"<< Background >>The protection of children against all forms of violence is one of the five priorities of the Third Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021). According to the Communication on achieving a European Education area by 2025, it is fundamental to build democratic education environments free from bullying, harmful speech and disinformation, also implementing the Council Recommendation of 22 May 2018 on promoting common values, inclusive education, and the European dimension of teaching.Bullying at school and cyberbullying are risky phenomena that greatly affect the educational environment. The bullied young person experiences psychological and emotional distress, and the classroom or school in general, becomes a place to be feared and avoided.Research shows that bullying can negatively impact a child’s access to education and lead to:School avoidance and higher rates of absenteeism-Lower grades-Inability to concentrate-Loss of interest in academic achievement-Increase in dropout ratesBullying is therefore one of the elements that leads to early school leaving and educational poverty. No country can achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all if learners experience violence and bullying in school (UNESCO 2019).The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in kids and teens using digital platforms,especially for education purposes. As school has moved home, so has bullying and harassment. According to the L1ght, an organization that tracks online harassment, there has been a 70% increase in cyberbullying in just a few months. With many parents trying to balance working from home, they aren’t always aware of what their kids are doing online. Because of the pandemic, kids might also engage in cyberbullying because they are bored, lonely or want attention. In this context, young people with disabilities are more likely than their peers to experience violence, sexual abuse and bullying in schools, at home and in institutions across the European Union; they also often face violence linked to their disability, as well as other, more subtle, forms of violence, such as exclusion and isolation (Violence against children with disabilities: legislation, policies and programmes in the EU, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2015). besides increasing its negative effects on young people with disabilities, bullying may also be considered harassment when it is based on a student’s race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or religion.It is therefore fundamental to implement actions to address bullying in schools so that they could more strongly consider children and young people with disabilities.<< Objectives >>This project will provide proper, innovative and continuing support to both learners with disabilities/special needs and learners without special needs and those who seek to educate/work with them in order to tackle bullying/cyberbullying issues, improve socialisation, reduce marginalisation and ease both their lives in school and their migration into adulthood, to allow them to enjoy fully rounded lives and contribute more widely to society. It will also provide support to and input for training, educators and trainers in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in learning through educational institutions and wider society, via more in-depth understanding and work with individuals with disabilities, and the provision of training/educational materials.Specific Objectives:SO1: to promote the development and acquisition of proper and useful knowledge to deal with bullying and cyberbullyingSO2: to enhance the empowerment of young students providing them with main tools for critical thinking against bullying and cyberbullyingSO3: to foster the awareness of the risks related to bullying and cyberbullying and the unconscious use of internet and social media<< Implementation >>The structure of the project has been designed in such a way that the activities lead to the achievement of the envisaged objectives and the delivery of the project results, according to the following scheme:Phase 1: Preparation (M1-M7)The preparatory phase of the project coincides with the preliminary research necessary for the subsequent development of the teacher training toolkit (R1). At the end of this phase corresponds the first milestone of the project - Scientific paper (Research report) which will be preparatory for the following phases.Phase 2: Implementation - Teacher training (M8-M15)This phase will lead to the development of R1 and will constitute a fundamental step towards the achievement of specific objective no.1. This phase is fundamental for the implementation of the following phases as it is necessary to equip teachers with the necessary skills to be able to experiment the YAB methodology with their students. This phase is divided into the following activities:Project partners will define the methodology and the training modules to be included in the toolkit (R1), which will be delivered during M11 Once the toolkit is elaborated, teachers online training course will engage in the online within the Platform in M13-M15, Phase 3: Implementation - Development of the Resource Centre (M6-M24)This phase will lead to the development of R2 and the achievement of specific objective 2. The importance of this phase lies in the different functions covered by the platform, each of which corresponds to one of the following activities:1.A first moment will be devoted to the technical development of the platform led by Base3. The delivery of the first version is scheduled for M11 and constitutes the first milestone of this phase.2.Then all partners will work on populating the platform, promoting the participation of teachers, students and members of the community. All partners will collaborate on the uploading of the toolkit materials translated into national languages into the platform. The full operational version of the platform (second milestone) is planned for M12, and will host the virtual part of the teacher training course (M13-M15).3. Finally, the platform will be constantly updated by uploading project materials (outputs, training materials, projects developed by students, etc.). Phase 4 Implementation - Pilot action (M15-M24)This phase will lead to the development of R3, and to the achievement of the specific objective nr.3.It is structured as follows:1. Establishment of Young Ambassadors teams in each partner country and definition of Anti-bullying campaign projects to be developed by students (M15-M16)2. Experimentation of the YAB methodology: in each country young ambassadors selected will involve 10 students each (tot. 200 students in each country) to develop anti-bullying campaign projects 3.Elaboration of R3 - collection of projects developed by students (M22-M24)Phase 5: Dissemination and exploitation (M1-M30)All partners will widely disseminate and valorise the project results through: 1) the production of the R3 in order to exploit the multiplier effects of the project and to ensure the transferability of the model 2) the organisation of multiplier events at local level 3) dissemination activities during the whole project duration at local and national level through online channels (social media, website, etc.) and co-involvement of local stakeholders<< Results >>The main outcomes of the YAB project consist of 3 Results (R) each of which corresponds to the achievement of one of the specific objectives outlined by the project.R1 (SO1) Toolkit for teachers: “Prevent bullying and cyberbullying: tools to work with students”: this training tool will be based on the YAB methodology, elaborated by project partners starting from shared good practices, which aims to develop teachers' knowledge, competences and skills to work with students with a peer approach (“Young Ambassadors”). It will also help teachers in the prevention and identification of bullying and cyber-bullying cases, mostly involving students with disabilities.R2 (SO2) YAB Resource CentreThe interactive platform represents the main result of the project, as it will have 3 objectives:- It will be the main tool for the training of teachers, containing the toolkit elaborated in the previous phase (R1)- It will be a fundamental element for the creation of the Young ambassadors teams and for the sustainability of the whole project framework. The platform will allow the beneficiaries directly involved to work with their peers in all countries, and will make available materials necessary for the development of the anti-bullying campaign by students both with and without disabilities (training materials, CANVAS etc.). - It will be the tool for the parents and community engagement on the topics of bullying and cyberbullyingR3 (SO3) Collection of Anti-Bullying campaign projects R3 will consist of the collection of the projects elaborated by young ambassadors teams for the promotion of anti-bullying campaigns against students with disabilities. It will be the result of the involvement of students in peer education activities (pilot action) and a fundamental means for promoting awareness on the topics of bullying and cyberbullying within the whole education community (schools, families, associations representing people with disabilities etc.)Other important outcomes will consist of dissemination products and activities, which are described in detail in the appropriate section but which we can briefly summarise as:- 4 Multiplier events- Communication materials (website, leaflets, press releases, photos and videos)Finally, the YAB project foresees the achievement of a series of process results, sometimes intangible but fundamental for the full achievement of the envisaged objectives:- 10 teachers in each country (2 in Croatia) trained on the YAB methodology through the toolkit (R1) and the platform (R2)- 20 students in each country involved in the pilot experimentation as young ambassadors, who will reach at the end at least 200 students through the peer-to-peer approach (10 students in each country reached by each ambassador)- At least 20% of the young ambassadors involved are students with disabilities- 1 training course for teachers, delivered through the platform developed (R2)- ""Anti-bullying campaigns"": in which each young ambassadors team will be able to propose a communication campaign carrying the message of countering bullying against students with disabilities, choosing its preferred means of communication (video, photo, photo, etc.)- Tools to reach and engage the local community, such as local events;- Establishment of a dialogue between students, teachers, local community representatives, parents and school leaders;- Promotion of initiative among students, translated into the form of a concrete anti bullying campaign;- Creation of European-level links among schools and organisations working in the education sectorYAB will produce a series of authentic materials related to the experimentation (materials for carrying out the training activities with the students, evaluation report of the pilot action, videos for the anti bullying campaign etc.) which will be made available for the whole European education community."