New technologies emerge rapidly. Digital literacy and 21st century skills play a crucial role as part of modern-day citizenship and modern life in general. All young people will need technological skills and an agile mind-set towards technology in their future work and everyday life, and youth work should be able to encourage this.Undoubtedly, quality youth work that meets young people’s needs must include digital considerations. This does not mean that every youth worker should be a technical expert, but that recognition that young people are growing up in a digital era and need support to navigate the online aspects of their lives and critically analyse online information/interaction is becoming increasingly central to youth work.The best approach for that is transformation of traditional youth work methods and tailoring them to be delivered in digital environment. To address the existing need for digitalisation and to increase the quality of youth work, DiGi YOUTH partnership created the concept of an ambitious 22-month project set to improve the skills of youth workers and youth organisations’ staff who lack the digital competences or attitudes to fully benefit from the opportunities created by digital technologies for delivering high quality youth work and engaging with disadvantaged youth.Alongside the opportunities that digital youth work offers, there is also a lack of confidence, competence, strategic planning, and investment to enable the youth work sector to fully embrace these developments. DiGi YOUTH aims to increase those capacities by offering training and best practice sharing to youth practitioners and youth organisations’ staff to help them incorporate digital youth work. It also creates opportunities to showcase the value of digital youth work.DiGi YOUTH aims to promote quality youth work through supporting open and innovative practices in a digital era. The project objectives are as follows:– Share good digital youth work practices across Europe and provide networking platform leading to improved practice and innovation within the European youth work community via the DiGi YOUTH Work hub;– Build capacity of youth workers to respond to digitalisation through training that meets their needs, based on gamification, specifically via the DiGi YOUTH Simulation game;– Improve digital youth work planning and the development of relevant strategies and methods or tools through increasing awareness of requirements for and best practices in application of digital youth work among youth workers and youth organisations’ staff, summarised and shared as DiGi YOUTH Work manual;– Improve digital/social media and information literacy of youth workers and especially youth organisations to engage with and support young people, and enhance their capacities to use (multi)media as youth work tool via DiGi YOUTH Media manual;– Raise awareness of digital youth work within the youth work sector and among policy makers and funders nationally and EU wide.DiGi YOUTH will provide youth workers and youth organisations’ staff with the unique opportunity to obtain knowledge and practical experience related to digital youth work in a dynamic format. Moreover, they will be able to reach out to disadvantaged and non-organised youth and thus become more inclusive. The creation of the simulation game, which will be an innovative mix between real-life practices and a gamified experience, aims to immerse the youth workers in realistic situations and point them to the correct solutions. It is a precedent for this kind of training and will increase willingness of users to learn and predispose them to accepting new outlooks on life, open them up to intercultural communication more, and nurture in them a kinder outlook on engagement of young people from different communities. Hence DiGi YOUTH will provide a more interactive environment, based on situations of case studies related to initiatives with a more integrated approach to youth work and network activities.The target groups of the project are: - Youth workers - as they are expected to lead, inspire, and deliver digital youth work, most activities are aimed at training them via innovative approaches based on open education and innovative practices – the DiGi YOUTH Work hub, simulation game, and DiGi YOUTH Media manual.- Youth organisations staff – the project will increase the awareness of ethical and organisational considerations and requirements of digital youth work among this target group, their inclusiveness, as well as provide best practices for practical application of digital youth work and media tools, summarised and shared in two DiGi YOUTH manuals.- Young people – the project will promote digital youth work among young people who can benefit from its advantages via the planned multiplier events to showcase innovative practice in digital youth work and launch the elaborated project outputs – DiGi YOUTH Work hub, simulation game, and manuals.

<< Background >>In our times of increased multiculturalism and multilingualism though, there is a need for a way to build empathy, teach and understand, and communicate ideas through universal languages. While the number of migrants in the EU is rising (according to Eurostat, more than 5% of the population of the EU is non-EU citizens) and mobility within the EU has been on the rise (COVID-19 crisis), tensions are rising as well. These divides can be mended to a large extent through change of attitude, understanding and increase both of quality and quantity of communication between different groups. Inclusion and integration within the EU must be based not just on common interests, but also on shared values and insight into the differences, which make cultures richer. Not in the last place, diversity has many faces, through which we can see the need for flexibility and adaptability - accommodating people with various specific needs, like dyslexia (which is observed in between 9 and 12% of the population in the EU according to the European Dyslexia Association) or autism disorders (which affects around 1 in 100, according to Autism Europe) just to give an example. According to the European Council (2013) youth work plays an important role in preventing social exclusion and enhancing social inclusion. Social inclusion in its turn encompasses various aspects of one’s life, including mental health and control over levels of anxiety, ability to participate in discourse and decision-making, as well as ability to communicate effectively, share stories and express opinions. Comic books and graphic novels on the other hand, provide a method of work, which lowers barriers to entry for young people, and invites them in not only as consumers, but as creators of content, which may be crucial to integration into their communities. Studies of using comic creation as a tool, have shown a lot of promise in this idea. When used with Native American youth in 2012 shows that comic creation can lead to improved knowledge and behaviour, as well as healthier decision-making. The small-scale Comics Youth initiative in the UK has also shown promise in supporting young people express and discover themselves. It is also important to consider that consuming and creating comics promotes media literacy education, as well as learning and growth overall. Creating a bond between youth workers and young people; getting the interest of the recipient in order to intervene and provide support - those are some of the most important aspects of youth work. As a result, any approach that can be used to increase the connection between the youth worker and the young people has the potential to increase the impact of youth work and can be included in youth work. Regarding the target group of young people, CO-MIX intends to equip them with a tool that they can express themselves safely and freely. Nevertheless, the overall experience in comic book creating calls for a mix of various soft and hard skills. For instance, the creation of a comic book that focuses on a story, requires the “author” to organize thoughts, decide on what elements to use, perhaps communicate in the case of extra collaborators and as well lead them. For young people that face learning difficulties, the vibrant motifs, the ability to freely design their own visuals, will bridge gaps and eliminate constraints in communication. There is an ever-growing need for competencies and skills that are not necessarily taught in a formal educational environment. Just to be included in the process of creating a comic book (regardless of topic, length,) the author gains the experience and skills of communicating, organizing, delegating, creative thinking, sensitivity, and content creation. These skills are transferable to many industries and can lead to employment in fields such as digital design, directing, animating, graphic design, acting.<< Objectives >>CO-MIX aims to support cooperative learning in an inclusive and flexible way - by using comic creation in youth work. Through a specific focus on inclusion work and tackling difficult subjects in an approachable way, the project is going to address its overarching objectives: - to support young people and youth workers in integration, understanding, empathy-building and promotion of common EU values; - to build capacities in the field of youth by promoting the practice of creating comics as a methodology in youth work; - to expand the impact of youth workers even in limiting situations (such as the one of Covid-19) and in more situations that require versatility and flexibility; - through broad consultation and cooperation with many local actors, to create not only useful learning materials, but a means of useful connectivity and interaction in the field of youth; - through further local activities and international cooperation within and after this project, contributing to Sustainable Development Goals #3, #4 and #16.<< Implementation >>The CO-MIX methodology for implementation will unfold in 5 distinct activity groups (A), structured in a manner to complement each other with the purpose to achieve the set by the current proposal objectives. The execution of these Activities will be coordinated by efforts, grouped under A1 Management and Coordination, which will be executed through the whole project lifetime. Each activity group will aim at a number of results to be achieved, linked to respective qualitative and quantitative indicators. A2 is concentrated towards the development of PR1 - Creating the CO-MIX online platform, which will be led by TFN. The tasks envisaged under this work stream aim to design and create the online platform, put it through rigorous tests, involving stakeholders, and adding to it useful materials (including templates) and information. Part of the activities in A2 will also contribute to the development of the methodology to be worked on in A3, but mostly the work done in this Activity group will address the objectives of:-to support young people and youth workers in integration, understanding, empathy-building and promotion of common EU values; -to expand the impact of youth workers even in limiting situations (such as the one of Covid-19) and in more situations that require versatility and flexibility; -through broad consultation and cooperation with many local actors, to create not only useful learning materials, but a means of useful connectivity and interaction in the field of youth. A3, the development of PR2 - Methodology on inclusive work through comics, will be led by HIGGS. As will be presented in further detail below, the methodology is aimed at youth workers,and will contribute to the same objectives as A2 but will build up on that by specifying approaches, examples and guidelines on implementation of comic creation in youth work, thus working to the objective of “to build capacities in the field of youth by promoting the practice of creating comics as a methodology in youth work”. It is extremely important for the project consortium that the created outputs are immediately useful and that value can be found in them throughout multiple uses.A4, which will work for the creation of PR3: Comic books for inclusive youth work, is led by MCC. This PR is aimed both at youth workers, and at young people, inviting them to explore the subject of comic creation through the lenses of the finished comics. This activity will lean on the practical expertise of MCC and will build on it with good practices, theory and engagement with interested stakeholders and of course, the cooperation of all partners. Through engagement of youth and youth workers and attention to connectivity, relationship-building, effective engagement and tools for capacity building, all activities of CO-MIX will contribute to the objective of the project to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals #3, #4 and #16.Simultaneously with the implementation of the aforementioned activities, a wide dissemination campaign will be undertaken to ensure on time update of the project progress and promotion of project results. Led by OFCI, Activity 5 will involve face-to-face meetings, online and offline dissemination of information related to the project, as well as maintenance of social media. The MEs play essential role for the achievement of the project results and objectives, as they will be attracting and engaging target groups in the project outputs; raising awareness on the issues targeted by the project and give the floor for discussion; and extending the potential to reach out to national and EU policy- and decision-makers and focus their attention and understanding of the needs in the youth sector. The dissemination efforts will contribute to the achievement of all objectives of the CO-MIX project and partnership.<< Results >>The CO-MIX project aims to enhance the experience of youth workers and the service they provide to young people by equipping them with a methodology, an online platform, and a series of pre-made comics on sensitive issues. During the creation of all these results we will be engaging youth workers in informal meetings and involving them at every step, gaining feedback and adjusting the outcomes in order to tailor to the needs of both the youth workers and young people.In depth, the project aims to create an online platform (available in 5 languages: the 4 partner languages and English) that will host a proprietary comic book creating application. The aforementioned application will be designed in such a way that the target group demographic will feel comfortable to use. In addition, the application will be equipped with text, character models, environments and a large volume of customizability. The platform will be available and free to use by anyone. Furthemore, on the platform, the methodology on “Inclusive youth work through comics” will be uploaded and available for anyone who wishes to use it. It will be created by organizations that host youth workers and will be including them on all relevant steps of the project such as brainstorming, testing, and use with young people. The purpose is to complement youth workers with a methodology that is aimed to be more inclusive. Given that youth workers have already a large repertoire of activities to use, the methodology will keep that in consideration and strive to provide the final reader with all possible explanations, templates and guidance in order to make it easier for them to start the comic book activity and make the learning curve less steep. Moreover, continuing from the second project result , the methodology, the CO-MIX project will produce a series of comics (created using the abovementioned platform) that will cover a series of sensitive topics with the ultimate purpose of being used for inclusive youth work. It is generally expected that taboo topics as well as topics of sensitive nature are not always easy to portray or begin exploring with a group of youngsters, therefore these comics will be already curated by experts of the relative fields and available on the main website-platform.Additionally, the project during its course will include Joint Staff Trainings where in total 8 youth workers from the partner countries will join. In 4 multiplier events it is expected that around 150 participants will be acquainted with the finalized products of the project. Also, at least 6,000 partners, target audiences, national and European stakeholders will be updated about the results of the project via the dissemination channels and events.Upon choosing the proper graphical art for the project CO-MIX, social media accounts (Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram for the general public) will be created providing to the public, updated regarding the project as well as opportunities for them to add their inputs if requested. For the group of professionals, LinkedIn will be used. This mix of social networks will ensure that a wide group of individuals can be addressed.Lastly, just as comic books have influenced the imagination of many young people, the ability for those same young people to create comic books, expanding their imagination, feeling included regardless of the demographic they belong in, and creating art that can be shared to their social circle, will influence their perception on inclusive and social matters.

Youth work is a field which demands constant improvement and innovation, in order to support the dynamic and vibrant needs of target groups - young people. The Covid-19 crisis has significantly negatively affected young people, leading to an increased need for youth workers to successfully connect and intervene, and has shown us how gaps in the connection and preparedness in communities lead to disastrous outcomes in health - both physical and mental. Storytelling has a powerful and very positive influence on young people’s lives as it becomes a valuable tool towards building relationships, making young people laugh and ultimately helping all grow together. Through the project Storytelling for Youth, our consortium will be addressing the needs of youth and supporting their well-being, their development and their growth; empowering them to connect to each other and whoever they need, lead healthy and conscious lives and have good interpersonal relationships even when more effort is needed, all through work with youth workers and tools to support them. This will be achieved through the creation of 3 Intellectual Outputs, aimed at youth workers, and created to increase their capacity, support their work and encourage deep, active and effective communication with their target groups, as well as through 4 Multiplier events and countless informal meetings with young people, youth workers, educators and policy makers. SY unites the efforts of 5 active and driven organizations in a 20-month project, which aims to contribute to the communities they work directly with, as well as to Europe as a whole, promoting the value and joy of connectivity, the merits of active listening and sharing, and the importance of interpersonal understanding in youth work. Storytelling for Youth will provide youth and youth workers with tools for understanding and utilizing storytelling in their personal and professional lives, with which to improve how they relate to others (especially their target groups) and how they support them. Through the SY outputs, youth workers will have new practical skills, improved competences and specific strategies for implementing storytelling both in their work with young people, and in their work of engaging target groups and disseminating the results of their initiatives. The Storytelling board game will provide not only a tool for learning, but a bridge for communication between the youth workers and the young people. Our main activities in reaching SY’s overall aim are:- Create the Multimedia Guide on Storytelling, which will contain information, tasks, instructions, strategies, etc. on how to include storytelling in youth workers’ work seamlessly and effectively; the guide will be comprised of texts, videos, podcasts, infographics, etc. in order to be engaging, interactive and helpful; Create the SY board game to be a playable and replayable guide on working with storytelling and using it for establishing meaningful and supportive relationships with young people; Create the Dissemination Course, which will also be multimedia and will support youth workers and youth organizations in their engagement and dissemination activities; - Design and develop an online multilingual website, which will host all project results;- Organize a 3-day Joint Staff Training to improve the board game and prepare 10 youth workers for promoting the game with youth and youth workers in their communities and countries;- Promote the topic and the project results across youth and youth workers’ communities across Europe (via 4 Multiplier events and many informal meetings).The impact of SY will span across the following target groups:- Youth, who will in the short and long-term feel more and more significant support from youth workers, especially in crucial times of need; - Youth workers and educators - who will increase their capacities in providing high-quality services to young people; - Policy makers on a local, national and international level - who will be involved in Multiplier events and will receive knowledge and an increased awareness of the importance of well-being and mental health in youth; - Other stakeholders - youth training providers, youth platforms, youth communities, who will benefit from the outputs of the project and will be able to benefit from the outputs of the project and connect with each other via the SY website in order to create joint initiatives and exchange good practices. The project partners will work during the project implementation and after, dedicated to the topic and its impact, in order to deliver the best possible products and experience for youth workers and young people; the best assistance possible to youth workers and educators.

"<< Background >>Crowdfunding is growing rapidly in the EU and in the world, can become a powerful source for supporting of social innovations, social business and sustainable development. So low-skilled or low-qualified adults can use crowdfunding to implement their own ideas to improve their lives and their community / family, give a new impetus to the development or start of social entrepreneurship. But education for the target audience should be special: easy to learn and the most practical tools to introduction in practice. SEIDE@CRO project aims to support sustainable social entrepreneurship initiatives in digital era throught providing for low-skilled or low-qualified adults knowledge, skills and digital tools for organising and realising of crowdfunding campaing to raise money for project introducing sustainable social initiatives.Project oriented on supporting of low-skilled or low-qualified adults who plan to realize sustainable social entrepreneurship initiatives/projects to improve their quality life, solve some social-economic problem using crowdfunding. This target group needs easy to use, simple to know and accessible, but modern learning tools, especially the distance format (they often do not have time for face-to-face classes). At the same time, they need finance for their project, want to understand how to build effective crowdfunding campaigns. SEIDE@CRO meets two this needs: innovative digital learnind approach and actual crowdfunding knowledge.Project Target Groups√ direct group - low-skilled or low-qualified adults who plan to realize sustainable entrepreneurship social initiatives/projects to improve their quality life, solve some social-economic problem using crowdfunding. This target group needs easy to use, simple to know and accessible, but modern learning tools, especially the distance format (they often do not have time for face-to-face classes). At the same time, they need finance for their project, want to understand how to build effective crowdfunding campaigns. SEIDE@CRO meets two this needs: innovative digital learnind approach and actual crowdfunding knowledge. √ nondirect groups- organizations providing educational services for adults, crowdfunding consultants They need actual courses and materials for the implementation of their educational products in crowdfunding and for updating their competences. - crowdfunding platforms - want to receive higher quality projects from funders. - participating organisations of project. We need to enhance ability to provide quality educational products to adults, improve staff skills through collaboration and exchange of experience at the international level.<< Objectives >>The specific objectives:√ to analysis best practices using of crowdfunding for supporting sustainable social initiatives in project partners countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium, Ukraine) and form recommendations for adults who is going to realise crowdfunding campaign √ to provide for adults knowledge and skills how to organise and realise crowdfunding campaing to raise money for project introducing sustainable social initiatives, including social enterprenership √ to provide automatisation, simplifying and organizing of the crowdfunding campaign preparation for users for their projects with a focus on sustainable development and solving social problems of society<< Implementation >>Intellectual innovative Outputs1) Best practice report ""Сrowdfunding for supporting sustainable social entrepreneurship initiatives"" IO12) E-learning course ""Сrowdfunding in Action: how raise money for sustainable social entrepreneurship initiatives"" IO23) A digital assistant for crowdfunding campaign creation - SEIDE@CRO-chat bot in social media"" IO35 multiplier events: 1) Project Infodays in Bulgaria, Poland, Belgium, Ukraine 2) International Forum ""Crowdfunding for supporting sustainable social initiatives"" in Greece.<< Results >>SEIDE@CRO project will produce the following concrete results:√ Best practice report ""Сrowdfunding for supporting sustainable social entrepreneurship initiatives"" (IО1) - exchange of ideas and good practice in the crowdfunding field on the national, European and international levels- better understanding of how crowdfunging can be used as a good tool for financing social entrepreneurship projects with a focus on the local community, sustainable development- provide information for making effective decisions for crowdfunding stakeholders √ E-learning course ""Сrowdfunding in Action: how raise money for sustainable social entrepreneurship initiatives"": design and implementation (IО2)- new/better skills in crowdfunding with focus on supporting sustainable social entrepreneurship initiative for 60 low-skilled or low-qualified adults. - e-course will be accessible for learners regardless of location, income level, other socio-economic or psychological limitations. - stronger participation of adult people in economic and civic life using crowdfunding for solving social problem at the local, regional, national, European or global level. - new course curriculum will be used by educational institutions to give new digital competences crowdfunding adults and youth. - improving of the educational services quality in the crowdfunding market- partner organizations of the project will enhance their ability to provide quality educational products to adults, improve staff skills through collaboration and exchange of experience at the international level.√ A digital assistant for crowdfunding campaign creation - SEIDE@CRO-chat bot in social media (IО3)- bot users (minimum 50 adults) development of their projects introducing sustainable social initiatives, including social enterprenership.- fosters stronger participation of adult people in economic and civic life using crowdfunding for solving social problem at the local, regional, national, European or global level. - Enhancing initiative of adults and faith in possibilitiesturn their ideas into viable projects with crowdfunding-nnovative chat-bot can be used by educational institutions, crowdfunding platforms and teams of people in the world - rowdfunding platforms get better quality of projects -project partner organizations enhance ability to provide quality educational products to adults, improve staff skills through collaboration and exchange of experience at the international level."

"context/background of the project;The project was born from the observation of reality and the new challenges we are called to face in the fields of education and social inclusion.For all the European countries the drama of migration and the consequent problem of reception and integration is creating strong social contrasts, not only in large cities, for years used to multiculturalism, but now also in rural areas, small towns and in communities that had never coexisted with different languages, religions, habits and colours so far.The meeting between people of different cultures in communities with a low level of education and above all in a sudden and massive way has unfortunately created misunderstandings, fears and mistrust rather than an opportunity to enrich their cultural baggage.In most cases, integration has not taken place and migrants live with local communities with enormous discomfort.objectives;- The project intends to provide anyone working in the adult education sector with a useful tool to help integration and mutual knowledge thanks to the use of VR technology- Tackling cultural diversity with innovative methods- Offer the ability to communicate through new learning strategies- Live immersive experiences that prepare the learner for daily challenges in work contexts and in life in general- Encourage a positive attitude to change, openness, and a greater capacity for dialogue which results in a reduction of the prejudices and stereotypes that often experience people who are unable to communicate in the language of the country in which they live- Increase intercultural education not only from a national perspective: migrations take place within all EU countries and beyondnumber and type/profile of participants;The result of Viral is a digital platform, free, easy to use and accessible to all. This ""toolbox"" is dedicated to all those associations, schools, public bodies that in small communities are involved in teaching the language to migrants and, more generally, in promoting integration and promoting mutual knowledge.description of undertaken activities;In the TOOLBOX there is everything you need to introduce virtual reality in your projects aimed at adult education in the intercultural and linguistic fields. The educational material is organized in three sections: the MAKE VR VIDEO section contains simple guides on how to create VR videos and write your own script, the DIDACTIC UNITS section contains the pilot learning units of intercultural and foreign language teaching along with some videos VR made by partners; finally in the third MANUAL section a complete guide to the integration of virtual reality in the teaching of intercultural and foreign languagesresults and impact attained;Using virtual reality in the field of language learning can become the key to speed up the integration process especially for all those people who come to our countries without having adequate instruction and therefore presenting more difficulties in learning a foreign language with classical methods. On the other hand, virtual reality can be an extremely effective way of creating that empathy necessary for mutual understanding and acceptance of the other. Living, even for a few minutes, as an immigrant catapulted into an unknown world, where he’s not understood and where he doesn’t understand, sometimes derided or, even worse, abused, can be the only way to make these two worlds feel closer.if relevant, longer-term benefits.Creating that empathy necessary for mutual understanding and acceptance of the other."