<< Background >>The ongoing changes in VET are demanding different kinds of support mechanisms for teaching staff globally. Mostly this concerns implementing new pedagogies, curricula and use of new technologies. Unfortunately, this is not always possible due to the scale and speed of the labour market changes, and therefore VET providers are often left ashore when struggling with the future oriented changes. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2020.) Teachers also need digital competences to integrate digital technologies in education and support the acquisition of students’ digital competence (Caena & Redecker 2019). COVID-19 has affected all levels of education system including VET. It forced the VET colleges to accelerate their digitalization to its extreme, which caused new challenges for digital resilience and capacity. Unfortunately, some teachers, study fields and teams were not ready to respond these challenges. This project aims to increase the resilience and capacity through digital readiness of teachers. Technology poses a significant challenge to VET systems, requiring them to be able to respond more quickly than ever before to changes in the labour market. Technological change means skills become outdated more quickly than in the past and that new skills in new jobs emerge with unprecedented speed. Upskilling and reskilling of adults to meet these needs become critical. The digital transformation has integrated digital technology into all areas of business, learning and leisure time. It’s also a cultural change that requires VET colleges continually challenge their technological and pedagogical status quo. To meet these challenges this project aims at helping teachers to use technology in new and innovative ways to support students’ learning. At the same time, we explore possibilities to find new pedagogical ways to tackle 21st century challenges, promote peer learning across education systems transnationally and catalyse the development of transversal competencies like problem solving, collaboration and creativity. The common theme in this project is inclusion with the aim that digital teaching methods should be accessible for all students despite their age, background or ability. The needed elements of inclusion should be included into teaching methods, virtual material created and its presentation. This will mitigate the effects of this crisis on the VET and promote sustainable methods and approaches giving additional value to the project. Even before the crisis, the social and economic integration of young people was an ongoing challenge. Many students experienced school closures, yet not all were able to transfer into online and distance learning. Majority of young people reported having learnt less since the pandemic. They believed and feared their education would delay, suffer and might even fail. (ILO 2020.) This project reflects and takes into consideration the already surfaced implications from the year 2020. Some queries and research have already been done and it is elementary for this project that the partners compare the already taken measures in the field of digital learning innovations and sharing experience in order to learn from each other. Young people today are more connected than ever, using the Internet for gaming, chatting and social networking. Yet, they might not be very competent in the use of diverse digital tools in other contexts than the afore mentioned. Elderly people on the other hand might be very anti-digital in their everyday activities.Another issue we need to deal with is that the physical mobilities have been on hold for over a year and that the re-implementation of them requires new ways of thinking and new approaches to utilize online tools to complement the results derived from them.<< Objectives >>The common theme in this project is inclusion with the aim that digital teaching methods should be accessible for all students despite their age, background or ability. The needed elements of inclusion should be included into teaching methods, virtual material created and its presentation. This will mitigate the effects of this crisis on the VET and promote sustainable methods and approaches giving additional value to the project. The research results described above on the consequences of the crises in relation to inclusion form the basis of the thematic approach in this project. The project aims to tackle the challenges of inclusion and equity in virtual teaching and learning environments. This project provides teachers a virtual space for sharing information on inclusive teaching methods.The overall objective of this project is to bring European VET teachers together online to experiment, create and share virtual and digital experiences and practices. Teachers have only too few possibilities to share their thoughts and doubts with national and international peers, especially in the present era of restrictions.The primary aim of this project is to offer teachers in VET from different disciplines across Europe a chance to co-create and co-experiment innovative practices when developing digital learning and teaching material that develop the students’ vocational skills and key competences for lifelong learning. The common theme is inclusion with the aim that digital teaching methods should be accessible for all students despite their age, background or ability.Another aim is to foster and increase the confidence and wellbeing of VET teachers and to help them share their doubts and concerns by experimenting new possibilities together with peers. The new possibilities being the full potential use of commonly existing software and to introduce them to new ones in cooperation with the project partners and the associated partners based on good practices and new innovations.This project also aims at helping teachers to use technology in new and innovative ways to support all students’ learning. At the same time, we explore possibilities to find new pedagogical ways to tackle 21st century challenges, promote peer learning across education systems transnationally and catalyse the development of indispensable transversal competencies (i.e. problem solving, collaboration and creativity). Together with the development of VET teachers’ digital competences the aim is to develop and pilot a new approach to hybrid mobilities in VET.<< Implementation >>There are going to be several activities during the project’s lifetime. The partnership will have two face-to-face meetings complemented with monthly online meetings all through the project period excluding summer holiday periods.The partnership foresees to organise three learning, teaching, training activities to promote and test the creation of the two project results: model for innovative hybrid mobilities and virtual teachers’ lounge to promote the development of teachers’ digital competencies.At the end phase of the project period, there are going to be a series of online and physical multiplier events organised in the partner countries.After each face-to-face meeting and workshop (LTT) feedback will be asked from the participants to further develop the activities. Another feedback procedure concerns the online meetings, which will be monitored regularly (every four months or when needed) via feedback questionnaires.A Steering Group to monitor the project’s progress and achievements and above all the quality issues of the project will be established in the beginning of the project period. Each partner organisation will choose a representative to the Steering Group.<< Results >>The project promotes the production, experimentation and sharing of new approaches/training methods in digital and virtual innovation. Through exchanging best practices, training and creative activities, the role of digitalisation will be enhanced as a means of improving the possibilities for growth for both students and teachers, widening their choices in private and professional life, improving the access to the labour market and renewing educational systems. Strengthening digital skills, using new technologies and constructing new methods for learning, represents a new challenge for educational systems, especially in VET. According to the Eurostat research from 2019 there is a big variety of accessing broadband connection across the EU depending on the incomes of the households and there are many low-income homes still with no access to computers. Based on this, the project complements the European Commission’s Digital Education Action Plan’s both priorities (Fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem and Enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation).All actions and outcomes will be implemented within the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) and we foresee that they complement all six competence areas introduced in the framework.The project contributes to promote future and transferable skills, providing:- an overall framework on digital innovation- methodologies and best practices on active learning processes- new methodological approaches- quality relationships among teachers, students and labour market- strengthening the profiles of the teaching profession- possibilities to virtual internationalisation without travelling abroadIn this project a teachers’ virtual room and a model for hybrid mobility for Erasmus+ KA1 projects are created. The aim is to offer a platform for co-experimenting virtually, thus promoting the importance of sharing knowledge and expertise and spreading ideas between different disciplines. This project seeks to improve teachers’ digital competences by joining them in virtual rooms to enable the exchange of good practices. Hybrid mobility is one key element of the new Erasmus+ programme. It expands internationalization for a larger group of students and gives them 21st century skills through communicating digitally.The concrete project objectives are to1. establish a virtual and simulated learning environment with accompanying online material for learners and trainers2. adapt training contents and methods according to the requirements of virtual learning4. refine the results of the pilots in the first phase of the project6. inform the target audiences and the broad public through a variety of media.