"<< Background >>The Project is based on the theme of the social inclusion of young people through the use of art therapy, understood as an educational tool that stimulates the intrinsic potential of the person, helps young people to develop - through creativity - their own life project, and thus they benefit from their self-realization in society. The aim of the project is to develop the ability of partner organizations to work for the social inclusion of young people through art therapy methodologies.The educational approach of art therapy is, in fact, particularly effective in promoting the social inclusion of young people, as it is capable of:- by far the positive individual potentials emerge;- significantly increase self-esteem;- increase the ability to react proactively to stress (resilience);- develop social and relational skills.These are important aspects of social research confirm as decisive for social inclusion(Repper & Perkins, 2003).<< Objectives >>The project will produce several results, among the ""intangible"" results we find:For YOUTH OPERATORS (direct target) who are part of the staff of the partner organizations, and other operators involved in the project activities:-increase of skills on educational and animation practices regarding social inclusion; in particular methodologies and educational paths aimed at the use of art therapy in its various forms, in order to promote social inclusion;- acquisition of knowledge and skills to carry out educational activities at a distance through art therapy, for the social inclusion of young NEETs;- acquisition of knowledge and skills to use art therapy to highlight the needs of young NEETs and to involve them in educational activities;- increasing the capacity for cooperation at European level (for youth workers and staff members of partner organizations).For PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS (direct target) that are part of the project:-improvement of skills on educational and animation practices related to the social inclusion of young NEETs through art therapy;- increasing the capacity for cooperation at European level.For YOUNG PEOPLE (indirect target) who will participate in the training activities organized after each meeting, the expected results concern:- development of personal skills (self-awareness, ability to express and relate, self-esteem);-improvement of the ability of young people to act proactively in their family and social context;- improvement of key skills, depending on the applied art therapy approaches (ability to use ICT tools, civic and social skills, cultural expression skills, etc.);- increase in the social inclusion of young participants, as a result of the skills and abilities developed.For OTHER ORGANIZATIONS (indirect target) of the third sector and educational institutions aimed at young people (reached by dissemination activities):- raising awareness of the importance of art therapy and education to promote social inclusion;-increase of skills on educational and animation practices related to social inclusion;- raising awareness on the European dimension of the phenomenon of social exclusion of young people and the responses to this problem.<< Implementation >>RESULTS AND TRAINING ACTIVITIESAmong the tangible results of the project we find:- 3 meetings in partner countries for the exchange of good practices on art therapy and education with young people, with specific attention to NEETs; each meeting will have a specific focus;- 2 remote preparatory meetings for training activities;- after each training activity meeting, the partner organizations will experience the methodologies learned by carrying out training and animation activities with young people (total 20 workshops).DISSEMINATIONThe project will carry out various dissemination activities (among the tangible results of the project) in order to disseminate the results of the project, to increase knowledge of the phenomenon of young NEETs in Europe and the importance of art therapy methodologies.<< Results >>Four results will be produced, namely:-R1 Collection of educational methodologies based on art therapy methods, for the social inclusion of NEETs;-R2 Creation of educational methodologies (Toolkit);-R3 Training module on educational methodologies based on art therapy approaches;-R4 Video tutorials on art therapy methodologies for the social inclusion of NEETs. The videos will be uploaded to the StoryAp portal (Stories for Active Participation- www.storyap.eu), the result of a European project in the youth sector."

The project was born from the observation of reality and the new challenges we are called to face in the fields of education and social inclusion, in the context of the current crisis in Europe that extends in many different areas, five of them having the biggest influence on adults’ education: the economic crisis, the social crisis, the crisis of European cohesion and identity, the ethical crisis and the personal crisis - particularly due to the status on labour market. The main topic addressed by the project is the widespread discrimination most of minorities (about 40% from immigrants, descendants of immigrants and minority ethnic groups - according to different research and press articles we studied when we wrote the application form) face with, in all areas of life (because of their ethnic or immigrant background, as well as potentially related characteristics, such as skin colour and religion) most often when seeking employment. The percent is almost double among over 35 years old adults with low skills (particularly communication in adoption country’s language) and low qualification.So the 5 partners - organisations covering the whole Europe (from North - Sweden - to South - Italy and from West - UK to East - Romania) with different backgrounds, expertise and approaches of adult education issues, particularly of tailoring learning opportunities to the needs of individual low-skilled/low-qualified adults - have put in common their experience and expertise in order to develop an educational path that uses autobiography for supporting these vulnerable groups in being more confident, with a bigger self-esteem and improved self-image and, generally talking, to give them more power in facing with the difficulties of a ”minority life”.The main goal of the project was to contribute to facilitate a bigger participation of low skilled adults coming from migrants and ethnic minorities groups in education/training programmes that will increase their chances on inclusion in society and on the labour market - as a main pillar for their social inclusion Specific objectives: 1. enhancing the professional development of 120 adult educators working with low skilled/qualified migrants and minorities from the 5 partner countries - by equipping them with important knowledge, improved abilities and offering them a complex and flexible training kit for using autobiography in adults’ education (tested on 10 different groups of low low-skilled/qualified adults from migrants/minorities groups) 2. developing and testing (on 10 different groups of low/skilled/qualified adults from migrants and ethnic minorities groups - 2 from each country involved) new, innovative and flexible (easy to adapt) training materials based on autobiographical method. 3. fostering international dimension of low-skilled/qualified adults’ education by developing training materials that use the expertise of 5 countries The project is built on a “cascade approach” that involves an increasing number of participants with its advancement. In the first stage we involved a direct target group: 20 adult educators - 4 staff members from each partner organisation, professionals in adult education, with at least one experience in a learning activity that involves low skilled/qualified adults (working with migrants or minorities will be a plus but not obligatory), a medium level of English (minimum B1- according to CEFRL). They took part to a transnational learning activity (https://ammmici.org/obiective/) In the second stage we involved other 100 professionals in adult education (with the same profile as the first 20, less the English level) - 20 in each partner’s country, who took part to the local training courses/ToT (https://ammmici.org/training-of-trainers/) and worked in team with the first 20 to develop the local training activities for the indirect target group described below. In the third step we involved about 150 low skilled/qualified adults (we should diminish the total number from the application form because of the Covid crisis) - one group of migrants and one group of minorities in each partner country (detailed description in the research https://ammmici.org/10-different-amici).We produced the following intellectual outputs (available here https://ammmici.org/intellectual-outputs/)IO1: Training kit for adult educators “Autobiographical Method for Migrants' and Minorities' Inclusion in Communities they are living In” - in English and each partner’s language IO2: A set of 20 case studies (4 from each partner) related to best practices/successful stories in using autobiography in adults' education IO3: Comparative study on how the autobiographical method worked on 10 different target groups (1 group of migrants and 1 of ethnic minorities from each partner country) - with recommendation and “tips&tricks” for future users. IO4: The documentary movie “It’s my life” the project”

"<< Background >>The COVID-19 pandemic and the confinement measures implemented in many EU countries have caused major upheavals in people's lives from multiple points of view. Indeed, the way in which people can relate to each other and carry out the most basic every-days tasks has been limited, significantly altering the regular implementation of education, training and youth policies. According to some studies (""Youth and COVID-19 Response, Recovery and Resilience"" - OECD, ""Living, Working and COVID-19"" - Eurofund, ""The European Youth Blueprint To Recovery"" - European Youth Forum) focused on the effects of current pandemic in relation to the employment situation and the mental health of young people, these are strongly affected with higher levels of depression, loneliness, tension, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.ACTMEM is based - within this context - on the importance of memory as a way to enhance resilience among young people. Memory, understood both as historical memory and as ""memory of the present"", nourishes the social fabric, enlivening the relationships between different generations, helping the crisis to be elaborated, also thanks to comparisons with the past.The project ACTMEM aims at creating an innovative learning experience addressed to young people and based on storytelling techniques, as a means to combat the sense of isolation related to the restrictive measures adopted by National Governments in response to the health crisis, while increasing key competences such as sense of initiative, social and civic participation and intercultural awareness and expression. The project idea stems from the will to promote a radical change of perspective towards the perception of being young in times of pandemic: from victims of unhappy circumstances limiting their freedom to move, meet, learn and discover, to protagonists of an absolutely exceptional historical era, who showed a great capacity to react and reinvent themselves and whose stories deserve to be recorded and told as sources of inspiration for the present and future generations.ACTMEM is focused on an emerging need stemming from the isolation and dramatic reduction of sociality of youth. Youth organisations recognise the need to involve with new methodologies youth in activities and experiences able to radically change the perception and the perspective of being young in time of pandemic through the implementation of narrative methodologies aiming at helping the expression, sharing and comparison among youth experiences of this historical period and emergency in a cross-border approach. Youth need to reflect on the current difficulties and understand their role as protagonists of an absolutely exceptional historical era, who showed a great capacity to react and reinvent themselves and whose stories deserve to be recorded and told as sources of inspiration for the present and future generations.ACTMEM wants to give new awareness to all youths as promoters of the communities. TARGET GROUPS of the project are:•YOUTH experiencing isolation during the pandemic but also active in solidarity actions within their own communities.•YOUTH with fewer possibilities and economical, social obstacles including youth with disabilities experienced the most difficult isolation: to listen to them and find solutions for tackling such disparities is one of the most compelling needs of youth organisations and society as a whole. •YOUTH Leaders in need to acquire new skills and methodologies for improving the involvement of youth in collective and individual solidarity actions.•YOUTH ORGANISATIONS are in permanent need to engage youths in active citizenship by promoting solidarity and a common sense of citizenship.<< Objectives >>Youth need to reflect on the current difficulties and understand their role as protagonists of an absolutely exceptional historical era, who showed a great capacity to react and reinvent themselves and whose stories deserve to be recorded and told as sources of inspiration for the present and future generations. Telling and sharing the ""memory of the present"", with reference to the new generations, means in particular:· the possibility, for young people, to narrate and share experiences related to the pandemic, as a contrast to isolation; both as communication to each other and intergenerational communication. We know how social distancing, the closure of schools, youth centers and social places generated deep discomfort in young Europeans of all ages, in a phase of life where the relationships with peers and with reference adults, even outside the family, are key.· At the same time, ""memory of the present"" means telling and sharing the experiences of resilience and solidarity that were achieved by civil society as a response to the crisis, and which saw the strong presence of young people. We are talking about different experiences of solidarity from the bottom: from the distribution of food and medicine to the most vulnerable people, to remote listening and support activities to combat the loneliness of the elderly, to the most various cultural initiatives.The project partners aim to actively involve young people in the process of collection and reconstruction of their individual stories and inspiring experiences related to the way they went through the pandemic and the different strategies they developed to tackle the new challenges brought by the virus.In particular, the specific objectives of the project ACTMEM are:• To transform the experience of the pandemic into an opportunity for the development of self-confidence and key competences among young people, such as intercultural awareness and expression, sense of initiative, social and civic participation• To promote inclusive, creative and innovative approaches to storytelling among young people, so as to combat social isolation and reinforce their resilience in response to the current health crisis• To foster the participation of young people in civil society by spreading good practices related to solidarity actions in times of pandemic • To promote the EU values among young people and in particular active citizenship and the pillar of being united in diversityThe project will achieve the above mentioned objectives by creating a blended training path based on storytelling methodologies. This result will lead to the realisation of a Manual addressed to youth leaders for supporting the involvement of youth by providing methodologies and practical guidance. Furthermore ACTMEM will realise an Open Narration virtual space for collecting individual and collective stories representing a priceless digital archive of the memory of life in times of pandemic from the perspective of young people.The expertise and complementarity of the partners inspired the overall design of the project by focusing on narration of individual and collective stories about pandemic and related solidarity’s action born under these difficult times, which, in no other example more than this, may boost the achievement of the general goals by:•Providing youth and youth leader with the possibility to engage with peers coming from different countries;•Providing the possibility to carry out a transnational experience through blended mobility will grant the target groups with an enriched and qualifying experience in different cultural environments.•Giving them the chance to know and to understand different experiences improving in this way both the knowledge about different countries and the sense of European citizenship.<< Implementation >>ACTMEM work plan is structured in such a way to show consecutive and intersecting activities that can be simplified in different phases. Phase 1 Setting up the ACTMEM instruments: the ACTMEM managers and working teams will set up the tool for a smooth and timely implementation of all the activities: management plan and tools, dissemination plan, quality assessment plan and tools will be prepared and placed in force. These activities will be carried out for the whole duration of the project. The internal reporting of project activities and outcomes will be performed on a six-monthly basis. The work on R1 - ACTMEM blended learning workshop will start with the establishment of the didactic team/ editorial team taking care about the analysis and methodology definition including contents for the transnational training event. This phase will see also the production of learning contents for the training event and tutorials (interviews, video, presentations). On the digital side of the project, in this phase also R2 - ACTMEM Digital space for narration will start with an initial definition and drafting features of the web platform, set up of the digital structure for the web platform including Blog and Vlog. In addition, it will start the realization of a set of guided storyboard tools for different thematic areas. The selection of participants for the transnational training event will start.Phase 2 Implementation of core activities: R1 activities such as the production learning contents and tutorials will be still ongoing but the first outcomes for organizing the transnational training event will be ready to be provided: trainers and trainees will meet to set up a common methodology of provision of learning content and a shared approach to the organization of the successive local workshops. Further tutorials, training contents and storytelling will be realized by the Youth Leaders attending as learners and at the end the learning outcomes and achievement will be assessed and validated.The realization of Manual for youth leaders, still under preparation, will benefit also from this first feedback. Concerning R2, the definition and realization guided storyboard tools and related virtual tools will be fine-tuned, while the definition and implementation of a co-narration virtual space for storytelling (Open Narrating Virtual Space) is under preparation for a first deployment during the Local Workshops activities. The Local Workshops will be organised by youth leaders for transferring knowledge about storytelling toward peers undertaking a pair working approach simplifying the realization of video narrations and storytelling with at least 50 youth per country. At this stage, the Open Narrating Virtual Space will be used: youth leaders and mentors will support youth in approaching this new tool, which will enable the remote collaboration among 40 people in building a collective story also with the support of tutors and facilitators operating on line. Phase 3 Validation, finalization and final dissemination : the Local Workshops and their final validation of the learning outcomes towards target groups will be finalised. The realization of the Manual for Youth Leaders will include feedback of young trainees whose contributions will be included in the verification and finalization of the digital tools as well. The dissemination activities will see their final phase with the organization in each partner country of the Multiplier Event. Along the three phases of the project, the partners will carry out an intensive communication and dissemination activity by involving also associated partners and relevant stakeholders in order to get an high outreach and to build the the basis of a sustainability plan for the future. A quality assessment activity will accompany and support the achievement of results.<< Results >>ACTMEM will realise two main Results:R1 – ACTMEM Blended Learning Workshop - Innovative methodologies for the narration of memoryThis result consists in the realization of a blended training path based on storytelling methodologies. The training contents will be realised by the partners and tested through the involvement of youth leaders during the project implementation (namely transnational training activity). In order to ensure correspondence to the needs of the target groups and facilitate their further enhancement, youth leaders will replicate the learning path by organising local workshops with peers. The whole process including feedback on training contents and learning path and validation of learning contents, will lead to the realisation of a Manual addressed to youth leaders for supporting the replication of the workshops by providing methodologies and practical guidance. Local workshops will be organised in each country’s involving youth groups: all the partners will experiment the educational activities and contents with different groups of young people. In particular: each partner will set up 5 storytelling workshops with the involvement of a very high number of young people: 50 per country and 200 in total. As an additional output the whole process will lead to the Manual including guidelines for Youth Leaders on adapting methodologies in different contexts and different groups of young people.ACTMEM Workshops is an innovative result, and will contribute to: -increase of skills in youth leaders/mentors and organisations regarding educational work with young people through narration methodologies, focused on developing resilience in young people in the pandemic crisis and leads to a greater ability to address the needs of the young people they work with.-increase of skills related to storytelling methodologies, enhancement of resilience skills and capacity to reflect and take action to face the pandemic crisis effectsR2 - ACTMEM web platform This result consists of an interactive virtual space targeted to young people where individual stories will be shared and by the end of the project around 240 stories will be available. The web platform constitutes a tool to facilitate the collection and constructive reflection on the experiences developed and lessons learnt during the times of pandemic, representing as well a networking tool aimed to facilitate interaction among young people at European level, thanks to the implementation of the feature “Open Narrating Virtual Space” allowing the collaboration of 10 to 40 people for the realization of a collective narrations across Europe. The platform will include tutorials, training contents and storyboards aiming at supporting the realisation of individual and collective narrations. The feature Open Narrating Virtual Space enables young people to co-creative sessions with peers, giving the possibility to open dialogue with different cultural approaches to pandemic and to increase the social aspect. ACTMEM Platform will contribute in creating the following benefit: -for young people the platform will facilitate the practice of some of the educational activities created by the R1, thus facilitating participation. -ACTMEM will not be yet another platform but, creating a historical memories archive, it will allow different study domains to access civil society and youth memories in order to analyze and acquire a more comprehensive knowledge about the social and moral effect of pandemic. Even when the pandemic is defeated, the experiences of resilience born in this period of emergency, the awareness and lessons learned from these experiences, can remain as a memory of this historic challenge that Europe is going through.ACTMEM results are highly transferable since the narration techniques and tutorials may be transferred to a plenty of different domains such as: social and demographic investigation, psychology research, and so on."

The European Council invites to act in order to provide learning opportunities to the Union's 61 million low-skilled and/or low-qualified adults. (Council conclusions…Upskilling Pathways: New Opportunities for Adults 2019). Increased levels of migration create diverse and complex societies with stronger needs for intercultural understanding and democratic values, as well as the provision of individual learning (languages, basic knowledge and values of the host societies) and societal learning (strengthening intercultural understanding and mutual respect)” (European Agenda…). It is a call to improve literacy in the EU, as “the ability to identify, understand, express, create, and interpret concepts, feelings, facts and opinions in both oral and written forms, using visual, sound/audio and digital materials across disciplines and contexts. It implies the ability to communicate and connect effectively with others, in an appropriate and creative way.” (Council Recommendation on a comprehensive approach to the teaching and learning of languages, Brussels on 22 May 2019). The council also states that “Non-formal and informal learning play an important role in supporting the development of essential interpersonal, communicative and cognitive skills such as: critical thinking, analytical skills, creativity, problem solving and resilience” Our project’s main objective is to develop language literacy, cultural exchange and the building of cross-community communities, through cultural participation, using theatre experiences as a highly motivating learning methodology.OBJECTIVESThe LiteracyAct project is addressed to education professionals, trainers, artists, voluntary workers in the field of migration and adult education at national and European level, as well as to Policy makers responsible for adult education. Its main objectives are:Developing and disseminating language/cultural learning strategies based on theatre activitiesFacilitating the exchange of good practices among European organisations involved in social/educational projects related to migrant populationCreating a set of tools to guide professionals, associations and institutions from the adult education/migrants’ issues sector in sharing/delivering such learning approachesNUMBER AND PROFILE OF PRTICIPANTSThe project will involve 4 staff members from each of the 4 participating organizations experienced in adult education, theatre-based learning methodologies, European projects planning and delivering.Around 200 adult migrants from target groups involved in the piloting activities are expected to participate to the laboratories (see below 01).Around 600 participants are expected to attend the 4 multiplier events planned.ACTIVITIES and METHODOLOGY Planning, development and delivery of the project’s goals will include:•4 Transnational Meetings: 20 people from partner organizations involved as educators, trainers, experts.•1 Joint Staff Training: 20 people involved from partner organizations staff•4 Multiplier Events: 600 participants expected from associations, institutions from the adult education/migrants’ issues fieldThe working style will be cooperative and based on decision sharing, project planning and implementation will rely on S.M.A.R.T. criteria.Project’s activities are aimed at the production of 5 intellectual outputs:O1 – LiteracyAct Desk Research: collection of good practices based on educational theatre activities aimed at developing basic skills in disadvantaged situations, to be published on relevant European platformsO2 - LiteracyAct Labs: creation of a Toolkit based on 3 piloting workshops involving different approaches to learning through theatre. Workshops are based on active spectatorship, creative acting/authorship, critical appraisal of the language learning outcomes from the previous activities.O3- LiteracyAct Tutorials: Production of 3 video tutorials based on the above described workshops and resulting performances (O2)O4 – LiteracyAct Handbook: Training people to form communities, a handbook for social workers/teachers/artists willing to improve social/cultural literacy through theatre practices. 05- LiteracyAct Impact Evaluation Guide Lines: Evaluation tool for assessing the impact of theatre practices in language/social literacy improvement.RESULTS AND IMPACTExpected results:- developing new methodologies for literacy skill development through theatre- increasing at local/national/European level the awareness on need of motivating, and effective basic skills teaching strategies-wide visibility and exploitation of the educational/training tools elaborated through the project’s productsLONG-TERM BENEFITS-creating a Europewide network of educational/cultural associations actively involved in theatre-based literacy improvement-promoting and sharing cooperative, creative innovation among professionals, associations and institutions from the adult education/migrants’ issues sector-availab

<< Background >>The project aims to bring together the participating organisations and young people in the creation of a transnational network as an interweaving of stories and practices. The aim is to understand and tell the present, in order to build together the future of Europe, with a particular focus on sustainable development.The key words that inspired the project are1.ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP, because young people need to feel themselves as protagonists and actively participate in the life of their own community.2.ENVIRONMENT, because the challenges imposed by climate change call for immediate action towards sustainable development3.DIGITALISATION, because as the recent pandemic has shown us, there is a need for a digital shift in education.<< Objectives >>We want young people to be directly involved in social actions of sustainable development, we believe this can be done through the use of narrative techniques of digital storytelling.We also want to support the resilience of young people who are facing a moment of serious crisis and we are convinced that participation in crucial actions for the future of their community and the planet, together with the opportunity to develop their creativity can help in this.<< Implementation >>The activities that will lead to the achievement of the objectives are divided into 4 work packages:MANAGEMENT: to ensure effective management and timely coordination of the actions of the different project partners. The staff will be responsible for, among other things- coordinating the working groups - monitoring financial management - ensuring constant communication between partnersThe heart of the project will be the PRODUCTION OF PROJECT RESULTS, thanks to the joint action of the partners with the working groups.For this purpose, the project foresees a series of activities including - transnational coordination meetings - training of working groups- meetings dedicated to the implementation of specific tasks.A constant process of MONITORING AND EVALUATION will be implemented to constantly check the progress of the project. Finally, it is fundamental for the success of the project to implement a DISSEMINATION and COMMUNICATION plan that can ensure visibility to the products resulting from the activities, promote the narrative practices experimented and become part of the public debate on environmental issues.<< Results >>Through the joint action of the partners will be realized:- a Tool Kit for young operators, concerning educational storytelling activities suitable to involve young people in social actions for the environment. - Video Tutorial for young operators and young users in general on the use of storytelling methodology to support sustainable development. - Motivational videos created with the involvement of young influencers, aimed at bringing young people closer to the issue of sustainable development.- FuturEApp, an application for smartphones and PCs for the creation of narratives on sustainable development in Europe and the World. - a digital platform for narratives in support of sustainable development created by young people.The main learnings from the implementation of the results are: - increased capacity of organisations to involve young people in environmental education actions- increased capacity of organisations to act through the exchange of practices and methodologies- increased knowledge of environmental issues among participants and in their countries and organisations - increased capacity for resilience, understood not only as the ability to adapt, but also as the drive to act for change- improved capacity to creatively use different narrative techniques.