As it has been the case in the European Union (EU) during the last few years, large migration waves of people in need of international protection have arrived from countries and territories that suffer from war disasters, dictatorships, etc. in pursuit of a new home. In order for those people to live, work and prosper along with the receiving communities, they need to be integrated into the host countries’ environment – and this has been the greatest challenge for almost all EU countries. The most effective way to accomplish integration and social inclusion has proven to be by learning to communicate with the local population and get acquainted with their cultural particularities and their lifestyle.In this regard, the main objective of “BIG STEP: Learning through Gamification – Integration of the vulnerable groups” has been to develop an innovative educational 2-D serious video game, which helps refugees, immigrants and other vulnerable groups to integrate through learning core elements of their host country’s language, while also familiarising with local cultural aspects. To do so, we have used the Gamification methodology, which is the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring) to other areas of activity, such as teaching, in order to encourage engagement, interaction, learning flow and evaluation of participants.The participating organizations were brought together in the base of common objectives and formed a cohesive partnership in which each partner complements each other in terms of expertise, skills and knowledge, as well as in terms of operational and functional background. In addition, all 6 partners have extensive knowledge of their local needs and were able to make a unique contribution to all project activities. More specifically, UCLL, a Higher Education Institution (HEI) from Flanders, has been the lead partner as it possesses the gamification knowhow, having built similar game-engines for other contexts with success. Neapolis University Pafos is another HEI from Cyprus with valuable scientific and technical research background as well. University Rehabilitation Institute from Slovenia has a major experience in supporting and working with disadvantaged groups. OECON Group from Greece brought its quality assurance experience from previous EU projects’ implementation. Komunikujeme from Czech Republic added value to the communication and dissemination activities. Last but not least, the Institute of Psychosocial Development from Greece brought its expertise in counseling and supporting disadvantaged individuals.To achieve the planned objectives, the project was divided into 3 main activities (Intellectual Outputs) that are shortly described as follows:1.Research and Preparation – each partner conducted primary research through questionnaires in order to gather information regarding our target groups’ needs, literacy skills and ICT competences. Also, each partner conducted a nationwide desk research to formulate cultural particularities reports that included all necessary country information that a foreigner should be aware of in order to live and integrate in the respective country.2.Design and Development – the information from the questionnaires and reports of the previous activity was used for the development of the game’s chapters, with variations based on the target groups’ needs and on each country’s particularities.3.Testing and Implementation – after the first versions of the game were developed, the project’s experts tested them in the reception, protection and support structures of each partner’s region, in order to receive feedback and improve the game.In this direction, the main practical results attained have been the following:-5 National Reports, 123 Questionnaires and 1 Overall Final Report summarizing all the findings and information gathered during research;-1 functioning online Game, freely available and translated-modified in all partners’ languages and country particularities, without an expiration date;-1 Instruction Manual for utilizing the Game, translated in English, Arabic and in all partners’ languages;-130 Questionnaires received after the testing of the Game from our target groups.The project’s impact and longer-term benefits can be summarized as follows:-Introduction of an innovative educational method that combines learning while having fun;-Integration of users to the host countries through enhancement of their literacy skills, ICT competences and cultural awareness;-More active participation, more positive attitude and increased employment opportunities for the target groups and experts involved;-Exchange of good practices between organizations internal and external to the project, and establishment of synergies;-Interaction between research, business and policy (the triple helix).

"<< Background >>The World Health Organization takes a broad view of health, stating that ""health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity"". In doing so, it draws attention to the need to view health as the outcome of influences in addition to biomedical health care and management. Such a view is equally applicable to people with intellectual disabilities.World Health Organization, International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID) and Inclusion International (II) prepared a summative report on healthy ageing for adults with intellectual disabilities. In this report [1], Disadvantaged subgroups of ageing adults with intellectual disabilities are at particular risk. In many nations, older adults with severe and profound impairments are disregarded or institutionalized. Housing is often inadequate and health provision neglected. Older adults with mild impairments are often marginalized and not provided with minimal supports needed to be productive members of their societies. Rehabilitative services, vocational opportunities, and quality old-age services are not provided. In many nations, older women with intellectual disabilities experience challenges that are particular to their sex. Their specific needs are often overlooked or dismissed. Older adults with co-morbid conditions experience particular problems and their compound physical and/or mental health conditions not addressed.Nations vary in their recognition of and provision for adults with intellectual disabilities. In many cultures, persons with disabilities may not hold a valued status in societal terms.Consequently, they may have reduced access to the basic necessities of life, including housing, work opportunities, nutrition, and health care, which are associated with ageing in good health. Barriers to the acceptance of persons with intellectual disabilities can include prejudicial beliefs about the nature and causes of disability, poorly organized services or a lack of government policies favouring supports for persons with disabilities, inadequate health and social services, and poorly trained professionals or practitioners. Poor health status and unfavourable economic conditions affecting the entire national population may also be barriers. Such barriers can be overcome with enlightened public policies, educated professionals and carers, determined advocacy, and other special compensatory efforts.Older persons must be full participants in the development process and also share in its benefits. No individual should be denied the opportunity to benefit from development. Likeother people, older people with intellectual disability may have significant physical health needs, reflecting the social and economic circumstances which have shaped their daily lives. Environments that foster healthy social relationships, trust, economic security, sustainable development and other factors related to advancing the health and well-being of citizens have been identified by governments as priorities. Healthier communities with greater social cohesion produce healthier citizens. Further, the effect is cumulative and lifelong, with good health in childhood affecting and contributing to good health in older age. The UN International Plan of Action on Ageing asserts that each country must respond to demographic trends and the resulting changes ""in the context of its own traditions, structures, and cultural values . . ."" [2]. This view is equally applicable to older people with intellectual disabilities. Focusing on ageing and intellectual disability implies that all policies affecting people with intellectual disabilities are developed in such a way as to maintain, if not improve, their situation as they age.Resources:1: https://www.who.int/mental_health/media/en/20.pdf2: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/ageing/MIPAA/political-declaration-en.pdf<< Objectives >>In 1991, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Principles for Older Persons (resolution 46/91), the eighteen principles of which fall into five clusters concerning their status:1. Independence2. Participation3. Care4. Self-fulfillment5. DignityThe population of older adults in the European Union is increasing during the last 20 years. Increasing age is but one of many factors associated with disparities in health access and outcomes, lower socioeconomic status, geographic proximity to health professionals, and having a disability. Moreover, within the population of those with disabilities, persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) are further disadvantaged. The potential synergistic effect of increasing age with concomitant membership in a vulnerable population increases the risk of experiencing poor health [1].Owing to marked increases in life expectancy for individuals with ID in recent decades, the life expectancy of adults with mild ID is rapidly approaching near parity with the general population. Persons with moderate or severe ID now routinely live into their late 60s and late 50s, respectively [2]. Furthermore, older adults with Down syndrome are consistently living beyond their late 50s, with sporadic reports of individuals living to their 70s and even early 80s. Consequently, the relatively rapid increase in a new population of ageing adults with complex medical and mental health problems has resulted in inadequate geriatric health care provision [3].""Training of family members and guardians for the inclusion of ageing adults with disabilities"" project will aim to develop non-formal education materials for family members and legal guardians for the achievement of secure ageing and empowerment of full and effective participation in social life. Because the social inclusion of ageing adults with disabilities is still a pending and not fully achieved policy of the European Union.Concreate objectives of the project are:- Develop a toolkit on how to train parents and legal guardians of ageing adults with disabilities- Develop a parental education guidebook to encourage and support parents, family members and legal guardians of ageing adults with intellectual disabilities- Create educational spot videos for families- Design a comprehensive online resource with a categorized database- Prepare a policy recommendation report about the process of problem-solving related to provided services for ageing adults with disabilitiesResources:1: Havercamp SM, Scandlin D, Roth M. Health disparities among adults with developmental disabilities,. Public Health Rep. 2004;119(4):418-426152197992: Bittles AH, and others. The influence of intellectual disability on life expectancy. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2002;57(7): M470-M472120848113: Janicki MP, and others. Mortality and morbidity among older adults with intellectual disability: health services considerations. Disabil Rehabil. 1999;21(5-6):284-29410381241<< Implementation >>Main activities are:1. Preparation of the bilateral agreements between the project coordinator and each partner organization 2. Monitoring all project activities3. Managing the pre-defined work plan and the deadline for all tasks4. Managing the administrative and financial report process for every 6 months5. Organization of TPMs6. Preparation of the minutes of TPMs and updating the action plan 7. Preparation of an effective communication strategy8. Creation of a Cloud Drive file sharing platform9. Preparation of financial and management reports for every 6 months10. Preparation of the dissemination plan and dissemination report with evidence for every 6 months11. Creation of the final dissemination report 12. Preparation of an internal quality evaluation plan and internal quality evaluation surveys 13. Creation of the final quality evaluation report 14. Designing paper brochure of project results and other dissemination materials15. Setting up advisory board per country with experts 16. Creation of the project web platform 17. Preparation of a sustainability plan and template 18. Preparation of the sustainability report of the project 19. Production of the toolkit on how to train parents and legal guardians of ageing adults with disabilities (R1)20. Production of the parental education guidebook (R2)21. Production of the educational spot videos for families (R3)22. Production of the online learning HUB for family members of ageing adults with disabilities (R4)23. Production of the policy recommendation report (R5)24. Arrangement of pilot training activities with target groups (use produced project results in pilot training)25. Arrangement of the multiplier event ""Seminar: Active Ageing and Wellbeing for People with Disabilities"" in each partner country 26. Arrangement of the multiplier event ""Final Conference: Inclusion of ageing adults with disabilities""27. Preparation of the progress, interim and final report of the project<< Results >>Outcomes of the project are:- Toolkit on how to train parents and legal guardians of ageing adults with disabilities- Parental education guidebook- Educational spot videos for families- Online learning HUB for family members of ageing adults with disabilities- Policy recommendation report- Project website- Paper brochuresTotally 240 people will be trained in the project's target group. These are:- Parents of ageing adults with disabilities > 120 (20 people in each partner country)- Family members of ageing adults with disabilities > 60 (10 people in each partner country)- Guardians of ageing adults with disabilities > 60 (10 people in each partner country)Expected results of the project on participants are:- Increased knowledge, competence, and skills of the trainers/experts.- Increased knowledge, competence, and skills of family members and legal guardians of ageing adults with disabilities.- A greater understanding of the challenges and changes in cognitive capacities; physical abilities; social support networks; physical health of ageing adults with intellectual disabilities.- Increased knowledge, competence, and skills of parents, family members and legal guardians of ageing adults with intellectual disabilities for positive reinforcement, a strong sense of self-worth, confidence.- Increased ability to handle stress, limitations, changes in cognitive capacities, physical abilities; social support networks; physical health of ageing adults with intellectual disabilities.- A greater understanding of facing and overcoming challenges; knowing how to ask for help and professional support.- Increased knowledge, competence, and skills of parents, family members and legal guardians of ageing adults with intellectual disabilities for positive reinforcement, a strong sense of self-worth, confidence.- Increased ability to handle stress, limitations, changes in cognitive capacities, physical abilities; social support networks; physical health of ageing adults with intellectual disabilities.- A greater understanding of facing and overcoming challenges; knowing how to ask for help and professional support.- Increased knowledge, competence, behaviour, and skills of parents, family members and legal guardians of ageing adults with intellectual disabilities by using online learning HUB.- A greater understanding of the policy-based solutions that the project provided on ""elderly care"" and ""intellectual disability"".- Increased awareness of the lack of supportive services for parents, family members and legal guardians of ageing adults with disabilities.- Increased knowledge our the effectiveness and relevance of the project with reached goals, developed project results and gathered feedback.Outcomes of the PMI activities are: - Project management guideline- Effective communication strategy - Dissemination plan - Dissemination report - Internal quality evaluation plan - Quality evaluation report - Paper brochure of project results - Dissemination materials - Advisory board meeting reports- Multilingual web platform - Sustainability plan- Sustainability report - Progress/interim and final report of the project"

"The project aims to contribute further to the development of quality of helping professions in Europe. The objective is to develop an innovative self-experience training for counsellors. It focuses on the helping professions providing services on currently widely spread constructivist basis. That's why our objective is also to share expert knowledge among specialists in SocioDynamic counselling as one of highly effective approaches to the helping process in nowadays unpredictable world. This will deepen European cooperation in the field of SocioDynamic counselling. Helping professionals have many high quality tools and approaches but generally don´t have inner abilities for using the tools to their maximums, as education programs normally don´t focus enough on clearly defined ""inner state""-factors. Among “inner state” factors are: mental models (prejudices), value systems, language patterns, interactions of Body and Mind (i.e. embodiment), conflicts in communication, resilience, salutogenesis (i.e. factors supporting human health and well-being), Dialogical competences (e.g. radical respect), the interactions of emotions and thinking-processes, ambiguity, dissonance (i.e. mental conflict), self-esteem, inner development (character strengths), self-reflection, stress and burn-out. Focusing on these issues will higher the probability of sustainable effects on counsellors themselves and their clients. These aims of further professionalizing counsellors are based on findings of partners´ practical experiences + different recent scientific research-findings. We have a unifying term for helping professionals, a term “counsellor”. They are our target group and consist e.g. of: career counsellors for adults, job coaches, personalists, teachers in adult education, lecturers, tutors, guidance counsellors for prevention and behavioral issues, social workers and other professionals from social services, professionals in non-profit advice bureaus, trainers, staff in enterprises, doctors, nurses, caretakers, counsellors for financial literacy, etc. The results of the project will be a self-experience training and a handbook to support also those who will not attend the training. We will organize a model training, consisting of 4 3-day trainings throughout 1 year. There we will test our innovative output and evaluate it together with the participants. Final curriculum of The Self-experience training for counsellors and European Development of Counsellors - Handbook ""Inner State"" will be openly available and disseminated on national levels and European level. The training will consist of theory and practical exercises. In between the training blocks there will always be an e-learning session with lecturers. There the counsellors will have space for sharing emotions, being in direct contact with each other and lecturers, will have the possibility to discuss given study texts and their learning diary. The counsellors will have tasks to fulfill between in-person sessions. The counsellors need to try things under supervision of lecturers, then in their praxis, then they need to come back to their experience and analyze it under guidance of lecturers. Short trainings lack such possibility, therefore the effect is minimal. Trainings which last for several years are usually required for therapists. Therapists are not the target group of this project. One year duration is optimal for our target group. The training will be lectured by an international team of qualified trainers who will be able to train other trainers after the project is finished, so the impact can grow in time. It can be held in English or national languages or combination of English and a national language. Language variability enables this to be offered to counsellors all over Europe and thus support an increase of the number of qualified constructivist counsellors around Europe. The training will add to their further education by building up relevant aspects of the so called ""inner state"". The resulting psychological ""structure"" will lead to a higher quality of counselling and a much higher probability for sustainable changes and empowerment for the later clients. In other words, there is a direct impact on clients´ lives expected. And in this sense, we can talk about an impact on the whole society. At a European level the desired additional impact is to ""open the eyes of relevant stakeholders"" to the problem that counsellors in many countries in fact have a good general (and mostly standardized, well defined) education, but the so important inner-factors as described here are significantly neglected. This project shall contribute to improving this situation. The training can be useful for a wide range of adults not only from the geographical point, as stated above, but also from the point of different areas of counselling and other areas. The training develops skills which are generally valid for all who work with people – e.g. managers or businessmen."