The TfT project was developed out of the shared recognition of a need to integrate the basic and transversal skills associated with 21st Century Learning (21CL) meaningfully into mainstream secondary school education. Though there is no universally agreed definition of “21C skills”, Voogt and Roblin (2012) — in their comparative analysis of international frameworks for 21C competences — note a common recognition of the importance of skills relating to communication, collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, and technological fluency. These are frequently considered higher-order thinking and learning skills, and they are seen as being transversal (not subject-specific) and multi-dimensional, impacting on attitudes and knowledge. Though the importance of teaching and creating opportunities for students to develop these skills in schools is generally agreed upon, the process of integrating of 21C teaching and learning practices into the classrooms is complex. It involves changes at system and classroom levels, and the provision of adequate resources.To address these issues, TfT focused on developing a transnational model of teaching and learning that helps students to develop their 21C skills – and thereby become effective problem-solvers and self-directed learners. The overall objective was twofold: (1) to develop a coherent model for the integration of 21C teaching and learning (21CL) in schools, in order to scaffold the development of students’ basic and transversal skills in an innovative way; and (2) to simultaneously support teachers with the implementation of this model.This project brought together educators (principals, teachers, researchers, and others) from 4 countries (Ireland, Sweden, Estonia and Germany) and 5 organisations across Europe (four upper primary/secondary schools and one university), with expertise in various areas, to enhance and refine a model of 21CL. The primary participants on the project — 16 teachers and 5 project leaders — aimed to improve both their own skills and practices and to help other teachers develop these practices in their own schools.In order to meet the aims of the project, five different “Learning, Teaching and Training” (LTT’s) workshops were carried out, with one in each partner country, whereby each project partner led sessions for the TfT participants in which they shared their school’s particular expertise in its designated area of 21CL. For example, the first LTT was held in Dublin in the Bridge21 learning centre of Trinity College, and it involved immersive experience with the “Bridge21 model of 21CL”, which as developed by TCD partners and colleagues and served as a starting for the TfT teachers to collaborate and develop their own model. From there, the other LTT’s involved project partners sharing and leading sessions related to assessment, diverse learning styles, constructivist teaching methods, and building communities of practice. Throughout this process, participating teachers were developing their skills and competences in orchestrating and creating active, 21CL experiences, while simultaneously developing a pragmatic, transnational model of 21CL.To measure the impact of this project, questionnaires and interviews – designed to identify the 16 participating teachers’ confidence with and frequency of usage of 21CL, as well as their beliefs about the purpose and usefulness of the TfT project itself – were completed at the start and end of the project. Analysis of this data was undertaken to understand and interpret reported changes in confidence, usage and beliefs of the teachers over the course of the project. Findings indicate that teachers reported an increase in confidence with integrating various 21CL practices in their teaching, as well as an increase in their own classroom usage in all areas of 21CL practices, with some aspects being at the statistically significant level. From the data collected, it was also evident that the teachers believed that their participation in the TfT project had a positive impact on their own teaching practice, as well as their schools overall, and greater educational community.The process of this evolution and the end result has been shared with relevant stakeholders and the European educational community in a variety of ways, including via our open-access project website. In addition, for the sake of longevity and openness, all related publications and results will be housed in perpetuity on the Trinity Access to Research Archive - TARA.

The applicant and the project partners all work with adult people in different countries and strongly perceive that people in municipalities, regional administrations and other public bodies (being it professionals, elected representatives or employees) don’t pay sufficient attention to these opportunities. There is sufficient knowledge about the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), which are promoted by national bodies, but there is significant lack of knowledge about other opportunities, especially Financial Instruments financed Directly by the European Commission or its Agencies and providing money for international cooperation projects. The aim of the TICTAC project is to raise awareness about the European programmes and tools among people working in the municipalities and regional administrations (clercks, professionals and elected representatives) and in other public institutions (such as the personnel from schools, universities, agencies chambers, social centres, orphanages ). Therefore the objective of TICTAC is also to raise interest of adult people in the solution of problems related to local community. We believe that by raising awareness and competences of adult workers there is a wide perspective of influencing public institutions performance in this area.TICTAC project focuses on all kinds of financial instruments suitable for municipalities, regional administrations and other public institutions apart from the national operational programmes financed by the ESIF.The project's target groups are: adult people working in municipalities, regional administrations and public institutions who are losing opportunities of participating to European initiatives.Two Intellectual Outputs will be developed: TICTAC Guide and TICTAC e-learning. Both Intellectual Outputs will be available in 7 languages: English, Czech, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Hungarian and Swedish. There are seven partners involved in the project: Evropska rozvojova agentura, s.r.o. (Czech Republic), Stenungsunds kommun sektor utbildning (Sweeden), FIN PROJECT (Italy), ONECO CONSULTING SL (Spain), MACDAC ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY BUREAU LTD - MECB (Malta), Municipality of Alba Iulia (Romania) and DIOSD VAROS ONKORMANYZAT (Hungary). We expect that the TICTAC project will provide significant beneficial impacts for people working in municipalities, regional administrations and other public institutions, in order to contribute to more effective and integrated development of European towns and regions, by enriching their knowledge about funding opportunities through an innovative educational program.