<< Objectives >>By implementing this project, we want to build teachers’ competences to organize formal and non-formal learning for children aged 7 to 10, in order to build their competences for detecting and resolving important issues of today – ecological issues and physical activity shortage, and to actively achieve important learning goals along the way.<< Implementation >>We will implement ecological activities aiming to deal with some global problems locally (separating waste, recycling, making compost from kitchen waste, organizing volunteer cleaning-up actions, etc.). Also, we will implement various modalities of physical activity in order to fulfil HEPA recommendations for daily volume of physical activity.<< Results >>Teachers included in the project will acquire practical knowledge to plan, organize, realize, and evaluate formal and non-formal learning activities with children aged 7 to 10 regarding ecology and physical activity. As a guide for building the same competences among other teachers a project booklet will be provided. Children will acquire practical knowledge to monitor its own daily physical activity, in order to fulfil HEPA recommendations, and also will gain “green skills”.

"Schools are key agents in nurturing sentiments like respect, tolerance and understanding in the students. The key concept of the "" You start first, then wait for the others"" is social empathy as it is a fundamental aspect of being a responsible and helpful member of a community.Human beings have the tendency to underestimate the power of empathy, of a smile, a compliment, a listening to ear and of a kind word. So many times people tend to listen to reply and not to understand the other's opinion. Therefore, the sooner we start working on this issue, the better. Building empathy and teaching students to see the world's through a peer's eyes is a trait that will help them all their life. The common needs illustrated by the SWOT analysis of the project partners from Portugal, Macedonia, Turkey, Poland and Serbia, are: students’ tendency to work alone, not in teams; students’ reduced tendency of being tolerant; the number of students’ that are bullied; teachers’ need to be updated by other EU educational systems; schools’ need to internationalise their curricula. According to the feedback reports, it was noticed that at the level of each school there is a tendency among students to disparity by creating gaps among them. The project aims to foster excellence in education by equipping participants with knowledge and competencies to ensure a socially empathic school setting. The main focus is to use social empathy to bridge diverse people and communities.The general project aim is to increase participants’ awareness about the importance of social empathy in schools and in a multicultural world.The project objectives are:-to encourage social and cultural dialogue between 250 students from 5 European schools during 24 months project -to develop participants’ interpersonal empathy, contextual understanding and social responsibility -to increase understanding of social and cultural differences -to reduce aggressive behaviors and emotional disorders of students from 5 EU schools-to strengthen cooperation between schools and local communities The project is designed for students aged 12-14 , a total number of 100 participants will directly attend the international reunions (119 students and 40 teachers). Through this project we hope to make students aware of the power of empathy, the need of being empathic in the daily life and to help them become better people both at a personal and professional level. The activities are designed to make them see the school as a positive and productive place where they have friends who share same fears, needs and similar aspirations. Participants will notice the diversity of the European cultures and be encouraged to reject stereotypes. The activities will show that in order to accept something different is important to undestand it, respect and appreciate differences, actively listening to the others, widen the circle of concern, increase the management of personal emotions, and explore social situations in a fair way. The concrete results we want to achieve are project logo, questionnaires, presentations of schools, promotional materials (roll-ups, flyers, etc.), InterNational Heritage 3D cards exhibition, videos ""A world without empathy"", bookmarks , 1 script play (Theatre of the Oppressed), 5 travel guides, Feelings Collages, Anti-bullying Workshop, Wall of friendship, a common celebration Festival Tolerance Day, one summer school programme (celebrating International Friendship Day) and two project newsletters. As a result of our project the institutions and participants involved will strengthen their social, digital and communication competences and by means of this, the quality of the educational process will increase. The experience will increase the competences and abilities to work in multicultural working teams and contexts. On a broader and EU level, the project will impact cultural and general knowledge of participants. The international face to face meetings will create the space to exchange examples of good practice and broaden knowledge of different approaches of the educational process. The concrete results produced during the project will stand as learning tools that can be used for teaching offering an international dimension to the school curricula. Project products will remain available on the project webpage and will be free of download. The project website will remain active minimum 5 years after ending the project.The project ensures in the long-term run the personal and professional development of the indirect participants to the project and direct participants to the mobilities. Participants' social empathy, cultural understanding and tolerance will increase and they will approach more positively other life situations. By interacting with people from other EU states, participants will increase motivation in promoting and preserving the EU cultural heritage."

<< Background >>The special schools involved in the project are implementing customized education programs for the blind and partially sighted. To ensure the best possible conditions for education, each of them has developed various activities, including the adaptation of didactic materials for blind and partially sighted students. In the past, blind and partially sighted students were only included in specialized institutions. In these institutions, teachers have specific knowledge and experiences for adapting didactic materials and teaching aids for the needs of lessons.With development of inclusive education, blind and partially sighted students in all partner countries have become increasingly involved in inclusive schools. This has increased the need for adaptation of wide variety of teaching materials, as each school selects them autonomously. Because teachers during their studies are not trained to teach blind and partially sighted students, they often find themselves in need of how to adapt teaching materials so that these students can achieve their learning goals and be equally involved in the pedagogical process. For quality teaching and inclusion of the blind and partially sighted, they need various special knowledge in the field of teaching material, adapting materials, using adapted ICT equipment, knowledge of orientation and mobility, and braille. These teachers turn to special institutions for help and support. All partner schools are currently in the process of transforming into professional centers, the main goal of which is to help and support inclusive education. Transition is a process that requires professionals to be prepared for change and to acquire new skills. The design of the project and its main goals are therefore intended to raise the professional competencies of teachers who teach blind and partially sighted students and to raise the competencies of professionals who adapt various didactic materials. Teachers in Slovene and foreign schools use various teaching materials during their teaching process, but they can be useless for teaching blind and partially sighted students if they are not adapted in an appropriate way. When reviewing the materials with which teachers pursue the goals of the curricula, we can see that there is a lot of material. Some of these are essential for the acquisition of learning objectives and the achievement of knowledge standards. In doing so, we face the challenge of how to adapt tactile material that cannot be replaced by a description for the blind so that it does not differ significantly from the original and is accessible to students and teachers. Teachers are not sufficiently equipped with the knowledge and skills for this type of work and do not have the necessary hardware and software.Despite many years of practice, organizations involved in the adaptation of tactile material still adapt their own tactile material for the blind and partially sighted, as there are no unified recommendations. We are aware that unified recommendations could ensure better quality adjustments, as well as the possibility of exchanging adapted image material between partners. On the basis of unified recommendations, a freely accessible collection of adapted tactile material would be created, thus enabling teachers of blind and partially sighted students to access professionally adapted and high-quality teaching material for use in the classroom. By preparing videos and instructions for using a freely accessible collection of adapted tactile didactic material, we will also train teachers for their proper use. It is also important to note that in most countries, except Serbia, there is no higher education institution that would deal with the development of didactics and teaching methods for the blind and partially sighted, so international networking of experts within the project is important from the perspective of professional development.<< Objectives >>The plan of the project, whose main goals are to raise the competencies of professionals who teach blind and partially sighted students and to raise the competencies of professionals who adapt tactile didactic material for the blind, addresses the needs of all participating partners. With this project, we want to establish an international network of professionals who adapt materials for the blind and partially sighted, in order to acquire new skills in adapting tactile didactic materials and use their in-depth knowledge in creating a freely accessible collection. Acquaintance of teachers who teach the blind and partially sighted with the collection and Instructions for the use of these materials will enable the raising of teachers' competencies and the rationalization of their preparation and implementation of the learning process.Also, at the international level we still do not have unified recommendations for adapting visual material for the blind, so each organization adapts in its own way. Unified recommendations mean richer and better adjustments and offer the possibility of exchanging adapted image material between partners. Therefore, our desire is to ensure a high professional level of adaptation in all partner organizations by adopting unified Recommendations for the adaptation of tactile didactic material, which will facilitate the production of tactile materials for teachers of blind and partially sighted students.With a set of tactile material that will support the learning objectives, we will provide teachers with professionally adapted teaching material that they will be able to use during the lesson or will provide it to students for independent work. With this project, we want to give them free access to a collection of adapted tactile materials for the blind and partially sighted and train them how to use them. Instructions for using the collection and a video presentation will be available to them. Teachers are expected to use the materials in their pedagogical process and to enable blind and partially sighted students to be more equally involved in the pedagogical process, to provide a rich and professional quality set of tactile materials and to ensure greater sovereignty in implementing an inclusive educational process.Our wish is that all newly acquired knowledge to be included in professional training programs for teachers, which are organized by partner organizations also after the project. Last but not least, we want to enable the participants in the Erasmus + project to exchange knowledge and experience, both in the field of content, as well as in the field of teamwork, project management and language competences.<< Implementation >>Several different activities will be carried out during the project. Five international project meetings will be held, the purpose of which is to connect with partners, review current work, plan goals and future activities. International project meetings strengthen the connection between the partners and enable the exchange of ideas and good practices between all participants in the project. During the project, they are scheduled in such way that they enable the conditions for good cooperation and continuity of work on the set goals as much as possible. All but one meeting will be conducted live, which strengthens the working etiquette of all participants and facilitates collaboration. The first international meeting is more of an organizational nature, so it will take place virtually, and all the others are set up for live work, which enables higher quality in working progress. In addition to international project meetings, there will be continuous meetings of leaders of every partner organisation and the project coordinator, which allows for constant review of planned activities, monitoring of progress, resolving potential issues, conflicts or problems. There will also be two learning / teaching / training activities aimed at deepening existing knowledge and acquiring new knowledge. The first training Adaptation of textbooks and other teaching materials for the blind and partially sighted is intended to deepen knowledge about the adaptation of teaching materials and the acquisition of new knowledge in this field. The emphasis will be on adapting teaching materials and adapting didactic tactile material. The training will take place with the active participation of all project members in order to gain as much experience and practice in the field of adaptation. The second training on audio description of tactile material is another possible form of adaptation, which enables further development of the field of adaptation of didactic tactile material. At the end of the project, Multiplicative events will be held in every country of each partner and coordinator on the project. They will be intended for the presentation of project activities and results, to all those who are directly or indirectly involved in working with adapted materials. The event will be aimed at teachers of blind and partially sighted students, IRIS Centre professionals, parents of blind and partially sighted children, representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, covering the field of education of children with special needs and the field of the development and quality of education and also other interested public e.g. publishers. Project partners who will join us via a virtual connection will also be invited to the event. Multiplicative events will be organized in each country separately, in order to reach as many users as possible. These events will be organized in the final phase of the project so that the concrete results of successful international project cooperation can be presented.<< Results >>The expected products of the project are the manual Unified Recommendations for Adapting Visual Didactic Material for the Blind, which is intended for all professionals of special schools involved in adapting tactile didactic material, as well as teachers to help identify appropriately adapted materials and options for adapting selected material. The product of the project is also the Collection of adapted tactile didactic material for the blind and partially sighted. The collection will be freely accessible and extensive. It will collect all appropriately adapted tactile didactic materials of the participating organizations, which will be made during the project. The collection will remain freely accessible even after the end of the project and will be constantly updated with new. appropriately adapted tactile didactic materials. Thus, teachers of the blind and partially sighted will have a larger set of professionally adapted tactile material. The product of the project will also be the published Instructions for the use of adapted tactile didactic material for the blind and partially sighted, which will be supported by video demonstrations for teachers of blind and partially sighted students. The use of adapted tactile material requires certain knowledge and approaches, for a comprehensive understanding, so such instructions are necessary, as they allow their proper use. The expected results of the project are that teachers of blind and partially sighted students will use adapted tactile didactic material in the pedagogical process, freely access the collection of adapted tactile materials and be more efficent and autonomus in the implementation of the educational process. The expected results of the project will also be reflected in the adopted unified recommendations for adapting tactile didactic material for the blind and the established international network of professionals adapting materials for the blind and partially sighted and knowledge of various education systems for children with special needs in partner countries. The newly acquired knowledge will be included in professional training programs for teachers organized by partner organizations, professionals in partner organizations will acquire new competencies in adapting teaching materials and video presentations for teachers of blind and partially sighted students. Project work enables the acquisition of new knowledge and experience in the field of teamwork and project management, as well as the development of language competencies using the English language. The results of the project will affect the quality of education of blind and partially sighted students, who will have adapted learning materials that are currently inaccessible to them in order to achieve the learning objectives from the curricula.

"<< Objectives >>The project The Curious and Flourishing Schools - Positive Education in Building of Character Strengths and Virtues is designed to improve the quality of formal education in primary schools in three countries - Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia, through the implementation of the non-formal program Positive education-flourishing school. The project is meant to support teachers and educationalists and to be a mediating force between practice, research, and policymakers implementing positive education.<< Implementation >>The main project activities we are going to implement are the design of the PE program, the PE training courses for teachers, scientific research on effects PE can have on formal education systems, as well as students' and teachers' mobilities, and the design of the manual for the PE implementation. We will monitor and evaluate the program implementation, establish a network with partners, and disseminate the project and its results. One of the activities will be establishing PE School clubs.<< Results >>The project team plans to develop the program ""Positive Education -flourishing school"" and the teachers' training course for the implementation of the program. We also plan to develop the research methodology to assess the effects of the program in formal education, and the manual for teachers who will implement the program (theoretical and practical dimensions). The project sustainability will be ensured by the established Positive education clubs in all six schools."

This project of Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practice is named as Ready to innovate: Maths&Sports4all (RIMAS)Several investigations assure that education in Europe is equal in terms of gender perspective. However, we know that, due to cultural tradition, certain countries still make distinctions between boys and girls and give more value to the male figure.Physical education is a subject positively valued by most students. Despite its benefits to improve physical condition and health, many teenagers decrease physical activity or certain sports because they consider that they masculinize them.On the other hand, the percentage of girls enrolled in STEM careers or degrees (31%) and physical education (20%) is low. In addition, it is quite common that a high number of students feel rejection towards mathematics, which makes them more unwilling towards learning this subject and others highly linked to it.Therefore, what we intend is to promote maths learning through physical education, from a gender perspective. We want students to improve results, change their perception towards the subject and increase their performance and level of satisfaction. Also, we intend to promote the scientific vocation especially among the girls, always keeping co-education in mind.Our main objective is to develop a toolkit for students between 6 and 11 years old to learn, expand and reinforce mathematics content through physical education by training teachers in this new approach.As secondary objectives of the project: · Develop a package of educational tools to improve mathematical competence from the playground and gym.· Favouring the process of ubiquitous learning and teaching.· Strengthen the conditions of women in Physical Education and Maths to educate schoolchildren in equality.· Carry out activities in different countries to know and promote social cohesion, cultural awareness, international cooperation and understanding within Europe.The partnership is made up of seven partners. The university contributes to the development of the methodology itself, the team which belongs to it is an expert on the matter. The mathematicians’ group is an educational researchers’ team who has extensive experience in educational research, information collection and data interpretation. The four schools are the ideal place to put the RIMAS methodology into practice, compare results, see how it evolves in different contexts but belonging to a common European framework. And a technical partner which will add a technical and proficiency profile to the tools developed. Five out of seven partners already have experience managing Erasmus+ projects.The activities that will be carried out are:Two intellectual products, the first will be a toolkit for maths learning trough physical education for teachers, of free access, which will be used by teachers. The second intellectual product is an online teacher training course for the implementation of the previous product.Two multiplier events to publicize the project, present the battery of tools to teachers from any country, comment on the results obtained, attract more interested colleagues in the methodology, publish and disseminate the use of the educational platform, expand the network of professional contacts at local, regional and international level.Learning/teaching/training activities with teachers and students to implement, improve and test O1 and check the effectiveness of O2. All students from the four schools will get involved to prepare activities and workshops and will have the opportunity to go through a unique experience that will change them as person, developing their social and civic competence as members of the common space that is Europe.Four transnational project meetings that will deal with issues that require the opinion of all partners.As expected results are: an increase in motivation and interest towards mathematics, which will lead them to obtain better results, in mathematics, science and other areas. Provide teachers with manipulative tools with the presence of ICT to increase students’ level of knowledge. Develop critical thinking and gender equality in students. Improvement of linguistic, social and civic competence.The first impact we expect is on participating schools, which will extend this methodology to the entire educational stage between 6 and 11 years old. With multiplier events we can reach other schools, teachers and professionals even outside the partnership.The universities that train teachers are an important agent to give continuity to the methodology. Schools will continue implementing this approach to the following promotions. Dissemination activities are also key points to broadening impact.The tools will be developed to work on the common content of the mathematics curriculum of the 4 participating schools, with which they can be extrapolated to almost any other. These tools will be available on the Results Platform.