ContextAt the EU level, it is estimated that today 20-25% of children between the age of 5-19 fight with learning difficulties and/or behavior issues. Due to deficiencies in the normal development, i.e. lack of proper development of the proprioceptive sense, a lot of behavior observed can be interpreted as aggressive or violent. The Dutch numbers indicate that that in 2011, 48% of the employees in care settings were confronted with aggression. Behavioral problems are not recognized on their own right in Hungary and barely in other project countries. Violence, aggression and juvenile delinquency in some countries are viewed as character flows and not as circumstantial responses of the child. Thus, the common reaction to serious behavioral issues is retaliation and punishment. This is very much so in Hungary, but to some extent it is also true for the other project countries. Thus, complex methodological systems need to be developed and their effectiveness measured in working with kids with serious behavioral problems.ObjectivesIn the long run our project will contribute to enhancing the chances of vulnerable children and youth with serious emotional and behavioral disturbances (EBD) to become happy and productive citizens.Goals:The proposed project targets to categorize and channel the expertise of each participating organization working with kids with EBD into a common methodological base. More specifically, the project will- improve the knowledge, methodology tools, and techniques of professionals working with kids with EBD at the participating organizations and beyond,- increase the ability of professionals working with children with EBD to tailor interventions to individual kids,- facilitate the distillation of the core intervention elements common in the partner organizations’ practice,- improve the availability of the latest methodological and intervention approaches for the broader professional community, and- strengthen the basic competences and entrepreneurial skill of kids with EBD.Profile of partnersPressley Ridge Hungary brings expertise in developing models in the human services fields and transferring them transnationally. They will also share the basis of Re-ED – philosophy of re-education of emotionally disturbed children.UC Limburg has years of experience in training educators/social workers/teachers and organizations in how to deal with aggression as individuals or as organizations. They have also conducted extensive research on aggression management.Jeugdwijs is specialised in working therapeutically with children with emotional and behavioral disorders. They will also contribute the expertise using Social Return on Investment (SROI) concerning youth care.Activities and methodologyThe 3 main activities of our project are1. Via Prima – a pilot intervention with troubled and troubling youths in Hungary to develop and run a social entrepreneurship, while learning to manage their own behavior,2. Developing a model description of Via Prima to ensure the replicability of the model in other settings,3. Scientific research on existing methods for aggression management and identifying the effective ones.The project will also examine the applicability of SROI in youth care settings and explore the possibilities for implementation.The activities and the results of the partners will be documented in a collection of blog entries that will serve as a methodological knowledge base for professionals working with kids with disturbing behavior.Results and impactThe direct beneficiaries of this project are the youths in Salgotarjan and the staff who work at the participating organizations. As a result of the project,- the cooperation and collaboration of the partners will strengthen;- the combination of a direct intervention for kids with EBD (Via Prima), the strong research component and the link to longer-term impact of our work (SROI) will fortify the efforts to create effective intervention models.On completion of the project, the tangible outputs will be:- a research report based on the work and output of the systematic data collection and analysis during the project in the project countries,- a collection of blog entries: about the most used and most effective methods concerning aggression management, about different pathways in youth care, and on small methodology pieces available for frontline staff to use in their everyday practice managing aggression,- an adaptable model description of Via Prima.

The project focuses on education if nursing students through innovative learning methods to intervene in multicultural contexts and with multicultural people. The project aims to educate the nursing students but extends its reach to the key-people in the health community and organizations, mentors and teachers.In Europe, a new approach in healthcare is needed to effectively face the growing prevalence of migratory flows, contributing to having in Europe minorities, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in clinical settings. The World Health Organization (2019) emphasized the importance of social inclusion of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, reinforcing the needs of the development of health professionals' skills in multicultural contexts. The development of these skills should be core components of professional education, training, certification, continuing education, and development, reinforcing the role played by academia in generating such knowledge and translating it into practice.Current reports from major European entities sustain the need for early training of healthcare students and training courses for the development of professionals in the scope of caring for minorities, migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. The European health care services have the challenge to provide more and better quality care in multicultural contexts and to a multicultural people within the same resources. The only approach to achieve the main goal to provide proper care is through the development of health professionals' skills highlighting the role of nurses in this field, as essential to achieve these societal goals. However, higher education institutions of health professionals must integrate caring for minorities, migrants and asylum seekers courses and learning methods into their curriculum, so that students will be future-proof and act as ambassadors in clinical settings who strive for the provision of quality care.Therefore, the main objective of the MulticulturalCare project is to develop the MulticulturalCare Model for nursing education in caring for multicultural people and in multicultural contexts. It will be a generic model containing the organizational, educational and professional elements for the development of students’ competences in this field. In addition to the clinical recommendations of best practices in this field, the MulticulturalCare Model will be composed of a pedagogical dimension that will stimulate nursing students the need to think critically about the realities around them. It will be possible through the Simulation Scenarios about this thematic, which will be made freely available to students, teachers, and nurses in an E-book format as a didactic learning tool.The MulticulturalCare Model is reinforced by a community of teaching, students and professionals in the field of nursing, designated as the MulticulturalCare Community. The community serves as a platform to spread their achievements and exchange good practices in the field of nursing that aim to educate for proper care to minorities, migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

"The project “Active Media Education for Disabled Youth” (AMEDY) deals with the challenges of the digital world for young people with light intellectual disabilities and the needs of the professionals that are working with this target group. Although young people with disabilities show high interest in digital technology and even use media intensively in socialisation, results show e.g. that bullying and victimisation seem to be more likely to happen to these young people. For them, it is often difficult to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies; likewise, they also need special support to cope adequately with the risks they might encounter while using them. This project therefore aims to empower vulnerable youth by enhancing their media literacy and teaching them to make use of digital devices and services in a responsible and creative way. By training professionals and their organisations, they become media literacy experts and can pass on their knowledge to the vulnerable young people. However, there is still a lack of social media knowledge and media literacy among social services and their staff in several European countries. This was also confirmed by the previous EU projects and by a small survey of professionals who participated in this project. Digital literacy (basic instrumental ICT skills, information literacy, media literacy and computational thinking) must be effectively promoted in facilities where children und youth use digital devices and the internet. Also, as European society turns more digital, social care workers today are working in a field where digital competences have become a prerequisite to ensure high quality social care work, while also focussing on closing the digital divide in European societies. To further address the issues arising from the special needs of young people with light intellectual disabilities in the digital world, the AMEDY project has focused on the following objectives: - raising awareness for the importance of active media education for young people with intellectually disability on national and European level - meeting the demand of professionals working with this young target group to enhance their practical digital literacy knowledge - involving the management level of organisations working with young people with intellectually disability to raise awareness for further vocational training of the professionals who work directly with the young target group - offering support strategies for all involved target groups (young people & their parents, professionals, management level)During the 26 month project phase, an extensive collection of interesting and supportive materials was developed to contribute to solving the problems mentioned above.The collection includes an online training for professionals working with young people with intellectual disabilities, a support strategy paper suggesting how to deal with problems in everyday media use by young people, and a collection of best practices for events and actions that raise awareness for the special needs of this young target group. In addition, the interesting methodogical approach of ""Design Thinking"" was presented as well as a guide to develop support strategies and organise awareness raising activities yourself."

<< Background >>For the past several years, refugee access to higher education has been a critical topic in the European context and represented a chance for universities to scale up services for all students, not just for refugees. Refugees can face many barriers to accessing higher education, including a lack of information, advice and individual guidance sensitive to their specific needs, inadequate provision of intensive language courses for academic purposes, and restricted access to government student finance schemes.Research with refugees and the experiences of service providers indicate that, amongst refugees who have completed secondary school, there is strong desire to attend university. However, refugee access to higher education remains limited - opportunities for refugees in countries of first asylum to pursue higher education are scarce, and the educational and professional needs of higher educated refugees do not play a prominent role in resettlement programs. At the same time, both asylum seekers and refugees face problems in integrating into the labour market in most Member States due to a lack of necessary skills and qualifications (EEPO Refugees synthesis report).Today, European teaching staffs are insufficiently prepared and trained to deal with diverse classroom settings. Educators are in need of training in order to deal with a culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diversified student population. This is clearly underscored throughout the interviews and focus groups with educators and policymakers made by the project team. The review of the current situation (Higher education for refugees, 2016) identified the importance of the following broad areas in effective higher education programming for refugees:- limited or restricted access to the labour market due to legal and administrative barriers,- access being hampered due to a lack of institutional support or poor resourcing of available support,- access to the labour market being further limited by low labour market demand which is a type of economic/labour market challenge,- a lack of language skills, low level of education as well as issues to do with the recognition of existing qualifications, as part of qualification/education challenges,- insufficient integration programmes, discrimination and tough cultural adjustment, as part of social challenges. Based on the current needs, the main focuses that the project will address is to tackle comprehensiveness of the refugee integration into society through participation in HE by upskilling the digital skills and competences of HEI educators. This will be achieved through interventions that combine innovative approach to the digital learning and compilation of existing data and necessary communication platform.<< Objectives >>The overall objectives of the project are:- to build digital education readiness among adult refugees/immigrants, and- to develop digital pedagogical competencies of higher educators.More specifically, DigIT will achieve the following specific aims:- develop and implement educational and mentorship resources that will enable higher education professionals (teachers, educators, administrative staff) to improve their knowledge and competencies on work with adult refugees in form of Toolkit to higher education training for educators, and- develop and use the open educational resource (OER) and free and open source educational platform by bringing together adult refugees/immigrants in form of Digital Database and Online Forum.A thoughtful and customised approach to academia and organisational structure which considers transferability, and has high quality staff with a good understanding of refugee contexts will be implemented. In addition, clear understanding and rationale for the pedagogical approach, clear resources and learning outcomes, with appropriate academic support mechanisms will be developed. Finally accessibility and inclusivity throughout all steps of education process will be taken into consideration as well as effective integration of technology in a manner appropriate for the operating context.<< Implementation >>The main activities planned for the project have been summarized in eight work packages (WP1-8) to provide a clear and complete work program. The project duration is 24 months (start date: 01/11/2021).WP-1: Project Management and Communication1 Organizing project meetings2 Preparing financial management presentation3 Overall coordination and project management4 Preparing risk management presentation5 Preparing contracts and signing with partners6 Creating infrastructure for communication and information sharing (Google drive etc.)7 Ensuring the overall quality of the project8 Checking and keeping project financial documents9 Accounting/financial controlling10 Preparing interim report11 Preparing final reportWP-2: Research activities (mapping, benchmarking and compilation of evidence-based data via formal and informal way, field research activities)1 Research Activities to Develop a Framework for the Toolkit2 Evidence-Informed Way (gathering documents and reviewing)3 Fieldwork (survey, interview)4 Focus Group Meetings and Evaluation of FindingsWP-3: Development of the Toolkit to higher education (HE) training for educators1 Design the structure of the learning toolkit, the learning outcomes and the training guide2 Development of the learning toolkit3 Translation of the learning toolkit in all partners’ languages4 Pilot testing and adjustment of the learning toolkitWP-4: Gathering the national and international data for the Digital Database:1 Focus group meeting (Determining the needs)2 Workshop (Preparation of technical specifications)WP-5: Development of a Digital Platform and embedment of Online Forum:1 Focus group meeting (Web platform mapping)2 Workshop (Preparation of technical specifications for web platform)3 Launching online platform4 Producing content and related learning resources6 Pre-test and pre-revision of Online ForumWP-6: Pilot testing for refugees/immigrants to test the Intellectual Outputs:1 Planning and Coordinating in Partner Countries2 Informing Participants3 Pre-End Knowledge Test for Participants4 Performing Face-to-Face Interviews with Participants for Feedback5 Analysing Findings and Process Assessment6 Revising and Updating Training Course7 Preparation of Pilot Scheme ReportWP-7: Monitoring, evaluation and quality assurance activities WP-8: Dissemination and communication activities<< Results >>The expected results during the project and on its completion are:-drafting a report analysis included best practices across Europe regarding digital learning for HEI educators-development of a learning Toolkit to higher education training for educators-creation of Digital Database and Online Forum-advanced cross-cultural cooperation among the project partners-increased capacities of project partners on social inclusion, project management and distant learning education-improved management competences and internationalization strategies of the project partnersTwo Intellectual outputs (IOs) will be developed during the project duration:IO-1: Toolkit to higher education (HE) training for educatorsIt will enable participants to:- Grapple with the particular difficulties that refugees/immigrants face in accessing, remaining and progressing in HE- Learn about the latest legal and policy developments affecting access to HE for this group of people- Grow in ability to meet the support needs of refugees and asylum seekers attempting to progress to university, including tips about advocating on their behalf with local authorities and universities- Identify the common barriers to fulfilling the desire and motivation of refugees/immigrants to access higher education- Give psychosocial perspectives on well-being of refugee and asylum seeking people and how to encourage a focus on education- Understand what different people with a variety of immigration statuses are entitled to deal with in terms of finance support: fee status, student finance, scholarships, grants and other forms of support- Consider alternative progression routes and funding options for refugees/immigrants who are not eligible for home fee status/student finance- Identify the language support needs and adapt the teaching process accordingly- Share best practice and practical information about how to help refugees/immigrants to move forwardIO-2: Digital Database and Online ForumThe web-based accelerator program is an interactive education platform for refugees/immigrants. This web platform will include the learning toolkit in digital format, as well as database that will represent:- Variety of study alternatives for refugees/immigrants in different EU countries (with focus on possibilities for distance learning)- Special programs/opportunities/incentives for refugees/immigrants- Process of entering the HE and other degree programs- National requirements for getting the HE.The tool will be developed by implementing interactive solutions and containing online career guide. Content in each topic will rely to a great extent on the use of pictures, videos and sounds, avoiding long texts where possible.

The knowledge, skills and attitudes of European teachers are of great importance. Within the ‘ET2020’ Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training the New Skills Agenda for Europe (EC, 2016) and the Council Recommendation on Key Competences (EC, 2018), teachers’ quality and professionalism have a direct effect on how good learners do at school.They play a key role in achieving high quality education for all learners.Target 4.c of the Sustainable Development Goals highlights the need to increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries.In today’s digital generation, gamification has become a popular tactic to encourage specific behaviours, and to increase students’ motivation and engagement to get the knowledge and skills. Though commonly found in marketing strategies in business among companies, it is now being implemented in many educational programs as well, helping educators to find the balance between achieving their objectives and students’ educational needs. According to Kapp gamification is “using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems.” (Kapp, 2012).Badges, leaderboards, progress graphs, points are some examples of these game elements.It has been proven by the research that gamification has increased enjoyment, engagement, motivation, participation and learning.(Cheong, Cheong, & Flippou, 2013; Su & Cheng, 2015; Tsay, Luo, 2018; Subhash & Cudney, 2018). At the same time gamification is an international tool which can be used in different educational systems, adapted according to the teachers’ individual needs and widely spread to the teachers’ practice. There are different ways of teaching and different ways of using gamification in every country, so that is why it is very useful to create a partnership on an international level and to share the best practice and ideas connected with implementation of gamification in the learning environment. GATE aims to support teachers in all subjects (from elementary to higher education) with a set of innovative gamification tools and practices to improve the effectiveness of their teaching by increasing the motivation of students to learn and to develop their attitudes towards the learning process by providing them:1)A web based Gamification ToolKit (GTK)2)An Open Online Course On Gamification(OOC)4 partners from Belgium,Turkey and Spain in a cross sectoral way aim to :Increase the capacity of teachers on the educational use of gamification Improve the supply of high quality learning opportunities in gamification tailored to the needs of teachers Raise motivation and engagement of students in the learning processThe dissemination plan will help to reach as many target groups and stakeholders as possible.Each partner offers a unique amount of knowledge and experience representing the sectors addressed in the project. The project is expected to have a significant impact on teachers and students in all levels as well as their organisations across Europe, largely related to the cross curricular activities as a means of providing a new and innovative approach to promote sustainability and developing related skills in schools,comprising digital tools and curriculum linked learning resources on gamification.It is anticipated that the resources developed during the project will complement and expand existing training initiatives at various educational levels across. During the lifetime of the project, 200 teachers, school leaders and educators, 100 students and parents (in pilots) and 475 stakeholders will be involved. A wider audience, of a minimum of 500 recipients, will be reached at local, regional, national and European level through the planned dissemination activities including 300 teachers and educators in 3 multiplier events in 3 different countries. The long-term impact envisaged is a better integration of students in all ages in the schools and a higher collaboration between schools, families and other external stakeholders, strengthening the school system in Europe.