"“It is abundantly clear that a much deeper, faster and more ambitious response is needed to unleash the social and economic transformation needed to achieve our 2030 goals The coming years will be a vital period to save the planet and to achieve sustainable, inclusive human development.” Said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in the 2019 report of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Set by the UN in 2015, the 17 SDGs to be met globally by 2030 are:1.No Poverty2.Zero Hunger3.Good Health and Well-being4.Quality Education5.Gender Equality6.Clean Water and Sanitation7.Affordable and Clean Energy8.Decent Work and Economic Growth9.Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure10.Reducing Inequality11.Sustainable Cities and Communities12.Responsible Consumption and Production13.Climate Action14.Life Below Water15.Life On Land16.Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions17.Partnerships for the GoalsThese SDGs are presented by the UN as the “global blueprint for dignity, peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future”. Since they were first presented, a lot of progress has been achieved. However, the 2019 report shows that there are many milestones yet to be reached and they need urgent attention. It is evident that a much deeper, much ambitious and much sustainable effort is necessary.Local and national efforts need to be diligently carried out and be supported by international cooperation. The project will aim to broaden the knowledge of both teachers/trainers and students/young people about SDGs and their implementation.They will both learn about the work already carried out internationally and also develop new ways of thinking into achieving the goals. Teachers will develop and publish new ways of integrating the SDGs in their current curriculum and also develop new competencies about their assessment. Unesco’s “Education for Sustainable Development Goals: learning objectives” report will be our main resource in studying the SDGs and their integration into ESD. Our target group will be both young people ( students in schools, youth) aged between 15-25 and educators.We will also contact local and national educational administrations and policy makers and they will represent an indirect target group.The project theme of ""Together For Sustainable Development Goals"" wants to bring about new skills and knowledge to support activism and practical steps towards implementation of Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs) and also to be beneficial to the young people ( students, youth) for their future academic careers and jobs in the areas of 17 SDGs.The target group of the project will broaden their knowledge about common values and needs, their civic engagement and participation in global issues will develop while learning about the necessity of achieving the SDGs by the end of the designed period and they will become active citizens both in their local area and in the global field. The target group will become the ambassadors of sustainable development and embed this to their current and future lives. The main results expected from the project include:• The development and delivery of a research report on SDGs and the extent to which they are implemented in each of the partnering country. -The development of a report by each school partner related to the extent to which SDGs are integrated to their curriculum and how the integration can be improved. • Training delivered to educators from participating organizations to introduce them to concepts of Global Education and SDGs in order to gain the skills and confidence to implement SDG-related activities and programs locally. • The development of a website resource for educators on exploring how the approaches of global education • Young people will have completed participation in the SDGs program -Assessments methods about the acquisition of the SDGs by the students and the institutions-Sustainable development goal mini projects prepared by student teams of the project by using all the competencies and domains listed in the relevant section. -Supplementary educators and young people developed outputs from the project such as reflections, training assignments, blogs, community needs assessments etc that don't form part of the main Outputs.-Informal educator to educator peer sharing around project activitiesThe Project includes 7 partners from 6 program countries. The constitution of the project partners is balanced as 3 schools, 3 NGOs and one educational directorate as the decision maker. During the LTT activities of the project 90 students and teachers will have the opportunity to learn from each other on an international environment and transfer the good practices.Thinking that the achievement of SDGs until the set deadline has to be a global priority for all individuals and stated, the project will enable their achievement through international cross-sectoral cooperation."

In 2006 the Economic Policy Committee and the European Commission estimated that “the working age population in the EU will decrease by 48 million, a 16% reduction, between 2010 and 2050, while the elderly population will increase by 58 million, a gain of 77%”. Retirement is a universal phenomenon. It is experienced by Europeans in all countries, from all walks of life, from all social classes. It is, however, a period in life when inequalities between different subsets of the population become more pronounced. Either because of the sudden increases in free time, or because of a decline in their personal health, the newly retired are one of the most vulnerable societal groups when it comes to depression and mental illness. The road to inactivity for older workers is more often than not a road of no return. Research shows that prolonging the active engagement of recent retirees’ impacts positively on their personal self-esteem, their mental and physical health and well-being, fights social exclusion and offers recognition of their continued importance to society. As the ageing of the EU population continues apace and the percentage of retirees grows exponentially it is incumbent on service providers in adult education to take the necessary steps to foster positive mind- sets and encourage seniors to plan an active, fulfilling and rewarding life in retirement.Digital Literacy is increasingly becoming an essential life skill and the inability to access or use ICT has effectively become a barrier to social integration and personal development. With the convergence of different media forms in recent years, access to technology platforms can no longer be considered as real barriers to digital inclusion. The real issue where digital literacy is concerned, especially for seniors throughout Europe is about their ability to use the now widely available technology platforms. It is not that there is insufficient training available; On the contrary, there have been dozens of initiatives focused on developing digital skills training for seniors. For many educators who work with seniors, the biggest single barrier to building the digital skills of seniors is the complete lack of interest they show in new technologies which is perhaps masking their fear of these new pervasive technologies. Around 170 million people or 44% of adult Europeans have low or no digital skills. The more you move along the age profile of adults, the greater the percentage of those with no or low skills. Lack of need or interest and insufficient skills are the top reasons cited in the European Digital Progress Report (2017). It is the typical 'chicken' and 'egg' scenario. Do older people have a lack of interest because they have low skills; or do older people have low skills because they have a lack of interest.The VINYL WARRIORS project proposes to develop an embedded learning training programme for seniors that encourages them to recover their musical youth. In the course of the project activities, participants will learn key digital skills to enable them to record in audio and video the musical performance they enact. In this pilot phase, a minimum of 20 seniors in each country will be engaged in producing the proposed musical performance and building their digital skills.To achieve the desired outputs the following resources will be developed:- Digital Skills Training Programme for Seniors divided into 4 categories to support building digital skills for seniors taking responsibility the different roles in the LIVE Performance and Production Team - The Band; The Groupies; The Roadies; The Managers. The proposed embedded learning resources will address a wide range of issues associated with planning, designing, rehearsing, producing and performing at a live VINYL WARRIORS event.- In-service Training Programme and Handbook addressing the pedagogic challenges associated with; (1) online learning and working in dynamic online environments; (2) overcoming motivational deficits through innovative course design for attracting reluctant learners; (3) overcoming digital skill deficits when working with seniors to build digital literacy skills.- A MOOC - a dynamic mobile online learning portal to support the work of adult educators

While the right to work is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it is far from being a reality for many people living with a disability or a long-term medical condition. The Europe 2020 strategy objective aims at reaching 75% employment rate in the EU. However, at EU level, about 47% of persons with disabilities are employed, compared to 72% of persons without disabilities. Women with disabilities, young disabled persons and people in need of high-level support are more likely to be discriminated against and excluded from the labour market. At the EU level, 19% of young people living with a disability are early school leavers compared to 11% of non-disabled young persons. The high rates of early school leavers among young people living with a disability can in most cases be related to accessibility issues and the absence of adapted programmes.Social entrepreneurship can act as an important bridge to inclusion for people on the margins of mainstream society. Online social entrepreneurship is an especially relevant area of endeavour for young people living with a disability or a long-term health condition. Sharing life experiences and demonstrating that living with a disability or a long-term health condition is possible; explaining how obstacles have been overcome; directing others to appropriate support services or networks; opening a forum for discussion and debate; connecting other young people in similar circumstances; are all potential social entrepreneurship opportunities that the INFLUENCER project consortium will explore.Technology provides opportunities to level the playing field for youth living with a disability or a long-term health condition like never before. It can support more equitable societies; more inclusive communities. It can help to build support networks for people of all ages who live with a disability or care for someone with a disability. It can help to demystify certain medical, physical or cognitive disabilities and create a more understanding and empathetic society. Partners believe that the areas where they work will be significantly impacted by the outcomes achieved by the INFLUENCER project.The key actions to achieve the aims of the project are:1. Developing an in-service training programme to introduce Best Practice Guidelines for youth providers on supporting the inclusion of young persons with disabilities through online social entrepreneurship while also guaranteeing their safety online2. Developing an EASY READ TOOLKIT for youth living with a disability on how to develop their social entrepreneurship idea into a sustainable entity. 3. Developing an EASY READ TOOLKIT for youth living with a disability on how to stay safe in online environments and a suite of media-rich resources to build digital and social media literacy.4. Developing an accessible, bespoke online environment to support the new young social entrepreneurs to launch their online careers where networks of youth living with a disability who are interested in developing their new social enterprise can congregate; build key skills; support each other; and exchange ideas and knowledge

<< Background >>The project “An Emotionally-intelligent Approach to teaching Speaking in a forEign language,” or EASE for short, aims to improve the effectiveness of adult education in a foreign language by applying an emotionally-intelligent approach to teaching speaking skills. Six partners from five countries (France, Ireland, Spain, Romania, and Poland) will come together to develop resources for foreign language teachers in 6 languages: French, English, Spanish, Romanian, German, and Polish. There is much evidence to support the fact that there is in fact a link between speaking skills in a foreign language and emotional intelligence (EI). Over the past ten years, dozens of studies have confirmed a positive correlation between high EI and oral communication in a foreign language, and it has been recommended by linguistic researchers that foreign language educators utilise the benefits of social and emotional learning to enhance their students’ speaking skills, especially for those with low EI (Afshar & Rahimi, 2016 ; Sajad & Saeed, 2017; Mendez Lopez & Tun, 2017; Shabani, 2018; Esmaeeli et al., 2018). Regardless of the body of research that exists on the topic, the available teaching materials which adopt an EI approach available are either from scientific journals and quite difficult to digest, or not substantial in nature and merely touch on the topic. In fact, preliminary research carried out by the partners prior to writing the proposal revealed a serious lack of practical teaching materials in each of the project’s languages aside from English, with English still only producing limited results. EASE will thus attempt to create materials that are practical, digestible, and substantial to fill the gap in EI-related language teaching tools with a focus on oral communications.<< Objectives >>The overall aim of the EASE project is to improve the effectiveness of adult education in a foreign language by applying an emotionally-intelligent approach to teaching speaking skills. With this broad aim in mind, the specific project objectives are: - To improve the quality and availability of foreign language teaching resources for adults, particularly in oral communications, by creating original and innovative educational materials - To improve the capacity of foreign language teachers to break down emotional barriers to learning speaking skills through blended CPD sessions, thereby improving their quality of teaching, - To promote and implement an innovative approach in teaching speaking skills in a foreign language by using research-backed techniques to simultaneously improve emotional intelligence and the acquisition of a foreign language - To improve the resilience potential for adult language teaching institutions by creating materials adapted to face-to-face and online environments, thereby easing the transition between face-to-face and online learning environments - To increase adult learners’ communicative competence in a foreign language by encouraging self-directed learning and reflective thinking using an innovative digital platform<< Implementation >>In order to meet the objectives stated above, the partnership will carry out the following activities: Development of Project Results: Three innovative results will be produced as part of the EASE project. Each Result lead has the required expertise to direct the production of each result. The intended outcome of these results is to create freely-accessible materials to support foreign language teachers in their application of the Emotional Intelligence approach while teaching speaking in the classroom, as well as to support learners to become more self-directed and improve their skills outside of class as well. Publicity: A publicity plan will be developed by the lead partner which will focus on the promotion of the project’s aims, objectives, and results. Adult education institutions and other relevant stakeholders will be targeted through a wide outreach effort by the partnership via online and in-person communications. Transnational Project Meetings: Five TPMs have been planned, one in each country represented by the partnership. Multiplier Events: Toward the end of the project’s life and after the Results have been developed, each partner will hold a national Multiplier Event which will showcase what we have created with the expectation that invited organisations will use the products. Evaluation: The partners will follow an Evaluation plan created by the lead partner which will evaluate the extent to which the project is meeting its objectives and intended outcomes, plus the effectiveness of the partnership. 4 evaluation reports will be produced during the course of the project. Sustainability: The partnership will create and conform to a sustainability plan which will ensure that the project’s results will be used long beyond the duration of the project.<< Results >>The primary target group of the project is foreign language teachers in adult education, and the secondary target group will be adult learners of a foreign language. The EASE project will centre around the development of three innovative Results which are based in linguistic research and supported by the European framework DigiCompEdu: Result 1: Booklet on incorporating EI in foreign language teaching Result 2: Blended face-to-face and online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions for language teachers on using EI approach Result 3: EASE Self-Directed Learning Platform Aside from the production of these results, we will also produce: - Project results in 6 languages (English, French, Spanish, Romanian, German, and Polish) - Management plan - Publicity plan - Evaluation plan - Sustainability plan - 5 Transnational Meeting agendas and minutes - 5 online meeting agendas and minutes - Multilingual project website - Project social media pages - Editions of digital newsletters - Editions of physical leaflets - Evaluation questionnaires for internal and external stakeholders - 4 publicity reports - 4 evaluation reports The project is expected to produce a number of intangible outcomes as well, including: - Improved quality and availability of foreign language teaching resources for adults - Increased capacity to successfully teach speaking skills - Stronger interpersonal relationships within the language classroom - Exchange of knowledge and best practices among partners on the topics of EI and language teaching - Increase resilience to changing circumstances (switching from face-to-face to online teaching) for adult education institutions - Increased emotional intelligence among the target groups - Heightened theoretical knowledge about EI’s application in the classroom - Improved ability among teachers to recognise and break down emotional barriers to learning - Increased communicative competence and confidence in a foreign language among students - Heightened ability among learners to engage in self-reflective thinking regarding their own language acquisition - The creation of an open and accepting foreign language classroom atmosphere for the institutions involved

<< Objectives >>To provide educators working with women from difficult backgrounds innovative teaching tools to enable them to access public and private funds and increase their financial skills to start their own eco-business;To enhance educators knowledge about gender gap and gender discrimination issues and provide the right tools to tackle them; To upskill women educators in order to offer them new skills to make them more competitive in the labour world.<< Implementation >>- Training activities to teach the educators how to use the resources developed by the project to deliver eco-entrepreneurship classess to empower end emancipate women from difficult contexts- Co-creation sessions involving educators to ensure that the resources are adapted to their needs- Assessment activities to ensure high quality standards- Promotion activities to advertise the project and raise awarenessa bout the importance of women empowerment through financial independence and work<< Results >>- A Women’s needs Assessment Toolkit to allow educators to assess the skills that women have already acquired and that would be useful in starting their eco-business- A Train the Trainers Programme to improve educators skills in delivering eco-business courses to women - An online platform to provide easy, free and immediate access to the training courses- A sound and extensive dissemination campaign to advertise the results of the project, multiply the impact on the target groups