<< Objectives >>General objective is ensuring professional development through green education. We will aim in:improving digital competences of kindergartenProfessionals;considering equal opportunities;raising awareness on different educational systems andpractices in different kindergartens;improving competencies to reflect on practices;improving professionals’ competencies on ensuringquality education;raising awareness on the importance of digitalcompetencies and green education possibilities.<< Implementation >>The following activities will be achieved:WP2TrainingWebinarVideosWP3Building and updating the platformPilot testing of the platformDeveloping guidelines for reflectionWP4Preparation of study visitsStudy visits in Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, N Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia and SerbiaWP5Communication and dissemination planKindergartens post on European School Education PlatformOnline dissemination eventDissemination on partners’ websites, social media and conferences<< Results >>Training on improving digital competenciesWebinar on improving digital competenciesKindergarten videosGuidelines for reflectionVirtual space (platform) will be builtCommunication and dissemination plan;Posts of kindergarten professionals about the project, virtual study visits etc. on the European School Education Platform;International online dissemination eventDissemination of project activities and results

In the last years European society has to cope with different challenges. These changes require to extend the access to ECEC services in order to accommodate a greater number of families, develop more inclusive and holistic educational services, able to intercept the different needs of different families and different type of users. Today services are likely not to take into proper account the differences in users’ needs: more flexibility in the operation and organization of the services is required, together with lower expenses for the families, an integrated system of families and educational services offers.The project was developed in PARTNERSHIP with 3 schools in Italy, Sweden, Slovenia. The partners involved in the project have been purposefully selected to represent examples of different Ecec government and organization services. These have been determined by analyzing existing practices and experiences that the partners have gathered over the years as part of their independent endeavors. GOAL of project is to improve Early Childhood Education and Care (Ecec) organizational and governance models through exchange of experiences and good practices.In particular the project has two specific objectives linked to expected RESULTS:1) To identify organizational solutions that improve Ecec services and contribute to increase accessR 1.1 Innovative Pre school organizational models identified;R 1.2 Best Practices tested and implemented with teachers and families;R 1.3 Pre school teachers competences improved.2) To improve Families and community participation in the life of pre-schools servicesR 2.1 ECEC services more in line to family and community needs.Direct and indirect BENEFICIARIES will be Ecec practitioners, Families, Decision-makers in local and regional authorities acting the field of educational policies and services and Children.The project will be organized in ACTIVITIES like: Transnational meetings (also aimed at deepening organizational models and families and community participation and involvement), Job shadowing, Local Seminars, Local Experimental Practices.METHODOLOGY will include active methods like for example: World Cafè, Open Space Technology, Community self-mapping tecnics.The IMPACT of the project involves the transfer of best practices and organizational models able to respond more adequately to the needs of families and communities. This impact is not only on the services involved in the project but it concerns the whole network of ECEC services and the people who deal with education in different contexts. The long-term benefits of the project are related to the awareness and the acquisition of tools and methods by people who work in ECEC services for questioning the changes taking place, intercepting the needs of families and communities and adapting the organization of services to the latter.

Quality in Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has gained an increasingly prominent position on European and national policy agendas. Quality of ECEC depends largely on the system as whole and on the competence of its components like staff, families and communities. The main problem that the partnership has identified and intends to address stands in the fact that involvement and participation of the parents and carers are scarcely or not sufficiently acknowledged as a key component contributing to quality of ECEC as a competent system.The project has pursued four specific objectives:1) To identify, test and mainstream best practices and innovative methods of participation particularly in context of diversity (socio-economic and cultural diversity, minorities, etc);2) To improve the teachers competences pertaining strategies and approaches the involvement of parent by learning from the experiences of colleagues from other countries in Europe ;3) To improve the integration and interaction of the different components of the system (children, practitioners, researchers, families, community);4) To address participation in ECEC as a process in a more effective way through quality indicators;The partnership consists of 11 partners from 7 EU countries. The organizations involved in the partnership are: 3 pre-schools, 2 local authorities managing pre-schools, 1 teachers training organization, 2 universities, 2 research centers, 1 transnational networks of local and regional authorities.The project has involved a total of 162 participants in the transnational meetings and training actvities and 618 participants in the multiplier events representing three main target groups: practitioners (pre-school teachers and managers, representative of local authorities and academics / trainers).The achievement of the goals was possible thanks to an implementation path based on the following macro phases. The first phase saw an analysis of national situations in relation to the topic in terms of existing policy framework and guidelines. This phase ended with the identification of practices on participation in the context of the partnership and made it possible to create a baseline for setting up the next phase. The second phase of the project was focused on defining the project's approach to the theme of participation with the definition of the four areas of participation (learning about the family, communicating with the family, deciding and acting together with the family, collaborating and cooperating with the community ) and the indicators connected to each area. The third phase was focused on identifying the practices to be deepened in the ligt of the focus areas and the indicators and the subsequent observation activity through job shadowing. The fourth step was to transfer and experiment on practices locally based on job shadowing results. Based on the transfer and the effectiveness of the practice in a European context other than the original one, the fifth phase of the creation of the toolbox prototype started. Subsequently the prototypes were shared with the stakeholders through the multiplication bodies (phase six) and on the basis of the feedback received, the paper and online versions were finalized (seven steps).The main results (impact resulting from the activities in the local contexts of the partners) of the project have been:Innovative forms of participation (enabling practices and methods) were identified, transferred in other EU countries and tested; A toolbox enhancing participation has been created including (introduction, instructions, focus areas, and best practices) and disseminated in 9 EU languages. The toolbox has both a paper version and online version;Increased interaction of the different components of the system (family members, practitioners, community)Increased competences of the ECEC staff pertaining participation Increased internationalization and stronger European dimension of the involved pre-schoolsDevelopment of more effective indicators addressing comprehensively the theme of participationOne of the main long term impact of the project has been an increased awareness locally and internationally and more centrality attached to participation of families and carers as a key component enhancing quality of the Early Childhood Education and Care

The main aim of the project BRIDGING is to improve the quality of the practices in early childhood education through participation of children, educators and cultural staff in artistic projects in public spaces, helping young children and adults to become active European citizens, fostering creativity, collaboration, and communication. The reason and need for the project comes from the fact that societies are becoming increasingly diverse and educators need new tools to acknowledge such diversity in a way that is aligned with European values, contributing to active citizenship and democratic, inclusive, social cohesive societies. Essential to BRIDGING is the strong collaboration between and within each country, involving not only school settings, but also cultural institutions and universities. The collaboration between children, the educational settings and the multiple spaces of the city, within and across countries, will facilitate new ways of looking, thinking and acting upon the local and global urban environment. Based on an action-research design methodology, several cycles of inquiry, inquiry-search, exploration-registration, and dissemination will be carried out collaboratively, both outside and inside schools, using art and digital tools as a means of exploration and communication. The use of arts and ICT aims to help inspire and expand young children’s horizons contributing to open minded and positive reflection upon differences and diversities. The exploration of their own city and other’s cities will help children to develop knowledge and attitudes related to European citizenship likely to influence lifelong learning skills. Interdisciplinary collaboration between the different international partners intends to support the cross-fertilization of different discourses (education, arts, music, sociology, psychology and architecture) that can allow a rich, effective, and intentional operationalization of the educational process of all those involved, leading to high-quality practices. As a result, BRIDGING intends to give children and adults multiple opportunities to be more engaged as citizens using arts and digital tools as privileged tools for share and communicate, with a positive impact on professionals, families and children’s development, learning, and wellbeing.

Context/background:In accordance with the scientific researches on the field (started by the pioneering work of J.Bruner), we consider the narrative approach in early education very important for promoting life skills, a resilience attitude and significant exploration of all the knowledge areas and every kind of social relations. The narrative approach starts from the assumption that each knowledge and skill can be easily learned if it is treated inside stories, both in written, oral or figurative ways. Despite this importance, the narrative approach in early education usually is limited to specific activities, supported by few and not very innovative methodologies, inside school-settings which are not arranged (from both a structural and organizational point of view), taking into account the regular adoption of the narrative approach in education every day. Further, although preschools could take great advantage from a continuous partnership with the local (public) libraries in this field, this almost never happens, since the collaboration between preschool and libraries at most is limited to single episodic experiences and/or the loan of books. The narrative approach is so important for improving the quality of early education that it is worth emphasizing the narrative approach till the adoption of a real narrative curriculum. Specific tools for planning and evaluation and the close involvement of new stakeholders (libraries) must support the adoption of the narrative approach.Objectives:General Objective: To foster quality in preschool education through increased attention to the narrative approach.This general objective is articulated in the following specific objectives:SO1. Developing the narrative approach in preschools, adopting the appropriate tools to arrange the context, planning activities and evaluating the outcomes.SO2. Improving the collaboration between preschools and libraries for enhancing the narrative curriculum and for giving value and visibility to the spontaneous narrative production of the children (already present from an early age);SO3. Increasing preschool teachers’ professional skills on the narrative approach/curriculum.The partnership is composed by:A.Four preschools:1.Bergsvikens förskoleområde, Piteå Municipality – Sweden2.Early Childhood Educational Services, Imola Municipality – Italy (coordinator)3.Elmer schools in Schaarbeek (Brussels, Belgium)4.Meelespea Kindergarten in Tallinn – EstoniaB. The following specialized partners:1.University of Bologna – Italy – Department of Psychology2.SERN – Sweden Emilia Romagna Network – Public AgencyIn addition, the project is supported by three public Libraries as co-partners: the ones from Stuttgart, Piteå and Imola MunicipalitiesIt is foreseen that the following practitioners will be involved in the project as a whole:- 250 preschool teachers (40 involved in transnational activities).-7 preschool pedagogues (also involved in transnational activities)-10 academic experts (3 involved in transnational activities)-700 children attending preschools and their parents-10 librariansActivities and Methodology1.Gathering best practices on the project topics2.Realizing a comprehensive narrative approach in early education inside the involved preschools, editing a specific handbook as well.3.Carrying out specific activities for monitoring and evaluating the application of the narrative approach in early education;4.Realizing stable agreements between preschools and local libraries5.Providing two specific learning activities to the participants related to the objectives of the project.On the base of these activities, to realize the following intellectual outputs:IO1: a handbook on the implementation of the narrative curriculum in preschools: guidelines on arranging the learning settings and the educational plan.IO2: a set of tools for monitoring evaluation both the appropriateness of the school setting and the children's learning well-being in the preschools adopting the narrative approach.IO3: at least 8 original childhood literature products starting from the children's spontaneous narrative creativity.Results:1. At the end of the project the following results are expected:2. The adoption of the tested narrative curriculum by the involved preschools;3. The elaboration of some agreement framework between preschools and libraries4. The elaboration of tools for evaluating the real effectiveness of the adoption of the narrative approach in early education;5. Spreading the interest on the narrative curriculum in other schools managers in the territory of the partner.Beyond the project:1.The intellectual outputs will be on a free disposal of all the preschools in the Europe also after the end of the project;2.UNIBO will be able to carry out the academic research on the topics of the project, even beyond its end;3.The involved preschools will keep in touch to further develop the project's topic.