The majority of elements in our cities and communities were designed and developed in a different demographic context. The unprecedented increase in the ageing population urges to explore the fitness of our built environment, social environment, community and health support, and modify those environments in a new demographic context. A promising strategy to deal with this issue is developing citizen competencies so that older adults take an active role in documenting features of their environment that create barriers or enablers for active and healthy living, and then voice them to policy and decision makers to promote change.Age-friendly Environments (AFE) Activists project addressed the need of tailored training to adults aged 65 and over who want to promote age-friendly environments in their cities and influence municipal agencies in their decision making so that the infrastructures and services of the town or city are adapted to the diverse capacities, realities, needs and preferences of all residents of all ages.The main objectives of this project have been to: 1) Train, empower and support older people to get active for their cities/communities/neighbourhoods, to bring forward their ideas and initiatives for age-friendly environments; 2) Develop supportive, innovative and accessible training/learning modules and materials that are relevant to others (adult education providers, trainers etc.); 3) Raise awareness of the importance of age-friendly environments for active participation and civic engagement of older citizens 4) Produce and disseminate sustainable outputs and outcomes and build strong networks for age-friendly environments and active participation of older citizens.The objectives were achieved by: 1) Collecting, analysing and showcasing inspiring grass-roots initiatives in different domains of age-friendly environments; 2) Designing and testing a training programme by cross-border cooperation and short-term study visits; 3) Experiential and project-based learning enabling the older-age participants to initiate activities in the field of age-friendly environments; 4) A transnational learning mobility to give selected participants the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of an age-friendly environment in The Hague and Udine, members of the WHO age-friendly cities network; 5) Involving experts, public servants and different stakeholders in project activities; 6) Disseminating project results at conferences and public events.Four outputs were delivered by the project partners:1) A COMPENDIUM OF GOOD PRACTICES OF AGE-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENTS (AFE) containing exemplary grass-roots initiatives from European countries in different domains of age-friendly environment. The Compendium was used as a training resource and as awareness raising tool for understanding activism and advocacy for and by older people and for gaining inspirations to plan and implement small local projects.2) AFE ADVOCACY TRAINING PROGRAMME to be used as a training resource for organisations / institutions interested in learning on AFE issues and including AFE topics into their curricula and/or implementing AFE projects. Pilot training of Age-friendly Environment Activists was delivered by project partners in The Hague, Hanau, Kaunas, Rome and Vienna in the period from September 2019 till March 2020. The training addressed information, advice and advocacy needs of older people with the aim to support them in making choices, taking decisions, securing rights, acting in his or her own interests as well as contributing to the life of the community and being fully engaged in society. 75 older people participated in the training, approx. 75 % females and 25 % males. In addition to in-class training, the programme included study tours to age-friendly cities The Hague and Udine for the selected participants to observe the local age-friendly environment initiatives and transfer the knowledge gained to their peers.3) AFE ADVOCACY HANDBOOK containing the synopsis of good AFE practice examples, AFE advocacy training programme, delivery methods, training tools and AFE advocacy projects implemented by AFE activists in partner countries; and 4) AFE EXPERIENCE HANDBOOK describing the educational approach of a study tour, the pathways of The Hague and Udine towards building a more inclusive society for people of all ages, the selected initiatives to be explored by the international team of AFE activists, and the tools for observation, reflection and self-assessment. The Handbook serves as an awareness raising resource for older citizens, local authorities and municipal agencies, policy makers, responsible businesses, philanthropists and innovators to understand the paradigm of ageing shifting away from older age dependence to contribution, and to encourage them to respond to the needs of ageing citizens and engage them in participatory decision making.The target audiences of the project results are: older adults 65+ who want to remain active in the retirement phase by engaging in lifelong learning opportunities and becoming active members of the civil society, adult education providers, local community and neighborhood groups, NGOs, associations of older people, local and national government agencies.

"We are witnessing a longevity revolution; in 2060, one in eight Europeans will be 80 years or older. Very old people will thus not be a small minority in our societies but a significant citizen group. General perceptions of very old age are mainly associated with limitations, loss (e.g. abilities, possibilities, autonomy) and health and care issues.The ACT80+ partnership believes that the attitude towards the very old has to be changed and the focus from inabilities shifted to opportunities and strengths. Therefore, the vision of the Active 80+ project was a) to facilitate and provide access to informal learning opportunities for old people with functional limitations or care needs and b) to combat negative stereotypes about this population group as regards being restricted to the role of consumers of services.Since the access to social and public environment of very old people is often limited, professionals and volunteers working with them belong to their most important contact persons. Their support in detecting and re-developing hidden strengths of very old people they are involved with and their encouragement of very old people to engage in meaningful activities can be crucial in providing access to learning and ensuring greater independence and enjoyment of later life. The core idea of the ACT80+ project was to develop a research-based training concept and train care staff and volunteers to function as coaches for people 80+. Coaches supported older people in developing and realizing their own ideas of learning and active citizenship (""projects""). Therefore, the ACT80+ project involved the following target groups: A) Experts and very old people as interviewees: At the beginning of the project, in all partner countries and at European level, interviews were performed with key actors, including citizens at very high age, experts, policy-makers, researchers and practitioners. Their comments and feedback have been considered in the development of the training concept (Training Package ACT80+). B) Staff and volunteers of health and social service providers (as training participants and coaches)C) Very old people with funcional restrictions or care needs (as older learners and (co-)initiators of projects)D) Organizations (health and social service providers, associations representing the needs of the older people, adult training-providers) & other relevant stakeholders at national and European levelExperiences gained in developing and realizing the research-based (see European Benchmarking Report O1) training for care staff and volunteers working with people 80+ were summarized in the Handbook for Trainers (O4). Furthermore, the partnership elaborated the Handbook for Practitioners (O5), which addresses volunteers and paid staff of health and social services providers, empowerment groups, older people’s organisations and associations willing to coach, empower and work with people 80+ interested in learning and meaningful activities. This publication is meant to inspire and provides many practical examples of projects that emerged from our Active 80+ trainings in the partner countries.In order to nudge also changes at structural level, the ACT80+ partnership elaborated policy recommendations at the EU, national, regional and local levels (O6). The Erasmus+ project was carried out from October 2014 to September 2016 and involved six partner organizations in five EU-countries: Austria (queraum. cultural and social research - EU coordinator; Austrian Red Cross), Germany (ISIS), Italy (Lunaria), Lithuania (Senior Initiatives Center) and the Netherlands (OVN-NL - Oudere Vrouwen Netwerk - Nederland). All partners involved in the ACT80+ project • are experienced in planning, realizing, managing and disseminating European projects, • are active in the fields of socio-gerontology and the promotion of active citizenship and civic competencies of older people, familiar with the issue of active citizenship and lifelong learning of very old people• are experienced in developing and implementing training concepts• are well networked at local, regional, national and European level and• share long-term collaborative relationsThe ACT80+ partnership is convinced that, the project contributed to the change of perception of older people 80+. The main outcomes, such as the Handbook for Trainers, the Handbook for Practitioners and the Policy Recommendations as well as comprehensive dissemination activities in all partner countries raised awareness for the issue and encouraged stakeholders in care homes, welfare organizations and at political level to continue their activities in this field and /or transfer the ACT80+ approach to their contexts. Additionally, experiences gained and outcomes of the ACT80+ project enriched discussions at European level."

The European migration crisis, which began in 2010, reached a growth peak in 2015. Unfortunately, the relative failure of the socio-professional integration of people from immigrant backgrounds is all too obvious. Unemployment among migrants is often higher than 30%, and those in work carry out tasks which the local population does not wish to do (the '3D' principle: dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs). Local populations, although conscious of the fact there is a labour shortage, are not supportive of the recruitment of migrants by businesses. In addition, some skills, including key skills, which are required for every citizen's development and integration, appear to be lacking among migrant populations, an obvious example being the lack of proficiency in the language of the host country.With a view to the socio-professional integration of migrants, the organisations in charge of migrant integration paths have developed tools which place specific emphasis on this aspect. For example, multi-disciplinary teams tasked with assessing migrants' skills, providing them with adapted action plans, and organising French classes, have been put in place. These initiatives are still at the very early stages, and in general, access to training programmes, as well as access to skills validation and employment, remains extremely difficult. Based on the experience obtained in the field, the main causes of these difficulties can be attributed firstly to the inadequacy of the language courses intended for socio-professional integration, and secondly, the unsuitability of tools for advisors to effectively guide this population group towards employment. Against this backdrop, and based on a confrontation of the respective practices in various European countries, the project has resulted in the co-creation and promotion of a range of solutions: - a methodological guide based on the migrant assessment and training process ;- a testing journal containing the engineering tested within the framework of the project ;- a practical guide of assessment including the principles of evaluation of migrants' transversal skills ;- a referential of 10 transversal skills ;- a flowchart of the possible paths open to migrants depending on their profile, with the aim of optimising their orientation.The results of the MOVE-EU project should enable more effective access to the job market for migrants, which remains one of the main drivers of integration.

The project „Joint Measures to Promote Social Entrepreneurship Education” (SEED)The aim of the project is toDevelop joint measures for promotion of Social Entrepreneurship education by:- Identifying and promoting best existing practices of social enterprises in different EU countries;- Developing set of materials that adult educators can use in trainings intended for new social business start-ups;- Providing experience exchange through learning mobilities for potential social business start-ups;- Implementing pilot activities in all partner countries with main focus to promote development of new social entrepreneurs.Project target group:• Adult educators• Adult education organizations• NGO centres and NGOs• Social entrepreneurs • Social entrepreneurship star-ups• Organizations that promotes development of social entrepreneurship.During project implementation there were the following activities organized and results reached:• 5 partners from 5 EU countries involved in project (Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Belgium & Germany)• Project management, 5 transnational project meetings • Intellectual outputs o Research on current situation o Tool Box with collection with tools/methods/approaches for Social Entrepreneurship education and best practices o Development of curriculum: education for Social Entrepreneurship o Development of Training materials: Entrepreneurial skills development for social entrepreneurs o Multi-functional website with on-line learning space for entrepreneurial education of social entrepreneurs • Multiplier events: o 5 national events with aim to disseminate project outputs o Final conference with 80 participants + project partners involved in organization and implementation of the conference• Transnational learning activities: o 2 international learning mobilities organized • Dissemination - multifunctional web page developed www.seedproject.eu with learning area (no autentification needed)• Evaluation - each of the results is evaluated. Templates were developed before all the activities were started.