With this project we aim to contribute to the development of quality and recognition of youth work provisions in South Africa, Nigeria, Lithuania an Netherlands by a) developing youth workers’ competences to deliver non-formal education programmes on digital literacy for young people with fewer opportunities and b) developing recognition systems based on digital open badges technology in cooperation with stakeholders from private and public sectors. The aim will be achieved through the following specific objectives of the project:1. To increase partners’ shared knowledge and understanding how non-formal education programmes on digital literacy and XXI century skills development are being implemented in regions of partners organisations 2. To adapt, develop and pilot methodologies for digital literacy and social skills development of young people with fewer opportunities based on best practices and specific contexts where partner organisations are operating at; 3. To increase competences of youth workers to non-formal education programmes on digital literacy and social skills development through guided direct youth work practice happening in between the mobilities of youth workers 4. To develop and implement recognition systems based on digital open badges enabling youth workers and young people from partners organisations to collect and share evidence of their learning experiences and seek wider recognition. 5. To ensure wide reach and use of created methodologies and open badges system by making them available as Open Educational Resources and publishing project practices through range of media channels across involved partner countries and beyond. Project consists of 4 short youth worker mobility activities - 3 study visits in South Africa, Nigeria and Netherlands, 1 training course in Lithuania; 2 group job shadowing mobilities – in Nigeria and South Africa, 1 evaluation partner meeting in South Africa and capacity building activities linked to development and piloting of youth work methodologies focusing on development of digital literacy of young people with fewer opportunities. Project contains ongoing activities - monitoring, quality assurance, evaluation, and dissemination of ongoing process and results. The project lasts for 24 months from 1st August 2019 to 31st July 2021. The project consortium involves 5 partners from South Africa, Nigeria, Netherlands and Lithuania, involved in development and implementation of youth work and non-formal education programmes on digital literacy of young people. Throughout the project partners will involve range of strong local partners from public and private fields in order to ensure wider reach and sustainability of the project results. The project will involve 76 people in youth worker mobilities and at least 80 young people in direct youth work activities and will reach out to more than 13000 people through the dissemination activities.

> Context/background:This project is focused on competences, qualification and endorsement frameworks and partners will connect existing entrepreneurial adult education programmes for disadvantaged adults with fewer opportunities. They will use entrepreneurial frameworks to recognise, endorse, and acknowledge prior learning, on the job learning and learning in the educational programmes using Open Badges digital technology.This project is based on supporting adults who often developed specific hard skills, have entrepreneurial knowledge, but lack the right entrepreneurial skills to make an effective business or find the right job around their competences and support themselves on personal and career level.This project will be Improving and extending the supply of high quality learning opportunities for adults by making available flexible learning offers adapted to their learning needs (e.g. blended learning, digital learning applications), and by the validation of skills acquired through informal and non-formal learning.> Objectives: To develop capacity of partner organisations to use Open Badges technology to assess, validate and recognise entrepreneurial skills and attitudes of adult learners;To develop endorsement schemes for adult education programmes, especially for adult learners with fewer opportunities;To create new adult learning opportunities by utilising and developing digital technology solutions available on the Cities of Learning platform;To promote new adult learning opportunities in participating countries and at the European level.> Participant:Participants of the adult education programmes carried out by the partners:- unemployed, non- or undereducated young adults, adults who not yet recognise their prior learning, have an entrepreneurial attitude and need better guidance into becoming an entrepreneur. - refugees who are mid- and high educated residents and newcomers but they are lacking the right certificates to enter the labour market.Staff members partner organisations:- trainers, adult educators, social workers- project managers, staff, communication specialists, policy makers> Description of activities:Intellectual output “Entrepreneurial skills pathways for adult learners”Intellectual output “Endorsement schemes for entrepreneurial skills”Intellectual output“Skills pathways and endorsement functionality on Cities of Learning platform”Staff training on digital technology for pathways to entrepreneurial skillsStudy visit on adult learning pathways to entrepreneurial skillsStudy visit on endorsement schemes for entrepreneurial skillsLocal and international multiplier events> Methodology:Adult education, design thinking, skills pathways, Open Badges, Cities of Learning framework, skills endorsement, agile development approach.> Results:- developed capacity of partner organisations and their staff members to use Open Badges technology to assess, validate and recognise entrepreneurial skills and attitudes of adult learners.- exchanged best practices of adult education programmes focused on entrepreneurial mindset development, especially with adults from inclusions groups;- created new digital pathways to entrepreneurial development using open badges technology;- developed skills pathways and endorsement functionality on the Cities of Learning platform;- created media content and resources to promote new adult learning opportunities in participating countries and at the European level> Impact:- adult learners putting their knowledge, skills and attitudes into actions- adult learners are self-starting to find a job (‘employability’) or to start a business;- adult education organisations may change their approach to teaching and learning;- societal change and social inclusion;- economic growth – because of the new entrepreneurs and new ‘intrapreneurs’,(adding value to existing businesses as an entrepreneurial skilled employees)> Longer term benefits:Our project results will contribute to reaching local, regional, national and European policy objectives. As such, services bringing added value and quality to adult education and entrepreneurial education will remain of high importance at least for the next couple of years, specifically due to the Covid-19 situation where Europe needs entrepreneurial attitudes and skills, making our project relevant over a longer period of time.

<< Objectives >>We aim to establish a quality standard for Open Badges issuers seeking better quality and wider recognition of learning activities and outcomes. In this project, we will seek to achieve:1.Better badge recognition in youth policies and practices at local and European levels2.Develop country-specific and the European badge recognition strategies3.Capacity of youth workers to multiply digital badge recognition locally4.Develop the Quality Label for digital badge recognition and accreditation<< Implementation >>Researching recognition systems, developing countries-specific and European badge recognition strategies, stakeholder engagement (locally and at European level).International certification training on digital badge recognition, local multiplying workshops, international expert seminar on wider recognition, online learning activities and resources (pathways).Analysing quality standards, piloting Quality Label standard for badge recognition, technical solution to implement Quality Label.<< Results >>Research and analysis of recognition systems and quality standards.6 country-specific and 1 European badge recognition strategies and stakeholder engagement.Developed standard training certification programme on digital badge recognition.Developed standard multiplying activities, digital learning activities and resources on quality badge recognition.Expert recommendations for wider badge recognition.Piloted Quality Label standard for Badge issuers, incl. documentation and technical solution

“I cannot and will not accept that Europe is and remains the continent of youth unemployment. I cannot and will not accept that the millennials, Generation Y, might be the first generation in 70 years to be poorer than their parents.” (Junker Speech at State of the Union, Sept. 2016) ‘Europe's future depends on its YOUTH'. The main objective of this project is to promote digital literacy, while fighting skills mismatches and young unemployment in Germany, Cyprus, Netherlands, Latvia, Spain and Romania. This objective was reached through a multi-assessed e-tool (https://dc4jobs.tucampusdeformacion.com), based on an interactive and dynamic platform which we developed, for young people with fewer opportunities in order to up-grade, up-skill or re-skill their digital competences to meet the needs of the labor market. Until 30.10.2019, we have received 160 unique id in the e-learning platforms, which used our platform and helped us to improve the quality of the materials used.In order to support young people in their search for employment, the aim of this project was reached by equipping them with employability skills (Pilot testing) and by building bridges with the labour market through the creation of the on-line and in-house “DC4JOBS - One-Stop-Support-Centre’ which offers services developed in the project: i.e. DC4JOBS SKILLS AUDIT, professional ICT training for re-skilling and up-skilling of digital skills and career guidance integrated in the existing organisational infrastructure. To set up the DC4JOBS NETWORK where various organisations, stakeholders, agencies, public services etc. offer guidance and advice for future employment, by using various materials developed throughout the project. The direct target group is YOUNG PEOPLE between 16 to 24 years old, with a specific focus on young people with fewer opportunities (including NEETs, young people at risk of marginalisation and young people with a migrant background, including newly arrived immigrants and young refugees, early school leavers etc.) who will acquire or upgrade their digital skills related to employability, whereas the indirect target group is the labour market, who will benefit from digitally literate young people, as well as the various organisations whose members will be educated and well equipped to fight unemployment.Through these intellectual Outputs we have achieved:1. Implementation of the Professional upskilling Programme for young people and utilize, test and revise all products. 2. All partners have organized ICT training (face-to-face) as needed to support young people' digital acquisition and employability skills.3. All partners have organized and set monitoring and assessment guidelines to collect feedback, views, case studies, observations etc., both on-line and on-paper.4. Designed and produced a short GUIDEBOOK for participants with all relevant information about the project and its implementation.The teaching materials developed within this project have been tested and piloted with on-site piloting courses in each partner country, where we tested the benefits and effects of the materials, to improve the modules by each partner organization. The materials also contain various non-formal educational methods and tools that would further improve the quality of the youth work in Europe, and beyond.After the project ending, DC4JOBS SKILLS AUDIT needs to be more capitalised in each partner countries through continuous skills development and personnel of each organisation will be fully utilised. We hope that products developed from this project will be further used to improve the work of the organizations.

<< Background >>CONTEXT/BACKGROUNDThis project will introduce the Cities of Learning platform into several new communities: Ghent and Hoogstraten (Belgium), West Brabant, Region Rijnland, and Island Curacao (Kingdom of The Netherlands), Lisbon (Portugal). Cities of Learning promote open, accessible and inclusive learning to all.This project idea takes place in the context of digitalisation of societies, which is now additionally accelerated by the lockdowns due to the pandemic crisis. Common challenge is the lack of adult education programmes oriented towards competences and skills needed to thrive today and in the future. That’s where the 21st century skills idea originates.We refer in this application to 21st century skills, which we see as a broad set of knowledge, skills, work habits and character qualities for people in ensuring well-being, civic engagement and employment. This set of skills also include digital skills and literacies necessary to harness the digital transformation. Through the work in Cities of Learning context and also the international adult education context, we will combine frameworks for 21st century skills that are recognised on world wide and on national levels: E.g. DigComp 2.0, nationally used working skills (can be different per partner country), and the World Economic Forum Top 10 skills in demand for 2022.<< Objectives >>OBJECTIVES:This project aims to achieve the following objectives:1. To map existing best practices of validating and recognising 21st century skills developed through adult education programmes.2. To exchange perspectives on how 21st century skills can be connected with existing or newly developed competence frameworks.3. To create skills assessment, validation and recognition pathways for adult education programmes focused on the 21st century skills development.4. To develop technical solutions to embed 21st century skills assessment and competence frameworks within the platform of Cities of Learning.<< Implementation >>ACTIVITIES:The project partners will map best practices in validation and recognition of the 21st century skills in participating countries, in other countries in Europe and the world. The 21st century skills are skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, media literacy, technology literacy, flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, social and cross-cultural skills, learning to learn, digital literacy, problem solving, and creativity.Partners of this project will create unique skills assessment, validation and recognition pathways for adult education programmes focused on 21st century skills development, which will be developed respecting different perspectives of organisational roles and countriesDuring this project we want to extend the possibilities of digital technology to improve transparency and recognition of skills, in our case 21st century skills. We want to develop the skills assessment and competency frameworks functionalities and integrate them in the platform for Cities of Learning. The assessment functionality will enable learning providers and learners to use a 360° assessment system which will combine self-assessment, external feedback from other learners, mentors and supervisors. The 360° assessment system will be based around a specific competence model chosen by the learning provider. The competence model can be aligned to a specific qualification framework or occupational standard.<< Results >>RESULTS:- Webinar recordings and a comprehensive report with good practices of validating and recognising 21st century skills developed through adult education programmes.- Guidelines for validation and recognition of 21st century skills in adult education programmes.- Validation and recognition pathways designed, tested and created for selected adult education programmes implemented by the project partners.- Technical solutions to implement assessment and recognition of 21st century skills using the platform of Cities of Learning.- Impact on learning and recognition of adult learners to improve their opportunities for 21st century skills validation and recognitionLONGER TERM BENEFITSOne of the most valuable results of this project will be to launch 5 localised platforms for Cities of Learning. This technical solution will be made available not only the partner organisations of this project, but also for any learning provider in participating cities. We will make sure to promote this opportunity well to our local partners and stakeholders and beyond our networks. Partners of the project will use Multiplier events to reach out to targets audiences who can make best use of Cities of Learning platform locally.Every partner delivering adult education programmes identified specific stakeholders for this project. We selected local partner organisations, institutions, and businesses which we work with for some time already. In this way we will make sure that the results of this project will be made relevant and known to important stakeholders. Validation and recognition of skills requires direct involvement of external partners to strengthen value and benefits to learners.PARTICIPANTS PROFILE:This project will involve around 300 participants. They will be adult learners, including participants with difficult backgrounds and fewer opportunities, adult education staff, managers of adult education programmes, policy and decision makers at adult education organisations.