Recently, the real face of Domestic Violence in Europe became clearly captured for a first time, in a survey, that involves participants from all 28 European states and reflects the experiences of 42 000 women across EU. The data from the survey dreadfully shows that one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15. This project aims at addressing this crucial topic by building on the successful idea and results of a previous LLP project PACT, which (as its full name clearly reveals) was aimed at Promoting Awareness and Cooperation and Training in the Field of Domestic Violence (DV). Building on major and crucial European developments like the Istanbul Convention and the EU Victims’ Directive (Directive 2012/29/EU) and being strongly aligned with the main priorities and values entangled in strategic documents like the Paris Declaration and Europe 2020, EMPROVE! Aims at: EMPowering DV survivors by IMPROVing the DV intervention and prevention. More concretely, the EMPROVE! Project will train counsellors and trainers, as well as NGO staff, that works with DV survivors, enriching their training repertoire with the EMPROVE! Intellectual products. In other words, the main target groups of the project will be counsellors, tutors, mentors, trainers, working with DV survivors and final beneficiaries of the project will be the DV survivors, whereby EMPROVE! focuses on women, because they are disproportionally affected by this major problem.The overarching goals of EMPROVE! are going to be achieved through the following activities: - comprehensive good practice research and qualitative needs analysis of the challenges both counsellors and DV survivors face;- international and national train-the-trainer events, that will educate the first wave of EMPROVE! Counsellors- introduction of an innovative element in the training and counselling of the DV survivors – an EMPROVE! Social Platform, developed based on the theory of Gamification. This methodology is known to increase the intrinsic motivation, the empowerment and the feeling of community of the learners, keeping them involved throughout all phases of their training and counselling process. - Network Guidelines for successful prevention and intervention of DV- EMPROVE! Competence models and validation reference systems- Policy Paper with recommendations for amendments in local and international policies and practices on DV prevention and intervention- Assessment and validation activities of informally acquired skills and competences - Dissemination & Sustainability- Quality AssuranceIn the piloting of this unique EMPROVE! Approach, the project will train directly between 40 and 50 counsellors, piloting the EMPROVE! Training programme with ca. 60 DV survivors around Europe and disseminating the project products to further 250+ DV survivors. More than 70 professionals and key stakeholders will participate in the EMPROVE! Foundation Seminars and further 1000 will learn about the project through the dissemination activities of the consortium.The EMPROVE! Methodology, that will be applied in the current project, has the following key values in its core:• Holistic approach • Distribution of tasks according to the areas of expertise of each partner• Focus on Competence Oriented Learning in the development and implementation of all educational materials• Promotion of Validation of Formal and Informal Learning for all target groups and final beneficiaries • Impact on EU level: Project management and training/research experts in each partner countryAs a result from all these activities, Good practice brochure, Training products, Policy recommendations, Gamified EMPROVE! Social platform and EMPROVE! Network Guidelines will be developed.With these activities and products, the project makes important steps towards the response of education and training to the main challenges of today's world and to the need to improve the intervention and prevention of such huge social problem as DV. Potential long-term benefits from the EMPROVE! Activities and products are expected for counsellors, trainers, DV Survivors, but also for employers, local and national public bodies, Moreover, the impact and the benefits from the EMPROVE! Project are increased by the fact that the project products are designed to live after the project lifecycle has ended. This will be further ensured by the readiness and motivation of all partners (representing seven of the EU member states) to include the EMPROVE! Training programme in their core activities.To sum up, the project is expected to make a significant contribution to enhance knowledge on the matter of domestic violence, to enhance skills and competences for DV prevention and intervention and to promote social and civic competences, democratic values and fundamental rights, social inclusion, non-discrimination, active citizenship and first and foremost – empowerment of DV survivors.

"Young people today are growing up in a globalised world and are processing information from a wider variety of sources than ever before. They need the critical literacy skills to navigate the potential pitfalls when consuming news, particularly when using online sources and social media. Media literacy is crucial for sustaining democracy by knowing which information sources to trust and which media are trustworthy. It is important to recognize and see through propaganda and sometimes “read between the lines”. “No Alternative Facts” addressed this challenge in an adult education context through an innovative train-the-trainer format which aims to: - Provide adult educators (the direct target group) with useful skills and action-oriented methods on how to develop young people’s digital competence - Enhance digital competence of young people 15-25 (final beneficiaries), especially with a low level of education and training - Thus increasing Critical Digital Literacy, especially critical thinking skills, of young adults in the age of ""Fake News"". Adult educators’ professional competence are enhanced by the attitudes, knowledge skills necessary to apply the innovative “No Alternative Facts” approach: In most competence development processes action-oriented and productive methods are most effective on developing critical thinking. Therefore the final beneficiaries, the young adults, will be encouraged to describe their own experience with fake news in the internet in small videos and other multimedia formats and place it on an online gamification environment. After analysing their experiences, the young people themselves develop learning quizzes to test peers about their knowledge of ""Fake News"", Misinformation and Disinformation and how they can be detected. Consequently, the train-the-trainer offer for adult educators will contain the following elements: - Awareness and basic knowledge about ""Fake News"", Misinformation and Disinformation and about tools to detect them (watch websites, analytical methodologies etc.) - Insight into how ""Fake News"", Misinformation and Disinformation is created, can be spread and manipulated in social media - Introduction to game-based learning and quiz-based learning as methodologies for competence development and empowerment - Practical tools for media and quiz production in the classroom In terms of concrete products “No Alternative Facts” developed - A Situational Analysis Report on how young people experience fake news - A Train-the-Trainer Format for adult educators - A Toolbox of resources for Adult Educators - An Online Gamification Environment “No alternative facts” was put into practice in a Transnational Training Activity with 21 adult educators, who then piloted the approach with young people in their respective country. 127 more adult educators and multipliers were informed about the project outputs and instructed how to use them in multiplier (mainly virtual) events, and a total of 432 young people were directly involved in the project. The main outputs will be continued to be offered online after the end of the project via the project website, www.noalternativefacts.net, through the Toolbox of learning materials (including e-learning formats of the training modules), resources and useful instruments, and the Gamification Platform. These have all been designed in a way which makes it easy for adult educators to apply “No Alternative Facts” training and game-based learning opportunities in different adult education contexts and with young and older adults alike. The partnership is led by Apricot, United Kingdom, and has experienced adult education providers from Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden and Denmark as project partners."

An increasing number of European countries is implementing online civic and commercial services to enable easier, cheaper and faster administrative operations for citizens. The future trend is obvious: the demand of such services will increase significantly and so will the implementation by governments and businesses. Even though e-Government and e-Commerce offer a myriad of benefits, taking advantage of such services requires a certain amount of digital skills and know-how, which disadvantaged groups of people often lack.The objective of My e-Start is to equip disadvantaged groups of people with skills necessary for using the most common e-Government and e-Commerce services in their countries and ensuring a positive (first) e-experience as well as a sense of digital achievement. My e-Start is focusing on a group, which is particularly vulnerable to digital exclusion, namely the elderly, those with low levels of education and training and those with a migration background.The main output of the project is the development of an extremely simple online course and a user-friendly e-platform adapted to specific needs of the target group. Both the online course and the e-platform will put a particular emphasis on the use of ‘easy language’, simple instructions, clear visual elements and well-structured content to avoid confusion and overstress of the target group. The aim of the online course is to provide disadvantaged groups of people with very basic knowledge about common e-Government and e-Commerce services in their countries (e.g. e-banking, tax declaration, e-card) and how to use them. To ensure an implementation of the course in different contexts and environments, My e-Start will design and develop a comprehensive manual for adult educators and/or training providers working with the target group and intending to implement the online course into their curricula. The explicit aim of My e-Start is to contribute to digital inclusion of disadvantaged groups of people and address the increasing digital gap by designing, developing and promoting sustainable and tailored products, which are widely applicable and highly impactful. The project consortium consists of experts, who have vast experience in areas including adult education, digital competence and the inclusion of disadvantaged groups. During the whole duration of the project and beyond, partners will ensure an extensive dissemination and valorisation of the project through established national and international networks of key stakeholders to guarantee high visibility and a widespread effect.

"The primary objective of the STEER (Supporting the Transition from Education to Employment for Youth at Risk) project was to design, develop, deliver, and test a comprehensive training programme for youth workers in transition planning. Trained youth workers using the knowledge acquired through the STEER project, utilized their training to support the transition from education to employment for NEETs (a young person who is no longer in the education system and who is not working or being trained for work) and young unemployed. Thus STEER project promoted the Erasmus+ horizontal priority for “Inclusive education, training and youth” as it aimed to enhance “the access, participation and performance of disadvantaged learners and facilitating their transitions: between different levels and types of education and training; from education/training to the world of work”.More specifically STEER involved:• Designing and developing a training programme for youth workers, which included modules such as: skills for the future labour market, transition planning, psychological mentoring, developing life management and social skills, developing soft and transferable skills, and provision of career guidance and counselling.• Delivering a series of blended learning train-the-trainer seminars in each partner country, to a total of more than 180 youth workers.• Testing the effectiveness of the STEER training programme in pilot actions that involved the trained youth workers providing transition support to at least 900 NEETs and young unemployed within a four month period.The STEER training programme involved the development of an innovative e-training platform and e-portal (O5) and digital learning content (O3/O4) and guides (O4). The STEER e-training platform was based on open-source, Web 2.0 technologies, in order to ensure its sustainability, and it also adhered to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, so that its open teaching material would be accessible to both disabled learners and training professionals. The STEER dissemination and sustainability activities mainstreamed and spread the use of the e-training platform and the training programme to all relevant stakeholders at local, national, and European level. As a result, STEER was in accordance to and promoted the Erasmus+ horizontal priority for “Open and innovative education, training and youth work, embedded in the digital era”. In particular, STEER contributed ""to mainstream and spread the utilization of open and innovative education, training and youth pedagogies.” It also “supported synergies between education, research and innovation activities, digitisated quality learning content and promoted the use of ICT as a driver for systemic change which increased the quality and relevance of education, training and youth policies at all levels.”Finally, STEER advanced the Erasmus+ Youth field-specific priority of “Promoting high-quality youth work” by:- Facilitating the transition of NEETs and young unemployed to employability.- Supporting youth workers in developing skills and methods that help them provide assistance to young people facing social and financial obstacles.- Professionalising youth workers and furthering the validation of youth-work and non-formal learning by awarding the Youthpass certificate to each youth worker that successfully completed the STEER training seminars, pilot actions, and assessment.The STEER Consortium was constituted on the basis of: a) the priorities addressed, b) the partners’ expertise and experience, and c) the effectiveness of transnationality. Thus, the partnership was made up of 6 partners from 6 countries encountering different situations regarding youth work, youth unemployment, and NEETs in their respective national contexts. At the same time, all partners had previous experience in the project-related areas, such as youth work, training NEETs, initiatives strengthening youth employability, Youthpass framework, developing technologies and ICT tools for learning, mainstreaming, evaluation, and dissemination.The implementation of the STEER project was an important step towards building a pattern of professionalising youth work in comprehensive education to employment transition planning of NEETs and young unemployed, especially in the countries and regions with the highest corresponding rates. STEER project established synergies and bridges between local and national youth organisations, PES, Youth Guarantee actors, HR companies, and employers who benefited the most out of this dynamic and multiplied its effect at the local, regional, national, European levels. The long-term impact of the STEER project would be the contribution in decreasing youth unemployment and NEETs rates at all levels EU wide, thus coming closer to the EU2020 targets. The STEER project’s overall structure as well as its activities and outputs were targeted and will continue to be targeted to that end."

<< Background >>The NEW partnership is applying for this project to find a common answer to these questions, aware that Neurodiversity, intended as a fast-growing sub-category of organisational diversity and inclusion that seeks to embrace and maximise the talents of people who think differently (with reference to dyslexia, autism, ADHD and dyspraxia and other Specific Learning Differences - SLD), is a completely new approach in European SMEs and microenteprises. The lack of data, information and awareness about the presence and/or the performance of workers with SLD in SMEs, the lack of a specific legislation about SLD in the field of employment, the perception of SLD only as impairments, the raising inequality in SMEs due to COVID-19 pandemic show us that dealing with SLD at the workplace is a pan-European challenge. Indeed, the Member States share a common need for a cultural change from a Special Learning Differences approach towards a Neurodiversity perspective: a “paradigm shift” able to concretely contribute to the inclusion and wellbeing of staff with SLD, but also to make understandable and clear that diversity, and specifically Neurodiversity and inclusive practices, can bring an actual added value to business in terms of competitiveness. In fact, to date, the Neurodiversity approach has been introduced at workplaces only in UK and in USA; and, as affirmed by Rosie Bissett, the European Dyslexia Association President, the value of neurodiversity within these companies is increasingly acknowledged: leading employers, mostly form multinational and International big companies are documenting the significant competitive advantages of employing people who literally think differently, thank to which organisations have the opportunity to leverage the skills of this high potential, available talent pool.To favour this “paradigm” shift, the first need to be addressed is the one of “raising the issue” in SMEs: it is necessary to produce specific data about the presence and the performance of workers with SLD, to explain Neurodiversity and promote a positive attitude toward it, to create the necessary conditions for making people with SLD willing to tell about their disorder.To be effective and sustained in the long-term, this paradigm shift needs to be followed by the alignment of C-VET provisions and managerial approaches and practices, able to produce evidences for promoting change and supporting legislative and innovation actions from all the key actors and stakeholders in the world of work. It is necessary to equip business leaders and staff with appropriate competences, enabling them to introduce the Neurodiversity approach in SMEs and microenterprises as a key asset for innovation and competitiveness, by restructuring management / career management and professional development practices and workspaces, so as to enhance the strengths and wellbeing of neurodiverse people, and prevent inequality, de-qualification and marginalisation among SMEs employees.In order to sustain this process, C-VET key actors are requested to update their competences and innovate their product and services, making them more relevant to the current and future needs of local communities both at social and economic level, with specific reference to inclusiveness and Neurodiversity. This will also contribute to increase the general awareness of the role and impact of VET in inclusiveness, specifically with reference to neurodiverse people at workplace, leading also to disclosing the diversity so as to be acknowledged as diverse talent to value instead of difficult to face.<< Objectives >>The NEW partnership sets as objectives:•raising awareness and increasing knowledge among SMEs and micro companies’ entrepreneurs, HR managers, companies’ leaders, and reference stakeholders, about neurodiversity as key asset in contemporary business;•championing specific and regular data collection on neurodiversity at the workplace, especially in SMEs, following the inclusive approaches already in place in school education about SLD;•equipping business leaders and staff with an appropriate set of competences, strategies and tools to introduce and practice neurodiversity at the workplaces, with the aim to prevent discrimination, and to guarantee the wellbeing to their employees as well as benefits to their organisations.According to this objectives, the project wants to impact on the system of VET and on SMEs and microenterprises at different levels in Europe.The impact at local level is expected to be particularly relevant in the communities that are going to experience the planning and implementation of project results:-greater awareness of neurodiversity of enterprises’ staff as a richness able to drive business towards a more ethical and prosperous future;-greater commitment of employers to take action for producing concrete benefits for their organisation, and for supporting neurodiverse people to be successful at work;-work environments more inclusive and able to enhance the talents of the available personnel, with specific reference to the ones with SLD;-increased wellbeing and sense of belonging of SMEs and microenterprises employees;-more appropriate support to workers with learning differences, by leveraging their strengths to increase their odds of success in the workplace;-greater capacity to maximise the talents of people who think differently, by highlighting the importance of ‘diversity of thought’ for innovation and creativity, and reshaping workplaces as learning spaces, where people are valued and their well-being pursued.Thanks to the role played and the competence profile of the partners involved at regional and/or national level the major impact is expected to be registered on policy makers, public authorities, networks of VET providers, employers, social partner organisations in terms of:- increased awareness of the role and impact of VET in inclusiveness, specifically with reference to neurodiverse people at workplace;- more impactful and inclusive solutions to guarantee the wellbeing of employees and the competitiveness and innovation in SMEs and microenterprises;- higher relevance of the continuing VET offer to the current and future needs of local communities both at social and economic level;- higher capacities of VET key actors and stakeholders to anticipate SMEs and society’s needs, by equipping both business leaders and staff with an appropriate set of competences, strategies and tools to introduce and practice Neurodiversity at the workplaces.- improved and enhanced long-lasting frameworks, as the European Network foreseen in R3, for effectively promoting Neurodiversity at Workplace;- more structured capacities at policy level to effectively enhance Neurodiversity as key asset in work environments.At EU and transnational level, coherently with the priorities included in the Council Recommendation on VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, and in the European Education Area, the NEW project creates innovative frameworks for taking up the pan-European challenge of unlocking the potential of adult workers with SLD in the workplaces, and of supporting SMEs in responding to the new global context, by developing shared proposals based on C-VET and linked services.<< Implementation >>The NEW activities are all part of a consistent implementation strategy that works to make European SMEs and microenterprises able to enhance Neurodiversity as key asset in their work environment and practices. Indeed, through the development of the NEW results in Italy, Austria, Bulgaria and Ireland, the partnership is going, first, to highlight Neurodiversity as an issue both in work environments and in continuing VET, and then to raise the understanding, competences and responsiveness to this topic in SMEs, inspiring employers to action for producing concrete benefits for their organisation, and for supporting neurodiverse people to be successful at work. In order to “raise the issue” the NEW partnership will work on SMEs and microenterprises information awareness about Neurodiversity, developing an Awareness Raising Strategy based on a positive attitude toward SLD. The Strategy, to be implemented thank to National Campaigns, will activate a cultural shift from a “SLD approach” towards a neurodiversity perspective. The Awareness Raising Campaign will see as follow-up:- a Preliminary Survey aimed at anonymously collecting data about SMEs awareness and knowledge of Neurodiversity, as well as about related existing practices and emerging needs;- a Call for Action, finalised at giving an immediate feedback to the request of SMEs leaders and staff to commit to Neurodiversity, by recruiting and selecting them for the participation in the following training and piloting activities.To enable SMEs leaders and staff to take action, specific training and piloting activities will be developed with the direct involvement of SMEs leaders and staff. Indeed, by sharing experiences, competences and practices, they will allow partners to understand better their needs and backgrounds related to Neurodiversity. The outcome of this cooperation process, held both at transnational and at national level, will be the main result of the NEW project, the NEURODIVERSITY AT WORK (r)evolutionary inclusion model, based on two main activities:- the elaboration of prototype for enhancing Neurodiversity in SMEs, including strategies, methodologies, practices and tools, with reference to 3 main areas: management, career management and professional development, design of work environment. The prototype will be validated through a national piloting activity, experimented on the basis of a common transnational protocol; - the planning and implementation of C-VET innovative products and services, able to lead to cultural and behavioural changes, addressing bias and stereotypes about SLD: specifically, the partnership will develop 3 curricula, 1 for C-VET trainers and 2 addressing SMEs leaders. The curricula will be experimented and validated thanks to the realisation of a transnational training activity (C1) and of 2 courses at national level, all meant at the acquisition of specific competences to effectively enhancing and taking advantage of Neurodiversity at workplace.The outcomes of this empowerment process, addressing SMEs leaders and staff, as well as key actors and stakeholders in VET and labour market, will be sustained and exploited thanks to the design, establishment and promotion of the European NEURODIVERSITY at WORK network: a permanent framework for putting in place a more impactful cooperation at national and European level, by valuing and intensifying partnership among all stakeholders relevant for Diversity and Inclusion, as well as for C-VET, notably public authorities, the different VET providers, social partners and business organisations.<< Results >>RESULTSR1 - NEURODIVERSITY Awareness raising strategy Awareness raising strategy about Neurodiversity targeting SMEs and microenterprises, structured as follows: - text document including the reference strategy;- interactive document including the awareness raising materials (informative leaflets, videospots, motivational graphical images);- guidelines for launching and implementing the campaign;- template of the preliminary survey aimed at anonymously collect data about SMEs awareness and knowledge of Neurodiversity, as well as about related existing practices and emerging needs;- template of the Call for action to be promoted to engage SMEs in the activities foreseen in R2.R2- NEURODIVERSITY AT WORK (r)evolutionary inclusion modelC-VET training and piloting model structured as follows: - Prototype for enhancing Neurodiversity in SMEs, including strategies, methodologies, practices and tools, with reference to 3 main areas: a) management, b) career management and professional development, c) design of work environment.- Guidelines for implementing study circles at workplace, for collecting SMEs and microenterprises contribution about the prototype.- Curriculum for C-VET trainers on Neurodiversity at workplace and reference training activity.- C-VET curricula making able both SMEs and micro companies’ managers and workers to effectively pilot the prototype.- Report of training courses for validating the C-VET curricula.- Report of piloting activities to validate the prototype, and reference experimentation protocol.- Handbook of strategies and tools to become a Neurodiversity Smart Company.R3 - European NEURODIVERSITY AT WORK network Multi-stakeholder long-lasting framework for sustaining and further elaborating on NEW results, structured as follows: - network’s prototype – description of objectives, structure and governance, working methods, requirements for membership, section on the NEW website hosting the network’s virtual activities;- network’s statutory documents;- Professional Code of conduct, outlining the principles networks' members they have to comply with;- branding strategy and materials for promoting the network at national and EU level;- mid-term network action plan at national and EU level (2 years after the end of the project).OUTCOMES- increased awareness of the SLD phenomenon within companies and at societal level, thanks to the design of a NEURODIVERSITY Awareness raising strategy at the workplace and its implementation through 4 national awareness campaigns – R1;- high level competences for VET trainers with reference to Neurodiversity at Workplace, thanks to a transnational training (C1) designed for sharing among the 4 project countries the methodological framework for implementing the NEURODIVERSITY AT WORK (r)evolutionary inclusion model at national level, so to assure the comparability of the R2 piloting results among the different Member States;- high level competences of SMEs and microenterprises managers, companies’ leaders, HR managers as well as employees and relevant stakeholders through the development of the (r)evolutionary inclusion model and the reference study circles (4 national ones) and C-VET activities for leaders and staff (2 training activities per Country except BE) – R2;- more impactful Inclusive strategies and practices by the mean of the piloting activities, and of the “Handbook of strategies and tools to become a Neurodiversity Smart Company” (R2);- the acknowledge and awarding of the companies’ commitment in introducing the Neurodiversity approach at workplace by giving them the opportunity to adhere to the “Professional Code of conduct” and become members of the European NEURODIVERSITY AT WORK network – R3;- sustainability of project actions through the establishment of the European NEURODIVERSITY AT WORK network, aimed to further develop, promote and transfer the NEW cultural approach and results.