ContextThe project aims to equip professionals in Europe with the necessary resources as to be able to cope with the online technologies and social distancing to better serve the excluded LGBTQI population as a result of the new situation that emerged from COVID-19 crisis. This is a novel situation for the whole world, to which our proposed action will attempt to respond by using innovative tools and practices that exploit the benefits of ICT solutions in times when social distancing and all other precautionary measures are at the top of the EU’s priorities.RAINBO aims:a. To support professionals, relief aid officers, social workers, mental health, health care providers on how to better include intersectionality and LGBTQI perspectives in their activities b. To enhance their acquisition of digital competences and enable to incorporate in their work do delivery high quality and inclusive support in order to meet the needs of LGBTQI beneficiariesc. To create an incentive for VET, adult education, professionals, and stakeholders to adopt the project approach after project closured. To strengthen transnational learning and cooperation’s networks of institutions, CSO’s, public bodies/services, community centers, helplines, professionals and foster social inclusion and equality, ensuring that LGBTQI people is included in all health, humanitarian and economic relief efforts-To raise awareness of medical and mental health inequalities faced by the LGBTQI communityRAINBO project will be implemented in 5 countries, (UK, Greece, Portugal, Luxembourg, Netherlands).Target groups:a) professionals supporting LGBTQI such as youth workers, community mediators, humanitarians’ officers, health care providers, medical personnel, mental health professionals, social workers, helplines officers, counselors, and volunteers etc.b) LGBTQI people will be the secondary target group and the end beneficiaries of the project activities.The project is expected to deliver:-VET programme for 100 professionals in order to a) improve their knowledge in LGBTQI medical and mental health issues and under the lens of intersectionality; b) acquire the appropriate digital competences for providing support in social distancing context c) contribute to the elimination of biases and stereotypes for sexual and gender minorities and ensure that LGBTQI people is included in all health, humanitarian and economic relief efforts.- Increased transferability of the project outputs and results for professionals, stakeholders, CSO’s, health care providers, etc on how to better include intersectionality and LGBTQI perspectives in their activities.-An e-learning platform in order to a) facilitate the VET programme for practitioners b) raise awareness about the project & disseminate all project material, c) motivate professionals and VET providers to use the project’s products.-A sound and updated report in order to a) explore the specific inequalities that LGBTQI individuals faced in their countries under COVID 19 crisis and b) the level of professionals’ digital competences, in order to perform their obligations and providing adequate services.- Strengthen the links between the consortium members, VET and educational stakeholders in the one hand and organisations supporting human rights and LGBTQI rights and fighting stigma and discrimination on the other hand. -5 open days will be organised in the participating countries, the UK, Greece, Portugal, Luxemburg, and Netherlands for promoting the project and its results.-3 online workshops for VET and adult education providers will be organized in the participating countries, Greece, Portugal, and Luxemburg.- An international conference will be organized, in the UK to present the project and its outputs to interested stakeholders.-Enhanced know-how of all participating project team members on practices, terms and tools for promoting LGBTQI inclusion in their work cycle.-All participating partners will enhance their relationships with CSOs and LGBTQI associations and networks, stakeholders at the national and EU level.Long terms benefits -The professionals in Europe will be equipped with the necessary resources to be able to cope with the online technologies and social distancing to better serve the excluded LGBTQI population as a result of the new situation that emerged from COVID-19 crisis. -The level of services provided to LGBTQI can be elevated and the organizations and institutions providing such services will be enhanced. -Increased awareness of the public on the power and importance of how to better serve the excluded LGBTQI people and elimination of stereotypes and biases.

The ABC (Anti-Bullying Certification) project aimed to develop a certification process to support high schools in developing an effective antibullying policy. The developed certification procedure is not just a “check” of written antibullying procedures but also contains an interactive needs assessment during which students and teachers get the chance to codevelop the improved antibullying policy. The main aim of this certification process is not to prescribe best practices to the school but to enhance ownership and making own choices in an appropriate school policy. When the project started we had seven partners. EAN, the European Antibullying Network was the “nest” from which the project idea developed and this international federation of NGOs and schools is also responsible for the sustainability of the certification. The six other partners each worked with one or two schools in their own country to experiment with the development of the certification process. Halfway the project, we discovered that the schools needed to be full prayer partners to be eligible for the travel costs and we filed an amendment to make this so. At the end of the project we had 11 partners. Some of the schools did not register a formal partner.Like we planned in their proposal, the certification consists of four products: 1. A manual for the process2. Quantitative needs assessment surveys for students and teachers3. A guide for a qualitative needs assessment by students and teachers (a student “visitation” and a teacher workshop; later called “reviews”)4. A toolkit with an overview of possible antibullying interventionsWith the help of the 5 original NGO partners, the 10 schools experimented with the procedure in the school years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. In 2018 and 2019 we also organized to elaborate school exchanges, in which we combined student and teacher meetings in order to stimulate open communication between students and teachers. During this experimentation we encountered a number of challenges. One challenge was that schools had very little knowledge about what works to make an effective antibullying policy. The international exchanges, teacher workshops, products and newsletters were used to increase his knowledge. Another challenge was the idea of certification. We discovered that we could not develop a formal ISO-certification because the partnership did not have a partner that is certified to grant such certificates. EAN approached a formal ISO-certification institute to attempt to develop this in addition to the ABC-project. A connected challenge was that we had discussion about if and how we wanted to score schools on the quality of their antibullying policy, and if we would do that, which criteria would be chosen to score schools on. These challenges were not completely resolved because partners disagreed on the need for scoring and on the quality criteria. It was decided to focus the final products on a self-assessment, and procedural document which outlines criteria and offers a tentative scoring list, but ultimately to leave the scoring to the self-evaluation of the schools. To sustain the results, the project intended to create a discussion with local, national and European stakeholders about the need to raise the quality of antibullying policy of high schools. From our needs assessments of the European situation in the national contexts, it became clear that the needs and possibilities for such policy improvement or discussion about improvement varied in each country. Still, the broad dissemination of the project and the discussions in the final phase of the project created a wide interest. This was despite the fact that we could not organize the final school exchange and meetings with politicians in Brussels, and six of the seven multiplier meetings due to limitations of the COVID-19 measures. As far as we could, we replaced those life meetings with online events and activities.EAN was provided with a manual on how to create a franchise system, in which certification or school self-evaluation trainers could be trained and equality of this work monitored. The project also delivered the training manual for such consultants. At the end of the project, we did an impact evaluation survey among participants, our stakeholders and interested persons. This evaluation showed that the self-evaluation products we developed created great interest. To our surprise, the participants in the project had become so confident in that the self-evaluation results in an improved antibullying policy, that they were after the project more in favour of scoring and even of mandatory reporting of the scores, in comparison to stakeholders who did not practically take part in the project pilots. This shows that the method creates a high level of self-assuredness.

The SENSE project (Vocation and Sexual Sensitivity - Sexual Diversity in Social Domain Vocational Training) aims to integrate sexual diversity sensitivity (a welcoming attitude to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender clients and clients with an intersex condition; LGBTI) in VET studies in the social domain. Such a welcoming attitude is part of a wider complex of diversity skills. Except in the Netherlands, little research or work has been done on sexual diversity in VET institutions. More general studies show a relatively high level of intolerance towards LGBTI people. Studies also show that lower educated people are less tolerant of LGBTI people than others. This is a serious concern in the VET social domain, where students are trained to take care of an increasing number of elderly or disabled LGBTI people who have emancipated over a number of years and do not want to go back in the closet when they become dependent on the care of others. The SENSE project develops 4 products to secure optimal integration of sexual diversity sensitivity in social domain VET courses: 1. A trigger performance by students, which creates enthusiasm and interest 2. A teacher training, which addresses insecurities and improves the pedagogic competences of VET teachers 3. A curriculum consultancy manual, which provides guidance on how to structurally integrate sexual diversity sensitivity in a spiral course curriculum 4. A competence framework, which describes the needed diversity competences of VET students and which will function both as an underlying model for the other products, and as tool for discussion with the aim to improve the formal competence frameworks in the participating countries and regions. The project has 7 partners. GALE, CESIE, Villa Montesca, EUROTrainers and DEFOIN develop the products and test them in local VET institutions. In the Netherlands, the Regional VET Centre of Amsterdam is a full partner because of its extensive experience with diversity in an extremely multicultural city. Finally, EfVET (the European forum of technical and Vocational Education and Training) coordinates the dissemination and discussion on the European level. 13 staff and associated teachers and 15 students will be involved in the development. The project partners start with a training by GALE, needs assessments and the development of the products. These are partly based on experiences of the Dutch partners. In the school year 2019-2020, the SENSE pathway is implemented: students perform in trigger theatre plays or present and discuss video's they made, a teacher training is given the partners develop in a few sessions a spiral curriculum with the VET course. A few of the lessons from the spiral curriculum are tested in practice. In total, about 700 students, teachers, manager and other stakeholders will be involved in these activities. In the last months of the school year, the experiences are evaluated. The products are reviewed, produced and disseminated among approximately 158,000 people. The products - and especially the competence framework - are discussed by national and international stakeholders. The project aims to get commitment to include sexual diversity sensitivity in the formal qualification frameworks for VET students and as a logical topic to be taken in consideration on the European level. To further enhance the sustainability of the SENSE method, the partners develop a marketing plan and a view to up scaling the method to other domains.

<< Background >>Inclusive schools are safe ones. Inclusive schools set the starting points from which students chart the course of the rest of their lives. It’s where opinions form, values are established and aspirations are set. In this framework schools are called to contribute to the promotion of equality & the prevention of discrimination. Sexual and gender orientation continue to be a very hot topic, speaking about discrimination and exclusion. Homophobic violence occurs on a regular basis and also young people have repeatedly been identified as a group particularly vulnerable to social exclusion. It’s worth to mentioning that also the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic affected these groups in terms of intolerance and on-line hate. Sexual diversity is less visible than cultural diversity because it can be hidden and silently suffered (Goffman 1963). Because of this, teachers may need basic knowledge and willingness in this area (FRA 2016). Teachers express the need to be trained, but also uncertainty on how raise the topic in class (Dankmeijer 2014). Research indicates that about half of the teachers does not have adequate information to educate about gender issues (Zibas & Sabatauskaite 2018).The large scale FRA research on LGBTI and gender discrimination in EU shows that the students have a high need for more explicit attention for sexual orientation and gender identity. In Italy in occasion of the celebration of the day against homophobia the President Mattarella underlined how “fighting homophobia creates the opportunity to fight every kind of discrimination”. In the Netherlands, a collection of complaints by students showed that their biggest complaint was the lack of attention for not enough care to their sexual and gender personality in educational resources. Other researches show that gender & sexual education makes students feel very supported by any visibility of sexual and gender diversity in their school (St. Leger). This shows that the foreseen results of the My-ID project can be very important.Furthermore, in all the project countries parents of students that are involved in homophobic attacks expressed the need for support on how to accept and help their children. Additionally, researches shows that in secondary schools a minority of about 10-20% of students holds strongly negative views, with half of the other students being insecure due to adolescence and the other half being rather positive towards sexual diversity (FRA, 2019). Students who hold the most negative attitudes often have a cultural background which condemns sexual & gender diversity. As shown by the quoted researches, this can lead to violence and homophobia.These attitudes can be extremely difficult to change by the school, but the school is the right place to prevent any negative effects: there is a need to deal with homophobic negative effects on the students and their families. Despite several countries have developed curricula on sexual and gender diversity, there is still a lack of concrete but flexible materials to use in class discussion. Most available training is focused on giving information, but there are few resources/training guides on how to deal with negative responses, especially when they are highly emotionally charged. In the Erasmus+ “SENSE” project for VET (2019-2020) the “My-ID” method was developed to tackle this, and piloted with success with VET students, but we need to provide concrete tools, activities and detailed instructions for teachers, students and parents.The project can ran at a crucial time in the European education system: the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 adopted on 11/11/2020, that marks a new phase integrating LGBTIQ equality in all policy areas and aims at bringing together Member States in a common endeavour to address LGBTI discrimination more effectively by 2025. It offers a good framework for future actions that needs to be filled in with concrete initiatives. My-ID can be one of these.<< Objectives >>The objective of My-ID project is to support a comprehensive approach and specific educative actions to address intersectional discrimination and inequality experienced on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics in the school.The specific aims of the project are to integrate sensitivity for sexual and gender diversity in secondary schools; to empower teachers to start educating about gender issues and on how to deal with potential conflicts arising from this; to inform and mentor parents to understand and tolerate/accept sexual and gender diversity. The project will directly benefit 1) both students – who will be more aware of the importance of having diversity skills in the personal and professional social domain - through concrete classroom activities to integrate gender sensitivity in specific subjects; 2) teachers and other school staff – who will improve their diversity skills on how to help create a more safe and inclusive group climate - via Manual, Guide and training to empower them to start dialogue and educating about sexual and gender issues and on how to deal with potential conflicts arising from this; 3) parents of the involved schools – who will be aware that the school has an inclusive diversity policy, and that this includes gender sensitivity- by providing them guidance so to understand and tolerate/accept sexual and gender diversity, both in their own family and in relation to how the school deals with the topic, 4) The general population of parents and caretakers: for them we will develop a brochure with suggestions on how to deal with gender and sexual diversity.<< Implementation >>The My-ID partnership includes 5 partners from 4 countries that are NGOs or Educative Organizations, with diverse profiles and specific expertise on the topic and on European projects management. The partnership also includes the direct collaboration of schools (formal or associated partners). All partners will be responsible for the implementation of the project and lead different project results (3) and activities based upon their expertise. The main activities to be implemented are 1) Desk research and needs assessment for 20 teachers and 70 students in each participating country, development of classroom activities to integrate gender and sexual sensitivity in specific subjects helping teachers to hands-on engage with the subject with in the context of their daily routines; classroom activities that have a function in creating a supportive school climate, for example by discussing social rules, prosocial behavior, and by producing visibility of sexual and gender diversity. 2) teachers and other school training to empower them to start dialogue and educating about gender and sexual issues and on how to deal with potential conflicts arising from this, based on successful experiences with training teachers but more concretely related to concrete questions and remarks of students and on the use of class discussion materials – following the My-ID methodology on social and emotional learning, and on locating LGBTI issues in the wider issues of being able to deal on a deeper level with diversity. In this context, teachers will develop four video clips which explain the My-ID methodology on how to engage on a deeper emotional level with diversity and a teacher training mobility for 20 teachers will be organised 3) provide guidance on how to inform and mentor parents to understand and tolerate/accept sexual and gender diversity through a) needs assessment; b) development of guidance on sexual and gender diversity for parents; c) creating awareness about the topic also through a dissemination of a brochure that will be done in order to increase their sensitivity to sexual and gender diversity in their own upbringing of the children.<< Results >>The project includes 3 project results (R) or outcomes: 1) a teacher manual with a compendium of activities and they will be piloted in the participating schools, resulting in a piloting report based on impact survey and a Review report; Teacher guide with practical suggestions on how to deal with questions students may ask and Video impression 2) a teacher training manual and four video clips which explain the My-ID methodology on how to engage on a deeper emotional level with diversity, and a resulting teacher training report and analysis on how to overcome cultural differences in teaching styles and how to deal with doubt and resistance. In the context of this result, -an international teacher training mobility for 20 teachers will be organized in Malaga (ES)-a piloting of the My-ID approach will be done in all the partner’ countries with at least 3 classes in each country. That means that at least 70 students (140 in Italy) for each country will be involved, for a total of 350 students as direct beneficiaries.3) in order to inform and mentor parents to understand and tolerate/accept sexual and gender diversity, first needs assessment among parents will be organised, and then the development of a Manual for professionals on how to reach out and work with parents; other outputs will be an handbook for the parents of the involved schools, in order to direct involve them in the educative process, thus creating a whole school approach for the prevention of gender and homophobic discrimination and for countering stereotyping and stigmatization. Furthermore, because the involved schools have a population of students with immigrant background, the handbook will be translated into different languages such as Arabic, Turkish, Chinese, Catalan, Romanian and Albanian in order to provide all parents with a tool that they understand, and that every student, regarding the background, has parents that can received information about sexual and gender diversity. In each of the countries, an activity with parents on these issues will be implemented. Finally a Brochure for the general population of parents and caretakers will be produced. Partners will prepare a short summary report compiling all the experiences foreseen in My-ID project, that can be used as inspiration for other schools.

"The LeGoP project originated with the aim of promoting the inclusion of students with Special Educational Needs by introducing an adaptive teaching and learning tools based on innovative technologies, as well as with the aim of identifying, preventing and counteracting negative behaviors against LGBT people.It is appropriate to mention two areas in special learning policy : the use of ICT technologies adapted for inclusion and the development of prevention of discrimination particularly against special educational needs and sexual orientation.Elpendù (Mola di Bari) is a consortium with experience in the field of social-work training and the inclusion of people with special needs.Axular LIZEOA in Donostia, Basque Country, is a school that originated from the commitment of a parents' cooperative society; Axular offers complete educational services from 2 to 18 years of age, and it is deeply rooted in the Basque culture while at the same time being open to Europe and to the world.Gureak - Donostia – in the Basque Country. It is a specialized institution for inclusive technologies, a special employment centre, a non-profit organization, it is organized in several specialized fields such as training in different areas for the disabled, design and provision of career paths for people with disabilities.GALE (Global Alliance for LGBT Education), in the Netherlands, is a foundation that promotes the full integration of disadvantaged people discriminated because of their sexual orientation, and it works with schools in activities against homophobia.•PROJECT COORDINATION (M - Transnational Meetings)•LEARNING ACTIVITIES aimed at students and the staff (C)•PROCESSING AND TESTING OF INTELLECTUAL OUTPUT (O)About the TOOLKIT- processed by Elpendù: (O4) it was the product of the contributions of all partners. The document is available on the project website (www.legop.tk) and the websites of Liceo Salvemini, www.liceosalvemini.it, Lizeoa Axular www.axular.net, on the GALE site http: //www.lgbt-education. info / index, the Elpendù site www.elpendu.it and Gureak.In addition to the events relating to ""Multiplier Events"" planned in the project, namely the ""Simposyum"" held in Amstedam on 19th November , 2015 (E1), the ""Road Show"" held in St. Sebastian on 18th March, 2016 (E2) and the final event (E3) carried out in Bari on 16th and 17th June 2016, the following activities were also carried out:Conferences and press releases, newsletters, press reports broadcast on regional TV, workshops on the situation of LGBT people in educational institutions (held on 16th June, 2016 at Liceo Salvemini) coordinated by the Director of GALE Peter Dankmeijer, road shows in city centres (16th June, 2016 in via Venezia from 18.00 to 22.00) (this was part of E3), blog discussionsEFFECTSLICEO SALVEMINIIncrease in the awareness regarding the issues of the project, in the first place consciousness about responses to homophobia, homophobic bullying and cyberbullying:Implementation of the Annual Plan for Inclusion and great attention to students with Special Educational NeedsGreat commitment for the teachers to update teaching workshop, inclusive teaching and the use of adaptive technology.Axular LIZEOASharing innovative teaching methods based on the implementation of flexible learning environments with the introduction of advanced technologies,Knowledge of different educational models adopted by different European partner countries.Prevention and suppression of negative behaviors (28/06/2011 Council of the EU recommendations).GALEGALE was able to develop an e-course for teachers; although they had been working for years on teacher competence to oppose homophobia, there had never been the possibility to create an online course. Surely this is a new opportunity to reach more teachers. The collaboration with Axular Gureak increased online working skills.GUREAKDevelopment of a training product for teachers and trainers (Curriculum – O1) in the use of new technologies to promote the inclusion of people with disability.ELPENDU'Implementing a series of changes to the topic of contrasting homophobia compared to the subject of inclusive technologies.All innovations and products output in LEGOP project have already been introduced in the technical offers by the Consortium.The Intellectual output O1 and O3 will play an important role in the training and professional development of teachers."