"All project partners work with the digital generation (Generation Y (those born after 1980, also known as Millennials, Generation Me and Echo Boomers) refers to a person reaching young adulthood around the year 2000; generation Z (born after 1995, also known as Post-Millennials, Centennials, the iGeneration, Founders, Plurals, or Digital Natives) and recognize that teachers often lack the knowledge and skills to choose effective methods and approaches to work with this target group. The digital age is transforming our work and our routines. It is transforming the way our students access information, communicate with each other and learn. This age has not transformed most teaching and learning process in classrooms. A recent OECD study shows that the average age of educators is between 40 and 60. The issue is topical also in all partner schools because the representatives of X-generation prevailing in our partner organizations find it increasingly complicated to work with the Millennials and Post-Millennials. Through this project we want to listen to students on how they want to learn and to inquire experts about the psychological recommendations on the preferred principles for working with this generation. We are aware of the many-fold feature of the problem and we think that namely new pedagogical approaches and techniques in the work with the Millennials and Post-Millennials can provide help to the teacher generation in coping with the challenges. The title of our project ""Millennials and Post-Millennials: Challenges and Opportunities for Teachers and Employers"" (project acronym: ""OMICHO"" (Our Millennials: Challenges and Opportunities) raises the question of how the school management can react and adapt to the needs generated by the digital generation. The aim of the project is to develop, test and implement the teaching and learning methods, educational tools to improve dialogue among Millennials and Post-Millennials, teachers and employers. The objectives of the project are: - research on the millennium and post-millennium generations; - create and adapt the teaching methods, education instruments and approbate them in practical lessons. The actors directly involved in the project will be: - the project team (in Bulgaria, Slovenia and Latvia - five teachers and one project coordinator, in Finland - four teachers and one coordinator); - about 100 students aged 15-20 years from each partner organization with which will be tested new teaching methods, educational tools developed in the project; - for conducting research: 100-150 respondents from students, 30-50 respondents from teachers, 15-20 respondents from employers of each country; - four sector experts (3 from Latvia, 1 from Finland) for educational activities and training during the project training sessions in Riga and Porvoo. The main project activities will be as follows: - two short-term joint staff training events; - creation and maintenance of the project website; - two online questionnaires on the Millennials and Post-Millennials; - two transnational project meetings; - video conference (evaluation of the first project work year); - implementation of innovative teaching methods (approbation, discussions, analysis, compilation, development of recommendations); - organization of workshops and seminars; - organization and development of collaborations with local entities; - organization of national conferences. The project envisages three main intellectual outcomes: - research on results of questionnaires, report; - approaches and recommendations for working with the Millennials and Post-Millennials; - project website. Through the cooperation of the four partners the innovation in the teaching-learning process can contribute to reaching the stated aims and finding new solutions to common problems. The new teaching and learning methods will facilitate cooperation, prepare students for diversity and cross-cultural interaction, cultivate knowledge creation, and promote engagement inside and outside the classroom. New approaches and education tools that are favored by the Millennials and Post-Millennials, recommendations for more effective work with these generations will strengthen the capacity of teachers and employers to understand the specific features of this generation and adapt the teaching and learning processes."

We at Theatre as Inclusive Practice believe that the power of creativity, theatre and unity would trigger changes in mindsets and societies faster than politics. Reports show that a vast majority of young people in the EU are at risk of being socially excluded, hardship among marginalised groups and communities are higher after the global pandemic, and it is the younger generations that are worst affected in terms of isolation and loneliness during the lockdown periods of 2020 and thus cannot actively participate in society. Theatre and arts can be used to engage communities facing exclusion, so our main focus is to conduct a training programme using strategies and techniques of participatory theatre to explore and develop social inclusion with young people from three different partner countries. By promoting quality, innovation and recognition of youth work, we will address the main target groups of the project facing social exclusion due to sexuality, race, ability, low income, nationality, etc.. Two target groups were identified - young workshop leaders who will be trained to support young people (a minimum of 20 in the four partner regions) and the young workshop participants at risk of exclusion or experiencing various difficulties due to forms of exclusion, attending regular theatre workshop sessions (a minimum of 32 in the four partner regions). In addition to the face-to-face reach out in schools and youth centres, we estimate that we will reach a minimum of 1000 young people with the online activities and more than 400 representatives of the interested third parties involved as local community and audience of theatre work. We know that our participants will increase their self-confidence and fortify their self-image based on the new skills they have acquired and the products they have created within transnational teams. The impact for the wider audience - young people in general, other youth at risk of exclusion, theatre experts and directors and others - will be a cultural experiences, inclusion, acceptance, empathy and shared understandings.We plan to achieve the aforementioned outcomes through the development of a ‘Training Trainers’ course for using applied theatre techniques for social inclusion - freely available for use. It will consist of tested methodology from the sphere of applied theatre (forum theatre, verbatim theatre, design theatre, participatory theatre, theatre of the senses, etc.) together with guidelines as to how it can be delivered offline and online. Project activities involve regular local workshops with young participants – both workshop leaders and young people at risk of exclusion.The main result of the project is the Training Trainers’ course containing a variety of theatrical methods and approaches, with integrated guidelines on how this course can be delivered online. The project consortium will also develop and provide the Drama and inclusion resource pack which is directed towards a more general audience, bringing them closer to the topic of inclusion, to the reasons behind exclusion and how we can challenge ourselves to be more inclusive. This collection of audio-visual cultural materials such as performances and the process behind their creation - showing the theatre practice in action, created by the young people involved in the project on the topic of social inclusion.Our objective is to involve as young workshop leaders people who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing social exclusion, and will be trained and upskilled to become trainers themselves. As far as the young people at risk of exclusion are concerned we aim at achieving at least 80% improved confidence and inclusion, based on their feedback and self-assessment.TIP will also position the partners on a national and international level as providers of innovative solutions for youth inclusion via cultural and creative activities. What we envisage as a result of this experience for the young participants are increased opportunities for social inclusion; increased ownership of cultural capital (by using theatre to address issues of societal importance) and increased confidence of social capital (through creating new transnational links with similar age groups). There is also the accessible online nature of the project for both participants and all those interested in the subject, which will turn them into resilient cultural operators in the face of challenges the uncertain future holds for our societies.We cannot predict the future. We cannot foresee what the world and these young people are about to face. But, in the words of Sir Ken Robinson, “all you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish.”

Peer education is a social promotion strategy based on the idea that it is possible to capture the isolation of peers within their networks to influence the knowledge, attitude, motivation and behavior of young people. Furthermore, as a methodology for promoting health and well-being, it is today one of the most significant and effective pathways in the prevention of risk behavior, since it identifies tools and strategies to enhance mutual change, combining the role of the adolescent's guide with the competence of the adult and facilitate the processes of integration, dialogue, inclusion and personal growth. In this perspective, the Il nostra S.C.O.P.E. aims to promote peer education by selecting best practices from each partner organization at the end of a common training program for young people with fewer opportunities (disadvantaged, NEET, suburbs or with migrant backgrounds) thanks to the acquisition of legislative, civic, artistic, audiovisual and intercultural, addressing discrimination, segregation and the pressing challenges related to social exclusion and unemployment through the development of a positive self-concept, trust and ability to communicate and socialize.The joint training program was developed on three pillars: (1) Citizenship; Citizenship workshops have been set up to activate small processes of change both for the individual and for the group / company. A change promoted by small actions to improve our surroundings. (2) Art and culture, based on current strategies and artistic techniques to develop self-esteem and self-recognition in a social context; dance, theater and music listening workshops have been set up. The beauty of art was used as a tool to create inclusion and active participation. (3) new media education. Photography, radio and web radio workshops have been created.The direct target groups are: (1) Adolescents with fewer opportunities who participated as pupils in the training course - 10 pupils per partner country (age group 14-18); (2) Young people with fewer opportunities who already have previous experience of working with children / adolescents and who have been trained as tutors - 3 tutors for each partner country (age group 20-25); (3) Adolescents and young people with fewer opportunities who have no previous work experience and who will support tutors as co-tutors of training activities - 3 co-tutors for each partner country (age group 16-20).The tangible results expected for the long-term impact are: - national documents and an international summary document on situations of social disadvantages and on current methodologies and strategies (good practices) to address the issue in all partner countries; - Training program in EN and in all partner languages The common training program is based on the three pillars of the project (see above); - Guide for trainers: tangible document explaining the activities (and their meaning) to be carried out for each pillar and the strategies / approaches in accordance with the topic (and the group), as well as the interaction between tutors, co-tutors , participants and reference adults. Intangible results recorded:- greater self-confidence for young people with fewer opportunities and greater future chances of being accepted into society - new skills and competences for music and theater experts, psychologists, pedagogues, educators and new media experts, working with people with fewer opportunities, involved in the project who will further disseminate their new skills acquired after the end of the project, creating an effect wave. - greater awareness by national agencies about social inclusion and the emancipation of children and young people with fewer opportunities - A new hope for families with a socially difficult background to see their children take part in better social positions and positions.The Our Scope Project was not a project with a beginning and an end. It was a process of change. A change started from below, from difficult situations and contexts, mainly wanted by the real protagonists of the project: the young. A project that has been research, experimentation and innovation thanks to a strong collaboration between the partners. A process that gave birth to other small local projects. A group of young French people has opened a cultural association, the Italian peereducators have been hired by the Inventare Insieme Association to continue their activities. The Bulgarians, the Northern Irish and the Spanish are also continuing their activities through forms of volunteering and involving many other young people.

Emotional intelligence is our ability to recognize emotions in ourselves and others, to understand their effect, and to use that knowledge to guide our thoughts and behaviors. Because emotional intelligent people tend to get along better with others and be more empathetic and compassionate, they are likely to be more successful compared to their counterparts. Thus it is more than vital to start to talk about emotional intelligence since primary education, not only for training children but also to train teachers and parents that are fundamental figures in the children emotional development. It is essentially a different way to be smart because it is “the capacity to be aware of, control- express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically”. People with higher emotional intelligence are also more adaptable to change and more capable of dealing with requests from the contexts. Most recent approaches stress the importance of socio-emotional learning (SEL) and education for a positive youth development.p.s. SMILE will aim to balance between subject knowledge and education. All around Europe education is more focused on the knowledge transfer rather than to help children to develop skills that are necessary for a better integration in society and to be successful in any future field in life. The project conforms with the aim of the EU to form a unified European front against the problems that face societies, achieving the European goal to promote peace, its values and mostly the well-being of its citizens, including the crucial but often forgotten emotional well-being. The project aims to contribute in building emotionally stable, inclusive and healthy communities in primary education institutions where significant adults, namely parents and teachers, reach a better understanding of what is education, take care of their own socio-emotional functioning and support its development in children. That is a fluorishing community result from a joint capacity building process of parents, teachers and children in both educational and daily life contexts.OBJECTIVES-Throughout the delivery of the intellectual outputs, empowering significantly adults in their living community (namely teachers and parents)with effective tools to more successfully guide socio-emotional development of their children.-Improving throughout training primary schools’ teachers’ capability to successfully teach and develop children's social and emotional competences.-Thanks to the activities covering the different components of SEL, verify the efficacy of the program to develop in children essential socio-emotional skills to better understand themselves and their classmates and orient their behavior.-Creating guidelines for teachers on SEL in order to provide them with necessary knowledge and skills to refer to SEL during their teaching activities.-Creating materials for SEL teaching that will be available on the online platform and disseminated across participating countries.-Raise awareness in the local community and also in the European community about the importance of social and emotional education for children since an early stage (primary school).ACTIVITIES p.s. SMILE will produce 4 Intellectual Outputs:IO1:Methodological material for SEL competences development. Partnership will create a the state of the art report for the countries involved in the partnership. These will be used for setting the guidelines to produce the methodological material regarding SEL. This will provide the information about SEL competences, their importance, their development possibilities, education of SEL for kids. The material will result in an e-book that will be available online with open access. As well we'll provide guidelines on how to integrate SEL activities in formal and non-formal education. Non-formal education program for SEL competences development will be provided by each partner country.IO2:Creation of 1 training method for teachers that then will train the children on SEL dimensions. The training will be then administered by the partners to the teachers in each partner country. There will be then a piloting activity developed among a whole academic year in which the teachers will use the developed training method with their classes to help pupils developing SEL dimensions.IO3:Developing of an App for adults (parents, teachers) guiding them through SEL components and competences and setting daily activities for them to better develop their emotional potential and improve themselves.IO4:The training method created in IO2 will be evaluated and modified according to that, then will be adapted for becoming an e-learning platform.All project activities, results and outcomes are all aimed to make teachers, parents, pupils and European community more aware of the importance of SEL and how to properly develop and use it.

<< Objectives >>The project aims at nurturing and supporting v.i. youths' sense of initiative and entrepreneurship by creating a safe and peer-learning oriented environment, which can facilitate the testing and validation of social entrepreneurial ideas.The project also aims at achieving the inclusion of young v.i. people by developing guidelines for organizing peer learning hiking, involving v.i. and sighted youth together, going on a target oriented trip and learning from each other on the way.<< Implementation >>Planning and preparing our social entrepreneurial and self-development and awareness workshops - an activity for the involved youth with v.i. (social entrepr. workshops) and the youth workers.Implementing the mixed peer-learning hike for sighted and visually impaired participants - testing the workshops and finalizing the guide for organizing peer learning mixed hikes.Testing the mixed peer-learning hike on a national level and sharing the results with wider communities and tourism sector.<< Results >>Development of workshops, hence social-entrepreneurial concepts.An updated and enriched version of a visual awareness training course.Development of guidelines and agenda for organizing mixed peer-learning hikes.Developed logistics of the hiking tour and a detailed agenda, together with safety rules, risk assessment and procedures in case of emergency.Implemented test hike in Bulgaria and agendas for all partners.Events for sharing the project results with newly developed networks.