"STEAMProcess has the ambition to foster disruptive innovation for research and science, by promoting the use of artistic soft-skills in science/tech education and practice. In particular the project wants to:1) Encourage programmes for skills development and lifelong learning to include a clear component for culture and creativity. It is crucial to assess the actual use and impact of the projects funded in the frame of programmes, such as Erasmus+, that are promoting the transition from STEM to STEAM training. 2) Support programmes integrating the arts into STEM curricula as well as cross-sectorial projects blending the arts with STEM disciplines. The studio and the laboratory are learn-by-doing, learn-by-making educational experiences. The iterative process and experimentation are key components to advances and discoveries in both fields. Artists, designers, and scientists alike are utilizing data in new and interesting ways to inform their practices and affect positive change. Productive cross-disciplinary collaborations are being formed in both the academy and in the workplace.3) The development of a Cultural and Creative Sector literacy policy, for example through an own-initiative report or via a pilot project/preparatory action. Such literacy policy would help to stimulate the interest and demand for European cultural diversity, as well as stimulate creative thinking across EU citizens, in particular, focused on specific policy issues. Art school students and graduates are also having a huge impact on social innovation by bringing to light and helping to solve important global issues. Architects and designers have a unique and ethical responsibility to develop, for example, environmentally creative solutions. And artists play an increasingly significant role in addressing societal challenges as many shift toward work that is collaborative and community-based. Project Objectives:General objectiveFostering cross-fertilization between technical/scientific skills and artistic/humanistic skills through the creation of innovative training materials and teaching supporting tools.Specific objectives: 1 - Identification of a skills frame characterizing the most innovative subjects in the arts/science cross-fertilization field2- Creation of a replicable methodology supported by gamification, aimed at integrating artistic and creative skills with technological skills, stimulating new forms of entrepreneurship and facilitating the formation of diverse teams giving birth to innovative projects3- Solidification of common experience and best practices to promote STEAM cross-fertilization in a cohesive way across the European UnionProject ProductsIntellectual Output 1 – Art Skills FrameworkThe objective of IO1 is to create the framework of the A (Art) Skills, the soft skills that are typical of artistic processes. In the general perspective of introducing the variable A in the STEM processes, it is, in fact, necessary to define the added value that artists can bring to the STEM sectors in terms of soft skills (e.g. the ability to think out of the box, the ability to manage unknowns, the ability to establish an empathic relationship with heterogeneous contexts, etc.).Intellectual Output 2 – STEAM Methodology Skills FrameworkThe aim of the IO2 is the development of a methodology aimed at designing an innovative response to an economic or social challenge through cross-fertilization. The methodology stems from the hackathon methodology (challenge, limited time, competition between teams), including the letter ""A"" of arts among the STEM competencies: from STEM to STEAM.The main features of the methodology make it a useful tool not only with toward its primary purpose - i.e. the generation of ideas and solutions from a specific need - but also from an educational point of view: the challenge favours teamworking, stimulating participants to collaborate with people often unknown, or coming from fields of study or professions far from their own; the limited time favours problem-solving: as reported in the literature on creative thinking (see for example Edward De Bono), the more the human mind is stressed by constraints the more lateral thinking is activated. Intellectual Output 3 – STEAMProcess GameThe objective of IO3 is the creation of an original and engaging educational tool for the training of students and STEM professionals in Artistic Skills, in order to stimulate a STEAM approach to research and design.Through a gamification process, the methodology developed during IO2 will be ""translated"" into a game aimed at training the creative and artistic skills of professionals and students in the scientific sector."

CONTEXTIt is proven that being in direct contact with the nature,doing things with our own hands has a positive physical and mental impact on all of us, but specially on those living with mental illness. Regrettably, we have lost our connection with the earth, we have forgotten that we are all a community and it is urgent that all of us learn it again, including people with ALL abilities. Europe needs a mind change; we have to be aware about the risks of exploiting the land as we have been doing until now. Another approach is feasible and a change needs to be done if we want to slow down the degeneration of our planet. PERMIND faces this issue through the permaculture philosophy that promotes the care and respect towards the natural cycles of the nature as well as towards the people living around. Respect is what people with mental problems ask for, respect and a chance to show what they are able to do. PERMIND arrives to give to people with psychic discomfort an opportunity to show the rest of the European society that we are all a community. No matter which difficulties you have to overcome, as a member of this community we are all responsible of taking care of the earth we inhabit. OBJECTIVEProviding high quality training in permaculture for people with mental health issues to create sustainable slow growing communities in order to: -Improve their welbeing, - Increase their knowledge, key competencies and work opportunities - Fight against the stigma and stereotypes related to mental illness, approaching people with mental illness to their neighborhood.TARGET GROUP: 72 people with mental health challengesDESCRIPTION PERMIND is an innovative eLearning platform addressed to the professionals working for people with severe and prolonged mental problems to learn how to create a therapeutic garden following the principles of the permaculture and how to take advantage of its processes to foster the development of transversal competencies useful for social and labour integration of people with mental condition. The PERMIND platform includes free teaching contents adapted to the special needs of the target group: didactic units (curriculum and methodology), tutorial videos, success stories, and tips for creating a social mix cooperative. PERMIND teaching contents are also available in a mobile app, perfect to be used during the gardening activity.ACTIVITIES- TRAINING OF TRAINERS: Trainers have been trained in Tenerife by the ADP (partner expert in permaculture)- TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE eLEARNING PLATFORM. - DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERMACULTURE CURRICULUM: Development of the teaching units about permaculture using a methodology that improves the social skills and transversal abilities of the trainee- PEDAGOGY TEST IN ALL PARTNERS' COUNTRIES: The PERMIND platform and its teaching contents has been tested during one year in five different pilot experiences in Spain, Slovenia, Greece and Sweden with a total number of 72 people with mental illness. The learning by doing methodology used (to ensure concentration, interest and involvement) as well as on the co-production principles, where the user/client plays a major and active role in their recovery process. Giving voice to the participants in the training course is a powerful empowerment tool that can be used not only in this training on eco-therapy but also in other training initiatives. - FOCUS GROUPS AFTER THE PEDAGOGY TEST: Once the pilot experiences were finished, each national group has implemented several focus group to check the strong and weak points of the course, their fedback has been used to improve and amend the curriculum based on their experience- CASE STUDY DESCRIPTION.: A collection of sucess stories have been identified to serve as inspiration for other people and organizations. These case studies are published in the eLearning platform.- EVALUATION OF THE SOCIAL CHANGE: 4 surveys have been performed to measure the impact in the closer communities.- CREATION OF THE PERMIND LEARNING APP: The course is also available in a mobile app, that has been fed with practical videos by trainees during the training.RESULTS AND IMPACT1- In the participants a) Therapy: All of them, and also people closer to them, admit to feel better after the practice of permaculture, they are more relax with better mood and more optimistics. b) Social relations and skills: participants have stablished or strengthen frienships with their peers. c) They have increased their practical knowledge and developed competences as social and communicative skills, decission making, problem solving, innitiative, etc.2-In the organizations, the project has become a permanent line of work, involving different departments.3- In the neighbourhood: the project has promoted the inclusion of the participants in the surrounding neighbourhood and a change in the image of mental health. Moreover neighbors have also learnt and get interest about permaculture.

One of the main difficulties that the European agri-food cooperatives are facing is the lack of involvement and participation of young farmers (men and women) in the management of their own farms and in the day to day activities of the cooperative. The generational shift is not guaranteed because the younger farmers are not aware of the importance of the cooperative structure for the sustainability of their farms. Considering this need, the aim of the project is to get a generational and gender balance in the co-operative agricultural sector through the strengthening of the capacities of young generation of farmers (men and women) in order to ensure the generational shift in their family farms and co-operatives. The goal is to engage young farmers with the values and objectives of the cooperatives. It will empower young farmers to make changes in the cooperatives in terms of innovation and improvement of the cooperative areas of work. The project partnership is formed by 5 organizations coming from 5 different EU Member States. The Coordinator (ICOS) and Partner 3 (SERVICES COOP DE FRANCE) are the national Association and Union of agri-food co-operatives in their countries (Ireland and France), Partner 2 (AGACA) is the Association of agri-food cooperative of Galician region (Spain) and Partner 5 (LLKC)) is the Public Agency of the Ministery of Agriculture for the rural advisory and traning center for co-operatives. They will provide the project with a work-based experience in the cooperatives sector and a strong link with project stakeholders and project beneficiaries. Partner 3 (Changemaker) is a consultancy company and VET provider specialized in ICT and innovative training tool development and consultancy of innovation and change processes management. They will play a pedagogical supervisor role in the development of the training contents and tools. The methodology used to develop the project will be based on cooperative learning, paying special attention to the involvement of participants as active agents of their own learning process. The main foreseen result of the project will be: Innovative shared training contents about Basic Farm Management through joint development available in English, Spanish, French and Latvian. Innovative shared training contents about cooperative culture and values available in English, Spanish, French and Latvian. 1 open-source ICT platform to support learning with interactive management of contents and tools. 6 Cooperative games to work cooperative values supporting previous training contents. 1 Training course for trainers (virtual training), in order to train trainers in the use and implement of the training contents and cooperative games developed. 4 National Pilot Training Sessions with final beneficiaries held in Ireland, Spain, France, Latvia. These will aim to present and test common training contents and methodologies and for testing the cooperative games developed. 3 Seminars of presentation of intellectual products developed in Spain, France and Latvia, in order to disseminate and capitalise project objectives and results. 1 Final Conference held in Ireland through which the final results of the project will be disseminated and capitalise on. 2 Blended mobilities for young farmers and women farmers (learners of partners), in order to directly experience different points of view and different ways about how young farmers and women are getting involved in the agri-food co-operative sector in other countries. Virtual and physical mobilities are foreseen. At the end of the project the following impacts will be achieved: 1) Provide the agri-food cooperative sector, and the associations of cooperatives and VET providers in particular, with new and innovative training contents and tools for fostering knowledge in Basic farm management and Cooperative culture and values among their younger members (women and men). 2) Improve and update pedagogical, methodological and procedural skills and technical knowledge of participating organisations’ trainers, especially of organisations offering VET contents to cooperatives. 3) Update the technological and pedagogical knowledge of trainers in participating organizations about the offer of new innovative training tools and resources available, in order to provide them with the skills and the knowledge required to create, manage and develop Innovative training tools using ICT tools and open-source technology as well as cooperative learning tools. 4) Increase the quality and accessibility of the VET offer in the agri-food cooperative sector.

Our project Sustainability throught Cross Border Circular Economy (SCRCE) made it possible for the partners from Germany, Greece, Italy and Sweden to work together to develop content about the topic circular economy including its various intercultural aspects expressed by the term „cross-border“ by transfering best practices and creating several approaches to educate people about the topic. We saw the need to contribute to achieve a Circular Economy in order to support the Sustainable Development Goal 12 of the United Nations (Responsible Consumption and Production) by finding approaches to educate people in a productive way. Instead of exploting the planet with the danger to destroy peoples habitat circular economy is seen as a mean to provide reiteratively the resources within our economies. A circular economy is not easy to set in force as it needs a lot of know how and cooperation of economic actors. Implementing it is not just a matter for businesses and industry but for all citizens of all ages in their capacity as consumers. Therefore we intended to find content and approaches how to teach adults about ways how to live a circular economical lifestyle. Until the start of the project mainly the waste management sector in the EU was confronted with legislation to deal with circular economical aspects like recycling and provision of secondary raw materials to industry. Therefore starting point of the project was a questionaire to learn about the activities of waste management companies concerning the topic developed in 2016 by the coordinator of SCRCE Dr. Ludwig. We started with the Transnational Project Meeting (TPM) in Berlin in October 2018 learning about the cultures of the partners toward the topic circular economy and we started to develop an imagination how a cross border circular economy might function and what kind of measures might be applicable for it. The questionnaire raised awareness about the topic and we started a learning process in order to pose the right questions to get to the right solutions. After the TPM in Berlin all partners started to develop ideas and created updated questionnaires in English, Swedish, Italian and Greek and used them to collect reactions from stakeholders. Many questions did occur concerning circular economy, how it should look like and what should be teached to people about it. We discussed these questions a lot via e-mail and clarified a lot of questions during our TPM in April 2019 in Italy. In each TPM we visited or invited people from local best practice examples of circular economy. We did set up more than 15 record cards of best practice examples and defined their benefits for society. We used best practices and specialist literature to better our theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of circular economy. Then at the TPM in September 2019 in Sweden we distributed task amoung us to write „input papers“. We agreed to develop a manual jointly in the TPM in Athens. Between the TPM in Sweden and in Athens all partners wrote the input papers containing adult education and social aspects of a circular economy. At the TPM in Athens all partners presented their input papers, backed-up by one or more best practices that fit best to the discussed aspect. This allowed us to identify jointly several principles of circular economy and to use these principles to create the manual. In Athens in February 2020 we used the time to form smaller working groups of 4 people to look at various principles and find subitems to give hints how to indentify circular economy aspects in daily life and consumption patterns. In the plenum with all participants of the TPM we did develop the manual as an pedagogical tool containing 14 principles including 47 subitems. After the TPM we started with our blog on EPALE and did publish there 9 articles and 1 landing page. The manual was set up as a PDF containing also a QR-Code leading to our landing page. In October 2020 we organized an online workshop about the use of the manual. The workshop contained presentations by staff members of the partners and active participation of the learners using the chat function and online queries. More than 60 people from 24 countries applied to the workshop. In November we organized an international online conference with more than 70 participants where we presented the results of our project and did gain a lot of new input from important national and international stakeholders from NGOs, politics, administration and industry.During the project we reached many people by providing informations via a facebook page, the blog on Epale, visiting best practice examples and by providing the manual to learners and stakeholders. We will continue the blog on EPALE. The results of the project are already used by some partners for their education programmes. We agreed to apply for a follow-up project in order to digitalize the manual to become a better tool for teaching a circular economical lifestyle.

"""Like all major transitions in human history, the shift from a linear to a circular economy will be a tumultuous one. It will feature heroes and pioneers, naysayers and obstacles, and moments of victory and doubt. If we persevere, however, we will put our economy back on a path of growth and sustainability. "" Frans van HoutenThe European Commission adopted an ambitious Circular Economy Package, that will help stimulate Europe's transition towards a circular economy, foster sustainable economic growth and generate new jobs.The Package consists of an EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy that establishes a programme of action, aimed to ""closing the loop"" of products through recycling and re-use.CIRCULAR SKILLS understands, that this is a multi-faces challenge. For the economy to become truly circular, all stakeholders need to get involved: public authorities, businesses, trade unions, civil society and especially educators and trainer.We want future educators to be able to combine circular economy expertise with their own competence. We believe that when today’s learners are ready to enter employment, the circular economy will be the only way of operating.CIRCULAR SKILLS will be combined out of three phases and will produce three products (intellectual outputs).The first phase will be a desktop-research on identifying smart practices in teaching and applying circular economy principles. Parallel a need assessment will be launched to understand the demands of the education provider and the learners in the partnership countries. The results will be presented at Transnational Meetings and will result in an assessment system for smart practices, suited for the self-assessment of educators.The collected practices are reviewed and used to co-design three training modules:1. helping SMEs to adapt to the main aspects of the circular economy,2. focused on learners, providing them with the skills to apply circular economy principles in their work life,3. helping socio-economic disadvantaged learners to gain the skills to start their own businesses.The training modules will be tested in co-creation labs and will be presented to the wider public in multiplier events.Further results will be:1. A Smart Practice Report published as an ebook2. A self-assessment questionnaire3. A methodology to implement and run co-creation labs in vocational training4. A trans-European network of experts on the circular economy5. An Interactive, open database on circular skills. The project is targeted on trainer, teacher and learner in VET.The smart practice assessment is based on the ‘Eightfold Path analysis’ developed by Bardach:1. the partnership develops a realistic expectation by getting to know the field.2. We analyze practices and compare them with a criteria Catalogue.3. We test the practice.4. We create a SWOT analysis and reflect on the transferability.5. We document and review the practices with recommendations on where and how to use them.Methodology of the Training ActivitiesThe design of the co-creation labs will be based on Kolb's experiential learning theory, represented by a four-stage cycle:- Concrete Experience -a new experience of the situation is encountered- Reflective Observation of the new experience- Abstract Reflection gives rise to a new idea or a modification of an existing concept- Active Experimentation, applying the reflections to the world around them to see what resultsThe sustainable use of the results is crucial for CIRCULAR SKILLS. Collecting and documenting the methodology in training modules is considered by the partnership as a first step. The methods will be the source of the curriculum. Since the results are relevant for all education sectors and provide Pathways for the recognition of the importance of circular life skills will be explored for access programmes. The project will have established links with researchers and innovative thinkers in Universities within and beyond the EU.The continuing development of a European network of circular co-creation hubs will enable a wide sharing of the training modules and will enable users’ skills which will ensure that this circular economy continues to go forward with strength, recognition and provide a pathway to further education, mobilisation and greater social innovation."