In March 2020, the Covid-19 crisis hit the Vocational Education and Training (VET) of the GIP-FCIP of the académie de Créteil and of his GRETA VET centers. Distance education was not any longer an option but the only possible teaching method. This shift to e-learning highlighted the major issue of accessibility, both digital and pedagogical, hitting the most vulnerable trainees and jeopardizing our inclusive pedagogical approach and therefore our trainees’ chances to professional integration and social inclusion.In this new context, the GIP-FCIP of the académie of Créteil and the GRETA VET network is facing 2 major issues :• How can distance learning become as accessible as possible, with appropriate tools and relevant training paths to ensure the inclusion of all learners ?• How can the educational teams be trained to distance education to allow a true efficient and inclusive pedagogical method ?These issues are beyond the frame of our national VET organization and the GIP-FCIP of the académie de Créteil has formed a transnational strategic partnership with 4 other education and VET organizations : Koena, a French partner dedicated to digital accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities ; the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Spain specialized in pedagogical accessibility ;the European Certification and Qualification Association (ECQA) based in Austria,and a Canadian partner the Université TÉLUQ based in Québec and specialized in distance education for more than 40 years.In the frame of an Erasmus+ program (KA2) for innovative practices in a digital era and social inclusion, our partnership has gathered 14 people to design and carry out the IDE@ project : “Implementing a Digital E-learning @lternative”, gathering 4 VET project leaders, 6 higher education teachers, 2 VET and disabilities specialists, and 2 certification and qualification project leaders.The IDE@ project is based on 3 specific Erasmus+ KA2 program VET priorities :• Supporting the uptake of innovative approaches and digital technologies for teaching and learning• Further strengthening key competences in initial and continuing VET• Initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers and mentors in both school and work-based settings The IDE@ project aims to set up an inclusive, drop-out proof distance vocational training dedicated to VET centers and trainers having to adapt to distance education with all profiles learners.In order to reach this general objective, the project will be carried out according to the following pragmatic methodology over 5 phases :- identification of the obstacles to ensure accessibility to distance training - identification of the teaching skills to be deployed- observation of successful distance learning experiences- implementation and dissemination of efficient training engineering- creation of a certification framework for trainersThe project will develop 5 tools in the field of distance VET : - A good practice guide to ensure digital accessibility for all learners ;- A pedagogical guide to set up distance learning accessibility for all learners ;- A competencies' framework to map the competencies of trainers needed for the design and implementation of distance learning accessible from both a digital and pedagogical point of view- A distance education engineering for trainers ;- A certification framework for distance teaching skills.The expected impact of the project concerns 3 circles of target groups:- trainers to help them adapt to distance training- trainees to enable them to access and successfully achieve a distance training- all audiences of the project partners and stakeholdersMajor planned impacts are :increase the capacity of the VET Professionnals to provide quality inclusive online trainingprovide better quality training to maintain beneficiary engagement and avoid dropping outtrain, qualify and certify the trainers in digital and pedagogical accessibility for online training.diversify the trainee target audience due to quality inclusive online trainingIDE@ aims to about 10 000 VET professionnals (trainers and organizations).

IMPACT means Inclusive Method based on the Perception of Accessibility and Compliance Testing. IMPACT is a strategic partnership of stakeholders from different fields addressing innovation in higher education, with a focus on three European priorities: a) development of curricula to meet labour market and societal needs, b) open education in the digital era and c) social inclusion. IMPACT will create a skills card of the new professional profile(s) for the implementation of the EN 301 549 Accessibility Standard (OI1), will design a modular curriculum (IO2) and will develop training materials as Open Educational Resources (IO3) for training professionals on how to apply the EN 301 549 Accessibility Standard. The assessment through end users and prospective trainees (students and trainers) will guarantee the quality of the resources and provide a repository of assessment methods (IO4). In IO5, IMPACT will certify the new profile and the educational components for both academic and vocational levels: ECTS/ECVETS. This will secure recognition at EU level and the project's sustainability. EN 301 549 Accessibility Standard enable disabled users to access to digital content. The need for accessibility when accessing digital content has risen since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the European Directives. They urge governments to implement measures to ensure access to people with disabilities. Yet, the provision across Europe is uneven and its quality uncontrolled. In 2015, a UN Committee carried out its first review of how the EU complies with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Committee found that the EU institutions needed to do more to meet their commitment to accessible communication for persons with disabilities. In a Decision of the European Ombudsman (strategic inquiry OI/6/2017/EA) on how the European Commission ensures that persons with disabilities can access its websites from December 2018, states the need of a mandatory training on accessibility for all staff members working on websites. At present most digital web content is not accessible, with no clear or recognized professional status (EU project ACT 2015). The European Accessibility Standard - EN 301 549 experts trained by IMPACT will have suitable skills to provide high-quality accessible contents in different contexts: website, technologies and tools.The training will prepare for three different working settings: face-to-face, online and by relay. This opens new job opportunities for people with and without disabilities.

"<< Background >>As communities across Europe grow increasingly complex, the way they manage social inclusion and promote civic education becomes a matter of major importance. In this context, it is claimed that, “cultural heritage has a big role to play in building the future of Europe” (The European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018), and that encouraging more people to discover and engage with it is expected to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. Education being the area through which key elements of both the individual identity and social awareness of younger citizens can be shaped, the Council of Europe proposes an edu-cultural approach, recommending to ""incorporate heritage education more effectively in school curricular activities” (“European Heritage Strategy for the 21st Century”, K1, COE, 2017). However, cultural education in schools is commonly perceived as discipline-bound, unidirectional and academic, not consistent with the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (udlguidelines.cast.org), which favours a symbolic, learner-centric, identity-oriented, interdisciplinary and critical approach.Departing from the fact that schools constitute safe and inclusive spaces for children with diverse competences and skills, coming from equally diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, “Young ArcHers” proposes a mindset shift that advocates the use of cultural heritage as a valuable tool for teachers to efficiently mediate civic education, and regards school communities as ideal environments for promoting intercultural dialog and social inclusion. Further elaborating on this approach, the project draws inspiration from EU policies with a strong focus on preserving built European heritage (cf. the INTERREG policy on the Built Heritage, announced in June 2020) and aspires to direct the attention of school communities towards heritage buildings in order to serve a dual purpose: raise awareness of European cultural continuity and our shared values, as well as motivate community members to engage in collective action for built heritage preservation. In order to further promote social integration and inclusion, the partnership will make sure that all project’s materials destined for student participants will be accessible to as many children as possible, including children with disabilities and with a migrant/refugee background. Concurrently, responding to the increasing need for digital literacy in contemporary societies, “Young ArcHers” proposes a set of activities that will offer student participants an opportunity to apply in practice and enhance skills that are necessary for the Digital Era, using everyday technology. According to the above needs analysis and approach adopted by the project, Young ArcHers demonstrates its strong focus on the below priorities set by this year’s Erasmus+ KA2 horizontal priorities: Common values, civic engagement and participation Inclusion and diversity in all fields of education, training, youth and sport Addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity.<< Objectives >>“Young ArcHers” intends to offer efficient training materials and accessible interdisciplinary tools to support teachers in incentivizing students aged 9-12, including children with disabilities and those originating from socio-culturally diverse backgrounds, to discover the European dimension of their local built heritage, use digital technology to consolidate new knowledge and engage in the promotion and protection of heritage buildings through local and international awareness campaigns. More specifically, “Young ArcHers” intends to: provide primary school teachers with valuable knowledge and materials to support their students in acquiring knowledge and skills regarding urban architectural heritage while increasing their awareness of European identity and values; offer teachers an opportunity to expand their scientific interests and resources by familiarising with a new thematic area (built heritage), which can in turn feed into and enrich already existing curricula (i.e., litterature, history, civic education, art), while acquainting them with innovative, interdisciplinary tools and methods to upgrade their educational practices; enhance and sharpen all participants’ digital skills through inspiring hands-on activities with a valuable social footprint and the use of up-to-date creative digital tools and applications; motivate primary school students, regardless of their sociocultural background, to engage into collective action for the promotion and preservation of urban built heritage and exchange with their peers at local and European level;help students develop valuable cognitive and social skills, necessary for real-life challenges, including critical thinking, synthetic ability, communication skills and creative expression, through practices focusing on intercultural education and active citizenship; further promote social integration and inclusion, by ensuring accessibility of materials destined for student participants to users with disabilities; help young participants develop expectations related to future goals which can be attained in methodical ways;encourage cross-cultural interaction in the participating school communities;trigger interest with respect to built heritage among the larger communities and subsequently promote collective action at local (and potentially national) level;upgrade the educational approach of School partners/associated partners, by proposing a focus on cultural heritage and interculturality mediated through innovative practices, directly empower their teaching staff and students, as well as offer them multiple opportunities for networking and exchange with schools and education-related organisations and stakeholders, at local, national and international level;enrich and upgrade expertise of Non-school partners/associated partners, by further enlarging the scope of their research, by multiplying their working tools with an emphasis on digitisation and accessibility, as well as by expanding their national and international networks.<< Implementation >>The project will implement the following activities:A1. Project General Management and Coordination. Led by KoenaA2. Quality management, Research Validity and Evaluation of Content. Led by MONUMENTA and UABA3. ICTs and Innovation Management. Led by C.I.PA4. Dissemination, Exploitation and Sustainability. Led by C.I.P.A5. Management of Events/Training Activities. Led by Morningside Montessori Elementary and 22nd Primary School of AthensA1. Project Management and Coordination. Months 1-24.Aiming to ensure smooth and timely implementation of the project work plan, this activity will deliver high quality outputs, achiev project goals and long-term sustainability. In addition, it aims to ensure that the administrative procedures and financial management correspond to the EU and Erasmus+ requirements, and to provide timely and accurate reporting within the consortium and to the contracting agency. The partnership will establish a Project Management Team (PMT) with representatives from the consortium. It will be in charge of the project’s progress and results, thus ensuring milestones, reports, outcomes and their impacts are achieved on time, financial planning is adhered to, evaluation is continuous, promotion and exploitation are thorough and that risks and problems are getting solved. A detailed work and time plan are set up at the contracting period at the beginning of the project. This work and time plan are part of the contracts between the applicant and the partners, and will be done by Koena. Part of this agreement is also that grants from the EU are forwarded to partners only if activities and results are delivered. PMT members are responsible for documentation, budget control and time management within their organizations.A2. Quality management and Evaluation of Content. Months 1-24Fulfilment of the evaluation, monitoring and quality aspects. This activity will last for 24 months, starting from the beginning of the project. A formative approach, linking quality monitoring and continuous improvement, will focus on ways to improve quality of all project aspects including management of quality itself. Research validity: all the project derivatives in terms of the quality of educational material/ training courses will be assessed and validated for their accessibility aspect by UAB’s research group TransMedia Catalonia (TMC); and all aspects related to built heritage by the expert staff members of MONUMENTA. This activity will also provide for the quality implementation and comprehensive evaluation of both the pilot testing and training activities.A3. ICTs and Innovation Management. Months 1-24The activity will last for 24 months and it will set the qualitative criteria upon which all the elements of innovation will be identified and enhanced. This activity will also guarantee the usage of the most recent technological innovations and software for the development of the Young ArHers by C.I.P’s digitized methodologies and materials.A4. Dissemination, Exploitation and Sustainability. Months 1-24Led by C.I.P., this activity will last for the entire project’s duration so as to ensure the maximum dissemination and exploitation impact. A detailed strategy and a dissemination/exploitation plan will be set up and agreed upon at TPM1. Each partner will participate dynamically, through ‘National dissemination and exploitation Plans’ in the process that will reach its climax with the final events and subsequent sustainability actions. A5. Management of Events/Training Activities. Months 13-24 Ultimate goal is the creation of a strong network, composed of various elementary schools, public and private, from the participating and other EU countries. This activity will also provide for the quality implementation and comprehensive evaluation of both pilot testings and training activities by the schools by Morningside Montessori Elementary in Cyprus and 22nd Primary School of Athens.<< Results >>Focusing on heritage buildings constructed between 1850-1960 across the partner cities, Young ArcHers will create the following project results: PR1 Young ArcHers educational toolkit. The toolkit will provide primary school educators with resources, teaching materials (including lesson plans) and creative tools that will support them in acquainting their students (9-12 yo) with the core concepts and methods of the project and guide them throughout the implementation phase. PR2 Accessible audio guides. Complementing the above knowledge base, a set of audio guides will be created to support educational walks around selected architectural paths in partner cities (Paris, Nicosia, Athens, and Barcelona). PR3 Multiplex edu-game. In order to facilitate assimilation of the new knowledge and trigger creativity among student participants, a digital educational game, consisting of multiple activities, will be developed to be used by students and teachers inside and outside of the classrooms. PR4 Built heritage awareness campaigns. Local and international awareness campaigns will be organised by student participants with the guidance of their teachers, in order to encourage their peers, families and local communities as well as the international public to engage with the purpose of the preservation of heritage buildings in their urban contexts. A digital storytelling work (e.g. video, podcast, digital comic etc.) created by student participants, will serve as the core promo material of each local campaign. Special care will be taken across all PRs so as to make the contents and activities directly addressing children accessible for students with disabilities, as well as to meet the needs and expectations of students from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. More specifically, practical results of the PRs include:1 digital toolkit containing 4 introductory modules and 4 lesson plans, and proposing a selection of up to 8 digital storytelling tools appropriate for children 9-12 (including tools incorporating accessibility services)4 audio guides -1 per participating city- narrating the stories of 15 heritage buildings each (60 audio narratives in total)1 multiplex edu-game consisting of 5 activities taking into account the needs of different age groups between 6-13 yo 2 materials’ testings to be performed in the framework of PR4 local activities 3 scenarios: 2 for the local, 1 for the international (“Young ArcHers Day”) awareness campaigns 3 harvesting reports, outlining the methodology of the above campaigns3 digital storytelling works (video, podcast, graphic novel etc.): 2 for the local campaigns (created by students), 1 for “Young ArcHers Day”, the international campaign (video created by the partnership)Other practical outcomes supporting the overall project’s activities, needs and objectives include the following:5 Transnational meetings of the partners (4 official and 1 unofficial)4 Multiplier events with the participation of 130 people in totalUp to 12 primary school teachers and edu-cultural experts will be trained over 1 LTT Activity (C1) and another 12 teachers will be trained over peer-to-peer local training activities (PR4A1).A web-based platform comprising all of the project’s digital tools."

SUMMARYDigital skills are crucial for jobs and social inclusion. The rapid growth of internet access and connectivity has paved the way for the development of a digital economy around the world. However, there are large inequalities due to a lack of digital skills in both developed and developing countries, particularly in terms of socio-economic status, ethnic background, gender, geography, age and educational attainment (UNESCO 2018). The Covid 19 pandemic has made the situation even more dramatic, especially with regard to forced migration. Refugees are one of the most vulnerable groups in European society. They are even more affected by the consequences of the pandemic than the majority population and there is currently no prospect of an improvement in the situation. The accreditation or nostrification of their vocational training is often a further obstacle to the pursuit of a profession that corresponds to their qualifications and to a meaningful integration into society.On the other hand, refugees have a huge potential to contribute to society and to the ambitious goals of the EU Green Deal. They have a powerful role to play in driving the transformation towards climate neutrality forward, and could become climate diplomats in third countries.The @Go4DiGREEN@ digital job training program aims to improve the situation of European refugees by improving digital and entrepreneurial skills of this target group in a measurable and sustainable way. Addressing core principles of the EU, such as accessibility and inclusion, and contributing to the European Green Deal, the project consortium will develop barrier-free and needs-oriented training materials on green entrepreneurship through the synthesis of specifically selected systems and tools that have already proven their worth (e.g. Digicomp, Entrecomp, MOOCs4inclusion, digital accessibility, ECQA, etc.) with the involvement of the target group right from the start through the design thinking approach.The outputs of the project are:1) Design Thinking: digital guidelines to empower potential green entrepreneurs for the target group of vocational trainers2) A Certification Scheme - European Green Entrepreneur for the target group of vocational trainers - “ECQA Certified Refugee Entrepreneurship Trainer in Green Economy”3) Accessible Learning Materials to become a Certified European Green Entrepreneur - “ECQA Certified European Green Entrepreneur” the target group of refugees and migrants as well as for persons who want to acquire digital skills and qualifications as entrepreneurs in the green economy.4) A Digital vocational training platform - Green Entrepreneur for the target group of refugees and migrants as well as for persons who want to acquire digital skills and qualifications as entrepreneurs in the green economy.@Go4DiGREEN@ will analyse all 442 EntreComp learning outcomes from the 3 areas of competence 1) Ideas and opportunities, 2) Resources and 3) Taking action, making them accessible and adaptable to the target group. The result will be two new ECQA certificates: a) ECQA-certified European Green Entrepreneur, and b) ECQA certified trainer/consultant for refugee entrepreneurship - Green EconomyThe expected impact is to make refugees fit to become European green entrepreneurs, so that they can contribute to the objectives of the Green Deal: Europe needs a clean and circular economy with more recycling, sustainable and intelligent mobility and greener products in our shops.