This Erasmus+ school exchange partnership is the result of a cooperation that has started in 2019 between ART’J, performing arts school from Portugal (Branca) and its three school partners: Liceo musicale A. Passaglia from the city of Lucca in Italy as well as Georg Otsa Tallinn Music College from Estonia (Tallinn) and Kainuu Vocational College from Finland (Kajaani). As it was initially planned, this project intends to share good practices between the schools in order to respond to the need of preparing better the students for their integration into a professional context that is increasingly more globalised and competitive in the cultural and creative economy. Therefore, came the idea of organising a performing arts festival called “Wind Rose Festival: finding our way through the arts”. This project has gained more significance in a moment where Europe and the entire world are confronted with the dramatic effects of the covid-19 pandemic as it aims at supporting cooperation in education and training in particular, in the field of arts very much hit by this crisis. The image of the wind rose has been chosen as it displays the orientation for following a route and reaching the destination. This partnership has been created based precisely on this meaning: to inspire the students from different schools, courses and contexts by gathering them around a common goal and project of organising an international festival. The wind rose with its multiple points reflects the great variety that can be found amongst the creative and artistic areas that are taught within the partner schools and represented in this project altogether: music, dance, theatre, visual arts, scenography and multimedia as well as music production and technologies, media, marketing and music business. The partnership will cover the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years and will start with a joint staff training event gosted by the partner school in Tallinn, in December 2020. School staff in charge of implementing the project will gather for an eTwinning training, working sessions on music business and event productions in order to develop their skills by exchanging good practices and learning from each other through collaboration. This will also be the kick-off meeting of the project from which all activities will begin. The Wind Rose festival will be presented in three countries: the premiere in Portugal, in May 2021; The second edition in Finland, in December 2021 and the closing festival in Italy, in September 2022. In between the festivals, a selected number of students will work in international teams under the guidance of their teachers and their common tasks will have to design, prepare and produce the festival as a live event gathering the performing arts on a same stage. These activities will be carried out virtually through the eTwinning platform and physically, during the successive short-term exchanges of students to take place bilaterally in the countries of the school partners: first round of students exchange in March 2021, the second round in September 2021 and the last one in April 2022. A total of 80 students will be actively participating in nine short term exchanges. For each edition of the festival, more students from the hosting schools will be selected for performing at the event.This project aims at providing students with learning opportunities for enhancing their competences not only on their course area by updating methods and perspectives. They will be able to explore fields that are essential for their professional career such as entrepreneurship, critical thinking, creativity and collaborative work as well as the sense of self-initiative, organisation and decision-making. Students will also gain new insight on music business. A higher command of the english language and a better understanding of different cultural contexts will be other expected results of the students having taken part in exchange activities. On what concern the schools, such partnership will support their modernisation process, their quality of teaching and learning and their attractiveness. Schools will be more international by consolidating the existing cooperation and being opened to future projects of such dimension. This will also enhance their international projection and their connections with stakeholders in the field of culture and arts as well as in the creative industry and music business.This Wind Rose Festival will be the chance for those students from Estonia, Finland, Italy and Portugal to demonstrate that they are capable of creating altogether events of such dimension through dialogue with values and attitudes of respect and non-discrimination by finding their way of being the future citizens of Europe through the arts.

"The need for education to contribute to social cohesion, equality, and non-discrimination and civic competences has proved to be one of the main challenges and future priorities in the era of a united Europe. Yet, discriminatory attitudes and diversity problems are still persistent challenges to be addressed. The present refugees' situation has added an additional critical need for Europe to recruit innovative practices, investing in education. Our ambitious project under the title ""Passengers on the same bus! No place for discrimination, segregation, and inequality"" made a bridge, initially connecting four European partners- countries; Cyprus, Finland, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Integrating and sharing specific experience, viewpoints, knowledge and best practices, we managed to widen the bridge, moving from local and regional levels towards national, European, and International levels. Strictly dedicated to our aim, our partnership fostered the promotion of social cohesion among and beyond school communities and developed competencies in sustaining it. The whole project was well-designed to meet its objectives. We succeeded in raising awareness and sensitizing participants and target groups on the issues of discrimination and diversity and developing competence in tolerating and respecting them. We additionally aimed and managed to develop awareness and competence in predicting and tackling the phenomenon of bullying at schools and increasing awareness and tolerance towards refugees and asylum seekers. Additionally, too much concern was shed on the preparation of our project. We inspired and implemented effective communication and administrative arrangements and set a clear and effective methodology for assessing our project throughout its life. The design and implementation of our learning activities, events, and tasks were developed under an innovative method in order to yield outstanding and utmost results, outputs, and impacts. A number of meetings were designed and implemented to monitor the project. Videoconferences taking place almost at every end of a month were also designed to facilitate the communication among partners and the monitoring of the whole project. Furthermore, four learning activities (short-term exchanges of groups of pupils) were designed (the last activity was cancelled due to COVID-19). They were five-day activities constructed in an effective and much promising methodology. This innovative methodology included creative and experiential workshops, conferences with external experts, and short activities like role-playing, the creation of artistic tasks, and visits to refugee camps and places of cultural interest. All activities were designed to provide partners with constant and valuable experience in our project's objectives and developed certain awareness and competences. Each country-partner led and monitored one of the four designed activities, while each one of the rest of the countries-partners participated with two teachers and five students. In the whole, for the three learning activities in Italy, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic, there were 18 mobilities of teachers and 45 mobilities of students from all four countries-partners. Shortly after the enactment of an activity a meeting for evaluation and dissemination followed. The selection of the participants on the learning activities was strictly ranged within the arranged criteria set by all four countries-partners so as to contribute the best possible success to each learning activity. Moreover, too much concern was given to the support of our participants so as their participation would be as successful and safe as possible. As far as the dissemination and the use of the results of our project are concerned, a clear plan was inspired from the beginning of our project's life. Using recent communication channels like youtube, Facebook, and twitter as well as web platforms, such as the Erasmus Project Result Platform and e Twinning, TV channels and press, we managed wide dissemination of our results not only at a regional and national level but also at European and International one. We made publications in magazines and newspapers, we organised regional school conferences and events and used TV channels to disseminate our project's results. Moreover, to secure the successful dissemination and sustainability of our project's results, we published a handbook of our project’s results title “Passengers on the Same Bus”, and uploaded this handbook in a PDF form to various sites to be shared for free for everyone. Definitely, the implementation of the project “Passengers on the Same Bus” managed to bring a significant change in our school environment as far as the issues of diversity, discrimination and the inclusion of refugees and asylum seekers in our schools are concerned and it will continue to have an influential role after the end of its funding."

"•Context/background of the project;According to the Dutch report ""De Arbeidsmarkt in 2016, een verkenning door Aequor voor het domein voedsel, natuur en leefomgeving"", Aequor 2011, graduates from vocational courses in animal husbandry have extreme difficulty finding jobs in their sector. A group of 4 Eurpoean vocational agricultural schools have cooperated together in this project to try to ensure that their graduates have an advantage on others in the future when entering the labour market. Also they have tried to make their own vocational qualifications more attractive, interesting and valuable to the vocational students by offering them modules that are built around new, innovative subjects.•Objectives;The partners in AHENE aimed to: 1. Agree on the content and the level of at least 8 educational modules in the field of animal husbandry to be developed within the partnership, using input from companies from the sector related to the partner schools; 2. Agree on the learning outcomes in these modules (8 clusters of learning outcomes); 3. Create at least 8 educational modules in animal husbandry (of roughly 60-120 guided learning hours each), consisting of a theoretical and a practical component; 4. Work out uniform ways to assess the learning outcomes in each unit in such a way that both knowledge and skills are assessed; 5. Agree on the recognition & validation of the educational modules (learning outcomes) in the curriculum of the home institutions; 6. Work out ways to exchange students between the partner institutions on a regular basis; 7. Work out ways to give these international mobilities a permanent place in each other’s curricula.•Number and profile of participating organisations;Partners were 4 agricultural schools in Wales, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands who all had considerable knowledge in teaching animal husbandry and experience in sending students on international placements to different countries. The schools were:Lentiz MBO Maasland in the Netherlands: Grans Naturbruksgymnasium in Northern Sweden: Neath Port Talbot College in Wales: Kainuun Ammattiopisto in Finland. •Description of undertaken main activities;Project meetings: 10 meetings took place in 35 months. The meetings consisted of a number of working sessions in which the partners worked on intellectual outputs (module-descriptions, educational modules and exams). They also exchanged best practices by visiting each other's classes, exams & students' practical training. There were also opportunities to visit related companies, used for the practical components of the educational modules. •Results and impact attained;The AHENE network is a strong network, which will continue in the future. One partner, Wales, decided, due to staff shortages, to withdraw from the network after the end of the project. This project aimed to work towards a systematic exchange of students.- Through the development of 8 modules, 79 students from all over Europe have become better prepared for their future jobs in the fields of animal husbandry. Modules include input from the sector & the schools are now able to offer students more flexible learning paths including educational periods at international partner schools. Modules were offered in an international learning environment, enriching students with both specific/deeper subject knowledge as well as becoming meaningful personal international experiences. - The exchange of students on international learning modules has given the partners the opportunity to develop their schools into more internationally oriented institutions. They have enriched the educational experience of their students and staff and 22 teachers travelled to the partner countries to participate in the exchanges (and many more will participate in the future);- Through using ECVET principles in this project, the participating partners are now better prepared to exchange their students with other schools;- Animal husbandry companies were involved as practical training companies, excursions and sparring partners for learning outcomes.Due to their own participation in the AHENE project, these companies have also become more internationally oriented themselves.•If relevant, longer-term benefits.Sustainability: 3 of the 4 schools involved will continue to offer these developed modules to international groups of students in the future.More teachers will be involved & will be enriched & challenged by teaching international students in English. Expectation is that employers shall feel the impact of this project as they will, in time, be able to employ students who are more experienced upon graduation. Strengthening vocational courses enables Europe to reach their goal of strengthening the knowledge economy & exporting this knowledge to other parts of the world."

<< Background >>Due to the ongoing DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION of the last decade and the associated changes in the professional world, the need for qualification in adult education has increased immensely. Particularly low-skilled people are disproportionately often employed in jobs that could be substituted by technologies or that are affected by changes in the job profile. For example, the World Economic Forum predicts an enormous need for adult skills training at the 2020 meeting in Davos. For Europe, it is predicted that almost every second adult will need further training within the next 5 years. Low-skilled people in particular are therefore disproportionately affected by the threat of job losses due to technological substitution or changes in job profiles and need ACCESS TO TRAINING to remain competitive in the labour market. Increasingly, training offers are being switched to distance or blended learning, a trend that has intensified in the wake of the COVID pandemic. However, it is precisely these learning opportunities that are often difficult to access for low-skilled people because they LACK VARIOUS BASIC SKILLS to be able to use these learning opportunities. The GAP between low-skilled and higher-skilled people is WIDENING, with immense consequences for the labour market and social cohesion. Therefore, it would be of great importance to integrate low-skilled learners into these new forms of learning. However, the problem is that there is a prejudice that blended learning is not suitable for low-skilled learners and, in addition, these learners very often lack the digital and cognitive skills they would need to participate in blended learning programmes.In order to close this educational gap, it is therefore important to break down this prejudice and support low-skilled learners in developing basic digital and cognitive skills, thus facilitating their access to different educational programmes - especially blended learning settings.<< Objectives >>The OVERALL GOAL of the Access2Learn project is to contribute to the INCLUSION of disadvantaged learners in all fields of education, especially in blended learning programmes. This is crucial to sustainably support low-skilled people to find a job or to keep their job even if their job profile changes.SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES of this project are:1) to draw attention to and counter the prejudice that low-qualified adult learners could not participate in blended learning programmes2) to raise awareness of the importance of developing cognitive competences for the participation at blended learning programmes3) to promote positive attitudes towards blended learning concepts 4) to support adult learners with developing the required digital and cognitive competences for blended learning5) to motivate low-skilled learners to participate at further education programmes 6) to support trainers in training low-qualified learners in blended learning settings 7) to provide trainers with different exercises and tips they can use when preparing their learners for blended learning<< Implementation >>ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY:To create materials tailored to the target groups of low-qualified learners and educators who are training this group in blended learning settings, it is crucial to involve them in all activities of the project.In PR1 we will conduct FOCUS GROUPS and INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS to develop recommendations for action for decision-makers and to break down the prejudice that low-skilled learners are not suitable for blended learning. In addition, we will compile TWO QUESTIONNAIRES for adult educators and low-qualified learners to determine the competences that are needed for participating in blended learning programmes. The outputs of PR1 will be a POLICY PAPER as well as a COMPETENCE CATALOGUE which serve as basis for PR2 and PR3.In PR2 we will develop LEARNING MATERIALS and EXPLANATORY VIDEOS for low-qualified learners to support them in enhancing their digital and cognitive competences.In PR3 TRAINING MATERIALS for adult educators are developed. To assess the learners’ competences, we will develop an ASSESSMENT TOOL and additionally we support trainers in choosing appropriate learning materials for each learner by ILLUSTRATING A PROCESS for different situations. Furthermore, we compile a SEMINAR DESIGN for training low-qualified learners (on-the-job and in job-orientation) and we create a PODCAST to raise awareness for the importance of the inclusion of low-skilled people. To round it all off, we develop a HANDBOOK and GUIDANCE for trainers.NATIONAL WORKSHOPS:Within PR3 each partner organisation will organise a national workshop for adult educators who are training low-qualified adult learners in blended learning settings. Within this workshop they use the developed materials in their everyday training and proof their practicality. The feedback of this workshop is an essential part for our project.MULTIPLIER EVENTS:Each partner organization will organise a Multiplier Event with the involvement of key stakeholders to disseminate the results of this project as widely as possible.<< Results >>In this project we will realise the following three results:(1) Creation of a POLICY PAPER and a COMPETENCE CATALOGUE: In this Project Result we compile a policy paper that highlights the disadvantage of low-skilled adults in relation to blended learning and provides recommendations for decision makers to facilitate the inclusion of this group of learners in new forms of learning. In addition, we create a competence catalogue that explains the competences learners need for blended learning.(2) Development of LEARNING MATERIALS for low-qualified adult learners:Learning materials and explanatory videos for low-qualified adult learners are developed to support them in developing basic digital and cognitive competences they need for participating at blended learning programmes. The materials and videos can be used by adult educators in their trainings as well as HR managers or organisations who want to further educate their employees.(3) Development of TRAINING MATERIALS and AWARENESS BUILDING for adult educators: We develop materials and tools trainers can use when training low-qualified adults in blended learning settings. These include: an assessment tool to assess the competences of the learners and the illustration of individual learning processes in relation to the assessment tool, a seminar design in blended learning format for training on-the-job as well as for job orientation, podcast episodes for awareness building and with tipps for training low-qualified learners and a handbook with information about the interrelations of the different outputs to ensure an efficient use of all results.The Access2Learn project will have the following impacts and long-term benefits on all geographical levels:- low-qualified learners get access to and are prepared for blended learning programmes- adult learners become more motivated to participate at further educational programmes- adult educators know how they can prepare their low-qualified learners for blended learning- awareness for the importance of the development of learning competences on the part of the learners before conducting blended learning coursesThe OPEN SOURCE ACCESS to all project results will be guaranteed for at least 5 years after project end. Our aimed impact is to initiate a broad debate on the importance of the inclusion of disadvantaged learners in new formats of learning and to support as many low-qualified learners as possible in developing the required competences for successfully participating in blended learning programmes.

"Five schools from Germany, Catalonia/Spain, Finland, Italy and Denmark will work together on the topic of water because the future of Europe will be strongly connected with this resource. Our project “Sprinkle ICT across European Curricula - SICTEC” wants to contribute to the EU's 2020 strategies, as water presents so many different fields. Among the EU's five key actions are the fields of climate change/energy efficiency and education. As these two key actions are the most relevant to schools, we come to the conclusion that we as teachers have to share our knowledge, our skills and our teaching methods in order to enhance students' learning process tackling their early school leaving and promoting lifelong learning. As a result this will facilitate their inclusion in the world of labour.Sustainable water management is a vital part of Europe´s new, greener policy. The task for the future is to keep or improve the health of our water ecosystems as they sustain our economy and finally our human existence, as ""water is life“! Water is a necessity and we consider having access to sufficient clean drinking water a human right.In this project our students will become aware of being part of a union of countries, needing English as our common language. This fact has become very true in the current economic crisis. Students who are willing to be mobile and have some basic knowledge of English at the same time, have an excellent chance to have a better future. This will perfectly support the EU's key action number one of reducing the unemployment rate. Thus students will be motivated to improve their language skills and will be additionally enhanced to citizenship and multiculturalism avoiding racism and xenophobia. In a peer learning relationship our students will learn about cultural, geographical, environmental and climatic differences in the countries involved in the ""water"" project.On the other hand SICTEC will enhance and reinforce the quality of the teaching by revising and strengthening the professional profile of our teachers. Our project will stimulate: the use of new technologies, the getting to know and later practicing of new teaching methods and, as a result, the improvement of sustainable learning.We finally hope that SICTEC will contribute its share to raise the educational standard of those students, who only have basic skills and knowledge, and will finally reduce the number of early school leavers by offering interesting, “real life” tasks and by making students use new, attractive technologies. Taking part in SICTEC will strengthen their digital and communicative competence. These key competences will open their doors to lifelong learning.We are convinced that nowadays ""to share"" means ""to learn"" and as teachers we are going to share not only our teaching methods, but our students and curricula, too. On this good base we have now agreed on accelerating the process of sharing and spreading our knowledge among us, adding the topic of methodology to the ordinary ones. In addition to students’ exchanges, video conferences, working on documents etc., we think it is time to spread our teaching experiences and knowledge more quickly. That is why sharing new teaching methods will give extra value to our project. By developing teaching material, sharing it with our foreign colleagues and testing it internationally, we can reach many more students and teachers. We want to create an electronic school book (calameo), which can be used by both students and teachers. Doing so we provide that our new teaching methods are linked and will be spread among teachers. Putting teaching material in a kind of pool (cloud, dropbox) for project use first, but later on using e-twinning/EST for disseminating all material, will give us the chance to spread our ideas and ways of teaching widely.Another point is promoting the use of English in classroom in subjects different to English. Finland and Denmark already have European courses using English in many subjects. So ""Content and language integrated learning"" (CLIL) is a common teaching method there. Italy and Catalonia have started with CLIL and wants to consolidate this method.With all these tools and expertise we feel strong enough to go one step beyond ""old-style"" projects and try to involve literally ALL students of each school despite their abilities instead of small groups only. So finally more than 3000 students will take part in activities related with the topic water.All in all these five partners will form a very strong alliance collaborating in the fields of teaching and education. We want to open and develop our schools in order to make our youth enjoy learning more and to achieve the aims of our schools’ development plans. Finally they will become more competent, have better skills and will be better prepared for the challenges they have to face in their lives, the world of labour and protecting the environment of this planet."