Nowadays, empowerment in the use of online educational processes is crucial. The current literature shows that new technologies can be relevant in social rehabilitation programs since they reduce mobility and allow personalized rehabilitative paths. Nevertheless, the use of new technologies requires specific and structured competences. Accordingly, the DSI project's principal objective was the definition of a basic portfolio for digital social innovation competences at a European level specifically designed for students in social educator study programs, employed/unemployed social educators, and social volunteers. All partners already developed educational programs addressed to social educators and used digital resources in their educational activity with vulnerable social groups.Accordingly, partners shared their competences in digital-based educational programs such as competences for children with behavioral disturbances, online social coaching, social telerehabilitation of vulnerable social groups, etc., in order to implement the basic portfolio for digital social innovation competences. For this purpose, they selected, analyzed, and commented on the best practices and methodologies about using digital technologies in designing, implementing, and running social innovation solutions. Social educators have been involved in all the project activities through meetings, seminars, and online discussions. A short term learning event has been organized involving educators and experts. In synthesis, the project reached the following objectives: • exchanging good practices between organizations active in social education and social innovation • increasing the competencies of social educators • defining a basic portfolio of competences for social educators and social volunteers in digital social innovation practices at a European level • creating a comprehensive (and commented) list of topics and practices essential for digital social innovation initiatives/activities • creating a network active in digital social innovation The main addressed needs were: • enhancing social inclusion improving professional competences of social educators and social volunteers in a topical sector such as digital social innovation and the use of technology for social rehabilitation practices; • educators empowerment in the use of online educational processes. Project target groups Social educators, more precisely social educator students and social educators engaged in volunteer activities or employed in social services institutions/organizations, were the DSI project's main target group. DSI also involved other target groups: - Vulnerable social groups - Social services - Educational institutions

BACKGROUNDDue to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in Europe opted to switch to online remote courses with a view to keeping their students and teaching staff safe during the pandemic emergency.The consequences have been tragic for students and kids with special needs.Indeed, educational institutions were not prepared for supporting them at distance.As a consequence, parents of children with special needs found themselves in a new burdensome situation, becoming responsible for continuing their children's education at home.PROJECT OBJECTIVESThe purpose of the DiLASD project is to provide social educators and social workers with competence in assisting students and kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families remotely.ASD encompasses a group of lifelong disabilities that affect people’s ability to communicate and understand social cues. An individual with ASD has difficulties in recognizing body language, making eye contact, and understanding other people’s emotions.The main objective of the project is the active learning of individuals with ASD, according to their personals abilities, through the use of digital technology. Remote teaching-learning and online assistance will decrease their marginalization; improving their self-independence and well-being in life.NEEDSThe DiLASD project is motivated by the analysis that partners conducted during the closure of educational institutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the main needs that emerged from their analysis has been the necessity to professionalize the interventions of social educators and social workers in designing and running educational activities for students and kids with ASD remotely.TARGET GROUPSThe primary target groups are:•Social educators and social workers (and social volunteers).•Students and kids with ASD.The other target groups are:•Families of students and kids with ASD. •Social Services.•Organizations/institutions engaged in Special Education NeedsPARTNERSThe DiLASD project involves five partners from five European countries (Poland, Italy, Greece, Latvia, Cyprus) that have a long experience in the ASD scope and experimented with ERT in their countries during the schools’ closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They decided to put together their theoretical and practical experience to realize a training package to support students and kids with ASD remotely. PROJECT ACTIVITIES The main project activities include:•An educational pack for social educators/social workers to train them to support remotely students and kids with ASD as well as their parents.•Laboratories in which students and kids with ASD will experiment with remote learning, the use of software applications, and programmable toy robots (PTRs).•A virtual community where social educators, social workers, and parents can find educational materials as well as collect and share their experiences.•An educational multimedia book on online social communication and autism.The training course will be held in a virtual classroom. Social educators and social workers will be provided with digital skills and competence to implement remote teaching-learning activities for students and kids with ASD as well as assist them at distance.LEARNING STRATEGYThe DiLASD project will adopt an advanced learning strategy:•The training course will be based on an online adaptable learning approach and the use of structured learning units to create personalized learning paths in an online environment.•Online parent-training to train parents of students and kids with ASD to support the remote teaching-learning of their children.•Online laboratories involving students and kids with ASD individually and in groups.POTENTIAL LONG TERM BENEFITSIn Europe, the incidence of diagnosed ASD in young people appears to be in a range of 6 to 20 per 1000. In recent decades the number of people diagnosed with ASD has increased significantly.The main potential benefits of the DiLASD project are:• promoting practices of remote teaching-learning and remote assistance for students and kids with ASD;• Improving the competence of social educators/social workers/social volunteers;• Integrating topical teaching-learning methodologies such as online participatory learning, web social learning, online peer learning, and web-based self-learning practices;• Encouraging educational institutions to use online technology in Special Education Needs.finally, the potential longer-term benefits are also successful professional, independent life of future adults with ASD; their relative safety on the labor market and involvement in work mainly in the service sector; the revival of forgotten jobs to the provision of which adults with ASD may strongly contribute.

"<< Background >>The main ground for the development of a modern territorial community is the availability of active, initiative, and highly competent members. It is highly professional specialists who create added value in territorial communities and significantly contribute to the revenue of local budgets. For sustainable growth, it is necessary to create and develop a mini ecosystems of entrepreneurship in territorial communities. This will provide opportunities to support self-employment and entrepreneurship of the local population permanently.Strengthening the capacity of local communities through improving the adult education system should be a priority for both the EU and other European countries, since it creates more stability and facilitates the exchange of best practices.The lack of a comprehensive approach to the development of local communities, a particularly important component of which is the creation of opportunities for self-employment and development of entrepreneurial skills among the local population, is a serious problem in regions.This problem is common to all member countries that have formed the consortium to join efforts and let their countries, and the EU as a whole, reduce the burden of the problem.The consortium is formed by 5 countries, and the goal set is to find and share best practices in the sphere of adult education, in particular in the fostering of self-employment and entrepreneurial skills, as well as developing digital literacy of the local communities’ population. For this purpose, the project has chosen two categories of community members as target groups - people who have always been considered the most sensitive and vulnerable groups of territorial community, especially among rural population: youth (people aged 18-35) and people of “silver age” 50+.Thus, the main focus of the project will be helping these target groups to gain new, practice-based knowledge of how to develop their self-employment skills, facilitate sound entrepreneurial environment, and cultivate their eco-conscious vision of the home region’s development.Best business practices will not only show advanced models to follow for the target audience, but also enrich the experience of the partners and establish close entrepreneurial cooperation at the regional level in their countries.The project will be carried out in consortium with international partners from Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, Greece, and Ukraine.<< Objectives >>The project aims to develop functional system of comprehensive training for the those who desire to become self-employed citizens and entrepreneurs, as well as have knowledge in specialties of territorial development and entrepreneurship in their regions.The main emphasis in the project will be paid to the development of practical skills, studying business practices successfully functioning in the participating countries, as well as forming the mind-set and spirit of environmental awareness in entrepreneurship.Using distance formats in teaching process the project will simultaneously develop digital literacy among territorial communities’ (especially rural) population, which is also topical for all participating countries. This format will also allow to set communication links among the target audience allowing to enhance their future international cooperation.All project results in each country will create a unified mini eco-systems for the growth of self-emploment level, as well as entreprenership activity. Accordingly, this will help to reduce both the financial and social burden on local communities as usually young people and people 50+ are the groups of their special attention and care. Since the member countries of the consortium, except Ukraine, are members of the EU, such results are important and will have a positive impact not only on the development of individual regions or countries, but also the EU in whole.<< Implementation >>To achieve the results set we are planning to:- study the territorial development needs of the following groups: micro-entrepreneurs, experts of economic and regulatory departments of local self-governments, and local public activists. With this purpose each party of the project will make a research survey and its analysis (involving SWOT-analysis, relevance trees, morphologic analysis etc.)- develop a complex training course ""Business education for entrepreneurs” (PR1) on self-employability and entrepreneurship with the knowledge of business specialties of their territorial community. The training course will be created on the basis of the survey analysis obtained in cooperation with entrepreneurs of a region, experts from economic and regulatory departments of local self-governments, and local public activists. Involvement of the best practices in eco-aware businesses and active promotion of European Green Deal principles in the training courses will enhance the ecological component of the project, while participation of these three groups of residents of a local community in the survey will help them form a unified eco-conscious, innovative vision of the development of local economic and social spheres.- select pilot groups from the community residents: rural youth (80%) and people “silver age” 50+ (20%).- conduct real-time online trainings for the pilot groups, help them obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to increase their level of self-employability and competitiveness, which, in its turn, will enhance the development of their territorial community which is the most desirable result of the project.- develop MOOC “Entrepreneurship for all” (PR2) which will be based on the materials and integrated as an element of blended learning into the overall training course of the project allowing to strengthen and facilitate the quality of learning outcomes of the pilot groups.- develop a specialized online platform called ""International Training and Consulting Centre"" functioning as a service center for the support of mini-ecosystems during and in post-project period. –set a package of documents and recommendations (placed on the online platform) on the establishment of a project office with certified project managers who will facilitate the inflow of investments and grant funds for business development in the region. - develop joint forum for active participant`s communication which can enhance international communication for future joint collaboration and strengthen international links.All materials will be open to all groups of residents in the local communities involved into the project as well as to any EU citizen interested in the issue. All of them will also be available in the languages of the consortium member countries as well as in English, and accessable long after the MEcoS RNet finishes, creating a long-term effect of the project.<< Results >>PR1- Course ""Business education for enterpreneurs"" will define and develop professional competencies for entrepreneurs of territorial communities in accordance with the regional specifics. Speciall attention will be given to fostering eco-awareness among these entrepreneurs and self-employed members of territorial communities. the course through available interactive formats, will allow to form professional competencies in self-employment and entrepreneurship and simultaneously develop digital skills among the pilot group participants.PR 2 - Massive Open On-line Course “Entrepreneurship for all” developed on a distance learning platform will facilitate the availability of business education for residents of local communities (who will be able to study remotely (saving time, costs for travel, accommodation, meals)), as well as their digital literacy. It will be integrated as an element of blended learning into the overall training course of the project and will allow to strengthen and facilitate the quality of learning outcomes of the pilot groups.PR 3 - Specialized educational online platform ""International Training and Consulting Centre"" will be functioning as a service center for support of mini-ecosystems during and in post-project period, providing permanent remote consulting on current issues of entrepreneurship as it will give broad information on the urgent issues for the entrepreneurs in a region.All activities within the project are aimed to create a so-called integrated mini eco-system for the development of self-employability, eco-conscious entrepreneurship in the local community, which will:• Serve the needs of education, vocational guidance and training for the development and current activities of self-employed citizens, entrepreneurs -representatives of small and medium-sized businesses.• Promote the development of self-employability, entrepreneurship in the territorial community, as well as the facilitating of the participant`s unified eco-conscious vision on socio-economic development of their own territory.•teach target groups to use a project approach, involve different financial leverages for the needs of their micro-businesses. • teach and assist in attracting funds and other resources for entrepreneurs through crowdfunding, fundraising, franchising, crowdsourcing tools (project offices), etc."

Often, parents of children with special needs choose not to venture anywhere. They frequently avoid travels since they are unaware of how to get the accommodations they need during the journey. On the other hand, companies that offer travel services, especially micro-companies, don’t know the needs of families with children with special needs.The principal objective of the EliSE project is supporting parents of children with behavioral disturbs realizing an educational parent-training module for “fair traveling” in European countries and an educational toolkit. Accordingly, the primary target group of this project is represented by social educators that will be trained on how to train parents of children with behavioral disturbs (parent-training).For this purpose, our project aims at improving the competence of educators in the field of special education as well as to teach them on the use of parent-training techniques.The other target groups involved in the EliSE project are the families of children with special needs, parents' associations, social services, NGOs involved in special need education, and companies that deliver travel services.Target groups’ representatives are involved in the project’s activities through training activities, meetings, seminars, and online discussions. One short-term learning event will be organized involving selected persons from the target groups (social educators and parents) and experts.The Consortium is formed of six partners from six different countries, Latvia, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey.The EliSE project will provide partners with the opportunity to share investigations conducted separately in the field of special need education as well as to confront ideas, practices, and methods in the sector of social integration. Thanks to this project, they will increase their capacity to operate at a transnational level.This project foresees four IOs:1. IO1: Model representing the various aspects which characterize travels of families with children affected by behavioral disturbs (months 1-6)2. IO2: Online collaborative learning infrastructure (months 3-11)3. IO3: Blended learning module for educators: “Supporting families with children affected by behavioral disturbs” •Design of the module (months 6-8) •Implementation of the module (months 7-11) •Pilots (month 12-18)4. IO4: Toolkit for Fair Traveling and Policy recommendations (months 17-24)The project's impact includes:•more active participation in society (social educators, parents, children, and stakeholders);•improved competences, linked to professional profiles (social educators); •better understanding of practices in education and training (educational institutions);•more strategic and integrated use of ICTs and open educational resources (OER) in education and training (for educators, parents, and educational institutions); •reinforced interaction between practice, research, and policy (educators, Parents’ Associations, Policymakers, Travel services companies).Finally, our project can contribute to support migration of families with children with special needs offering them information on childcare inclusive settlements and guidance.

The ESEC project has provided social educators with the competences needed for designing and running parent training courses in an online environment. It realized an innovative parent training program for parents of children with behavioral disabilities in order to extend and develop the current competence and skills of both social educators and support teachers. The importance of training parents is widely emphasized by researchers and practitioners. Parents of children with autism or Down Syndrome have been successfully taught to improve their parent-childe relationship, increase communication skills, and decrease inappropriate, so called, behaviors. It has been demonstrated that parents of children with ASD are consequently found to have elevated levels of parenting related stress and psychological distress. Despite the numerous examples and variety of parent training courses, evidence-based guidelines for designing, implementing and running online parent training programs for parents of children with behavioral disabilities are not available. Moreover, parent training techniques are not widely studied by students in social pedagogy and social worker study programs. ESEC project pursues two main objectives, inclusive education and social educators professionalization. The project has realized an innovative parent training program for parents of children with behavioral disabilities in order to extend and develop the current competence and skills of both social educators and learning support teachers. It is motivated by a research conducted by JKPU and Ecoistituto on social innovation and social coaching in 2015 -2016 and on recent analysis conducted by JKPU and Udine University in 2017 on the association of parents of children with behavioral disabilities. The experience of Include and RTA on inclusive education confirmed the importance of parent training practices. On the basis of JKPU and Udine analysis emerged that the use of new technologies can be relevant in parent training educational programs since they can reduce mobility problems and offer the opportunity for personalized learning paths as authoritative sources and possibility of misunderstanding, biased information, etc. The participants in ESEC project were Consortium Partners, social educators and support teachers, who were the primary target group of the project. The parents of children with behavioral disabilities also took part in it as well as students in social educators' and social workers' study programs and stakeholders. Social educators and support teachers were involved mainly in learning activity, training program and outputs evaluation. The ESEC project main results are realization of evidence-based guidelines for designing and implementing and running a 2.0 educational parent training program that tackles all issues, theoretical and practical, related to parent training practices and includes a training course for parents of children with behavioral disabilities. The training course is an application of the evidence-based guidelines since the ESEC project foresees that learners can use the guidelines to design, implement and run a parent training course for a specific group of parents, under the supervision of experts (special pedagogues, social pedagogues, psychologists, social anthropologists, and expert in social media). This program strengthens the links between professional education and research and social development as well as practical use of acquired knowledge. ESEC provides the notions required for designing and running parent-training courses in an online environment and it demonstrates its effectiveness. The ESEC training approach focuses on teaching techniques, as well as on indirect and direct teaching strategies and on relational practices. Indirect teaching strategies are aimed to increase social responsiveness of parents. The ESEC consortium was formed of 5 partners whos complementary expertise in teaching and learning benefited for the project. These were 2 HE institutions, 1 foundation, and 2 NGOs. This strategy was motivated by realization and demonstration the effectiveness of a theoretical/methodological framework for parent-training at European level. Secondly, by wish to create a common understanding on special education at a European level thanks to collaboration of the Consortium partners exploiting/integrating their competence matured in non-funded researches and thirdly by reinforcing social inclusion and professional use of digital technology - that is a crucial European priority and the Covid 19 pandemic has proved that. The project transnationality is the condition for the transferability of the project results in other countries. Projects outcomes are realized in English but they are being translated into national languages. Impact of the project is very wide because the social education shows social and economic relevance in EU courtiers and this project improves both competences and skills.