Familiar catchwords and phrases like 'austerity, 'new normal', 'cost-of-living crisis' appear to capture of-the-moment social concerns. They are used widely in all languages. Here, these are understood as political catchwords/phrases (pol-c) which speak to collective or social concerns. They are distinguished from commercial catchwords/phrases which promote services and products for making profits. Investigating the different, often contrary, emphases and associations in pol-c usage could tell us a great deal about such urgent issues as, for instance, the generation of fake news and disinformation, polarised and conflictual political convictions, populist propaganda and protest mobilisation. The focus of this project is on public digital communications, such as on social networks and through websites. This project extends to communications and pol-c in a range of languages, though its exchanges will mostly be conducted in English. Researchers based in a number of countries - UK, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, Jordan, India, Canada, Brazil -- will come together in a series of workshops/seminars to develop methods for rigorously studying pol-c. They have expertise in investigating social and digital communication in a range of languages and cultures, and from different disciplinary backgrounds: linguistics, literature, media studies, critical theory, law, digital humanities. They are specialists in important current social issues: e.g., hate speech and anti-austerity protests in the EU, financial crisis in the UK, Palestinian self-determination movements, protests in Hong Kong, religious conflicts in India, post-socialist transition in Bulgaria, disinformation in Brazil. They will meet periodically over 2023-2025 in London, Nicosia, Sofia and Amman, and progressively develop methods for researching pol-c with different local and comparative perspectives in view. They will invite and interact with local researchers and, importantly, with professionals who have hands-on knowledge of pol-c (e.g., journalists, publicists, policy makers). In the process, researchers and professionals from other countries, languages, and backgrounds may join the network. Through progressive linked discussions, two kinds of general methods for studying pol-c will be formulated. The first focuses on specific pol-c in particular written texts, predominantly online news reports and social network exchanges, but also samples of policy, academic, and creative texts. These are qualitative methods for studying pol-c. The second focuses on how pol-c feature across very large numbers of texts according to certain categories; e.g., reports, blogs, articles. These are quantitative methods. The network will develop such methods with reference to pilot case-studies and presentations on relevant examples. The ambition is to develop methods that could then be applied to all pol-c in any language or cultural setting. The discussions will feature on the project's website/blog, and the results published in a book, journal papers, and popular media articles. At the end of this networking project, the researchers involved will plan and seek funding for a large project applying the methods developed in this one. As envisaged now, that project will involve building a large multilingual database of pol-c and their usage. Importantly, that project will also develop tools for using pol-c to understand and perhaps mediate in emerging social conflicts for journalists, policy-makers, academics, etc. The social impact of the networking project will be extensive because it (1) addresses a theme of ubiquitous social relevance and practical import, with a multilingual and multidisciplinary perspective, (2) contextualises it in terms of urgent contemporary social and political concerns, (3) sets up ongoing interactions and knowledge exchange with non-academic professional sectors, (4) is designed to capitalise on all the above by leading into a high-impact applied project.

Our consortium brings 5 organisations (2 NGOs, 1 university, 1 youth centre and 1 training company) from 5 EU countries (RO, BG, CY, SI and DE) in a concerted effort to develop an online mentoring platform for young social innovators. We see social entrepreneurship paradigm as the building block of the eco-system for sustaining social innovations. In this sense, our platform will focus in offering mentoring support to young people that are motivated to develop social enterprises contributing to tackling issues of highest policy and societal significance to our countries and Europe as a whole, namely: fighting poverty and social exclusion, unemployment, climate change (Europe 2020 targets). Recently a new challenge emerged, calling for high-quality solutions, related to the dramatic increase in the number of refugees and migrants traveling to the continent with more than a million new arrivals. This unprecedented inflow of people, many of whom are vulnerable individuals seeking international protection, presents a challenge across Europe not only in terms of their immediate reception, but also with regard to their long-term integration into society (European Social Innovation Competition 2016 focus). Our platform provides mentoring support to young social innovators that are motivated to work within this priority area as well.Our main objectives in reaching MYNNOVA’s overall aim were:- design and develop an online multilingual mentoring platform;- organize a 5-day joint staff training to prepare 5 youth workers for piloting the platform;- deliver a 4-month pilot mentoring to 25 young social innovators;- train 10 young entrepreneurs from the pilot group to deliver online mentoring;- promote the online platform across youth and youth workers’ communities in 5 partner countries and across Europe;- put forward policy guidelines to policy makers and other stakeholders in enhancing social innovations.The MYNNOVA online mentoring platform has the following innovative features:1.The online mentoring services will be based on a commonly agreed mentoring methodology, reflecting existing knowledge base of partners on academic, school education, business (Prime AG) and youth work (Celje Youth Centre) levels. The methodology was tailor made strategies, content and methods, which reflects the mentoring specifics of 3 age groups of young people addressed by our project. 2. The methodology provides guidelines for both youth workers and young people in delivering online mentoring. The peer mentoring is a key element to our concept, since it will provide close collaboration between different age groups of young people in the field of social innovations, paving the way for long-term sustainability of results. 3. The self-sustainable design of the platform helped the people once they fulfill their social entrepreneurship projects (mentees turn into mentors).4. The online feature allows mentoring of young social innovators from any European country. In terms of language coverage, mentoring will be available initially in EN, BG, RO, DE, SI and EL. The self-sustainable design described will allow from attracting young entrepreneurs from other language groups thus ensuring complete coverage.The main impact dimensions can be summarized as follows:- Young social innovators were able to sustain their ideas in the field of social innovations and social entrepreneurship.- Youth workers had the opportunity to learn and apply an innovative online mentoring methodology and engage in peer collaboration on international level.- Other stakeholders and policy makers can and will collect evidence base to further enhance the national environments for developing social innovations and engage young people as drivers of the sustainable system transformation. In long term perspective the utilization of the platform and the successful outcomes achieved by both mentors and mentees will contribute to improving quality of life of communities across Europe. Furthermore, it will add momentum to the ongoing process of harmonizing and professionalizing youth work provision.

CONTEXTThe pandemic is accelerating digital transformation in education and work. The physical distancing imposed around the globe, is forcing education organizations around Europe to consider remaining fully online for months. Within a week, after general lockdown, universities and primary and secondary schools were asked to transform to virtual schools. A recent UNESCO (2020) report estimates that over 1.5 Billion students and youth had to stay away from schools and universities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although EU countries have been pushing ICT in schools and including the digital competence on the European but also national competence frameworks, this is the first time that almost ALL schools in Europe are asked to move so fast and adopt distance learning methods and tools.Understanding the complexities of online learning and designing effective online courses, is not an easy task. However, schools across Europe were asked overnight to become virtual schools, without all the pieces in place. This project brings together a consortium which consists of 6 partners, from 5 European countries which cover a wide range of expertise related to the aims of the project, as well they have a Pan-European outreach in their activities. The consortium ensures both a balanced geographical representation of EU countries as well as representation from different types of organizations. The complementary nature of the partnership is evident, since there is a good balance of Ministries, eLearning centres, Schools, SMEs, and NGOs.OBJECTIVES-Develop school leaders and teachers’ capacities to design and deliver online education.-Develop a practical toolkit aligned with the DigCompEdu, with practical, step-by-step guides on how to design and deploy virtual schooling.-Adapt and use the SELFIE and TET-SAT tools to be tailored for Virtual Schooling.-Develop the digital skills of teachers and learners.TARGET GROUPSThe project builds on the existing knowledge developed by partners and aims at supporting schools, teachers and leadership teams to design and deploy Virtual Schooling and online courses. The primary target groups for this project include:-Teachers and School Leadership Teams-Learning designers, educational technologists and support staff-Students and their parents (indirectly)INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS-IO1 Virtual Schooling Toolkit for School leadership teams and teachers-IO2 Training course for teachers and school leaders on Virtual Schooling-IO3 Training course for students on how to be effective online learners.-IO4 eLearning platform with OERs on Virtual SchoolingThe expected results of the project are:-Improved capacity of schools and education systems to design and deploy virtual schooling-Improved competencies for school leadership teams, teachers and school staff to design and implement virtual schools.-Improve the capacity of schools and education systems to engage in online education.-Improve the understanding of parents on the factors influencing successful online learning and their role-Improved learners’ capacity to learn online

<< Background >>Climate change (CC) is a complex problem in Europe and the world. Extreme weather conditions that cause wild forest fire, drought, flooding, etc. have caused billions and human lives. These events seriously impact the environment, rural development and economy. Coastal and marine areas are affected by rising sea levels which push storm surges further inland, creates more destructive flooding along the coastlines. Urban development and agricultural activities have contributed to Greenhouse gases emissions which can affect the global carbon budget. To mitigate negative effects of CC are particularly important in the current epidemiological situation with Covid-19. CC has very important geographical and spatial dimensions. GIS/RS (Geographical Information Systems/Remote Sensing) specialists represent a vast reservoir of knowledge, expertise, and best practices in applying the cornerstone technology to the science of climate change and understanding its impact on natural and human systems.As substantial technical advancements in GIS/RS in terms of sensors technology and big data science have been made in recent years, there is an increasing need to provide quality online training of these novel techniques applied to CCM (Climate Change Management). This requires inputs from related disciplines and stakeholders, with continual updating and hands-on experience. Covid-19 has accelerated the introduction of innovative training approaches to CCM among European partners, it will boost the interest of a broad range of stakeholders (from students to professionals) in CCM using emerging RS/GIS and data science technologies. All the academic partners have been working together in the area of GIS/RS through capacity building projects mainly in South East Asian region. This collaboration has prompted the need of strengthening their educational resources and identified Climate Change Management (CCM) as an area that merits further professional development among students and learners. Herein, this proposal supports the Digital Europe programme (2021-2027) and is aligned to the agenda of the European Economic and Social Committee’s Social Development Observatory (SDO). Providing a baseline for future CC analysts in the participating countries, GeoCLIC project outcomes will support the EU contribution to the implementation of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicated in the European Green and Social Deal. Likewise, as indicated in the SDO work programmes for 2020-2023, GeoCLIC covers cornerstone application in the sector of Agriculture, Urban/Rural Development and Environment. At educational level, we have observed a mismatch between labour market needs and skills obtained by graduates without or lack of professional experience. GIS/RS for CC is a complex subject, requiring inputs from multiple disciplines and the participation of different stakeholders (private sector, policymakers, researchers, practitioners). Many current programs have poor integration of stakeholders, trainings are inadequate because they cannot be related to the professional environment. Furthermore, female population tends to be under-represented in technical and engineering careers related to GIS/RS. This project targets female participation (students and learners) in GIS/RS for CCM. GeoCLIC also proposes the incorporation of Work-Based Learning (WBL) approach and internships to existing CC studies. WBL combines learning objectives and professional experience in order to enhance a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting employability needs. It allows the inclusion of real cases and hands-on experiences in CC training programmes, and at the same time the transfer of up-to-date knowledge to all stakeholders. Transnational collaborations, especially important in the current health crisis, would lead to improvements in GIS/RS training for CC by a) Sharing of technical resources and human capital b) Continuous updating and improvement<< Objectives >>The consortium includes 5 academic partners from Spain, Cyprus, Croatia, Belgium and Germany. The 5 academic partners have recognized expertises in GIS/RS and teaching innovation. The project comprises also professional partners like HDRA and GDI and associates (at least 1 in each country) who will play a key role in identifying the main training needs and enhancing the impact of the learning outcomes. The coordinator has a vast experience in managing EU funded projects, use of digital technologies and applications to other environment-related educational projects. By sharing academic resources, the consortium's overall aim is to increase analytic and professional skills among students and Lifelong learners to improve their competencies in CCM through use of GIS and RS tools online. Herein, GeoCLIC introduces the Work-based learning approach to develop training projects and internships in areas impacted by Climate Change. A particular priority is to motivate participation of female learners. 5 modules and OERs (Open Educational Resources) related to CCM will be developed and further enhanced by the use of innovative online learning tools and international collaboration.Employability skills will be boosted by hands-on practices and direct contact with employers. To transfer the project benefits to society, multiple interactions between educators, researchers, environment companies/ NGOs and decisionmakers are planned. Other specific objectives are: - Fostering employability among enrolled and unemployed graduates as CC analyst in earth observation, GIS/RS sector. The project will promote employment in CCM through GIS/RS among recent graduates emphasizing female participation . -Strengthening cooperation GIS/RS enterprise and universities - Enhancing digital readiness and digital skills across institutions -Supporting a community of practice on CCM through a platform (R2) -Ensure adequate quality to the OERs developed (R3) through valid certifications (R5) and proper quality assurance methods (R6)<< Implementation >>In order to reinforce CCM training capacities, the project will provide training activities for staffs (academic and practitioners) and students. The training for staffs will include a) WBL management, b) innovative online learning through OERs (GeoCLIC OER Portfolio) and audio-visuals tools (SPOCs) and c) joint events between academia and stakeholders to exchange good practices and results. Two trainings for university teachers will be organised at the beginning of the project to produce the necessary OERs integrated with WBL approach. To enhance this strategy, online/blended courses are planned for two types of learners. 1) as part of regular courses within existing programs related to CC and GIS/RS for graduate students in partner HEIs. 2) as part of Lifelong Learning (LLL) courses for unemployed graduates and professionals working in the area of CC that want to learn new skills. Likewise, as part of the certification, practical experience and employment skills will be provided via international winter/summer schools combined with fundamentals and basic concepts in online training and personalised coaching. Project results will provide strong multiplier effects on academic and professional sectors: a) use of WBL to address specific problems and reinforce employability skills, b) publication of showcases implementing GIS/RS in selected climate change affected thematic areas and c) launch of a CCM network to reinforce training/learning capacities. Specific actions are designed to buffer the indirect consequences of COVID-19 on the implementation of the project (e.g. creating health protocols before the organisation of summer/winter schools). The project would be divided into four phases: 1. Identification of gaps and elaboration of best practices in CCM (R1) 2. Staff training and production of teaching/learning materials for interactive activities with learners using innovative GIS/RS tools for CCM (R3) and preparation of e-handbook on pedagogic tools and best practices (R4). 3. Piloting through intensive training programs and international events (Summer/Winter schools in thematic specialization) in which trainees will participate through virtual mobility and/or acquire hands-on experience through real-case field work. Dissemination is achieved through multiplier events aiming to a) exchange good practices in CCM, b) promote flexible and blended training involving both educators and stakeholders and c) launch of a network (R2) of CCM practitioners. 4. As part of quality measures, Certification (R5) of learning activities and Evaluation (R6) through internal and external quality control will be provided.<< Results >>GeoGLIC is expected to yield the following results and outcomes: Establishment of a network of 5 HEIs in 5 EU countries in cooperation with public agencies and private companies engaged in earth observation and GIS/RS applied to CC. By using RS/GIS techniques and software, future experts and data analysts can closely monitor extreme events related to CC. Robust geospatial data and detailed visualizations offer guidance for organizations and government agencies as they plan for the challenges ahead. By bringing together GIS/RS and climate change studies, spatial problem-solvers can seize opportunities to make a difference in the lives of future generations. Through this cooperation partnership, OERs integrated into 5 modules (1 generic/fundamentals and 4 thematic specializations to CCM) will be available at partner institutions. At individual level, the envisaged online/blended modules will be complemented by WBL and internship in agencies or companies where learners get access to innovative training s, improvement of language and digital skills and increased competences and professional skills which will increase their employability. At least 40 learners (20 per year) per institution are expected to participate in the pilot modules and in the summer/winter schools (10 per institution physically or virtually). 12 teachers are expected to be trained in WBL and in the creation of blended learning modules for GIS/RS applied to CCM. We expect likewise the enrolment of 20 Lifelong Learners among unemployed people per country in year 2 and 3 (total 200).Since one of the goals is to improve employability of female population in the sector, we expect a ratio of 50-50 male/female where some events (e.g. C4 CCM4W) will anticipate a majority of female audience. At the organizational level, the associations/NGOs/policy-makers/research centers will benefit from access to state-of-the-art methods and a greater supply of skilled workers in CCM. Academic and non-academic organisations will be also reinforced by new procedures and skilled graduates. The project will organise 4 multiplier events expecting the participation of between 40 and 50 students locally in situ and 50 virtually from other countries. YouTube live streaming will be organized via internet where many more viewers can follow in real time the plenary sessions and presentations. It is expected that 160-200 learners in total will participate physically and 200 virtually. The consortium will organise 2 summer schools and 3 winter schools with 80 foreign participants (total 160-200 participants) plus trainers. Elaboration of certification for participation in winter/summer schools and also for completion of elaborated modules in 5 partner HEIs. It is expected that at least 200 certificates of completion will be issued during the life span of the project.