<< Background >>Across Europe families are in crisis. Families are the primary environment of domestic violence; a scourge that is rampant in Europe. Research tells us that 1 in 4 European citizens knows a woman among friends or family who is a victim of domestic violence; and 1 in 5 knows of someone who commits domestic violence in their circle of friends and family (Special Eurobarometer 344, 2010). In the EU, 25% of all violent crimes reported involve a man assaulting his wife or partner (EU Campaign Against Domestic Violence, 2000); and worldwide, at least 1 in 3 women, or up to one billion women, have been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetimes. Usually, the abuser is a member of her own family or someone known to her (Heise, Ellsberg & Gottemoeller, 1999). In the UK, one incidence of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute (Stanko 2000). And across the EU, 1 in 3 women are victims of physical or sexual abuse (FRA, 2014). These statistics help to show the needs in our communities to address instances of domestic violence through a bottom-up approach; however, we also know that they do not show the full and updated picture. Throughout COVID-19, the lockdowns implemented in each partner country to contain the coronavirus led to spikes in domestic violence reports, as victims were often trapped at home with the perpetrators of the violence against them. On April 6, 2020 United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for measures to address a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence” linked to lockdowns imposed by governments responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reports from police and NGOs working on domestic violence across the globe suggest that domestic violence is rising in the wake of COVID-19. In response, a study by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in 2020 highlights that “every single country has introduced special measures to protect women from intimate partner violence during the pandemic. Yet persistent under-funding of shelters and domestic violence hotlines has resulted in sometimes patchy support”. This is why our intention through IRENE is to support families from within, to prevent instances of domestic violence in the future. Although awareness about the rate of domestic violence is increasing, most of the medical literature to date has focused on the effect of domestic violence on the primary victim (University of Maribor, 2014). However, we also need to assess what effect witnessing domestic violence has on secondary victims, such as children who live in homes where partner abuse occurs? One of the great tragedies of domestic violence is that children who grow up in homes where it occurs are more likely to resort to the behaviour themselves, continuing the cycle of violence into the next generation. Nearly 90% of batterers saw violence in their own households as children, and many were victims of it themselves. As such, there is a well-established link between childhood exposure to violence, and the rate of abuse and violence in adulthood.These are the unique needs that the IRENE project aims to address through the family learning model is proposes. IRENE project partners are applying for this funding so that we can develop and pilot a new approach to supporting families to address instances of domestic violence in the family, so that European families can provide a safe-haven for all family members and so that peaceful family life can prevail in the communities where the project will initially be piloted, and further afield through the sustainability and transfer of project results once the project comes to an end.<< Objectives >>Irene is the Greek Goddess of peace. Through the IRENE project what we want to achieve is to promote peace among European families and to protect vulnerable members of European families from experiencing, and witnessing, instances of violence and abuse.Witnessing domestic violence can lead children to develop an array of age-dependent negative effects. Research in this area has focused on the cognitive, behavioural, and emotional effects of domestic violence. Children who witness violence in the home and children who are abused may display many similar psychologic effects. These children are at greater risk of developing internalized behaviours such as anxiety and depression, and externalized behaviours such as fighting, bullying, lying, or cheating. They also are more disobedient at home and at school, and are more likely to have social competence problems, such as poor school performance and difficulty in relationships with others. Child witnesses display inappropriate attitudes about violence as a means of resolving conflict and indicate a greater willingness to use violence themselves. It is a never-ending cycle of violence and pain, that perpetuates. Through the IRENE project, our intention is to support families to address these issues within their family unit, and to support their children to recognise positive relationships and behaviours and to model these as they grow.Research from Portugal tells us that almost 90% of cases of domestic violence involve violence against women; however, a report published by the charity, Parity, in the UK in 2014 found that almost 40% of all victims of domestic violence in the UK were male. This shows us that domestic abuse can affect all members of a family unit, regardless of gender or age. Across the EU elder abuse has become a growing concern over the last few years. Although information on prevalence of elder maltreatment in the EU is incomplete, findings from the Abuse and Health Among Elderly in Europe study show a prevalence of 19.4% for mental abuse, 2.7% for physical abuse, 0.7% for sexual abuse, 3.8% for financial abuse and 0.7% for injury of older people. Statistics also show that approximately 70% of the perpetrators of abuse are members of the family, including their partners and children.Parents have a pivotal role to play in the education and development of their children; and also, in supporting senior adults in their life to recognise unhealthy relationships in the family unit and to address instances of abuse. As the primary caregivers for both young children and elderly grandparents, if suitable family-centred educational interventions are developed, parents can take a lead role in supporting all members of their family to develop positive behaviours and relationships within the family unit. Through the IRENE project, our intention is also to develop a suite of pertinent education materials that will support parents in this role. A report titled ‘The Value of Family Learning’ by EPALE in 2018, states that this model has ‘traditionally been embraced as an effective means of addressing the learning needs of children and adults, and that advocates, stress the “double-impact” of working with two generations together to break the cycle of underachievement in basic skills’. In the IRENE project, as well as supporting parents in their role as primary educators of their children, we also aim to integrate grandparents and senior adult learners into the family learning model; piloting a ‘whole-family approach’ to addressing instances of domestic violence and abuse, which represents a significant innovation in the field of family learning. Through the proposed family learning model, we will thus achieve a ‘triple-impact’ by working across three generations of a family, to promote peace and protection of vulnerable members of a family, while also supporting the fight against domestic violence and abuse.<< Implementation >>To inform the development process and validate the outputs developed, key stakeholders will be integrated into the project work-plan and partners will return to their local family learning support groups at regular intervals for testing, peer reviews and feedback. This process will help ensure that key local stakeholders feel a sense of ownership of the results developed. This will encourage them to act as local advocates of the project promoting the results achieved within their peer groups.The IRENE consortium will follow a bottom-up approach to working with local families to address the issue of domestic violence, and to build their resilience to address this issue within the family unit. Partners will implement each of the following activities on a monthly basis to ensure all project objectives are met and all results are developed on time and within the proposed project schedule.In months 1 to 2 the following activities will be undertaken:The team will host the first PM online; GSVO95 will set the key learning outcomes to be achieved on completion of the first PR - Induction to Pedagogy Programme for Parents and TRH will discuss the key learning outcomes to be achieved by the Programme for Parents to Build Positive Family Relationships (PR2). ALDAIMA will discuss the key learning outcomes to be achieved by the Family Learning Toolkit. The Project Management Plan, Quality Assurance Plan, Promotion Plan and the Impact Plan will all be drafted by their respective partners. The first press release, developed by ALDAIMA, will be shared online. The project website and Facebook page will be developed by IoD and TRH will develop the branding strategy.Between months 3 and 6, the following activities will be undertaken:Partners will complete financial, administrative and promotion reports in month 6. Partners will complete quality assurance and evaluation activities. The first newsletter will be produced and distributed. The team will plan and host the TPM in Ireland. Prototype modules for PR1 and PR2 will be developed by respective partners. Prototype content for the Family Learning Toolkit (PR3) will be developed by partners. PM will lead the development of the In-service Programme for Adult Educators (PR4) and set the key learning outcomes to be achieved.Between months 6 and 12, the following activities will be undertaken:Partners will complete financial, administrative, impact, quality and promotion reports in month 12. Partners will complete quality assurance and evaluation activities. The team will plan the second TPM in France. The second newsletter will be produced and distributed. Content for PR1 and PR2 will be signed-off in English, produced in English. Partners will prepare for the C1 in Poland in month 17. Between month 12 and 18, the following activities will be completed: Partners will complete financial, administrative, quality and promotion reports in month 18. Content for PR1 and PR2 will translated into all partner languages and produced in all partner languages. The content of PR4 and PR3 will be signed-off in English, translated into all partner languages and produced. GSVO will develop a draft Sustainability Plan in month 18. The third newsletter will be produced and distributed. VIVA FEMINA will host the LTTA in Poland in month 17. Between month 18 and 24, the following activities will be completed:Partners will complete financial, administrative, impact, quality and promotion reports in month 24. Partners will deliver PR1 and PR2 to 10 adult learners; PR4 to 10 educators and will plan and host the Family Learning Open Days and the Final Conference. The fourth newsletter will be produced and distributed. Partners will support 10 families to use the Family Learning Toolkit in a family learning environment.<< Results >>Central to the success of the model proposed in IRENE is the empowerment of parents to take on the role of ‘family educators’ and to support all members of their family to develop and maintain healthy relationships. While a large percentage of domestic violence cases reported comprise instances of intimate-partner violence and instances of child abuse by a parent, guardian or family member, in the last decade there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases of adolescent to parent violence (APV) and even child to parent violence (CPV). At the same time, analyses of community surveys from Europe have confirmed the extent of abuse against children in the family unit; showing a prevalence rate of 9.6% for sexual abuse (13.4% in girls and 5.7% in boys), 22.9% for physical and 29.1% for mental, with no real gender differences. IRENE proposes to develop induction training for parents to support their role as facilitators of learning in a family learning model. While the pedagogic approach traditionally used by educators might differ considerably from that adopted by parents the desired outcome is that parents develop the same understanding of the issues related to online learning and the use of dynamic online tools, like those to be developed in the Family Learning Toolkit – Comic Strips, Interactive Magazines and Audio Books.By providing basic instruction in best practice pedagogic approaches and including some guidelines for safe online use, the adult educators delivering the IRENE curriculum and the parents facilitating the family learning process, will be able to relate to each other.Educating and empowering parents so that they can nurture healthy relationships in their family, so that they can resolve conflicts peacefully and so that they can teach the children, young adults and senior adults in their lives about how to develop their own positive relationships with all family members, through a family learning programme, can have a long-term impact in terms of family cohesion and the prevention of instances of domestic abuse and violence across all age groups in the family unit. The approach envisaged and resources developed will be relevant far beyond the reach of the initial partnership and the potential transferability of this result is significant.The sustainable approach to family learning proposed by the IRENE project is to first deliver a project that is specific to the needs, competences and interests of adult learners and parents in our region, where the project will be initially piloted, and then to build a model of family learning that can be transferred to other communities in the region, nationwide and then throughout Europe. As previously mentioned, instances of domestic violence affect 1 in 3 women across EU Member States, sexual abuse affects 18 million children under 18 years, physical abuse affects 44 million children under 18 years and mental abuse affects 55 million children under 18 years. In addition, instances of elder abuse are on the rise – with 70% of all cases of elder abuse committed by a family member. These are frightening statistics that demonstrate the crisis that many European families find themselves in. We believe there is a way to prevent this violence, and that education and a change in attitudes, behaviours and relationship dynamics within a project are key interventions to support families in preventing such violence from scarring their family life.