MINDtheGaps aims to contribute to the promotion of equal opportunities to young people in vulnerable situations, including those living in residential care institutions, to develop media literacy, digital inclusion and critical thinking and, therefore, conditions to live and participate on the information society and to access the labour market (social inclusion).MINDtheGaps uses a participatory intervention based on programming training and multimedia open educational resources development to empower young people to develop media literacy, critical thinking and to be able to share knowledge and collaboratively solve problems in partnership with young people from other European countries, in a non-formal context. This means that the project is in line with the New European Youth Policy (2019-2027) since it will develop new and innovative ways to achieve the priorities that are set out in national and EU policy: ENGAGE, CONNECT and EMPOWER young people through innovation, quality and recognition of youth work.The general objective unfolds in the following objectives:- To know the characteristics and the young people intersecting disadvantages of gender, race, religion, relation to education, learning disabilities, family status, geographical contexts and citizenship status;- To develop tools to educational institutions, in general, to implement inclusive education approaches and promote common values through digital media;- To promote effective use of existing tools to promote citizenship education;- To deepen knowledge about inclusive educational innovative approaches regarding media literacy with young people living in residential care institutions;- To promote young people and staff cross-border situations contact to experience European identity to prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism through the promotion of common values as a vector of social inclusion;- To raise awareness about the risks and opportunities of the internet and social media;- To develop practical recommendations with regard to the development of media literacy and critical thinking practices both in formal and informal education and training activities among young people in socially vulnerable situations;- To disseminate the produced knowledge evolving policy makers, State care institutions, schools, teacher’s associations, European networks, education administrative staff, etc.The primary target group will involve 100 young people aged between 15-18 years old in risk of exclusion, including NEETs facing educational difficulties, learning difficulties, early school-leavers, low qualified adults, young people with poor school performance, economic obstacles, cultural differences. This target-group was selected because they are facing the transition from the teenage to the early adult age; some of them have equated an eventual school drop-out, which will require them to look for a job, in order to avoid NEET situations.The project's deliveries, namely an innovative practices handbook, online education resources, assessment/testing materials and distance learning platform, are intended to be used and adapted in other educational and training contexts, both formal and informal, ensuring project sustainability and long-term impact. The end-users are schools communities/residential care institution staff (school as an institution: managers, administrative staff, education counsellors, parents, surrounding communities, students – from 12 to 16 years old – and teachers).MINDtheGaps impact envisage is to contribute to develop innovative practices at both partners’ countries and EU level to guarantee “the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable [everyone] to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market” (European Pillar of Social Rights, 2017). They are also in sync with the targets of Europe 2020 Agenda, namely at the educational level, contributing to a decrease of early school leaving and to diminish the levels of people in or at risk of poverty/social exclusion and the number of NEETs.

The innovative resources developed in the ReGap project provide opportunities for migrants and refugees to feel a sense of social inclusion as they identify with digital stories of the different characters portrayed in the resources. The inclusion in the learning environment of the resources constitutes a necessary precondition for migrant and refugee success in online anytime anywhere learning. The knowledge and skills developed as the online resources completed supports the societal inclusion of the migrants and refugees: they have a greater chance to be successful in employment and education sectors, along with enhanced understanding of gender cultures and legal and citizens rights, as well as in access to use of health and social services as required. Reducing the Educational Gap for migrants and refugees in EU countries (ReGap) was launched in 2017. A year which saw the arrival of 2.4 million non-EU immigrants in EU countries, and more than 800,000 people were granted citizenship. The challenge has and always will be to offer meaningful, accessible and sustainable inclusion in employment, education, health and social protection services, along with an accompanying personal sense of mutual belonging and well-being shared by new arrivals and host populations. Central in this endeavour is the need to build mutual understandings of different cultures, languages, gender practices and histories. Many challenges are faced by migrants and refugees to Europe, such as language barriers, knowledge of labour markets, limited access to health care and social protection systems and disconnection between law and practice. Also, lack of digital literacy is an obstacle for many refugees and migrants, at the same time as digital technology and Internet have turned out to be promising tools for education for this target group. ReGap developed and trialled seven open access e-learning courses that are culturally and gender sensitive, using examples and adapted specific to each country in which the resource(s) are offered: Macedonia, Italy, Portugal and Norway. The courses met needs in employment, health, education, social security, gender and knowledge of justice systems and citizenship regulations. Each included an introductory component to create socially shared participant identity and belonging and enhanced ICT skills. The courses can be fully online or blended with face-to-face activities. Focus groups and trials with migrants, refugees, teachers and professionals were completed (18 focus groups with 101 participants, trials with 323 participants in total). An instruction video and handbook for teachers and professionals has also been produced. All resources – courses and instructional materials – have been translated into five langugages (English, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese and Macedonian) and adapted to the situation and regulations in each of the partner countries.The ReGap methodology has built knowledge, skills and created social inclusion and well-being through digital storytelling; integrating in particularly migrants and refugees’ own stories as part of the learning resources. A key objective has been to listen to migrants and refugees who have co-participated in the development of these stories. This methodology has raised motivation to enrol and complete these courses and confirms the importance of participants feeling social inclusion and wellbeing as they identify with the portrayal of the digital stories, issues, characters and important knowledge and skills communicated.The ReGap project partners are nationally and internationally renowned for their work in the field of adult learning and the development of innovative e-learning for different stakeholders. They are Centre for lifelong learning at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (coordinator), recognised for the delivery of sustainable and cutting edge online resources; the Department of Human Sciences at LUMSA University, Italy, who are educational researchers and multimedia learning specialists; the Centre for Research and Intervention in Education in the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences (FPCEUP) at the University of Porto, Portugal, are experts in learning science and community oriented project delivery and the Association Community Development Institute (CDI) in Macedonia are an NGO who have been heavily involved in migrant and refugee projects for many years.

<< Background >>In an era, which is characterized by a climate crisis, rapid loss of biodiversity, depletion of natural resources and continuation of global inequalities, it is pertinent to empower especially young people not only to change their thinking but also to change their actions in a progressive and sustainable way. While there is relative global consent, that transformative learning, which focusses on the idea that learners can adjust their thinking and acting based on new information, is necessary for sustainable development, the path towards it is often less clear. Schools need to react to the changing conditions, acting and educating for environmental protection and against climate change. This is not only a challenge for pedagogy but is often combined with processes of redesigning school buildings and yards. As Malinin and Parnell (2012) describe, schools communicate a “hidden curriculum” (p. 12) to teachers, students and the community, which unveils how learning is viewed and which role children and youths play in society. Accordingly it is important not only to work on pedagogy, but to simultaneously pay attention to the design, layout and day-to-day practices of schools. In line with a whole institution approach aspects such as energy consumption, mobility or food choices should be addressed by educational institutions. Accordingly it is important not only to work on pedagogy, but to simultaneously pay attention to the design and layout of schools as well as infrastructure, mobility and food choices.In order to deal with all these challenges, we need schools and educators, that lead by example and try out new, innovative pedagogical approaches in their schools and are willing to make changes to school policy beyond its pedagogy. In this respect, especially All-Day schools show a great potential. The extended time pupils spend at school means more equality between children from high and low income families. Secondly, they offer more extracurricular activities than half day schools, which is important in education for sustainable development (ESD) / transformative education. Furthermore, as children spend more time in this type of school social learning plays a more important role as well. The curricula of many All-Day schools contain numerous topics and educational principles, which are analogous to goals and principles of ESD or just need little adaptation in order to meet these goals. In addition, as students also eat at the school, food choices can be another aspect of a change towards sustainability and climate neutrality. Thus All-Day schools seem well suited to holistically incorporate ESD and transformative learning into their educational programme and to adapt their practice both in the mornings and in the afternoons as well as to the infrastructure and other aspects of school life. Thus, having All-Day schools as a starting point, sustainability education and practices can gradually spread to other social spheres such as families and the general public.<< Objectives >>The aim of our project is to support All-day schools in developing a curriculum as well as day-to-day practices, which foster sustainability education and make an impact toward climate stability. Thus, a major priority in the long term are environmental and climate goals in the sense that pupils are learning about sustainability in order to become active citizens, who are conscious about the environment and our climate and act accordingly. In order to reach this goal, key competences have to be acquired by teachers and pupils alike. Additionally value education, civic engagement and participation lie at the core of sustainability and environmental education and thus are vital ingredients to this project. The project endorses the whole-school approach, integrating ESD / transformative education in a holistic manner. Accordingly, teaching and learning for sustainability is extended to aspects such as community involvement and integrated governance. The whole-school approach further advocates for active, participatory learning (Hargreaves, 2008). In order to do so, this project will learn from existing good-practice examples. Based on these examples, which will be researched through case studies, the project aims at fostering the transformation towards sustainability education and practices by developing in-service training modules for All-Day schools wishing to adapt their programme towards ESD and transformative learning and to change their school policy in accordance with the whole-institution approach.<< Implementation >>Two case studies in All-Day schools will be conducted in each project country. Following the individual analysis of each case,, the next step is a comparative analysis of all cases, focusing on similarities and differences between the project countries and school types. The results will then be used to create teacher-training modules and materials. The development of these will follow an Educational-Design research approach based on researcher-practitioner-design hubs. Based on the idea of involving creative people with different professional backgrounds - partly from the case study institutions and partly from the project partners institutions - as an intellectual core within a design process, this methodology will be adapted to thedevelopment of the teacher training course and materials. Its core, the teacher-practitioner (TP) design hub, will be constituted by representatives of the project partners and collaborates remotely.The TP design hub is involved in every iteration of the design process. Following the development of the course, each partner will conduct one pilot course in their own country, inviting 20 teachers to take part. Through this course, we are supporting educators and head teachers in implementing sustainability measures in their institutions using a whole-school approach. The course will be evaluated by the participating teachers and revised accordingly. The revised course as well as the other project results will be presented at a final conference.<< Results >>The project will produce the following results:• Extensive case study reports from four different countries• Cross case analysis report• Guidelines for the selection and development of training materials• Training material as online documents (text, images) and audiovisual artefacts (eg. podcast, video)• Online course based on MOODLE or a similar online platform, involving synchronous (eg. webinars) and asynchronous communication.Furthermore the project will result in several (scientific) publications and all results will be presented at the final conference. All results will be shared through the project website to reach a broad audience. Through developing and holding a teacher training course, which will also be available as an online training module after the project, we are supporting educators and head teachers in implementing sustainability measures in their institutions using a whole-school approach even beyond the project duration. Additionally, teacher educators as well as educational authorities will profit from the developed course and materials for pre-service as well as in-service training beyond the project.

"The longer the parents, and in most countries, mothers stay at home with children, the more difficult it seems for them to return to work (European Commission, 2018). Over the years, they may lose working habits, overview of the opportunities available on the labour market and they lack new skills required. In addition, they may have trouble with the work-family life. Despite these challenges, most parental leavers find it important to return to work after maternity or parental leave.The project ""Fostering Employment of Maternity Leavers"" (FEMALE) responds to statistics and research pointing to the fact that parenting in many respects complicates the situation of the parent, mostly mothers, in the labour market. The aim of the FEMALE project is to look for ways to facilitate the return to work after parental leave. The project brings innovative counselling and educational content for parents returning to work, created on the basis of the results of an international study and a survey of the needs of target groups in cooperation with partners – educational organizations from France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Norway and Slovakia. The product is an electronic platform designed for the target group of parents, career counsellors or other stakeholders in the labour market with practical advice when considering the return of parents to the labour market.WHAT DOES FEMALE INCLUDE?­-Implementation of a research study mapping different approaches and best practices in partner countries and in other countries to support the return of parents to the labor market after parental leave­-Creation of a blended learning programme (curriculum, pedagogical materials and distance learning tools) to support the employability of parents­-Development of an electronic platform intended for target groups (parents, career counsellors, employers) to navigate the return to the labour market.PARTNERSHIPThe project consortium consists of 6 partners from 5 countries with expertise in adult education, career guidance and labour market research (France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Norway and Slovakia). The project coordinator is TREXIMA Bratislava.BENEFITSThe platform https://moodle.parentalleavers.eu/ deals with various topics that need to be taken into account when moving from the period of childcare back to working life. The intention is for the platform to contribute to discovering and getting acquainted with the possibilities of facilitating the employment of parents. In addition to the use of the platform by individual parents, the content of the platform is freely available and usable for counsellors and HR professionals, as their support and mutual cooperation of both parties is also important. The free availability of the program in the digital environment in the form of an electronic platform contributes to the openness of educational content in the age of digital media. The flexible use of counseling and training materials, either individually or in cooperation with an employer or career counselor, opens up new possibilities for accessing skills related to better employability."

‘Mapping the Music of Migration’ (MaMuMi) is a two-year pan-European, Erasmus+ musical inheritance project focused on talking about music and song as a tool for intercultural competency. It has 7 partners (2 x HE and 5 x NGOs) in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain and the UK and involves the collection, editing and uploading of ‘Song Stories’, stories about music to an interactive app. These stories focus on ‘inheritance tracks’; the songs or music that migrants have inherited, the discussion of which acts as a platform for diversity awareness in dedicated MaMuMi ‘Song Worlds’ Workshops’. The project is driven by the principle that innovative training spaces form part of broader integration strategies that can actively help tackle issues of diversity and social inclusion common across the EU. The project moves from a review of theory and practice in the field of music as a tool for integration, to facilitating a user guide that can be deployed by NGOs in the sector, to an audio collection of case studies from the workshop and then finally, an interactive map which places each migrant’s story of the music they have inherited on a point of beginning and traces its journey across Europe. The project aims to use storytelling about music as a positive mechanism to counter negative stereotype (Salazar, 2010) and to open up enabling enunciative spaces. As such, it is firmly in line with the expectations of its commissioning funding body, the EU.MaMuMi emerges from two interrelated contexts, 1) previous and current Erasmus+ funded projects and 2) academic work on music, inheritance and migration. 1) UOG has led a successful digital storytelling project (MYSTY) which introduced innovative and easily transferable learning methodologies to schools to increase intercultural competence. It is also currently involved in MEDLIT, a two year project tasked with building an media literacy app for low-skilled migrant women. Both of these projects act as foundation to MaMuMi in their a) methodological innovation and b) aim to tackle issues around migration in a positive and practical way. Both projects work to develop diversity awareness and social cohesion and MaMuMi is continuing this.It has three objectives: 1) to give migrants a space where they can use music to tell their song stories and so bolster self-esteem and importance in a new or unwelcome environment. 2) to offer staff working in NGOs with migrants a tool (the MaMuMi workshop) which will enable deeper understanding of their clients and 3) the Music Migration Map will be a free to use interactive app that will evidence migrant stories and journeys. There are seven partners on MaMuMi. Five of these are organisations working closely with migrants. We envisage that each organisation will be working on the project workshops and audio collection themselves and will cascade these workshops out to their networks. It can reasonably be estimated on evidence from past projects that the workshop methodology, audio collection and app will be cascaded to 250 trainers via each organisation’s networks.There are a number of outputs on the MaMuMi project. IO1 is a methodological framework. IO2 is the MaMuMi Music Workshops, where participants will be trained in the Song Stories method. IO3 is the MaMuMi Audio Collection, where participants will upload stories to the online archive (as part of the MaMuMi website). IO4 is the MaMuMi Music Migration Map, where individual song stories (audio and clips of music) will be added to a virtual map. IO5 is a Briefing Paper detailing the project and its journey. The results of MaMuMi are 1) increased understanding of the histories and emotional pasts of migrants 2) increased understanding for migrants of NGOs’ pasts (as trainers will be invited to partake in the workshops too, providing their own song stories – although these will not be mapped on the app). 3) Visibility of specific migration journeys narrated by migrants themselves via the MaMuMi method of talking about song.