"Current situation: Children come already into contact with a variety of media in early childhood. In addition to classic media such as children's books, radio play cassettes, television and radio, more and more new media such as smart phones, tablets and iPad are entering the children's room. Interacting with the Internet has become a part of the children’s everyday life. Children's worlds are the media worlds. Children bring their ""media trails"" into their facilities and thus they should be accompanied by pedagogically educated adults both in the daycare centres and in the family environment in the processing of their experiences. At the same time, conscious handling of the children regarding the media in the daycare centres has to be strengthened. In order to make the children aware of the usefulness and the effect of media, we need specialists in the kindergarten schools who have practical knowledge of the subject of media education and the ability to implement this within their pedagogical work with the children. It is a fact that this kind of staff is not sufficiently available and thus there are very often strong barriers to use these media by pedagogically trained staff. This is where the project starts. To achieve this, a target group-oriented qualification of the pedagogical staff is necessary. There is also a pool of materials, such as guidance, methodologies, e-learning offers or practical examples that are essential in order to eliminate the barriers to the children's targeted media education that the daycare staff can use. The project is focusing on rural areas, which lack specialised staff and they have at their disposal poor pedagogical material and consequently information technology conditions tighten the problem. Project theme & objectives: The objectives of the project are the creation of innovative solutions for the development of media pedagogical competences using ICT and the acquisition of digital skills of the specialists in child daycare centres and similar establishments, especially in rural regions. The teaching of knowledge aims at applying innovative methods and pedagogical approaches to educate children how to use digital media. Substantial synergies can be used through international cooperation. Different levels, approaches and methods of solution in the partner countries can be transferred. This is particularly possible due to the fact that the IT platforms are essentially the same in the participating countries and are bound to lead to transnational sustainable innovations. The project responds to the fact that children's worlds are also media worlds through the use of tablets, smart phones, PCs and the like. Specialists in institutions need practical suggestions for media education in educational concepts and concrete activities with children. Rural areas are disadvantaged as educational places, in particular in the ICT sector, because equipment and, first of all, specialists are few and far between. ICT itself is important for the quality of life of rural areas. The disengagement of regions and the exclusion of social groups are threatening. All rural European regions face similar problems. Intellectual Outputs 1. Creation of a requirements catalog based on an analysis 2. Development of a training and further education concept with a manual, which contains learning contents, learning objectives, method descriptions, sequence plans and instructions for the implementation of learning units. This is not yet the case, especially for this type of region. International exchange will lead to added value of the innovative character of this output. 3. In addition to the manual, special e-learning user tools will be developed and made available for transfer as IO (consulting and coaching methods). 4. The collection of successful application examples of IT-based learning in different application fields will be a relevant transfer module (new forms of education transfer). 5. A suitable method for evaluating, validating and crediting learning services, which will be specified for the regional conditions, will be made by means of online-based test methods for educators. 6. Development of a multilingual Internet portal for the allocation of the IO's, but also other offers such as e-learning, blogs of the current development, competence checks, information, FAQs and so on. Target groups: A direct target group are the nursery school teachers in the children's daycare centres and similar establishments. In addition, the professional actors or institutions involved in early childhood / preschool education (e.g. administrators) should be included in the transfer and thus benefit. This also applies to institutions for the guidance of professionals."

"Media literacy is a central key competence in a society, where everyday life and the working world are significantly influenced by digitisation. Thus, competencies in the digital world are becoming a central prerequisite for social participation and they are absolutely necessary for a successful educational and professional career.Dealing with digital media is part of everyday life in European families today, also and especially in rural areas. Children are more and more likely to come into contact with digital media, whether by observing their parents or siblings when using them or because they themselves use them. However, the relevance of digital media use for a child or adolescent and the direction in which media use develops depends to a large extent on the parents' media education.Adults often mistake fast and technical operating skills for extensive media literacy. However, children and adolescents need support above all in the selection of media content as well as in the processing and regulation of the period of use. Due to the location-independent and permanent access to digital content, parents have less opportunity to keep track of their children's content and usage times. There is therefore often great uncertainty with regard to the media education of their children.A major goal of the project is therefore to enable parents to deal with the topic and to provide them with sufficient information. One way to support parents in their media education tasks is to offer themed and institutionally detached parents' evenings. In this way, media-pedagogical knowledge and practical handouts can be imparted in a way that is suitable for everyday use in home education and can be developed together in a common exchange.Especially in rural regions across Europe, there is a lack of trained media educators. Parents and adults from different professional backgrounds, such as educational specialists or lecturers, can be the right partners in the future.The following activities will be implemented to achieve the project objective:1.Development of an advanced training concept for the realisation of topic-related and target group-oriented e-learning courses (adapted to different age groups of children) to qualify as MediaParent consultants in form of a curriculum.2.Development of an e-learning platform with target group-specific courses on various media education topics to qualify as a MediaParent consultant. Such a digital course offer, open to everyone, is not yet available, especially for this type of region. Due to the international cooperation, this platform would gain an innovative character.3.Establishment of a collection of practice-proven, topic-related and target-group-specific materials for preparation and follow-up as well as implementation of media-pedagogical parents' evenings. This collection of materials should relieve the ""voluntary"" consultants of time and work and so increase the willingness to hold a parents' evening.4.A suitable and to the regional conditions’ specific method for the evaluation of learning performance for future MediaParent consultants will be developed. The evaluation will be carried out through online-based test procedures. The participant will receive a certificate of participation as proof of acquired knowledge. As the competence assessment will be online-based, it is particularly suitable for rural areas.5.Development of a database as a background for a dynamic map in the frontend, which serves to find MediaParent consultants in the surrounding area. In addition, registered MediaParent consultants can use the platform for exchange and networking amongst each other and across national borders. Two planned conferences per partner country and an international training seminar are central elements of the dissemination of the project results. They are intended to reach parents and adults of all professional backgrounds, pedagogical professionals, social workers and lecturers as the direct target group. Support will be provided by stakeholders from the public and private education sector, such as kindergartens, schools, youth and social institutions or youth welfare offices, as well as representatives from politics and society.All results can be used independently and transferred to other thematic fields as well as to other European regions.With the international cooperation of partners from 5 European countries, important competences can be bundled and transferred. The necessity to carry out this project transnationally results from the fact that the problem of media literacy promotion of families is a general problem across all European countries. The digital networking through the Internet also increasingly requires transnational methods and strategies in the field of media education, which at the same time take into account the different national actualities."

Project AimThe project “Active Citizens Reimagining the Community” aims to set up a program of adult education directed at training “community mediators”. The objective is to train selected members of the public to act as mediators between the community and professionals working in urban development. This project is grounded on the premise that our communities need to be reimagined with radical new approaches for their future development with citizens as active agents in the process. Urban development is at a crossroads with half of the global population now living in cities. According to UNESCO, two thirds of the world’s population forecast to live in urban areas by 2050. This mass internal migration from smaller towns and rural areas to ever expanding urban hubs means planners and policy makers have to rethink how to manage a range of complex challenges such as; air and water quality, waste disposal, transportation , sustainable economic development, housing, care, health, policing, parks, leisure and community services. If urban hubs are to cope with increased inward migration and consequently smaller towns and rural areas an increased external migration, there is a need for a reorganisation of services. These services need to be founded on sustainable land use, inclusive economic growth and greener communal transport systems to enable citizens and communities to contribute to future development. The traditional model of top-down, urban planning led by a combination of municipal planning and private sector led agencies will not be capable of managing the challenges associated without actively engaging citizens in community development. There is a pressing need to democratise urban planning and to place citizens and their needs at the heart of future growth. At the heart of this approach is our learning that small mechanisms and radical incrementalism can cumulatively affect wider social change and the redesign of cities. Target AudienceThis project is aimed at N.G.O’s and other organisations who are involved in the field of Community Development who are proactively engaged with Community Leaders to empower them to drive positive urban transformation. It is also aimed at Adult Education providers enabling them to deliver:a.A formal accredited learning programme of Community Development aimed at Adult Educatorsb.A non-formal programme aimed at volunteer Community Champions/Mediators It will create new opportunities for people who are passionate about their communities and want to develop the skills and knowledge to positively engage with the urban planning process, enabling them to link between the professionals and the general public. The project will develop the outcomes :IO1.A training curriculum for a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for adult educators with a learning outcome matrix (LOM) based on EQF/NQF. The course will concentrate on effective pedagogical methods deliver the informal and formal adult education programs. It will also contain module of creating links between community and decision makers.IO2. On-line tool kit of training material aimed at Front-line workers. The material will contain both formal and non-formal methodologies on helping deliver 10 areas of community development to facilitate upskilling of Community Mediators to engage with the community 1O3.On-line tool kit of training ideas aimed at Community Mediators, members of the community working as volunteers. The material will contain both formal and non-formal methodologies and cover of 10 areas of community development chosen to help Community Champions facilitate a dialogue between the professional and the community Part 1:1. Transport & Connectivity 2. Leisure & Amenities3. Children and Play4. Maximising Community Assets & Unlocking New Opportunities5. The value of History, Heritage and Urban change 6. Embedding Community Ethos and Values e.g creating ‘connecting spaces’ 7. The Commercial experience 8. Enhancing community aesthetics 9. Environmental factors e.g. air quality, recycling, 10. Culture e.g. faith, mutual aidPart 2:1. Networking2. Using social media3. CommunicatingetcIO4.A Methodology Handbook aimed at decision makers, containing the theories and ideas behind the learning programme with case studies of successful people-led change. The handbook will also contain an Implementation Strategy for Communities and Municipalities wishing to engage with the program.The Impact will:- Improve the skills of adult educators in using innovative methodologies and tools for adult educators- Enhance personal and professional competence of managers, team leaders and company owners in the city development and democracy sphere;- Create a continuous professional development course for adult educators on transferring the latest developments in city development and democracy.