Cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are at the heart of the creative economy: represent a 6.8% of GDP in Europe and 6.5% of EU workforce, approximately 14.0 million. The Ecodesign Working Plan 2016-2019 contributes to the Commission's new initiative on the Circular Economy, which promotes a transition towards a more circular economy in the EU. Product design is a key aspect in this respect and in future, Ecodesign should make a much more significant contribution to the circular economy (Ecodesign Working Plan 2016-2019.EC). CCIs, like all other industries, are dependent on the material world. Reuse, repurposing, recycling or upcycling are all examples of a broad and unstoppable movement which is reevaluating and maximising resource value through Ecodesign. At the 2nd Green Skills Forum 2014, OECD LEED-Cedefop presented some key challenges for meeting skill needs for green jobs, evidencing that there is an urgent need to support green job skills development strategies in order to prevent the emergence skills bottlenecks in our countries, supporting VET acquisition of Ecodesign and a smooth transition from brown to green jobs.There is also strong evidence that Work-Based Learning (WBL) helps to equip young people with the skills that can improve their employability and ease the transition from school to work. Nevertheless, existing analysis and policy papers in the countries of the project (France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Malta, Spain and UK) evidence that there is still too much distance between the educational environment and the workplace in these countries. Ecodesign4EU project aims to address these challenges designing a new European ECVET Curriculum of reference on Ecodesign for sustainable CCIs, promoting innovative WBL methods and pedagogies addressed to Initial and Continuous VET students, target beneficiaries of the project, in order to acquire and apply Ecodesign principles to CCIs, contributing to lead the transition to a Circular Economy in these sectors. The project will apply also successful and innovative VET methods and tools in Ecodesign principles applied to CCIs, previously tested by the partners.8 European VET experts and providers, companies and intermediary bodies of the CCIs from 7 countries (France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Malta, Spain and UK) will work together defining common strategies design and carry out the following Outputs:IO1 - European ECVET Curriculum of reference on Ecodesign for sustainable Creative and Cultural IndustriesIO2 - ECOdesign4EU Virtual Campus. Includes the following Open Educational Resources: (i) an Online Instructional Guide on Digital Competencies for Virtual Learning; (ii) a set of structured Training Modules (iii) Vocational Open Online Courses (VOOC) IO3 - Ecodesign4EU Mobile Assessment App IO4 - Guidelines to foster transparency and recognition of Ecodesign for sustainable CCIsTarget users and beneficiaries are: (i) VET teachers, trainers and mentors (ii) Initial and Continuous VET students. Ecodesign4EU will involve directly 109 VET and in company teachers and trainers (32 partners staff /42 experts involved / 35 target users in pilots), 175 I-VET and C-VET students (in pilots) and 535 stakeholders. At local, regional, national and European level the project will reach a minimum audience of 1000 recipients through the project dissemination activities.The project will use European frameworks of reference, such as EQF and ECVET, to promote new learning pathways and boost transparency, recognition and mobility in the CCIs sectors in Europe. Key sectorial and VET associated partners and stakeholders of the CCIs, the VET sector and the Green Economy involved in the project will support the dissemination of the project products and contribute to mainstream the final results. The project will have a direct positive impact in: (i) Partner organizations and entities involved in the project activities. They will improve their training methods and tools; the teaching skills and competencies (including digital skills) of their trainers and teachers; the quality and relevance of their VET courses and WBL programmes.(ii) I-VET and C-VET students. They will improve their Ecodesign through better WBL programmes, opening new opportunities for training, job and mobility.(iii) CCIs sectors. They will count with new training instruments to improve the competitiveness of the sector and supporting its transition towards more circular business models.The envisaged long term impact of the project will be a strengthening of the European VET systems and a more sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe.

The development of guidance services for adults within the workforce is a topical concern. Dramatic changes in work structures and social organization have occurred that are placing demands on adults to rethink their careers on an on-going basis. Added to this, are current EU policies that emphasise the need for continuous education for future economic and social mobility in an increasingly competitive global environment. The ACUMEN project consortium are of the opinion that traditional career guidance, although still relevant and important as a school-based or institution-based service, is wholly unsuitable to meet the needs of adults already in the workforce and that there is a considerable gap in the market for freely available and easily accessible career management training resources to help adults take control of their own career trajectory. Career management is a continuous process that occurs throughout one's career and not just at discrete times. It may be helpful to think of career management as a philosophy and set of habits that enable adults achieve career goals and develop career resiliency. Career management skills are like 'labour market literacy'. Adults in the workforce who have developed the necessary skills should be able to assess where the labour market is going; consider new skill areas that are appropriate to their own strengths and preferences; develop a personalized learning plan and map-out their career pathway to sustainable and rewarding work based on an understanding of potential future skill needs. Successful career management is accomplished through regular habits of building relationships, engaging in career development conversations, updating your career development plan, and setting new goals as life and career needs change. Being proficient at career management also means possessing basic skills related to job searching and managing change in a resilient manner.The Career Management Skills Framework for Scotland, published in July 2012, describes career management skills set around 4 themes of Self; Strengths; Horizons; Networks. This framework will be the basis for the ACUMEN project and consortium partners will develop a complete suite of tools and resources that address each of the above themes and support adults within the workforce or those seeking employment to identify an appropriate career progression pathway. The ACUMEN project will develop these new resources for adult learners in the UK, Ireland, Cyprus, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Finland. It will be the first project to comprehensively address career management skills in a European context and will provide tools and resources that are localized to meet the needs of adult learners in each partner country. Furthermore, ACUMEN will provide free on-line access through the most popular on-line platforms to all tools and resources developed. All resources and on-line platforms will be available in partner languages.

Mitigating the impact of substance abuse has been at the centre of front-line youth work for many years. While much attention these days is focused on climate change, fake news and radicalisation, the drug problems that were front and central of youth policy and action in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, are still considerable today and front-line youth workers are expected to respond to these persistent problems with little in terms of training support to develop new methodologies for addressing the problems that are somewhat exacerbated by the social media habits of youth today. For the youth of today technology is ubiquitous. Over time technology has fused itself with learning, both in education and personal development. Smart phones, tablets and laptops are just some of the devices that are frequently used by a large proportion of the population of Europe, particularly young people. In 2016, 91% of young people in the EU made daily use of the internet. (Euro Stat). As countries increasingly move toward more relaxed drug laws, the role of educators and in particular front-line youth workers will become the main focus of public services who wish to prevent drug abuse.The VIDA project will develop and pilot a completely new type of drugs awareness training through the provision of innovative interactive inforgraphics addressing the 3 key themes of Problem Definition, Appropriate Response Actions and Prevalent Problems Today. 4 infographics will be developed for each thematic area resulting in a suite of 12 infographics each one focusing on a clear, succinct message. While these infographics will obviously have a direct impact as simple posters or images to display or share through social media, the real innovation of the VIDA project is that each of the 12 infographics will contain a QR code which leads directly to a fully interactive version with a range of different learning resources embedded as videos, audios, quizzes, puzzles, digital breakouts, WebQuests, etc. Each of the 12 interactive infographics will comprise a combination of at least 3 or 4 different learning resources that address the specific topic chosen. This will help to ensure that all learning styles can be catered for and that the learning outcomes can be reinforced throughout the learning experience. To support the implementation of these resources the project will also develop an In-service training programme for front-line youth workers to build their skills to develop interactive infographics; a Peer leadership programme to support a new cohort of peer leaders to harness the full potential of the interactive infographics developed and build their knowledge about the key themes being addressed; an Online interactive portal - VIDA MOOC that hosts all the learning materials developed and is accessed through QR code contained on the hard copy infographics developed.By the end of the project:- 12 interactive infographics addressing drugs awareness issues will be developed in 5 partner languages- 30 front-line youth workers will complete the pilot of the in-service training programme- 30 young people will complete the peer leadership programme- 250 young people will engage with the interactive infographics developed through the online portal provided

The promotion of gender equality in and through education is a prerequisite to the achievement of equality between women and men in all spheres of life in society. The Council of Europe has promoted gender equality and non-stereotyped education at all levels. By shaping gender representations, attitudes and behaviours, early education is an essential factor to combat stereotypes and bring about social and cultural changes. Gender mainstreaming will play an active part in implementing awareness-raising and training on gender equality. Policymakers and educators worldwide should not underestimate the importance of early childhood education on the development of deeply engrained gender norms. It is important to consider the cognitive and affective formation of gender identity which develops in early childhood. The types of skills, personality attributes, and career aspirations learned through teacher-child interactions and childhood play can form stereotypical masculine and feminine attitudes toward gender roles, which develop before adolescence. By associating gender equality and STEAM focused on pre-school, primary and junior secondary education the project addresses the underrepresentation of girls in STE(A)M (Science, Technology, Arts, Engineering and Mathematics) who will be the future women in STE(A)M careers.Objective: This project is concerned with gender equality in pre-school, primary and lower secondary education and aims at contributing to increased capabilities to reduce stereotypes by developing a series of innovative and interactive materials, tested through a behavioural science lens for their potential to increase equality by amendment of practical everyday skills and social norms regarding attitudes and stereotypes, especially in STEAM and in what concerns teachers and youngsters.Learning Objectives:(using Bloom's Taxonomy action verbs)By concluding this project, participants will be able to:- Define unconscious biases and gender stereotypes in pre-school, primary and secondary STEAM education by raising awareness of target groups- Support pre-school, primary and lower-secondary school teachers by providing them training, materials to deal with diversity and gender-balance in their classrooms (e. g. helping them to design suitable education programmes, organise hands-on activity, promoting Equality in STEAM and mentoring) and then engage more girls in STEAM education- Create a friendly ECOSYSTEM in class where girls in early education will feel appreciated and motivated to participate in STEAM activities as equals both in number and in terms of responsibilitiesThe project will target 3 groups:I.Early education professionals.II.Head of teachers, school directors, representatives of regional/national and EU authorities, decison-makers, STEAM women,III.Children of 5+ - 12, the final beneficiary of project results. Five outputs will be produced: O1Training Programme on GE-STEAM (in all partners’ languages - English) for teachers (Behavioural levers) O2 Repository for teachers on ‘Assistant Platform’ O3 Introducing Art in STEM using Project Based Learning and Kit-hands-on self-teach activities O4 Peer Mentoring and Business Mentoring Schemes O5 Adaptation, Translation and Testing/Piloting the GE-STEAM Training Programme accompanied by Assistant Platform ( EBook in 4 languages)Coordinated by a public body Teaching Staff Training and Research Centre the project gathered a varied pool of organisations: Schools - FPSLD BG and ProF (a language and training school in the countryside) - Training Centres with a long experience and expertise in project's implementation (one located in the countryside FIP in Ireland and Postal 3 in Vigo, Spain. The majority of the outputs will be translated into all partner languages. The methodology used is that based on a behavioural sciences methodological framework. According to current reports, we can fully act on this age range to engage more girls in STEAM education. Behavioural Insight is a process that looks at Behaviours, Analysis, Strategies, Interventions, Change (BASIC). This approach will allow the project partners to get to the root of the problem(gender stereotyping and bias), gather evidence on what works, show support for innovation, and ultimately improve the situation. The testing will involve 75 teachers; Peer-mentoring 40 mentors and 40 mentees; 30 Business Mentors and 1124 children/pupils. The evaluation of the actual impact on teachers, decisionmakers and pupils should be done by discouraging a specific behaviour towards gender balance especially in STEAM subjects. Before-after self-assessment questionnaires, using the exact same target group can show us the amount of change in their behaviour.

<< Objectives >>The RobotAquaria aims are to: Explore basic sciences behind climate change in connection with the marine environment; Develop pedagogical approaches and tools that can help teachers to address the climate crisis and environmental sustainability in their classrooms; Create a robotics aquarium to integrate student thinking about the climatecrisis into classroom activities; Boost teachers’ competence and confidence to use Educational Robotics in the classroom; Enhance the uptake of Education.<< Implementation >>The partnership will implement an active eLearning space for boosting the professional development of educators for enanche their support at their school communities and students. Teachers will be trained (implementations, LTTA, e-learning toolkit, Guidelines for educators) on how to implement the Marine Robotics curriculum, build the RoboAquaria, and teach young students’ STEM and green skills through Educational Robotics. A set of examples, case studies and testimonials will be produced.<< Results >>Project outcomes are improved capacity of primary and secondary school teachers, leaders and staff to: implement pedagogical approaches and tools to address the climate crisis and environmental sustainability in the classrooms; implement an action plan for the implementation of Educational Robotics to develop STEM and green skills improve quality of primary and secondary school education, in terms of sustainability awareness, development of STEM skills and digital capacities of learners.