<< Background >>With the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, technology is becoming even more ubiquitous. Digital growth, increased automation and artificial intelligence (AI) require individuals to be committed lifelong learners (ETF, 2020) – thinking about their transferable skills, switching from at-risk sectors to remain in employment and/or simply browsing for new career ideas. There is a growing need to increase efforts in promoting learning and work opportunities. Individuals need easy access to trustworthy careers information, advice and guidance (Attwell & Hughes, 2019), particularly in volatile, uncertain and complex labour markets.In seeking employment, considering career change or undertaking training, Labour Market Intelligence is increasingly being seen as key. For careers support services, understanding how best to use open datasets in this context, capturing new and evolving labour market trends and new forms of career trajectories, is vital. Digital technologies are deeply intertwined with human activities. We believe humans and bots can potentially work well together (Arthur, 2021). New technology creates online spaces and places for constant interaction between humans and non-humans. The use of big open datasets has significant potential, including use of national and local labour market trends, salaries, and job prospects, though has proved challenging in many countries (Řihová, 2016).<< Objectives >>CareerBot partnership seeks to improve Digital Readiness of the Career Guidance sector by implementing CareerBot methodology and tool, facilitating blended guidance sessions and to use customized Labor Market Intelligence LMI) to empower marginalized job seekers.We want to put Career Guidance Practitioners at the centre and assist them – and their organisations - on the path of digitalisation so that they can advise their clients in the best possible way. By the help of our Methodology, job seekers are able to gather relevant information before and after personal interviews, so that valuable personal services can be used efficiently. With the “CareerBot project” we propose a pilot that focuses on the role of career guidance, which became more demanding, and must be adapted more rapidly and flexibly to the changing needs of the new world of work.<< Implementation >>The CareerBot partnership includes 7 partners from 5 countries with diverse profiles, research center as coordinator, 2 technology partners (ACP and Pontydysgu) and one Career Guidance Organization for each partner Country as Implementing Partners.All partners will be responsible for the development, co-creation and implementation of the project and lead different project results (4) and activities based upon their expertise. Each partner will participate with 2 Career Guidance Practitioners at the LTTA in Germany and all implementing partners will organize User groups for co-creation of the CareerBot tool and transfer CareerBot Methodology to min. 3 National Transfer Organizations, where several staff members will be involved. .All partners are responsible for organizing Partner Meetings (Virtual and Face2Face and 2 Multiplier Events in each country, including the final dissemination event in Spain.Further dissemination and exploitation activities will include ongoing updating of the project website, posting in social media channels and editing project newsletters. Project Management, Quality Management, Internal and External Evaluation are important ongoing activities.<< Results >>The CareerBot project includes 4 project results (R) or outcomes: - CareerBot Content and Methodology, - CareerBot Tool- Blended CareerBot training for Career Guidance Practitioner- Transfer Handbook for Implementation with focus on Organisational Development (OD)Further Result und outcomes will be:-Learning-Teaching-Training Event for Career Guidance Officers in Germany- CareerBot Website and Social Media Channels as main dissemination and sustainability tool- 10 Multiplier Events (including Final Dissemination Event in Spain)- Internal and External Evaluation Reports- Dissemination Strategy- 7 Project Meetings (incl. 3 Green Virtual Meetings)- Project & Quality Management Handbook

This project produced the following results: • Develop transversal skills for career guidance practitioners, by the provision of training, use of a dedicated online course and manuals offered through the eGuide Practitioner platform, available for all EU member states. • Introduce eGuide User Assessment platform and tools to an additional three EU member states, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, along with the respective training of local practitioners, required for the tools to take effect. • Update and refresh guidance practitioners in Ireland and Greece who are already using a version of eGuide in their practice and provide support to new practitioners in using the materials and tools. • Expand the existing multi-language materials and tools by three more languages (Romanian, Bulgarian and Croatian). • Develop an online course dedicated for Consulting Principles and methodology. • Create an online Quality Assurance Framework for career guidance practitioners (QAF) making it more accessible and easy to assimilate. • Create for the first time a standardized Career Guidance Principles Aptitude Test (CGP/AT) for certifying the practitioner’s ability for counseling youth, and a Quality Assurance Framework Aptitude Test (QAF/AT) for identifying knowledge of QAF principles. • Promote both eGuide platforms to national and European, educational systems and employment services, trying to get all the above material and tools incorporated within the official VET systems available for all practitioners to use across Europe. • Upgrade the existing eGuide User Assessment platform by identifying and collecting tools and resources from other previous and on-going projects that have a bearing on career guidance or that have produced innovative tools to one available site. Existing tools’ software is to be upgraded too, since the programming code it was initially written in has been rendered obsolete. The above metioned result a long-term change towards improving the quality of skills of practitioners and the career guidance services provided to individuals. It is also expected that the tools developed in this project will be integrated in the VET systems of the project countries of this proposal and eventually lead to official policy initiatives, which is a long term process in terms of bureaucracy, but not impossible to achieve.

The immediate aim of the project is to investigate which vocational guidance procedures the partner organisations use to promote and improve the reputation of VET. After getting to know them, we want to learn from each other by examining the possibilities of implementation. The partnership consists of five organisations active in both VET and vocational guidance.In the application coordinated by the Heves County Chamber of Commerce and Industry we have planned complex learning processes. The project is based on mutual learning; our common goal is that the participants acquire new knowledge that they can apply directly in their work. We believe that the partner organisations have a unique and specialised knowledge in the field of VET and vocational guidance. In this way, each partner can learn a lot from the others. International project meetings are intended for this purpose, where everyone can present their own good practice to the partnership members.- Heves County Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Involving enterprises in vocational guidance, matching education and labour market needs.- Aspire-Igen Group Limited: Career guidance in VET- Ballymun Job Centre, theme: Quality assurance in VET- Berufsschule für Baugewerbe: Motivation in VET- Gymnázium Kráľovský Chlmec: VET in the grammar schoolIn this way, all types of institutions dealing with VET and vocational guidance are represented in the partnership.In those areas where we need further joint development, we organised 2 Short-term joint staff training events. Accordingly, we focus - through the organization by the HKIK - on how we can use social media to enhance the reputation of VET.We also analyse - through the organisation by Aspire-Igen Group Limited - the topic on which the project mainly focuses. During the training, we analyse effective reaching out techniques in vocational guidance.These activities underpin both our short- and long-term goals.After all, our goal is to increase the effectiveness of the information that reaches students and we believe that this new communication will spark their interest. Our long-term goal is to increase the number of enrolments in VET. This is an important issue not only at national but also at EU level.The collection of good practices produced as a result of the project will include the good practices of the partners and a feasibility analysis of the projects per country.The collection will be available to a wide range of professionals, as the target group ranges from primary school students to adults changing careers.

"<< Background >>The COVID-19 pandemic, by restricting movement and forcing the closure of cultural heritage sites/institutions, has strongly affected the entire cultural sector, which is now struggling to try to recover.The fruition of culture has come to a turning point: it requires the design and implementation of innovative practices, new forms of promotion, communication, access and transmission of knowledge. This change of perspective involves also the definition of a new vision, related the environmental issue: cultural institutions must increasingly act as a bridge connecting Nature, Culture and the Environment. With respect to these challenges, a new, correct and mature use of digital tools is essential.A precondition for this to concretely happen is to promote a multidisciplinary VET education, which includes the natural, human and digital sciences, necessary to train and forge renewed professional figures able to help address the challenges of the cultural sector. DIGICULT offers an innovative e-learning pathway, based on digital tools and focused on cultural heritage, with the aim of developing disciplinary, key and life skills, improving learners’ key competences as summarized in the recommendations of the European Commission and the European Council: communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, digital expertise, social, civic and environmental competences, initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness.This e-learning pathway can motivate learners with reference also to young people at risk of leaving school since it transforms their knowledge and passion for digital tools (such as video games or social media) and their increasing environmental sensitivity into skills useful for their professional future. Trainers/teachers can experience a new mixed teaching approach that integrates digital, foreign languages and learning-through-practice.The DIGICULT project, in pursuing this educational pathway and being centred on a new cultural paradigm, is coherent with some SDGS - Sustainable Development Goals - set by the United Nations 2030 Agenda:Goal 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all;Goal 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls;Goal 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all;Goal 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patternsGoal 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.DIGICULT will promote these goals through promoting:- a formative / cultural narration that takes into account the environmental context of cultural heritage;- an e-learning pathway aimed at deepening some SDGS - Sustainable Development Goals, the concepts of ecological and digital transition, the new dimension of cultural heritage;- a game aimed at providing both quality education / services and digitization / innovation in cultural institutions.- a conscious and environmentally friendly cultural consumption pattern (e.g. cultural events with low environmental impact).Furthermore, the DIGICULT project will take place in a context characterized by the ""New European Bauhaus"" strongly promoted by the European Commission to strengthen the links between the world of culture and creativity and the world of production, science and technology, to guide the ecological transition pursued by the Green New Deal and the New Generation of the EU. DIGICULT involves:• 6 European country with strong expertise in the cultural heritage, educational and digital fields.• VET learners - young people (14-30 years old) attending training courses.• VET learners - trainers involved in training courses.<< Objectives >>The project wants to achieve the development of new competences, thanks to an innovative educational pattern conceived as a replicable model, up to the challenges of the cultural sector: the design and implementation of innovative practices, new forms of promotion, communication, access and transmission of knowledge based on the assumptions of digital and green transition.DIGICULT, in coherence with Council Recommendation on vocational education and training for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience and the Digital Education Action Plan, focuses on synergies between cultural heritage and digital education in VET considering the following key factors:• COVID-19 crisis has brought greater awareness of the need to improve the use of technology both in VET and cultural heritage sectors;• living and learning cultural heritage has to continue to be a source of resilience, even if enjoyed at a distance, as young and adult people continue to draw inspiration, joy and solidarity;• changing labour market underlines the need to provide innovative learning methods and to empower guidance services in order to facilitate agile adaptation to new labour market requirements;• VET trainers and learners need to perform new roles in the digital era in order to be resilient and future-ready for their personal and professional life.<< Implementation >>The project consists of 3 phases, supervised through a continuous evaluation activity. Every phase is divided in activities, aiming to address specific tasks and achieve precise project results.Phase 1 TOWARDS AN INNOVATIVE CURRICULUM FOR THE CULTURAL HERITAGE DIGITAL EDUCATION•Project Result 1 DIGITAL CULTURAL HERITAGE: AN INNOVATIVE CURRICULUM- the definition of the training methodology for the pilot course (Act 1.1)- the developing of the strategy on how to welcome different learners (Act 1.2)Phase 2 IMPLEMENTATION AND VALIDATION OF THE E-LEARNING DIGICULT PATHWAY•Project Results DIGICULT E-LEARNING PATHWAY AND VALIDATION- the creation of the content of the training modules identify as relevant in new digital, methodological and relational competences (Act 2.1)- the development of digital educational resources (Act 2.2)- the piloting of e-learning Pathway and validation report (Act 2.3+ Act 2.4)Phase 3 CREATION OF THE DIGICULT EDUCATIONAL GAME•Project Result DIGICULT EDUCATIONAL GAME- the design and the realization of DIGICULT educational game (Act 3.1 + Act 3.2).The project methodology aims to maximize the involvement of the learners alternating meeting and practical activities, allowing participants to immediately put into practice the skills acquired through fruitful discussion with participants of other countries.The use of digital tools like e-learning platform, social networks, the creation of digital outputs (e.g. the design of a virtual game) will help increase their practical involvement and boost the expertise useful for their professional development.In order to ensure a long-term DIGICULT sustainability, the consortium ensures the all the educational resources, materials and tools developed will remain at disposal of partners and public on an open-source platform. This platform will be linked to partner's websites and its impact will be multiplied thanks to their diffusion (through promotion and dissemination) and use in different contexts and situations.<< Results >>DIGICULT wants to cope with the changing ways of culture fruition and at the same time to safeguard access to contents by all. This implies to improve the use of technology in VET, to adapt pedagogies and develop digital skills, to encourage greater interaction with technology and more efficient learning and teaching practices, the use of alternative learning channels, equally inclusive, but capable of being flexible and adaptable to the new context. Since the cultural place is an educational place, this must be experienced (and therefore narrated) in an engaging and memorable way.DIGICULT offers an innovative e-learning pathway with the aim of developing disciplinary, key and life skills, improving learners’ key competences as summarized in the recommendations of the European Commission and the European Council: communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, digital expertise, social and civic competences, initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness.This e-learning pathway, based on digital tools and focused of cultural heritage, can motivate learners with reference also to young people at risk of leaving school - since it transforms their knowledge and passion for digital tools (such as video games or social media) into skills useful for their professional future. Trainers/teachers can experience a new mixed teaching approach that integrates digital, foreign languages and learning-through-practice. Furthermore, the collaboration with partner countries will allow recipients to acquire additional skills and to exchange views.The project is expected to have a more general impact at all levels (local, regional, national and European) mainly because:• it will strengthen digital and technological skills of ""digital natives"" learners with a specific focus on the cultural heritage, making them more aware about the impact of the digital technology in this area;• it will increase learners’ resilience by promoting and implementing competences for the digital transformation in the cultural heritage area and related processes;• it will enhance digital possibilities for learning and engaging with cultural heritage;• it will equip beneficiaries with new life, technical, pedagogical and creative skills;• it will encourage a broad and conscious use of the European cultural heritage in VET;• it will increase awareness on VET learners and trainers in the field of culture and cultural heritage.The results of the project will also represent a powerful and lasting outcome to ensure the continuity of DIGICULT after the end of the implementation phase. All project results will in fact remain at stakeholders’ disposal, in order to be useful and inspiring for future action.Indeed, the DIGICULT project wants to help achieve the SDGS - Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations 2030 Agenda (Goals 4-5-8-12-17)."

Young people are often encouraged to develop the technical skills needed to enter the labour market, but competencies on how to conduct themselves in the workplace, as well as create opportunities for employment mobility for themselves can be neglected, despite disadvantaged young people having few opportunities to be exposed to these key skills. The YEC project aimed to help young & youth worker professionals identify key gaps in employability competences & address these through youth worker led training modules. The objectives of the project were to: Increase the employability of young people Increase the validation of young people’s employability competences Increase the engagement of young people and employers in competency tool development Increase the focus on young people’s employability among young people and their practitionersThe partnership was drawn together to create a diverse range of partners who have an evidenced commitment to youth engagement, upskilling & training of youth workers/practitioners & young people along with validation of these skills, as well as sharing and promotion of best practice in the area of youth work and employment.The project set out to:•Develop and pilot a methodology which creates a space for dialogue between young people, employers and the project partnership when developing project tools. •Create a suite of employability competences training modules for young people, with focus on the personal, social & learning to learn competency from the Council of The European Union. •Create a train the trainer course with specific focus on youth workers & guidance practitioners engaging with young people who are seeking employment•Create a guide for youth workers and practitioners to map the modules from the train the trainer course, or any employability skills training, onto current validation systems under ET 2020. The final products developed by the YEC Project through 4 Intellectual Outputs:IO1 – Youth & Employer Advisory Boards – The partnership created a Methodological Guide which includes case studies of the YEC experiences of advisory board participation. This can be used as a “how to” guide for external organisations who which to develop and run their own youth or stakeholder participation schemes, resulting in more organisations having information to include young people in programme development. IO2 – Employability Competences Training Moules – a full suite of Training Modules, which are dynamic in nature and practitioners can utilize either in totality or pick selected modules according to the groups or young person needs has been developed. The modules can be used in either a classroom or online setting and have been piloted with young people in Ireland, Italy, Finland and Poland, increasing their employability. These modules also enhance the skills of youth workers and practitioners who partake in delivering them. IO2 is available in English, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish. IO3 – Employability Competences Train the Trainer Course – A Train the trainer programme including a training compendium, tool development documents and module session plans, so that anyone delivering the modules has access to step by step guidelines on how to do so. This will also result in a sustainable rolling out of the YEC tools post project due to master trainers within the partnership committed to providing training to youth workers who request it and meet the competency criteria set out. IO3 is available in English, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish. IO4 – Competence Validation Guide – The YEC tools have been mapped onto European & National frameworks where they are applicable, resulting in any young person who partakes in the training course having validated skills after completion. This guide will also promote the use of validation methods within the field of youth work and increase the use of these scales among partner organisations and anyone who chooses to download the guide. IO4 is available in English, Finnish, German, Italian and Polish. A clear dissemination strategy is in place to share our tools with youth practitioners and young people across all partner countries and more widely at European level. All final products along with a number of videos showcasing the work of the project were produced and are available on the project website www.yecproject.eu The partners had 5 transnational meetings to collaborate on the development of the above outputs. The tools were all piloted in each partner country before they were finalised. The advisory boards were responsible for reviewing each IO before they signed it off as being complete. Evaluations of the effectiveness of the advisory boards were carried out internally and also by an external evaluator whose role was to draw conclusions on the added value of facilitating youth and employer advisory participation. A copy of the final report is attached and available on the project website.