The overall objectives of this application are to find, explore and propose ways:- To reduce social isolation amongst the elder population by encouraging them to participate in various cultural and creative activities, with the help various digital tools, were appropriate.- At he same time helping the local cultural sector during these hard Covid-19 times, but also by building long term networks for continued mutual benefit for this sector and the elders and there NGO organisations.- To bridge the digital and age gap between the elders and younger generations, increase awareness of the importance of ICT tools amongst our target group and all relevant stakeholders involved in social inclusion. This is of utmost importance as our society are being more and more dependent of digital services.The situation and the problems facing the partner organisations are not unique. According to the OECD, the population share of those of 65 years old and over is expected to climb to 25,1% in 2050. The share of +65 within the EU is 19,7% (Eurostat 2018). This pinpoints the situation as well as the increasing demand of services from the population and a reduced availability of public financial resources. Therefore, the partners believe we need to work at European level in order to find innovative experiences from other territories that can help in rethinking the situation, for increasing and improving innovative activities, services and facilities for an ageing population.All partners in this project face similar problems regarding the ageing population and a growing percentage of the population being elders. Individuals over the age of 65 make up over 20 % of the population in Gävle, adding those at the age of 60 increases the number to 26%. In Paris people age 60 + comprises 470 000 seniors of a total population of 2.2 million. Reggio Emilia also faces challenges in terms of population with links to an ageing population, and emigration of youth.Specifically, we have identified the age group of +70 and having difficulties following digital development as our target group to this project and increasingly being socially isolated. The activities of the project will include transnational meetings which will typically include a mix of activities such as:- Visits and discussions with several different cultural and creative associated partners with the objective to find good ways and means to improve and encourage elders to participate in the cultural life.- Finding and using new and creative ways to use new and existing digital tools fitted for elders to improve there social inclusion.- Thematic talks or masterclasses - Exchange of good practice and experiences between partners- Consultation workshops with relevant local stakeholders as associated cultural partners- Identification, evaluation and analysis of relevant experiences from each event- Project management issues.There will also be events in order for the positive results of the project to be disseminated to the relevant stakeholders on local, national and EU level.An important tool here is the use of EPALE for interested parties to learn of our project, thus being able to contribute, read och evaluate the project before, during and after the the project is over.The methods used are sharing of experience and compiling these experiences and good examples into implementation plans that can be used for activities internationally and locally, in short and long term.The expected results and impacts of the projects are:- finding means, tools and organizational routines to minimize social isolation by combining culture and digital tools.- a shared understanding of the role and impact of social inclusion for an active and healthy ageing with focus on creative use of various digital means and cross generational interactions through different cultural activities such as sharing, for instance experience in digital labs (Gävle), digital city walks (Paris), interactive art museums (Reggio Emilia) as well as:- a common understanding of the role each relevant party (politicians, civil servants, NGOs, seniors) can play in building an Age friendly city that this project is one part of.- new methods and techniques to develop and implement co-operational designs of digital and cultural/creative solutions and services.- more effective engagement of the relevant stakeholders who should be involved in cross sectorial cooperation, including overcoming the generation gap.The long term benefits of this project are also to build an understanding of the importance of more inclusive organisations that create solutions together with the target groups affected to develop new and innovative management tools.This will in the term lead to a more healthy and happy population and will also have positive economic and social effects on society and the organisations.

With high levels of youth unemployment across Europe and an ever more competitive labour market, young people leaving education are expected not only to have the technical skills required by employers but also to be well rounded individuals with the attitude, character traits and employability skills necessary to enter the world of work effectively. Yet, employers consistently report that young people are not work ready and lack some of the core basic skills employers require.Within this context Shaping Characters aimed to embed character education and employability into teaching practices, careers advice and youth work to ensure young people develop character resilience and attitudes that will empower them to take ownership of their own development and acquire character traits such as perseverance, resilience, confidence, optimism, drive, ambition, tolerance, respect, honesty, integrity, conscientiousness, curiosity and focus that will support their educational engagement and motivation.The project brought together 12 partners from the UK, Sweden, Latvia and the Czech Republic. The four secondary schools, four local authorities, three youth organisations and university brought their experience of partnership working across different sectors to develop innovative approaches and resources to ensure effective character development of young people. The project’s long term aim was to raise educational attainment and participation of young people in formal and informal learning that will provide them with the skills and attributes they will need to enter the world of work.During the project we held 6 Transnational meetings - a kick off and wrap up meeting and 4 themed events focusing in turn on 'What is character education', 'Engaging employers in character education', 'Engaging young people in character education' and 'Engaging educators in character education.' This enabled us to take an in depth look at each area, share our knowledge and experience and carry out research relevant to the theme within in each city. The key learning, best practice examples, research results and links for further information were summarised in a series of Factsheets available via the project website.In February 2017 we took 10 young people from each city (between the ages of 13 and 17) for a week long programme of character building activities in Olomouc in the Czech Republic. The young people took part in a range of activities designed to develop the character traits identified above as well as a day creating and running a virtual company. At the end of the week they presented their experiences to their peers and the visiting project partners.The project partners created an online toolkit containing 90 character building resources by the end of the project. (Items still being added with another 30 due to be available by the end of 2017). These are contained on the project website and can be used freely by any school, youth group or business looking for new ways to develop the character of the young people they work with. All project partners contributed to the toolkit and it contains a mix of lesson plans, activity ideas, questionnaires and presentations and information on how to run business mentoring programme.Within each city a range of activities took place to test the resources being developed and to promote the project results and intellectual outputs among young people, teachers, local and regional authorities, employers, NGOs, youth groups and universities.Through the Shaping Characters project, the benefits of embedding character education and employability into teaching, careers advice and youth work were promoted to 351 people involved in education and youth work who were also provided with a set of resources to enable them to do this in their own setting.459 young people received character education sessions, improving their resilience, motivation and confidence and providing them with techniques and tools to support their educational attainment and future careers. 40 young people benefitted from a week of character education activities and a unique cultural experience. All of the young people involved reported and demonstrated a large rise in confidence, motivation and aspiration which will help them during their education and beyond.Strong and lasting working relationships were forged between organisations who had not worked in partnership before in each city, bringing together businesses, education, careers advice and youth work. These relationships will continue beyond the project and should lead to future international and local projects.