language, while also familiarising with local cultural aspects. To do so, we have used the Gamification methodology, which is the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring) to other areas of activity, such as teaching, in order to encourage engagement, interaction, learning flow and evaluation of participants.The participating organizations were brought together in the base of common objectives and formed a cohesive partnership in which each partner complements each other in terms of expertise, skills and knowledge, as well as in terms of operational and functional background. In addition, all 6 partners have extensive knowledge of their local needs and were able to make a unique contribution to all project activities. More specifically, UCLL, a Higher Education Institution (HEI) from Flanders, has been the lead partner as it possesses the gamification knowhow, having built similar game-engines for other contexts with success. Neapolis University Pafos is another HEI from Cyprus with valuable scientific and technical research background as well. University Rehabilitation Institute from Slovenia has a major experience in supporting and working with disadvantaged groups. OECON Group from Greece brought its quality assurance experience from previous EU projects’ implementation. Komunikujeme from Czech Republic added value to the communication and dissemination activities. Last but not least, the Institute of Psychosocial Development from Greece brought its expertise in counseling and supporting disadvantaged individuals.To achieve the planned objectives, the project was divided into 3 main activities (Intellectual Outputs) that are shortly described as follows:1.Research and Preparation – each partner conducted primary research through questionnaires in order to gather information regarding our target groups’ needs, literacy skills and ICT competences. Also, each partner conducted a nationwide desk research to formulate cultural particularities reports that included all necessary country information that a foreigner should be aware of in order to live and integrate in the respective country.2.Design and Development – the information from the questionnaires and reports of the previous activity was used for the development of the game’s chapters, with variations based on the target groups’ needs and on each country’s particularities.3.Testing and Implementation – after the first versions of the game were developed, the project’s experts tested them in the reception, protection and support structures of each partner’s region, in order to receive feedback and improve the game.In this direction, the main practical results attained have been the following:-5 National Reports, 123 Questionnaires and 1 Overall Final Report summarizing all the findings and information gathered during research;-1 functioning online Game, freely available and translated-modified in all partners’ languages and country particularities, without an expiration date;-1 Instruction Manual for utilizing the Game, translated in English, Arabic and in all partners’ languages;-130 Questionnaires received after the testing of the Game from our target groups.The project’s impact and longer-term benefits can be summarized as follows:-Introduction of an innovative educational method that combines learning while having fun;-Integration of users to the host countries through enhancement of their literacy skills, ICT competences and cultural awareness;-More active participation, more positive attitude and increased employment opportunities for the target groups and experts involved;-Exchange of good practices between organizations internal and external to the project, and establishment of synergies;-Interaction between research, business and policy (the triple helix).

"In terms of support and integration of learners living with psychological disturbances, several observations are shared on the field:Vocational education and training (VET) professionals lack the knowledge, tools and experience to support and monitor these groups;More and more learners in VET organisations are affected by psychological disorders;These learners are more likely to drop out and abandon their training/integration pathway due to lack of adequate supportProfessionals in the sector declare themselves helpless in the face of this situation, not having references or resources adapted to the reality of VET in terms of support for these particular groups.In order to address this issue, seven partner organisations from six European countries came together to cooperate at European level on the issue of support for learners with psychological disorders. Actors from the fields of education, vocational training and socio-professional integration on the one hand, and experts in psychology/mental health and in the support of people suffering from mental health disorders on the other, have come together to develop common solutions thanks to a global approach to the challenge which brings them together.Thus, the Psych Up project aims at improving the support of learners living with psychological disorders during their training/education pathway, by paving the way for the emergence and professionalisation of ""psychological disorders referents"" in VET organisations in Europe. This objective will lead to two results:The adaptation of the support and training pathway for learners with psychological disordersThe development of a community of practice at European level to exchange and enhance field practices for the support of learnersThe project intends to reach its objectives by working on the clarification of the role, missions and competences of the ""referent in psychological disorders in VET"" (or ""Psych Up Referent"") thanks to its 3 productions A common function profile, highlighting the specific tasks, roles and competences of the Psych Up Referent, as well as six versions adapted to the national contexts of the partnersA common training framework, presenting the ideal training pathway for the Psych Up Facilitator: learning objectives, training contents, ...; as well as six versions adapted to the national contexts of the partnersA collection of resources for the Psych Up Referent, including more than 60 resources useful to professionals in the field for the discovery, management and support of psychological disorders in training Thanks to these common references, throughout Europe, VET professionals will be able to adapt and improve the support and supervision of learners living with psychological disorders in training, in order to guarantee them a better socio-professional integration"

The project FixSmallArt was created with core purpose to support the piloting and implementation of innovative art training methodologies for empowerment of people with learning disabilities and mental health to develop their communication skills, social status, and personal responsibility. The applied method enables us to empower people with disability by developing their key competences, share old and develop new methods, and enhance visibility of people with disability who are usually left on margins of the labour market due to prejudice. The main objectives of the project are:•Preparation of training materials and guidelines for trainers and learners (IO1 and IO2)•Actual implementation of “Paper Art lab” at international level and oriented to trainers techniques and learners testing (C1 and C2)•Local trainings for practical testing and piloting of trainers and learners techniques (E1-7 and IO4)•Digital trainings though Moodle (IO3)The project was coordinated by Medborgarskolan (Sweden) in partnership with organizations from other five European countries, who strive to enhance employment and social involvement of people with disability (PWD) through use of educational techniques connected with paper, color and wood art. Specifically, in the project were participating SOCA (Slovenia), IPSA (Greece), Anazitites Theatrou (Greece), OECON GROUP Bulgaria, UCLL (Belgium) and L’Olive (Italy). The main results/outputs of the project implementation were: (a) O1 Facilitator Training Programme on Disabled people and mentally to professionals to work in art paper (Curricula preparation and elaboration of materials): training plan and materials necessary for the implementation of the local FixSmallArt labs as part of training of learners (94 pages document, 7 labs) (b) O2 Development of Guide to work with disabled people and mentally in art (training guideline): trainers’ guideline with strategies and methodologies (110 pages and consisted of 6 modules 50 pages, published on SALTO) (c) O3 Moodle “FixSmallArt Lab” (online training materials/tools): Moodle courses for Trainers and learners (13 videos) (d) O4 Local FixSmallArt labs (training of learners): organization of local courses in each country with 10 weeks duration (40 hours) and 152 participants (e) C1 Social worker’s capacity building and skills training session (international training of trainers): ToT with 15 experts and 5 days duration, organized in Italy (f) C2 Pilot FixSmallArt_ Lab (international training): pilot training of learners with 77 learners and 102 trainers, organized in Greece Based on these main outputs were organized 7 multiplayer events with 8 hours duration each and the participation of 159 people. The activities had started at 01/11/2018 and ended at 30/10/2020.