Story Makers - Many Voices Many Lives will develop materials that enable youth workers to use the power of story-making to engage and work with socially excluded young people, equipping them with resilience, confidence, self-esteem and life skills. It aims to foster the inclusion and employability of young people with fewer opportunities, through the promotion of quality youth workThe project has been designed in the context of increasing concern about the growing gap between young people who engage in social, civic and cultural life and are confident about finding a job, and those with little hope of leading a fulfilling life, and risk exclusion and marginalisation. 13.7m young people aged 15-29 are neither in employment, education or training (NEET), and close to 27m are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Young people with a migrant background, low educational achievement and health issues are most likely to become NEET and are least likely to participate in social and civic activities.Number and profile of beneficiaries: The project will engage and support 50 youth workers and 600 young people, of whom at least 500 will be NEET, and face particular barriers to engagement, such as mental and physical health and complex behavioural issues. Based on past courses, we expect approximately 80% of the young people to complete the training and tell their storyThe results of the project will be1. A manual for youth workers, containing the following modules:•the characteristics of socially excluded young people in each participating country. •Using story-making to engage and motivate socially excluded young people: Building on the notion that people connect with stories, young people will co-develop stories accessible through digital media and artefacts, which will push the boundaries of both literature and literacy. The opportunity to engage with story-making and -listening, can be expected to lead to improved engagement and self-esteem and provide opportunities for practising oral literacy •Using mentors to enhance the story-making approach: Mentors will largely be drawn from the local business community and will receive training to act as role models and ongoing support. Mentors will be a critical factor in helping mentees to think about and learn from the story that they are telling.•Where next: supporting young people to access further employment/education/support services.•Building partnerships across sectors: A model for developing and strengthening links between youth organisations, schools, VET, HE and the labour market •A measurement tool that can be used by youth workers to assess young people’s progress2. A multi-media film, produced by young people, presenting the project and its impact on them.3. An open access multi-lingual e-learning portal, targeting youth workers4. A minimum of four multiplier events and a number of local dissemination activities. The immediate impact will bea) Youth workers will increase their skills to engage socially excluded young peopleb) Young people’s creativity and initiative will be stimulated, motivating them about their futurec) Young people will become aware of services, support networks, and means of accessing qualifications for further education and/or employmentd) Participating organisations will gain skills and a wider European network, supporting internationalisation strategies.Longer-term benefits will be a reduction in youth social exclusion; a positive impact on the partners’ reputation, which can be expected to bring further financial support. At wider level: we expect to feed the lessons of the project into policy development at national and European levels. Future funding is expected to be acquired through mainstreaming and multiplying the project both at national and European levels.

The lack of parents’ involvement in their children’s educations is a problem across Europe. Research shows that pupils whose parents take actively part in their educational life do better with regards to education, jobs, health, economy, and leading a life away from criminality (James Heckman & Marco Francesconi 2016, Trygfonden og Børns vilkår). Teachers and pedagogues are key persons, when it comes to engaging the parents in their children’s social and cultural education in school, but they lack useful methods to succeed. Therefore, this project: “Who Conducts the Orchestra? – A shared responsibility of parents and teachers for children’s social and cultural education” will create awareness of parents’ importance in children’s school life and develop concrete methods to improve the current collaboration between teachers, pedagogues and parents.The project targets 25 teachers and pedagogues, who teach pupils in the ages 6- 9 years old. The project particularly targets teachers and pedagogues of young pupils, as they are the first educators who meet the parents, and therefore, they have the possibility of introducing the parents to their responsibilities in regard of their children’s education and establishing a good collaboration from the beginning of the pupils’ school lives.The second target group is the parents of the pupils, whom the project seek to involve more actively in their children’s education. The project will involve 50 parents actively in the test-phase of the methodology. The final beneficiary are the pupils, whom the project endeavours to provide the best condition to enable children to thrive in their social and educational lives. In order to improve the current collaboration between teachers, pedagogues, and parents, the project will: -Conduct four focus-group interviews with the target groups, map the current practices of home-school collaboration, and on the basis of this, identify relevant content for the new methodology (IO1).-Develop the methodology consisting of: i.introduction to four fundamentals in children’s lives: morality, self-control, relations, and environment (Wikström 2016)ii.a communication methodology,iii.training events and multiplier events, iv.and developing a handbook in which participants can seek guidance on how to implement the methodology in practice (IO2).-Develop a platform on which the participating teachers and pedagogues can attune the methodology to their current needs and local contexts. This platform will also serve as the website of the project (IO3). -Conduct an evaluation of the project’s results, focusing on the impact of the project for the target groups, and the products’ quality and timely delivery (IO4). The teachers and pedagogues will be trained in the Methodology on a teacher training event, where after they will implement the methodology in practice during a test-phase. Each country will have a test-group consisting of five teachers and/or pedagogues and 10 parents. They will meet two times to train the methodology, and implement it in their home-school collaboration throughout six months. Furthermore, the project will host two multiplier events in each country, where experts will provide further knowledge about parents’ importance in their children’s school lives to a greater number of pedagogues, teachers, school staff, and parents. The project believes that the “Who Conduct the Orchestra” methodology - and handbook will equip teachers and pedagogues to engage parents in their children’s education in a constructive manner. Thereby, enhance the awareness of the great importance of parents’ attention and engagement in their childen’s education, and ensure a fruitful collaboration between teachers, pedagogues and parents. This will ultimately contribute to the children’s well-being and ability to strive in their social and educational lives. Furthermore, the project will promote cooperation between teachers and pedagogues across Europe, sowing seeds for greater collaboration among educators on this topic. Finally, the project will give educators across Europe free access to the innovative and relevant contents, thereby expanding the range of beneficiaries. Partners, representing a municipality, a university, family councils, and a local organization, who are working actively with children and education in many ways, will carry out the project. The partners are from Turkey, England, Spain, Italy, and Denmark, which cover the East, West, South, and North of Europe.

“Social Inclusion of People with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Virtual Reality” is a project that deals with the social inclusion and employment of people with ASD. People with ASD experience persistent difficulties with social communication and social interaction. The lack of social skills makes it difficult for them to navigate standard everyday situations as well as having a job. Thus, they often experience social exclusion. This project will develop VR tools that through simulated everyday situations will train and enhance the social skills of adults with ASD and improve their ability to navigate standard situations. The innovative part of the project is that the VR toolkit will be developed by people with ASD, which means that the tools will be made by those who will also use them for training. It will also develop a Handbook to help potential employers deal with people with ASD. It will also showcase good practices along this field. A multi-skilled partnership composed by organizations active in the field of digital-based technologies, social, labour market integration, and special educational needs, will develop a VR training toolkit for people with ASD with the purpose of rehabilitation and training of social skills. Furthermore, potential employers will be informed about the advantages of hiring a person with ASD. To reach this final goal partners will:-Make a needs analysis and a VR environment design based on interviews with people with ASD, relatives and professionals working with people with ASD (01)-Develop and implement the VR toolkit (02)-Train key persons in helping people with ASD on how to use the VR tools.-Create a Manual for employment of people with ASD and include good practices (03)-Arrange local multiplier events to disseminate information about the project and it’s outputs.These activities will increase the target group’s ability to navigate standard everyday situations as well as work-related situations. In this way, the project aims to foster social integration and employment opportunities of the target group through VR technology.

The project aims to produce a model of, and tools for, engaging young people aged 14+ to minimise Early School Leaving (ESL), as an answer to the pan-European challenge of youth unemployment and strategy to reduce Early School Leaving, identified in Europe 2020. The need for this has been identified at local level, by the partners’ own experience of the lack of up to date and high quality materials that motivate and support young people at risk of ESL, and that include information on opportunities available throughout the EU. The need has also been identified at national and EU levelSpecific objectives of the project are:• Initial and continuous education for education staff: To promote a better understanding of ESL, both in initial education and professional development, for school and VET staff. • A strong and well-developed guidance system: To strengthen guidance to ensure that young people are aware of the different study options and employment prospects available to them. • To develop counselling systems that provide young people with both emotional and practical support: The materials will identify various means of guidance, including mentoring, coaching and work placements• Co-operation with the world of work: The materials developed will identify how to provide opportunities that allow young people to experience the world of work. Using the partners’ range of employer networks, the viewpoint of the employer will be considered, so that the ideas presented are both practical and useful. The project will work with 800 young people at risk of ESL and 165 educators (teachers and career counsellors), who will be trained to identify and support young people at risk of ESLThe project plan will be the key tool that drives activities, subdivided into work packages, with each partner having clearly defined roles and responsibilities with target timescales. The project will take place over two years from December 2015 to December 2017. Implementation of the project and development of the intellectual outputs will involve• Programme management – which will run throughout the project• Research into existing materials and pedagogies around preventing ESL, including any existing good practice and the limitations of existing materials. • Development of new materials in relation to career advice/counselling and activities for young people to increase their motivation and employability skills. There will be a particular focus on ensuring that opportunities across Europe are included in the materials. • Translation and adaptation: Once agreed, materials will be translated into the four languages of the partnership.• initial testing and assessment of materials on approximately 15 education and career counselling professionals and 200 young people, The work will be evaluated by the young people, using the standard forms developed at the kick-off meeting.• Review of the quality of the materials within each partner country. Each partner holds a workshop to discuss results of the testing, the quality of the materials, and the platform’s functionality and usability. • Revising and rolling out materials: Workshop results and feedback will be presented to partners at Management meeting in Bulgaria. The adapted materials will be delivered by the partners to teachers/counsellors and to young people within partner countries. • Final updating of materials; final in-country seminars and workshops, to which key European and national stakeholders will be invited. Results will include:• A methodology for identifying young people at risk of ESL• manual of training materials and activities for young people at risk of ESL, • A common core of policies and procedures for high quality work-based VET across Europe • A model for developing and strengthening links between schools, VET, HE and the labour market • 800 young people and 165 educators will be trained• A pan-European partnership of organisations involved in reducing Early School Leaving, including schools, • The impact on stakeholders will take several forms, from individual students participating in the pilot who develop the confidence, skills and motivation to remain in education to access career opportunities, to education staff who need to increase their knowledge and awareness of opportunities available across the EU, to encourage young people to grasp opportunities in countries both inside and outside EU boundaries. The longer terms benefits envisaged will be to feed the lessons of the project into policy development at national and European levels. Future funding is expected to be acquired through mainstreaming and multiplying the project both at national and European levels.

Vision - The fellowship seeks to radically transform the linear Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) system to develop a low-carbon, Circular Economy (CE) for Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) in the UK. This fellowship incorporates a programme of research that establishes an innovative whole systems design approach to WEEE, integrating systems engineering, engineering design and product-service system design methodologies. The fellowship will to lead the academic work necessary to support a fully CE for EEE in the UK, through effective reduce, reuse, repair, remanufacturing, recycling and recovery, with the aim of making the UK the first country in the world to eliminate WEEE. Rationale and strategic importance - The rapid development of digitalisation has brought disruptive changes to the economy and life, as well as a growth in the consumption of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE). Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is now the fastest growing waste stream in the UK and globally. The UK generates up to 24.9kg per head and throws 155,000 tonnes of WEEE in household bins every year. In 2013, the UK set out WEEE Regulations, to encourage safe and responsible collection, recycling and recovery. However, WEEE collection rates show that the UK is failing to meet its targets. Less that 35% of EEE placed on the market is recovered, meaning that the vast majority is sent to landfill, incinerated or illegally exported to other countries at its end of life. Developing a Circular Economy (CE) for EEE is expected to result in widespread economic, environmental and societal benefits for the UK. The value of precious metals found within UK's unrecovered WEEE is over £370 million annually. WEEE also includes many critical raw materials (e.g. magnesium, cobalt and tungsten) which are of high supply chain risk and importance to the UK. For example, China provides 98% of the EU's supply of rare earth elements, and South Africa provides 71% of the EU's platinum. Increasing the recovery of such critical raw materials from WEEE is therefore a strategic priority for the UK to mitigate supply chain risks. In addition, the effective recovery of WEEE is critical to achieving the UK's net zero targets. For every tonne of e-waste collected and recycled, 1.44 tonnes of CO2 emissions are avoided. Finally, WEEE that is not properly managed and leaks into the environment can be extremely damaging to nature and human health. A CE for EEE will also eliminate reliance on highly-polluting mining and material extraction industries. Academic contribution - Existing research has addressed problems in the WEEE sector across different life-cycle phases including: material extraction (e.g. technology metals circularity), manufacturing (e.g. increasing post-consumer plastic in WEEE), distribution (e.g. circular business models), use (e.g. emotional durability, repair), and, end of life (e.g. novel recycling technologies). However, a holistic perspective is currently lacking, which is needed to transition to a fully CE for EEE. This fellowship will address these limitations and build on an established body of research to develop novel solutions for a low-carbon, CE for EEE in the UK. It is academically excellent in that it will: (1) generate scientific knowledge and data on the WEEE system in the UK, which includes material flow analysis and data on related carbon emissions. This data can be used to inform decision-making, policy and research; (2) develop novel (technology-enabled) solutions for a CE for EEE in the UK. These solutions can be replicated in other contexts via circular product design and circular business model frameworks; (3) establish an innovative whole systems design methodological approach, which can be applied to study other material streams (e.g. plastics, textiles), to enable a low-carbon, resource-efficient CE.