The recent advances in open-source and low-cost software and hardware are increasing the number of technologies based on the ‘sharing-knowledge’ philosophy, allowing users to develop their own instruments according to their analytical needs. The aim of SmARTS is to develop a device for inspection, monitoring and analysis of Cultural Heritage materials (objects and structure surfaces) by means of multi-analytical approaches based on a low-cost apparatus. The SmARTS device will be tested by monitoring the conservation state of a set of stained glasses from the Sagrada Familia church of Barcelona (Spain), as well as related metal frames. The device will be equipped with multiple sensors to acquire environmental data (temperature, humidity, etc.) as well as analytical data (UV-IR, thermal signals, colorimetric, etc.), and micro-cameras in order to integrate the collected data with real-time imaging. A software for signal processing and data mining completes the design. The innovation lies in the use of low-cost, open-source hardware and software, which allows a sustainable approach to Cultural Heritage preservation. The originality lies in the device’s modular architecture, conceived as a hub controlling different sensors modules which can be easily assembled or disassembled, so ensuring an extremely flexible analytical instrument, adaptable to different materials and contexts. SmARTS is highly committed to EU's strategy endorsed in the field of Cultural Heritage preservation, by promoting an interdisciplinary approach, and by proposing the application of cutting-edge science and technology . Moreover, SmARTS integrates the applicant’s knowledge in conservation science into a top level research team of the University of Vic (Spain), the MECAMAT, whose research focuses in material science and mechatronics with a strong commitment with the private sector. This will enhance the capacities to convert the research results into commercial opportunities.

"<< Background >>Choosing a career, teenage girls often reject masculinized occupations (ie those in which there are more men than women, or are considered ""masculine"" in the social consciousness). This applies to both vocational and higher education. Girls do not take these occupations into account, despite the fact that they are in greater demand on the labor market and are associated with better wages, as research shows.This is due to the stereotypes young women encounter from an early age. Due to their beliefs about their own abilities and predispositions (deepened by the formal education system), they have a very limited career path.Young women, after graduating from education, decide to take up a profession that requires them to give up one of the social roles assigned to women (responsibility for running a home, raising children, etc., caring for parents, etc.)<< Objectives >>The aim of the project is to create tools and work out a working method for youth workers and popularize them in order to encourage girls and young women to work in masculinized professions (i.e. those considered stereotypically performed by men), and thus - to improve their situation on the market work.<< Implementation >>3 training sessions and the development of 4 intellectual results have been planned, which will allow for:- mutual learning of partners, acquisition of new competences and exchange of good practices- preparation of a city game with the necessary materials- dissemination activities so that as many people as possible benefit from the project results.<< Results >>By analyzing the research results and talking to our partners about the situation in their countries and their experience with the above topic, we want to:-increase the interest of girls in masculinized professions- spread the belief that the profession has no gender-create a method for a ""safe space"" (how to create conditions for working with girls so that they feel safe and thus are not afraid to try their hand and break the stereotypes that have been planted in their heads)-create a universal tool - an urban game - that can be adapted to your needs, but which will respond to the needs identified by us"

In all the countries of the world a significant proportion of youngsters have serious learning difficulties that can lead to an absence of a diploma at the end of the period of compulsory schooling and the interruption of their studies. The early school leaving (ESL) makes it difficult for them to become socially and professionally integrated. The consideration of the educational institutions or even of parents is uneven across countries and remains globally insufficient. Among the twelve key measures to reduce school ESL on European level (2013) is to “support cooperation between schools, local communities, parents and pupils in school development and in initiatives to reduce ESL”. The project aims to respond to this recommendation. It aims to open to synergies with organizations providing formal and non-formal education and to improve transition between the different sectors of education, training and youth at local, national and international level. The project provides tools and practices to teachers, to youth workers and parents to develop their collaboration to actively participate in the fight against early school leaving. The final result of the project is the creation of a tested and validated common training program for teachers and youth workers that takes into account the specificities of the territories. This published program will be complemented by a guide for teachers and youth workers.The project first brings together European participants from Denmark, Spain, Hungary, France who have been working for several years on issues of inequality in school, inclusion or early school leaving. Territories linked to the geographical and socioeconomic disparities and with the highest number of youth in difficulty will be favored: urban areas with a high proportion of youngsters with a migrant background or Roms, the youth victims of social problems or delinquency, cities in industrial decline, or isolated and marginalized rural areas.The strategic partnership project is organized in three years. During the first year the census of good practices and statistical data on the ESL on the territories are conducted. A joint training program for teachers and youth workers on the one hand and the sessions for parents on the other hand are designed. During the second year the sessions for parents in each country and the training course will be implemented. The training course is divided into two mobility of 15 selected teachers and youth workers from each country. It is a hybrid training combining the use of a digital platform (in each country) and face-to-face sessions (during the mobility). For parents, sensitization sessions for their children's school accompaniment are organized. Once formed or sensitized, the various educational actors and parents will implement an experience of collaboration and support for young people during the third year. The project develops and evaluates the new practices to cater for the needs of disadvantaged groups and to deal with differences in learning outcomes linked to the geographical and socioeconomic disparities. The training course aims to improve the competences of teachers and youth workers. The project uses pedagogical approaches centered on the activity of the trainees, the exchange of practices at international level as well as at local or national level. The inverted classroom model, which is based on a personal work of the trainee based on online documents and on questioning and face-to-face exchanges, especially between teachers, youth workers and training managers, will be used. This type of teaching methods is particularly suitable for professional development. The mobility will promote collaborative and holistic approaches to teaching and learning and will strengthen their professional, personal and intercultural skills and exchange on their practices. The good practices in dealing with diversity in the classroom will also be proposed. The collaboration between teachers, youth workers and parents to implement the learning outcomes of the following year will be a lever to change the practices of professionals and parents' behaviors and thus strengthen their links for the benefit of youngsters. The evaluation that will be conducted at the end of the period will validate the relevance of the training.The participation of various institutions, stakeholders on the issue of ESL (school, youth clubs, cultural and sports associations, associations of parents, universities) is a major asset for the success of the project.

In the society of knowledge, life chances of people are increasingly conditioned to educational credentials. Accordingly, the OCDE and the European Commission identify the access and the end of elementary school as a way for social inclusion. However, early school leaving is a common problem in many European countries. Although the vast majority of European countries have implemented strategies to minimize leaving in elementary school, the changes seem not to be enough. Thus, an educational system thought to be inclusive and equative cannot allow the normalisation of today’s percentages of early school leaving.In this context, the general aim of CROSSROADS project is to develop a Toolkit for teachers gathering innovative methodologies, strategies and good practices aimed at reducing early school leaving caused by the impact of the intersection of different axes of inequality (gender, origin, social class, ethnicity, sexuality…), in the period between Compulsory and Post-Compulsory Secondary Education.The main activities of the project are: an Internal training (which will allow the partners to test methodologies and to exchange learnings and experiences); Focus Groups with Teachers and Focus Groups with Youth at risk of early school leaving (in which they will discuss the first draft of the Toolkit to guarantee that it takes into account their perspectives); the Exchange of Good Practices Seminar (which will include presentation of good practices, roundtables and field visits); and a Main Dissemination Activity (in Belgium) and National Dissemination Activities.The main result of the project is the Toolkit for teachers, gathering innovative methodologies, strategies and good practices to prevent early school leaving, from an intersectional perspective and taking into account the voice and experience of youth at risk of early school leaving. The Toolkit will be available in the project and the partners’ websites and it will be published under a Creative Commons licence to promote its use and dissemination. CROSSROADS targets three types of participants. The first one is teaching staff committed to prevent early school leaving. They will participate in Focus Groups carried out in the four participating countries (Spain, Poland, Croatia and Belgium), apart from attending the Exchange of Good Practices Seminar and the dissemination activities (100 participants in total). The second target is youth at risk of early school leaving due to their position in the intersection of different axes of inequality (gender, class, origin, sexuality and urban/rural). This target will participate as well in Focus Groups carried out in each participating country and will be invited to participate in the Seminar and the dissemination activities (150 participants). The third target are other stakeholders committed to the prevention of early school leaving, like Public Administrations, NGOs, experts and Media. They will be invited to the Seminar and the dissemination activities (80 participants).As a result of the project, teaching staff will have a Toolkit with innovative methodologies and best practices based on the experience of organizations working on the field and taking into account the voices of youth from groups at risk of early school leaving. Local and regional education authorities will have training material aimed at preventing early school leaving that they can disseminate to schools and Faculties of Education will be able to use the material in the training of future teaching staff. The main objective of the dissemination strategy of the project is to promote the distribution and use of these materials as much as possible, which will also be disseminated in international and national seminars held within the project framework, as well as in the distribution of newsletters and dissemination. Content on various social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and mobile device applications.The expected impact of the project in the long term is: to contribute to increase the visibility of the needs of different social groups at risk of early school leaving in the definition of specific methodologies for educational career guidance from an intersectional perspective; to increase the awareness and training of teaching staff regarding inequalities in education; to strengthen the transnational network of entities that are committed to prevent early school leaving; and to improve the knowledge and competences among teaching staff in European countries, through the dissemination of the Toolkit.