<< Background >>The project “Fair News” is a cooperation partnership to support innovation in the field of school education. The project aims not only to enhance understanding among high school students of the operation of fake-news, but also to work with students on a deep level in order to strengthen their understanding of how knowledge and media content is created and distributed. The project aims to help students to become more conscious readers, co-creators and co-distributors of knowledge.The project is addressed to high school students in four European countries (Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Austria). As leading organisation, Fondazione Spazio Reale has a long tradition of developing and implementing social and cultural projects in the field of education, with an emphasis on multiculturalism, inclusion and ‘giving voices to difference’, thus motivating Fair News as a project designed to address the defined needs of high school students.In the current landscape, in which young people are exposed to multiplying media perspectives, the question of how knowledge is created, disseminated, and consumed is ever-more important. Young people need the ability to recognize bias and identify fair and trustworthy sources of news and information. Further, as the digital world becomes increasingly atomised, and much of social and civic life takes place online, many young people risk disconnection and isolation from the local, national, and international communities. A recent OECD Report, Developing Literacy Skills in a Digital World (2021) has highlighted the need for new skills in media literacy given the “massive information flow of the digital era.” The report shows that less than 50% of 15-year-olds in OECD countries were able to distinguish fact from opinion, with students in Italy and Austria below the OECD average. The report makes clear that schools are not, currently, fulfilling the role of teaching the skills necessary to navigate ambiguity and manage complexity in the digital world. New approaches are needed to develop these skills among high school students by creating broader educational communities beyond formal education and including a range of stakeholders.This necessity has been foregrounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has not only led to increased social isolation, but has also highlighted the importance of the ability to navigate and participate in digital media. The questions of what makes news fair, and how the voices of young people across Europe can be heard in the media landscape, is now of pressing importance. This means that there is a need to create broader connections between young people, to enhance their understanding of their reality, and to offer them spaces where they can not only reflect on their situation but can experiment with and experience a knowledge community. Recent movements, such as FridaysForFuture, have shown the depth of desire among young people to be heard, to participate in society, and to imagine alternative futures. We want students to possess the skills to take the lead in reshaping media discourse. As the future voters and makers of our reality, we believe that these skills are vital in supporting and enhancing democracy and we aim to create a community of mature listeners, media consumers and media creators.We believe that these needs can be approached from a holistic perspective by bringing together conceptual and practical knowledge in critical thinking, media literacy and news creation. By partnering with educational organisations, media producers and communication specialists in five European countries, we aim to facilitate and develop the skills and knowledge needed to understand and create news which is fair and inclusive, and so to foster a new form of educational community capable of enhancing social engagement and cohesion, in relation to the Key Competencies for Lifelong Learning laid out in the Recommendation of the Council of the European Union in May 2018.<< Objectives >>This project aims to help high school students to learn to navigate ambiguity and manage complexity.It will introduce them to the theory and practice of Fair News by:-Developing a deeper understanding of how knowledge is created, co-created, distributed and amplified in an increasingly complex digital landscape;-Improving awareness of the power of words and images from a holistic, multidisciplinary, and long-term perspective;-Offering a space in which students can learn and teach, enabling them to become media literate by listening as well as speaking to them, to prioritise the needs and voices of students;-Empowering students as digital citizens and participants in democratic life through new ways to consume, create, present and distribute their own news content.The innovative aspects of the project derive from:-The holistic approach which emphasises the transdisciplinary nature of knowledge and the need for a bottom-up approach to education, in which students are active co-creators of knowledge, and not placed solely as consumers or recipients; -The creation of educational communities at a local and transnational level, seeking to overcome disconnection and disengagement among high school students by bringing together schools, non-formal educational organisations, online student groups, and a broader network of stakeholders such as families, cultural organisations, and media producers.In accordance with the Erasmus+ General Objective of building a European Education Area and supporting the implementation of the European strategic cooperation in the field of education, the project will prioritise connection and collaboration between young people and educational organisations across Europe, creating an international and transnational educational community.The project aims not only to enhance the ability to identify and decode fake news, but also to work with educators and students to develop sophisticated understanding of how knowledge and content is created and distributed. While fake news is a societal concern for all ages, it has a huge relevance for young people. The ability to understand and evaluate information and knowledge is the foundation of becoming and being a conscious citizen. Further, young people, compared to older generations, use social media and peers on a large scale to access and share information. The focus of the project is not only on the ability to identify fake news, but on understanding and enabling a fair, co-created, and shared media landscape. The project’s objectives thus align with the Key Competencies defined in the EU Recommendation of May 2018 such as literacy and digital competence and cultural awareness and expression.By developing an educational community that brings together young people, educational organisations, schools and media producers, the project aims to challenge the ‘educational crisis’ that affects the relationship between generations and furthers social marginalisation and cultural exclusion. The project’s focus on collaboration and shared experiences resists the impulse to talk down to young people through the transmission of fixed knowledge, but rather seeks to develop new understanding and articulate new concepts through listening to the voices of young people themselves. Through developing the concept of ‘fair news’, we aim to help young people to become more conscious readers, creators and distributors of knowledge. Fair news involves not only the ability to detect and deconstruct disinformation and bias, but also to create and participate in a discourse which connects diverse social groups, fosters intergenerational communication, and allows young people to formulate and express their views, concerns, hopes and aspirations. Fair news is honest, communicative, inclusive, and equally representative of all; we seek to resist the idea of news as objective ‘truth’, and to deepen an understanding of knowledge developed through perception and interpretation<< Implementation >>The project will proceed through four stages of activities, aiming to achieve the project objectives by facilitating educational organisations in the theory and practice of Theory of Knowledge and Media and Information Literacy; training and facilitating high school students as co-creators of knowledge, using a holistic approach which prioritises their needs and capabilities according the the EU Recommendations of May 2018; training young students in the theory and practice of media literacy and media creation, including the production and distribution of knowledge and hand-on experience.The implementation of the project will use methodologies drawn from two disciplines:-Theory of Knowledge (TOK): A purposeful enquiry into ways of knowing, including the interpretative nature of knowledge and its creation across multiple disciplines, enabling students to understand their own perceptions and beliefs, and appreciate the diversity of cultural perspectives. TOK is a key part of the International Baccalaureate curriculum, and the implementation of this project will make the discipline accessible to a wider audience of students and educators;-Media and Information Literacy (MIL): Defined by UNESCO as “a set of competencies that empowers citizens to access, retrieve, understand, evaluate and use, to create as well as share information and media content in all formats, using various tools, in a critical, ethical and effective way, in order to participate and engage in personal, professional and societal activities.” Competencies in MIL are closely aligned with those laid out in the May 2018 EU Council Recommendations for Lifelong Learning.The structure of the project is the following:Phase 1 (4 months): Research, training and facilitation of educators in experiences, needs, and skills in critical thinking, Theory of Knowledge and Media and Information Literacy for high school students.This phase foresees a transnational training activity (C1) for educational workers, involving all partners, followed by a series of webinars through which educators can share their experience of the problems faced by students and develop a methodological approach to solutions. The training will be facilitated by Traces&Dreams. Phase 2 (6 months): Collaborative laboratories with high school students on critical thinking and Theory of Knowledge.This phase foresees a series of collaborative laboratories, hosted by educational organisations in each country with the methodological support of Traces&dreams. Transnational communication and collaboration will be enabled through digital blended learning. The laboratories will foster understanding of critical thinking and the Theory of Knowledge through analysis of how knowledge is created and disseminated in the media. Young people will develop the skills to share their experience and communicate their understanding through personal and group projects.Phase 3 (6 months): Practical workshops on principles of Media and Information Literacy and the creation and distribution of knowledge.This phase foresees a series of practical workshops focusing on media literacy, digital citizenship, and the analysis, production and distribution of news in various media, held with high school students in each country with the methodological support of Traces&Dreams and Toscana Oggi. The participants will produce their own digital newspaper based on the concepts of ‘fair news’.Phase 4 (2 months): Installations and Digital Newspaper launchMultiplier events in each country, through which young people will launch the digital newspaper, share their knowledge and their creations, act as ambassadors to their peers and engender an ongoing educational community including all stakeholders.<< Results >>OUTCOMES.For partner organisations:The project will introduce partners to theoretical, methodological and practical concepts related to critical thinking, the Theory of Knowledge and Media and Information Literacy. The focus on collaboration and learning-through-doing will enable organisations to develop a new form of education through facilitation, which can be utilised in both their work with students through this project and through future projects with young people.Schools and educational organisations will become increasingly aware of the problems of fake news and social disconnection among young people, and will enhance their ability to adopt a holistic and bottom-up approach when addressing these issues.Strategic relationships will be formed between schools, partner organisations and other stakeholders within and between countries, enabling an ongoing ‘enlarged’ educational community.Traces&Dreams will lead the preparation of educational material on critical thinking, the Theory of Knowledge and media literacy that will be accessible to a broad audience.For students:The project will enable students to understand the detection and deconstruction of fake news, and the principles underlying fair news, using an innovative bottom-up approach which emphasises the experiences, views and needs of students.Students will gain enhanced abilities in critical thinking, Media and Information Literacy and the Theory of Knowledge, according to the EU Recommendations of May 2018.Students will also develop practical skills and abilities in content production and dissemination, including the production of their own media creations based on the principles of fair news.RESULTS.The outcomes of the project will be synthesised, realised and shared through the following Project Results:PR1: Formative report on the creation and development of educational communities using methodologies of Theory of Knowledge and Media and Information LiteracyLeader: Spazio Reale. All partners participate. Based on the training activities undertaken through C1, the knowledge created and the experiences shared will be developed into a document reflecting the needs of students in relation to MIL, and the use of TOK in the creation of educational communities, to be implemented through laboratories and workshops with high school students and designed for ongoing use and adaptation in various contexts.PR2: Framework for innovative pathways in the use of Theory of Knowledge among high school students Leader: Centrul de Resurse si Consultanta in Educatie. All partners participate. Based on the theoretical innovation and practical application of the training activities undertaken with high school students and the methodologies defined through PR1, this result will present a document outlining the use of critical thinking, Theory of Knowledge and media literacy in facilitating the skills and competencies required for high school students to participate in democratic life through the understanding and creation of fair news and the formation of broader educational communities. PR3: Resources for the creation and dissemination of Fair NewsLeader: Traces&Dreams. Toscana Oggi participate. Based on the innovative experimentation defined through PR2 and the practical activities in the production and sharing of news by high school students undertaken through workshops, this result will present a hands-on guide for the creation and communication of fair news from the perspectives of high school students, and its realisation through a digital newspaper.

"The civil wars in different parts of the world and destabilisation of some countries and the impact of the international financial crisis and slowing down of economical situations to be seen also on European level affecting in an intensive form the most vulnerable persons; low incomes families,marginalized people, people at risk of socio-economic exclusion , migrants ,asylum seekers,ex-offenders ,Roma people refugees and elderly persons holding redundant job position or skills that don't enable them with sufficient agility in the Labor Market.A big number of companies ( small or big/national or transnational) closed their doors for work; many people went in unemployment period; many people are enable to find a job according with their formal education, skills or competencies. Above these phenomenon, the emergence of ""New Information and Communication Technologies"" and the materializations of the efforts to transit towards the information society and knowledge economy made things even more difficult for needy persons (learning need, money need, education need, social need or other personal or professional needs).Through this project we ,as all the project ,partners intend to provide valuable job skills and career opportunities to people who often face challenges re-entering the workforce because of social discrimination. The modules of this learning partnership takes a holistic approach to prepare individuals to be self-sufficient. It not only provides jobs to women,migrants ,refugees,asylum seekers,Roma people and ex-offenders, and others who face barriers to employment, but also offers a wide range of training, education, mentoring and networking for all the disadvantaged people especially women and migrants.The objectives of the project are to enhance the capability of partnership Erasmus+ professionals to formulate, elaborate and institutionally integrate E-learning and traditional learning short educational modules, fostering learning context for skills and abilities in respect with individual socio-economic inclusion into the labor market.One of the genuinely problems that our project partnership intends to offer a solution to, is dealing with the gap between Labor Market needs in terms of talent and creativity and the European aging people without a job, without skills and competencies for many of the new jobs.Our project aims at reaching for what appears to be impossible by being different and making a difference: ""SCE-TRAMEUR "" module as a feasible alternative for ""in short time socio-economic inclusion of marginalized people"". Our institutional experts, trainers can identify in an adult, skills, competence, and can grow attitudes to put a person in need back into labor market in a very short time. Our experts, trainers can identify jobs that are disappearing, new jobs that appears on the Labour Market. That is because an employed adult has (after a period of being active into Labor Market) those skills and abilities than can be used as base for a new job. But not all former employees realize this fact and it's our mission to support them to become both (employer and employees) more confident and self-aware, and better hard and soft skilled. People belonging to disadvantaged groups, who are the main target group and final beneficiaries of the project, participated in the surveys and researches conducted within the scope of the project, which collected data from the field, and thus field analyzes were made.After the field analysis, these people were divided into categories according to their needs and various trainings were given to these people according to their interests, abilities and capacities.Those who are prone to entrepreneurship were given E-Trade and Growing Medicinal Aromatic Plant.Those who are not prone to entrepreneurship and are talented in different fields were given vocational training in a wide variety of fields, from Carpentry and Metalworks to Medical secretariat and Documentation, Embroidery, Sewing,Digital Literacy,Linguistic Competence and Writing effective CV Trainings and Nursing in partner countries. Moreover project's target audience were supported emotionally by our project team during Pandemic.The project had an important impact on the participants by implementing a succession of activities that promote the integration in the partner countries and at the same time fight against exclusion. The impact on the target group was making steps toward securing social integration, employment and financial independence in terms of developing basic skills and key competences of the target group.The applied project gave the opportunity to develop and update the target groups’ key competences throughout their lives. The most important influence of the project was to promote equality and inclusion by facilitation the access to participants with disadvantaged backgrounds and fewer opportunities who have linguistic adaptation and cultural inclusion difficulties."

“We empower people from all walks of life to engage and perform in high end science.” Max Kushnier at the ScieCitizens Meeting in Iasi, 2019 Scie-Citizens believes in the power of participation in education. Thus, thhe mission of Scie-Citizens is to advance citizen science through knowledge sharing, collaboration, capacity building, and advocacy. The project encouraged citizens participation science by facilitating a community that shares practices, knowledge, and tools to bring recognition to the value and impact of citizen science.The emerging message from the partnerhship is, first of all, that science has to be accessible by the society. The partners committed to looking for open processes working as bridges, where both scientists and citizens are involved. For Scie-Citizens, science is a multidisciplinary power - making positive changes possible. It’s moved by curiosity of understanding complex systems: human and the contexts where we’re living. It’s based on structured methods and a specific common language, not always understandable and, often, intimidating to the people outside of the scientific bubble. Therefore a smart practice combines different elements to create something new for a specific context with a specific need - it should have the following features: be Open Source, accessible, circular use, process based, building new relations and based on scientists-citizens collaboration.In creating an assessment tool, based on common reviewed indicators we identified 82 practices and published a representative selection in an ebook.The role especially of adult education in citizens science had be defined to four areas:1.Dialogue between science and society2. Co-creation of new knowledge3. Creating positive Change4. support of the society to understand needs and formulate challengesThe 7 partners from Germany (CRN), Italy (School Raising), Romania (CRCE), Greece (EA), Sweden (Changemaker) and Poland (Midicentrum, SAN) addressed directly trainer and teacher in all educational sectors and provided them with a tool-box full of practices ready to be included in their everyday teaching, helping to bridge the gap between science and society.By providing a reviewed dataset of tested practices, we offered both stakeholders and educators an overview of existing training tools and methods helping to overcome barriers to participation. Educitizens believe that instead of reinventing methods, it is more productive to evaluate existing tools in all sectors, focusing on cross-sectoral cooperation. The consortium itself consisted out of partners working in non-formal adult (CRN, CRCE), school education (EA, and School Raising), non-formal education in a public body (Midicentrum) and higher/vocational education (SAN). Additional external stakeholders contributed further to the review of the practices (e.g. High Schools in Poland, Adult and Vocational training provider in Germany, Romania, Italy and Poland,), higher education instiutions in Finland and Poland, SMEs and Policy Maker (Berliner Senatsverwaltung, City of Suwalki, City of Gothenburg).The project thus had direct horizontal impact and contributed to an open and innovative education.ScieCitizens contributed to the growth of a citizen science network with a commitment to future collaborations. The partners gathered inspirations by project itself, the smart practices and ideas on citizen science affecting the worldview and offering knowledge on opportunities to implement new initiatives and collaborations.The partner organisations got familiar with a wealth of smart practices that are incorporated into our science citizens program and stareted to transfer and implement smart practices in internal programs.Finally the organisations and participants got inspired and enriched by the work of the others and their involved staff acquired new skills and knowledge by participating in the workshops developed during the project.The sustainable use of the results is crucial. Collecting, reviewing and documenting the smart practices are considered as a first step. The methods might be the source for training modules on integrating research into the various sectors after the project ended. Since the results are relevant for all education sectors a good documentation is needed. Therefore, the practices are published centrally on a database on the project webpage. The database islinked to all institution web pages of the partnership. The links ensure, that the results will be integrated in the all-day working structure of each partner. The practices has been published as a downloadable ebook and as printed booklet with specific ISBN. The publications have become available and downloadable through library catalogues, and as well the EPALE resource center, where they will be stored sustainable.

The strategic vision behind the project is ultimately to contribute to the battle against climate change by helping to find more sustainable ways to move freight across short distances and reduce Co2 emissions in cities. Most freight in cities is currently moved over short distances by trucks and vans using fossil fuels, primarily diesel. A movement is currently growing to replace these types of haulage with electrically powered cargo vehicles based on bicycles, but with a much greater capacity than a traditional bicycle courier: the 'e-cargo bike' , with an electric motor to assist the rider, has no harmful emissions and is quieter than freight carrying vans, and if widely adopted in cities will make a significant contribution to air quality and reduce noise pollution. The context of this project is therefore to support moves to transfer as much as possible of the freight/goods being moved within the urban environment in Europe, from diesel and petrol vehicles to electrically powered cargo bikes. To achieve this, the project aims to help support any municipality, business or social enterprise which uses or intends to use an e-cargo bike to deliver its operations or services.In every country of the project partnership, and more widely across Europe, companies are adopting e-cargo bikes for sustainable short distance freight logistics. However, this is being done in a piecemeal manner, and there are no overall agreed standards for operators, even within individual countries. Having consulted widely within the sector, it has become apparent that one of the most important areas that needs to be addressed is the competence of e-cargo bike riders, who are required to pilot quite large and sometimes heavy loads through busy city streets. Riders are not currently required to have any kind of driving licence, whether for a motor cycle or other vehicle, in order to operate e-cargo bikes, and any basic training they receive is particular to the company or enterprise that employs them.This project therefore aims to fill this gap, by first of all identifying the knowledge, skills and competences required by e-cargo bike riders and then by developing, testing and promoting a training programme to meet these needs. At all stages of the process, members of the project partnership will consult locally with relevant companies and enterprises, and more widely with relevant bodies such as the UKCLF and the ECLF. Each member of the project partnership has been required to nominate as a non-formal 'Associated Partner' a local company, enterprise or municipality which uses or plans to use e-cargo bikes for logistics, and these companies will form the first line of research, testing and promotion.The project therefore targets in the broader sense companies and municipalities using or planning to use e-cargo bikes for short distance delivery and logistics, and the training programme to be developed is targeted specifically at e-cargo bike riders, to enable them to ride, operate their vehicles, and carry out required tasks in a safe, skilled and competent manner.The overarching aims of the project are to:- Help shape the future of urban freight mobility and promote the use of e-cargo bikes for delivering commercial light goods- Help support existing e-cargo bike logistics operations and new businesses/social enterprises in the partner countries- Engage with various national and local authorities and other relevant stakeholders to help to deliver our aims and objectives- Utilise online communications to promote and encourage our work- Co-operate with research and educational programmes to clarify and develop our aims and objectives- Explore partnerships with bodies supportive of our aims and objectives, such as the ECLF (European Cycle Logistics Federation) and the UKCLF (United Kingdom Cycle Logistics Federation)Specific project objectives are to:- identify the knowledge, skills and competences required by e-cargo bike riders- develop, test and promote a training toolkit to meet the needs of riders, and also the needs of the enterprises, companies and municipalities either currently involved in the use of e-cargo bikes for delivering commercial light goods, or planning to do so.The project will achieve these objectives by the seven partners working collaboratively, both with each other and also with Associated Partners. The ultimate result of the project will be to contribute to the establishment and proliferation of e-cargo bikes by ensuring that the workforce can be properly prepared and trained, and has the necessary knowledge, skills and competences.Following testing and evaluation, the training package, or 'Toolkit', developed will be made freely available for organisations that wish to use it, and also to industry bodies such as ECLF for adoption and 'badging' as approved training. It is expected that gaining the approval of such industry bodies will greatly enhance transferability.

The impact of our project was a holistic one taking into consideration our direct beneficiaries, our indirect beneficiaries, our institutions, our local community and our community of good practices.For our direct beneficiaries this project was an accumulation of new skills for a better life indifferent that we speak about using a smartphone, an ATM- bank machine, a computer, a tablet, etc The fact that they learn the basis of using the new digital technologies gives them the trust to try more, to learn more , to simplify their life, to find information, to use the modern technology.For our institution this project was an opportunity to find new ways in teaching, training, to develop new curriculums for new beneficiaries, to work at local and international level showing our project results to our educational professional community.Thanks to this project, we create ITC based methodologies and innovative approaches in order to accomplish the needs of our direct beneficiaries.