"<< Background >>Women shoulder a heavier burden of family work than men in modern society, preventing them from matching male success in the external labour market. So far, the decrease in the employment rate due to the COVID-19 crisis has not seen substantial differences by gender on average in the EU. However, women’s over- representation in lower paid sectors and occupations, as well as in part-time employment, makes them particularly vulnerable in the labour markets struck by the COVID-19 crisis. Gender gaps are larger for women with young children: in 2019, they faced a negative employment gap of 14.3 pps in contrast to women without children, whereas men in the same situation saw a positive gap of 9.6 pps. Employment outcomes are poorer in particular for older, non-EU born and low-skilled women and women with disabilities. Female labour market participation could be strengthened by reforms and investments in work-life balance policies, such as gender balanced parental and care leaves.The position of women in the labour market, either when talking about employed ones or entrepreneurs, is still lagging behind quite considerably in relation to the one of men. For decades already the debate has opened raising awareness on the pronounced pay gap, the limitations of professional growth and the ""invisible ceiling"", low representation in key managerial or decision-making positions and a series of obstacles for women entrepreneurs (from access to funding to lack of governments support for balancing professional and personal life to incentives and programmes to support the development of very small and small enterprises conceptualised and run by women); however the problem still persists without much changing in the conditions and opportunities available for women. The EMPOWERED project will create a training programme for women to achieve a two-fold purpose: on one hand, it will equip women with digital skills which are necessary in the era of digital transformation and are valuable for accessing the labour market with a competitive disadvantage, and on the other it will address a spectrum of psychological obstacles women are facing when they need to claim a better position in the world of work. Therefore, the needs of the target group of the project which will be met relate both to technical skills and emotional/ psychological reinforcement which is equally important for all women who wish to either find a job or change their career path. The former will be achieved through the adaptation of an already existing training course that P3 (Found.ation) has developed and successfully implements for digital upskilling and the latter will be covered through the development of a set of modules specifically for providing emotional and psychological support and fostering increased self-awareness and self-worth.<< Objectives >>The conditions under which women are employed (in terms of schedule, demands, expectations) and them with their professional life form a challenge that they are forced to deal with. If one also considers the existing prejudices in terms of a woman’s position, her knowledge and skills, her ability to undertake certain tasks, it becomes a multifaceted problem which, ultimately, impacts their perception of self and worth.Empower is a multidimensional word including social, physical, spiritual, mental, political and psychological dimensions. Empower means personal growth in decision-making, analysing critical situations, coping with all circumstances and facing challenges. The objective of the project is the empowerment of women through the development of a training course for their digital upskilling, as well as their psychological empowerment to reinforce their position in the labour market. The course will be based on the Found.ation Business Academy (FBA) a tailored professional skills platform developed by the Found.ation, which offers structured and dynamic content on emerging technologies, innovation & digital transformation, which can be delivered with great flexibility. The content of the FBA will be adapted to the needs of unemployed women, as well as women who wish to pursue a career change but are reluctant. In addition to the digital skills that will be enhanced, the partners will also develop a horizontal set of modules, aiming at helping women address the psychological factors that demoralise women for claiming a better employment or even daring to The partners will also develop a handbook to facilitate the delivery of the Empowered course by AE teachers and trainers, career counsellors and CSO representatives aimed at providing the theoretical background, the tools and methodologies of the EMPOWERED training course to facilitate its implementation after the end of the project. The handbook is expected to bring important added value to the sustainability of the results developed. Moreover, a virtual community will be set up, through which the members of the target group will be able to access the training programme and, most importantly, connect with their peers, exchange experiences and thoughts and provide support to one another. Representatives from the stakeholders of the project will also have the opportunity to connect through the platform with the target group and disseminate information on education, training and employment opportunities, as well as initiatives at local, regional and national level aimed at the facilitation of access to employment and balance of professional with personal life.<< Implementation >>The EMPOWERED project has been designed with 4 results and 4 project phases which have been structured in such a way as to deliver high quality outputs tailored to the identified needs. Moreover, apart from the phases of the project which will be described below the following horizontal processes will support its implementation: Project Management, Quality Assurance and evaluation, dissemination and exploitation.Τhe 4 phases of the project are:Phase 1-Preparation: in the first part of the project the partners will undertake a state-of-the-art research to document the challenges that women need to face when trying to achieve employment or change their career, especially following the changes brought about from the pandemic and in the era of digital transformation. The parteners will focus on women 30-50 years old and from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. (months 1-4)Phase 2-Development: during the development phase, the partners will focus on the development of the EMPOWERED training programme, the corresponding handbook for AE trainers, career counsellors and CSOs, and the digital community for peer-support and encouragement, as well as dissemination of information related to opportunities for training, employment, etc. The basis for the development will be the FBA training programme developed by P3, the expertise of P4 and P2 on addressing emotional and psychological obstacles for (re) entering the labour market and the findings of R1. In this context, two LTAs are foreseen, aimed at bring together the partners for the coordinated development and finalisation of the outputs prior to the pilot phase. (months 5-14)Phase 3–Pilot phase: this phase will aim at the pilot implementation of all outputs aforementioned with a selected number of target group members. The aim of this phase will be to collect grassroots level feedback on the results, if necessary undertake some updates/ revisions and draw conclusions for the final stage of the project (months 15-21)Phase 4–Finalisation: the last phase of the project relates to the drafting of a report which will summarise the progress of the pilot phase and the feedback collected, resulting in recommendations for policy makers, national and local institutions, as well as labour market representatives on how they can effectively address the issue of gender inequality in the workplace. (months 22-24)<< Results >>The project implementation will lead to outcomes both tangible and intangible. In particularTangible Results:1) A state-of-the-art report presenting the challenges that women have to face when in need of changing their employment status (either accessing employment or changing career paths)2) The EMPOWERED training programme for women, including the adaptation of the FBA (provided by P3) and a horizontal set of modules for the psychological empowerment of the target group3) A handbook for AE trainers and providers, career counsellors and CSOs to ensure the sustainability of the projectIntangible Results:1) Development of the EMPOWERED virtual (digital) community among women and project stakeholders2) Increased visibility on the challenges women face in terms of their employment status, especially if they have been long-term unemployed for a number of reasons3) Increased sensitivity on how policymakers, institutions and the civil society as a whole contribute to the resolution of these challenges4) Promotion and exchange of good practice examples in the field of facilitating access to employment for women5) Networking among all stakeholders involved in the partner countries, through both the focus groups organised in the context of the project, the multiplier events and the virtual community"

"<< Objectives >>The project aims to create a seed bank from school space, involving the local community. We aim to educate for active citizenship, make society more aware of its natural heritage, and use dematerialisation mechanisms (collaborative economy and sustainable consumption) to preserve biological and genetic diversity. The project is structured in several activities, expanding from schools to educators and the local community or national level through free seed sharing.<< Implementation >>In the schools: Fortnightly training and awareness-raising activities with 8 classes of 2nd and 6th-year students and teachers in 4 schools, predominantly structured in practical activities to provide students with action tools. In Romanian schools, new vegetable gardens.From schools to the community: ethnobotanical walks and an open day at the schools. From local to the national level: a ""seeds archive, to share seeds for free, encouraging propagation and raising awareness of their importance<< Results >>8 classes (4/country) enthusiastically learning, with impacts in their routines and within their family contexts. Improve the relationship of families and communities with schoolsNew vegetable gardens in the schoolsA handbook to be adopted by other entities to replicate the projectTwo national seed repositories, able to freely share seeds and spread practices of saving and sharingIn terms of accessibility, provide an example that considers intellectual, physical and social accessibility"

"The lack of effective solutions in access to culture and culture-forming activities by people with disabilities is undoubtedly a problem in modern Europe. There are countries where people with disabilities are still not full citizens due to the lack of solutions enabling active participation in social/ cultural life.In our opinion, the task of the ""Audio description and subtitles against exclusion"" project is to ensure that every resident of countries participating in the project has such right to equality, non-discrimination and active participation in cultural activities that are so important for proper functioning in society. In our opinion, audio description and subtitles for the deaf should be the standard in the functioning of all European cultural institutions. The research carried out by the Centrum Kultury Wroclaw-Zachod shows that despite a clear increase in proposals addressed also to people with disabilities, their number is insufficient. The reason for this is, among others, the lack of qualified staff who would take care of adapting the current offer to the needs of people with sight and hearing impairments. It is known from the survey and environmental interview that program employees of Wroclaw cultural institutions and Lower Silesian centres working with people with disabilities know what audio description and subtitles are. At the same time, they lack the competence and skills to implement these methods in the life of their institutions.The level of culture availability and adaptation of the offer to the needs of people excluded from it is different in different European countries. Western European countries (richer) are characterized by greater program diversity addressed to people with disabilities. Poor countries - Eastern Europe does not apply the principle of availability at all or it is minimal. Our action is a response to the requests and needs of people with disabilities who want to actively participate in society on equal terms. We will implement the ""Audio description and subtitles against exclusion"" project with institutions from Lithuania, Cyprus, Romania and Latvia. Institutions from countries where activities related to the adaptation of the cultural offer to the needs of people with sight and hearing impairments are practically absent.The main goal is to improve the qualifications and skills of the culture employees in creating audio description and subtitles for the hearing impaired, but at the same time adjusting the program offer (by preparing audio description and subtitles) to the reception by the blind and deaf. Workshops on creating audio description for films, performances, visual arts and subtitling will be organized.The implementation of the main goal will consist of a series of intermediate goals;- learning about the environment and the needs of the blind and deaf people. The workshops will also be conducted by blind people and will contain solutions from other countries, e.g. the ""didu"" method from Spain,- acquiring the ability to create programs integrating all groups of participants,- implementing audio description for the blind and subtitles for deaf to their own activities, - improving professional and non-professional skills.The target group are employees of partner institutions. International cooperation will allow the exchange of experiences and good practices, as well as a discussion on the level of culture accessibility in EU countries. The project involves the implementation of four 5-day workshops and study visits1. Audio description in theatre performances (Romania)2. Audio description in visual arts (Lithuania)3. Audio description in film (Latvia)4. Subtitling for films for hearing impaired, theatre performances and television programs (Cyprus)5. Conferences - events disseminating intellectual results6. Study visits The project will open with a study visit in Poland. 25 people will take part in the workshop, 5 people from each partner. They will be employees of cultural institutions, artists. Participation in trainings will enable participants to acquire new competences and skills, and will also allow them to broaden and acquire additional skills, change their professional qualifications and thus expand the cultural offer of their native institution. The knowledge from the workshop will allow the implementation of various artistic events in a comprehensive manner, providing recipients with sight and hearing disabilities on an international level. Extending the current offer with suggestions addressed also to the blind and deaf people will have a positive impact on the audience development and will minimize the effect of exclusion from the society of people with disabilities. The intellectual result will be a textbook containing theory and practical advices on how to create audio description and subtitles for the hearing impaired."

Availability of culture for the disabled continues to be one of the crucial, unsolved issues. This is of particular importance in the developing countries, where all sorts of access amenities are still a rarity. There is no strategy in place the objective of which would be to improve access to the resources of culture and cultural objects to the disabled. Incidental events are unable to fill the gap, despite being so precious. The project is targeted at intensifying and expanding the range of initiatives which limit the obstacles in access to culture as well as promoting the need of participation in it. The disabled do not participate in generally accessible events not because it is unworkable. Both in Poland and in many countries of the European Union: cinemas, theatres or other cultural life centres still remain unadjusted to their needs. There are no screenings containing audio description for the blind, nor subtitles for the deaf while architectural obstacles, frequently insurmountable, further contribute to the hindered access to artistic events. Inclusion into culture of disabled recipients who are socially “excluded” is a great challenge which may only be faced by a well-trained personnel. The key task of the project is to promote accessibility through training and support for the personnel of cultural institutions which will apply the obtained skills and solutions in order to eliminate the obstacles for the disabled.The project “Be able to meet” will focus on specific tasks:-Discovering the specificity of individual types of disability as well as possibilities of adjusting art to the needs of a different sensory reception-Introducing educational programmes enabling realization of the idea of broad access to culture and art through liquidating architectural, cognitive, mental and financial barriers, facilitating through this an active participation in art for persons with sight, hearing and motion dysfunctions as well as for the disabled.Direct target group for the carried out actions will be the persons employed in: culture centres, theatres, museums, cinemas-professionals - employees of culture who realize projects with the disabled on an occasional basis. The project will offer trainings and innovative support in identifying the needs of cultural institutions in the scope of servicing the disabled guests suffering from various dysfunctions.-amateurs-volunteers, person who support institutions of culture at an amateur level and who wish to participate in actions towards social integration and fight against social exclusion.The project will be indirectly targeted at:-directors, managers of cultural institutions. Both cinemas, theatres, culture centres, exhibition galleries, libraries etc. will be able to find adequate solutions for the preparation of events for the disabled and obtain knowledge on the necessary equipment with similar EU institutions.-Public administration institutions the task of which is to undertake initiatives in order to improve the quality of life of persons with specific needs as well as prevent their social exclusion and discrimination.The project will elaborate adequate attitudes towards the disabled in everyday work with them which will be developed and implemented thanks to project activities. Participants will be comprehensively prepared to work with the disabled and increasing their qualifications will enable the use of their skills in order to create the possibility of training the employees of other institutes of culture. “Be able to meet” has detected the best models and practices applied in EU which will be used and developed by project partners with various experiences and backups. Joint work will trigger the appearance of a practical guidebook, containing updated and significant tools in work with the disabled. We have assumed that project actions contained within the guidebook will bring positive and long-term results on the local and European level.Participants will increase their qualifications and gain new skills during 3 workshops: in Poland, Romania and Spain. Poland - workshop entitled “Model cultural institutions”, Spain - “Audio description, Subtitles, Didu - method which include the blind and the deaf into cultural actions”, Romania - “User of art therapy and other methods in inclusion of persons with motion and mental disabilities. In total, the workshops will be participated by 15 persons, 5 from each country. The workshops will last 4 days.The key result will be the change of perspective within the target group, which will gain, among project activities, the skills and competencies on working with the disabled, preparing basic audio description, creating both substantive and architectural conditions for artistic and cultural development of persons excluded from culture. These intense training workshops will allow the participants to get closer to the world of needs and problems of the disabled person and, most importantly, possibilities of

SOCIACT (Social Acting) refers to a multilateral project carried out by 6 partners from 5 EU countries, namely Greece, Portugal, Denmark, Poland and Romania. The central idea is to prepare, implement and evaluate 5 study visits in the respective local communities of the partners in order to highlight good practices applied in the field of the so-called Social Theater, i.e. the exploitation of dramatic art for social purposes and for the benefit of weak individuals and marginalized social groups. It also aims to improve the actor's profession and to encourage them to actively participate in social entrepreneurship actions and in the sector of solidarity economy. The study visits will involve 62 people from the theater sector who are experienced or sensitized in societal matters and human offer to individuals or groups that are on the verge of social exclusion such as elderly, deaf, blind, people with learning disabilities or behavioral difficulties, hospitalized, etc.). Study visits will be organized in partnership with local associated partners and stakeholders from all partner communities, who are active in drama, cultural and social sectors. The working methods to be applied make use of elements of the socio-cultural theory of learning, emphasizing human relationships, physical objects and cultures. Knowledge acquisition will take place in cooperative environments, through knowledge-tool parallels, but also through discussions and the joint implementation of activities.The expected results will be the mapping of ways for approaching socially excluded groups through the tools offered by dramatic art, the acquisition of new teaching and operational skills of the participants in the provisional study visits, the widening of the fields of professional or voluntary activity of the professional or student actors and the creation of new or improved social services of partners and associated entities. The content and the results of the study visits together with a variety of documentation of the project's complementary actions will be presented in an Activity Report. This product will be available on Web and will be the primary promotional material to be used in the following activities related to dissemination, exploitation and multiplication of project's outputs. The partners intend to continue their co-operation after the end of the project by creating an active network on Social Theater that will promote actors' mobility and application of the identified good practices' activities and they will take steps to further expansion of it.