"One of the most successful actions promoted by the Erasmus + programme is mobilities. The UK Erasmus + agency explains the benefits of the mobility programme for individuals: ""Erasmus+ will help participants at all stages of their lives, from school through to adulthood, to pursue stimulating opportunities for learning across Europe, both inside and outside of the classroom. You will gain valuable life-skills and international experience to help you develop personally, professionally and academically and to succeed in today's world."" Benefits for participants include to: develop personally, professionally and academically; gain new transferable skills and boost your employability; broaden your horizons – physically and mentally; develop cultural awareness and open-mindedness; enhance self-confidence and improve and gain language skills. Such is the success of the programme it is not unreasonable to say that to live and learn abroad is the dream of many adult learners and apprentices all over Europe. But while it is feasible to encourage outward and inward adult learner’s mobility among institutions, organisations, training providers and companies, the main limitations are the high costs, socio-economic, political and health-related issues. People facing mental and physical disabilities have very limited options to participate in mobility actions or are being excluded of a wide range of them as the hosting organizations are not capable of providing a safe and accessible environment for them. Virtual Mobility (VM) has a great potential to dramatically reduce those barriers by adding the virtual component to mobility and to make mobilities accessible to all. Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange is part of the Erasmus+ programme, providing an accessible, ground-breaking way for young people to engage in intercultural learning. Working with Youth Organisations the programme is open to any young person aged 18-30 residing in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean.For Higher Education the EU has proposed incorporating virtual mobility in the physical classroom: post-lesson online forums, additional learning outcomes in terms of soft skills, creating new forms of mobility through distance learning tools: shared university pathways allowing mobile students to follow modules taught at other universities and Implementing an e-learning tutor:However, the uptake of VM in Adult Education is still low and the possibilities of VM including Virtual Internships and placements unknown to many educators and learners. According to a report on the Erasmus+ Programme by the Inclusive Mobility Alliance “While the overall number of young people and students experiencing Erasmus+ exchanges are increasing rapidly, the number of students and young people with disabilities taking part in Erasmus+ has been almost stagnating over the past few years. Participation in Mobilities by people with disabilities in Adult Education may be constrained by the many different kinds of organizations involved, the heterogeneity of adult education participants and the relative lack of use of technology in Adult education. The Moblities4All project proposes through a range of activities to expand the reach and scope of the Erasmus+ programme through Virtual Mobilities, which are technology-enabled people-to-people dialogues sustained over a period of time. The potential use of technologies has been seen in the flowering of online activities by cultural and social groups in the COVID 19 crisis.The aim is to support Adult Education organizations and those working with people with disabilities to promote VM. The main target group for the project are people with physical and mental disabilities participating in Adult Education but the concept of virtual mobilities has significant potential to be used by any learner in different educational areas such VET, School and Higher Education. The objectives of the project are to develop and pilot: - A framework of skills and competencies required by participants in virtual mobilities- An online and hard copy Guidebook - A Toolkit for Virtual Mobilities for hosting organisations and trainers including tools, software, hardware and methods - A self-assessment tool based on the framework (IO1) that provides a personalised path for learners- The t development and organisation of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)- Pilot testing of Virtual Mobilities and the production of a report on the pilotsThe project brings together a new consortium of organisations including universities, NGOs, youth organisations and SMEs. They share a common mission for equal opportunities and open education and a common concern to support people with disabilities. They also have expertise in how digital technologies can be used to support VM. The project is coordinated by the University of Education, Freiburg and includes partners from Greece, North Macedonia, France, Ireland and Spain."

Europe is becoming a learning society and citizens are required to constantly update their competences, not only with regard to the world of work but in an encompassing approach to participate in contemporary societies. Moreover, European societies face a rapid differentiation of educational pathways, opportunities and biographies. This increase in complexity from learners requires great effort into initiative taking, creativity, problem solving, risk assessment and decision taking, all of which requires learners to become stakeholders of their own learning process. It however has been demonstrated, that learner groups with a disadvantaged background or those remote from learning have great difficulties to take ownership of their learning, without being empowered. However, although a great deal of rhetoric about learner empowerment, adult education practice too often remains caught in traditional instruction methods, fixed curricula and pre-defined learning outcomes. It's in particular low achievers who suffer from this situation, because in the formal education system they often have made the experience that major parameters of their learning is out of their control, and thus never had the chance to develop a sense of ownership for their own learning. The PARTICIPATE partnership starts from the assumption that the impact on disadvantaged target groups can be greatly increased if education providers manage to adopt participatory approaches and methods, and this way support their learners to develop a sense of ownership of their learning and to become lifelong learners. The overall objective of the PARTICIPATE project is to promote participatory methods in adult education and, more specifically it will build a model for participatory design of learning outcomes. The PARTICIPATE project will identify and examine good practice in the field and, from them derive a generic model for the design of participatory evaluation and assessment of learning outcomes, whereby the adult learner is included in this process of setting their own outcomes and indicators. Instead of being initially presented with a final set of specific learning outcomes within an already agreed assessment framework, the learners are offered the opportunity to participate in determining how their course will be measured and evaluated. Complementary PARTICIPATE will promote participatory design of learning assessment, and support educators and practitioners on its implementation.The major target groups addressed in the framework of the PARTICIPATE project are migrants and refugees (Germany, Greece, Spain), traveller communities (Ireland) and Roma minorities (Romania) and adult education practitioners engaged with those target groups. A main result of the project will be the PARTICIPATE design model, which will reflect a) the elements and processes making a participatory approach, b) principles and guidelines for the participatory design of learning outcomes, c) recommendations on how the model can be integrated with existing adult education practice, as well as d) identification of capacities needed to effectively implement participatory design methods. The project will build a European community of practice, which shall help us a) to incubate the PARTICIPATE model in a collaborative setting and actively engage practitioners in the development process, b) to leverage the impact of the project through promotion and multiplying of project results, c) to continuously improve our work through critical debate with lifelong learning practitioners from outside the partnership, d) to identify and guide practitioners and organisations who would be interested in the application of our project results, and most importantly of all e) to ensure the sustainability of results. The partnership in all partner countries will organise focus groups, including adult learners from the different target groups. The purpose of the focus groups is to understand the perspective and needs of the target groups and involve them as stakeholders in the project design and implementation phase. The partnership in the course project will conduct 2 workshops, which will take place in Greece and Spain. The two workshops are described in detail, in Learning, Teaching, Training Activities.Last but not least the project will produce promotional materials and, promote the project and its results through a broad range of channels.The project is expected to have a significant impact on practices and attitudes of educational staff and practitioners. The participants in the course of the project will learn how to to include participatory approaches in course programmes for adults, and how to actively engage adult learners in the evaluation and assessment of learning outcomes. Moreover it is expected that the introduction of participatory methods positively affects the motivation of the target groups and, strengthens their sense of ownership for their learning.

The project, over two years, will design, implement and review a Civic Engagement learning programme for socially excluded young people. Organisations from three countries will participate (Ireland, Greece and Portugal). There will be two partners from each country: one with expertise in education, research and review; and the other partner being an NGO with a development base within the excluded community targeted. The lead partner is a Regional Youth Service from Ireland, with extensive experience of integrating innovative practice and learning into mainstream youth work services. Programme participants (aged 16-20) will be drawn from the Traveller youth community in Ireland and the Roma youth community in Greece and in Portugal.The project is based on the premise that the standard progression routes (relating to labour market, education and training opportunities) are often difficult, if not impossible, to access for members of marginalised and excluded groups of young people. Experience to date – working with our target groups in each country – has shown that delivery of broader learning programmes about engagement with society can act as an essential platform for more meaningful progression in the longer term. The learning programme to be implemented and tested through PACE is aimed at increasing knowledge about civil society, and increasing capacity amongst young participants interacting with wider community and mainstream service provision. In order to recognise the formal and informal learning of the young people, the prorgramme will include innovative assessment methodologies , including Youthpass and tools as developed in previous EU funded projects. The experience of our project team to date has also demonstrated that these aims are more likely to be fulfilled if the learning environment is one of mutual support that can be maintained in the longer term. As well as delivering a learning programme about active citizenship engagement, therefore, the PACE project will also impart skills in self-organisation, self-representation and mutual support structures that are sustainable into the future.The project comprisess the following elements:1. Reaching transnational agreement on course content and delivery. The Irish partner will take the leading role in this – based on successful initiatives already delivered, but all partners need to agree on relevance and consistency within their own practice base. This phase will also aim to achieve clarity amongst partners on approach and style of delivery.2. Programme implementation. The programme will be delivered as part of NGO development programme with young people in their own environments. The academic partner in each country will provide advice and support in programme implementation, including assistance with the ongoing application of evaluation mechanisms and instruments.3. Post programme support for participants. All participants will be supported (through information, advice and advocacy delivered as part of ongoing NGO development programmes) in efforts to build upon their learning in the programme. 4. Review of outcomes. All participants will be centrally involved in assessing the programme contribution to their own knowledge, levels of civic engagement and future progression prospects. Central to this will be a multiplier event bringing together youth workers from all three countries in an international seminar. The seminar will allow for presentation of the results and assessment of the programme, recording of outcomes to date, identifying elements of good practice and ‘what has made the difference’, as well as a mapping of future development pathways and routes to influence mainstream policy. Academic partners will act as a resource in seminar preparation: producing data collection instruments for review, supporting the preparation of presentations, and undertaking research into relevant policy environments in each country.The main project outcomes will be:• Increased capacity and enhanced potential for individual participants.• Significant assets for youth NGO sectors in each jurisdiction through the enhancement of leadership skills, mutual support structures and increased capacity to pass on learning content and style.• Greatly enhanced understanding of blockages to progression for those young people who are most excluded from progression opportunities, and an approach to addressing these blockages that is fully tested and reviewed.• Stakeholder-specific recommendations addressing how the approach can be best supported and embedded in the mainstream service responses of each participant country; as well as pointers as to how lessons emerging can be taken on board in the broader European policy context (especially in relation to LLL).

"The aim of the CONNECT project was to apply the concept of connected learning to adult education and to test it in an urban context. Digital and urban learning resources should be linked in a blended learning approach. The target cities were Munich (Germany), Dublin (Ireland), Bucharest (Romania), Valencia (Spain) and Kallithea (Greece). During the development and testing phases, the partners worked together with local cooperation partners, including municipal and private educational institutions in the field of adult education, local action groups, migrant communities, non-governmental organizations and sports clubs. In the first phase of the project, a system model for the implementation of connected learning in the context of the city was developed, based on analyses of research publications and empirical field studies that were carried out in all participating cities and countries. The focus here was on informal learning. The results were summarized in a research report, which is available as an Open Educational Resource.In the next step, based on the model, the partners developed and tested urban platforms for self-organized, connected learning. The learning formats, activities and content differ in some cases significantly, as the initial situation in the participating cities or districts is very different and different target groups were addressed. In addition, tests have shown that connected learning can have different functions depending on the context in which it’s applied.In parallel to the piloting of the platforms, various learning topics were tested with regard to their suitability for networked learning. We started from 5 basic topics, which were then varied or supplemented on the basis of the test results. The results were summarized in ""Scenario Reports"". During piloting the facilitators played an important role. Their task was to support the learners in building personal networks and to accompany the learning activities of participants. The project partners for this purpose have developed a corresponding training concept and training materials and hereafter tested them with moderators. Finally, each partner institution created a good practice guide in which the good practices identified in the course of the project were documented. One assumption was that by expanding their networks and opportunities, learners not only acquire new knowledge, skills and competencies, but also identify themselves more strongly with the local community. It has shown that learners are ready to share their own experiences and knowledge if they have the impression that this knowledge also serves the common good. Learners from Kosovo, for example, who had acquired a coaching license in a sports club, spontaneously shared their experiences with others and, with the help of the “facilitators”, placed learning materials on the platform. Another example is the Irish platform, which has developed into a contact point for full-time and voluntary people in the NEIC district. The participants networked on the platform to exchange experiences and knowledge and to work together on upgrading their neighborhood. The CONNECT approach aims to change educational practice, from isolated forms of learning to learning in distributed networks. Teachers are at the same time moderators of personal learning projects and mediators of learning interests in and between learning networks. CONNECT has conducted “Facilitator” training courses for 32 people, equipping them with the skills needed to support adult learners in networked learning. For educational partners such as the state capital Munich and its affiliated educational institutions, but also for the Greek training provider IDEC, CONNECT serves as an experimental field to test connected learning and gradually integrate it into educational practice. According to the partner organizations, the CONNECT approach should also be used to attract new groups of learners who cannot be reached with conventional educational offers and forms. The department for education management in the education department of the city of Munich wants to take over the German platform as a permanent learning facility for its citizens. The Irish partner wants to use CONNECT as part of a national empowerment strategy, adressing uneducated target groups, such as ""Traveler Communities"". With the CONNECT approach, the Romanian partner has a new instrument with which informal learning communities in selected urban districts of Bucharest are to be addressed."

The emergence of the young as a distinct social group has brought an understanding that they have a key role to play in the digital society, as drivers of new behaviours and understandings. However, educational practice frequently fails to address the need to build their capacity to think and act autonomously and thus empower them to participate effectively and appropriately in society (a key objective of education). The CEPNET project focuses on this issue.The project builds a previous H2020 project (Ref. 727066) in which members of the consortium developed a framework for research in which children and young people could explore their perspectives and interests in relation to digital society, and a platform to communicate their perspectives to other stakeholders effectively. The work was very successful, and the approach was considered transformative in many of the contexts it was used in, empowering children and young people and developing a range of transversal competences. Though WYRED stood outside the curriculum, the work indicated a strong potential for use in education, and the objective of CEPNET is to develop the approach by adapting it for use in primary schools. This will be done in three ways. The approach involves a generative research cycle involving dialogue, participatory research and interpretation phases centred around and driven by children and young people, out of which a diverse range of outputs, critical perspectives and other insights emerged in relation to children and young people’s needs in the digital society. The first focus of CEPNET will be to adapt the approach to primary schools, since each phase has potential value for learning in schools. The dialogues awake enthusiasm and critical thinking, and the sense of a voice, the projects ground opinions, and give a depth and assurance to that voice, and the sharing of the results is a validation of that voice. However, the project used a generalist broad brush approach that always required adaptation to context. The first intellectual output of the project – IO1: THE CEPNET HANDBOOK – will cover this adapting the general approach to the specific needs of primary education. Each of the different dimensions of the approach will be fine-tuned to address the specific needs of primary students, creating a handbook for the use of the approach in primary education. This adaptation will be tested by implementing two pilot cycles of the new approach in the participating primary schools. Based on the results of this process, a definitive version of the handbook will be produced. The approach is applicable in a wide range of content domains, but in the pilots the focus will be on the topics of the UN Agenda 2030, grouping the SDGs into environmental, social and economic sustainability clusters.The second focus of CEPNET is on further development of the international dimension of the approach. Though there was international online activity in the previous project, it was not fully integrated, and it was seen that there was potential for this to greatly enrich the approach, especially the dialogues. The dialogues generate valuable insights about young people’s thinking and priorities, and since physical mobility is increasingly costly from climate and healthcare perspectives, and dialogue skills are an increasingly necessary part of education, the need to extend our capacity to dialogue online is vital. The motivational value of international online interaction has been shown by the previous experience of the partners, and a wide range of virtual mobility initiatives such as e-twinning. The focus in CEPNET will be on getting the most out of online dialogues in educational contexts, and the second output – IO2: THE CEPNET ONLINE DIALOGUE GUIDE, will be an online dialogue guide, which can be used separately or as part of the overall CEPNET approach for primary schools developed in IO1. It will be tested in parallel with the IO1 testing, linking the participating schools in online dialogues that complement the activity in each school. The final version of the guide will take those pilot experiences into account.The third area of focus of CEPNET looks especially towards sustainability. The approach as developed depended on external facilitation in each context since teacher training in the approach was not part of the original proposal. However, widespread adoption of the approach requires ensuring it can be used by schools independently of external advisors, which requires teacher training. The third output – IO3: CEPNET TEACHER TRAINING GUIDE will comprise a training approach and modules with activities and materials (for face to face or blended delivery) that can be used within initial teacher training or in in-service training, As part of the development of this output the guide and training modules will be tested with teachers from the participating schools, and in other schools beyond the consortium.