"Persecution, conflicts, human rights violations and climate changes continue to force people to flee their homes and seek safety in the EU. In 2018 only, an estimated 634700 asylum applications were registered compared to 728400 in 2017 and 1.3 million in 2016 (Eruostat:2020). This number will potentially grow due to the changing politics of Turkey and as aftermath of prevailing Covid-19 crisis, which will lead to worsening economic conditions for refugees globally. Many are here to stay and the European Union needs to ensure that they enter the labour market and become self-reliant as quickly as possible. However, despite diverse educational backgrounds, working experiences and reasons for coming to the EU, migrants tend to have worse employment outcomes in comparison with native-born citizens. In 2018, the EU unemployment rate for people aged 20 to 64 was 12.2 % for those born outside the EU, 6.1 % for the native-born population and 6.8 % for those born in another EU Member State. NEEDS OF THE TARGET GROUP In this context, both research and practice suggest that Vocational Education and Training is recognised as a key aspect of integration as it fosters employability either in general terms or through enhancement of specific language or work skills (Duke et.al “Refugee resettlement in Europe” (2010); European Commission “Handbook on Integration for policy makers and practitioners” (2007). It is also recognised that VET needs to stay a jour with the ongoing changes to meet the Labour market (employers´) and refugees´ needs. In its report from 2016 “Vocational Education and Training: Bridging Refugee and Employer needs”, CEDEFOP states: “Considering the growing numbers of refugees there is a need to upscale, adapt and reinvent VET programmes.” However, while there are many efforts put in adapting VET concerning accessibility, broadening the provision and individual guidance for refugees in all EU countries, the competence-development and support of VET trainers/teachers/counsellors is still limited. According to CEDEFOP, it is vital to provide VET professionals with knowledge/tools/support for creating high quality VET programs. It is insufficient to merely focus on teaching specific working techniques and behaviour while neglecting other work-related skills, just like communication skills, team-work or other soft skills. VET professionals rather have to be able to communicate and teach values, concepts and realities that are relevant in their companies and the contemporary society, e.g. skills and knowledge to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts due to different cultural backgrounds. Consequently, many VET professionals often struggle with high jobs demands leading to stress and burnout. This, together with the fact that they encounter students suffering from multiple traumas related to pre-flight or flight situations might contribute to compassion fatigue. In her qualitative research study ""The experience of staff working with refugees and sylum seekers in the UK"", Helen Liebling confirms that 75 % of professionals including VET trainers/counsellors express need for ongoing training and counselling for coping with compassion fatigue as well as support in development of the intercultural competence.To sum up, while there is a great number of solutions concerning inter-cultural communication developed for trainers in in-formal and non-formal education at NGOs, formal VET programs still lack this aspect. The concept of compassion fatigue is mostly applied for staff in social work and is unfamiliar for formal VET training. OBJECTIVES The main objective of SEP project is to create a hands-on a learning program for sustainable engagement of VET-professionals working with migrants to prevent Compassion Fatigue and to foster Inter-cultural Training. Intercultural capacity building of VET-trainers and counsellors will support them in developing the capacity to make teaching/counselling more responsive, flexible and divergent to accommodate the variety of learning needs and educational expectations of the diverse cultural and ethnic groups of students. Tools for recognition and prevention of compassion fatigue will contribute to less burnout and stress.Enhancing social and economic integration of refugees and migrants is a problems across all EU countries, and although the issue needs to be solved at local level with the local communities, finding solutions which work is a transnational challenge. The transnationality is vital to learn from each other experiences in how different countries address the type of activities as proposed by the project and generate mutual learning in relation to how the professionals working with refugees and migrants upfront the challenges of empowering and creating a sense of agency among their “clients”. The different views and perspectives of stakeholders from different EU regions are exchanged, analysed and applied by their representatives in the consortium."

“ECCAY - EMPOWERING AND CO-CONSTRUCTING AGENCY OF YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION” aims to empower young people at risk of social exclusion in an innovative way in training the professionals working with these young people. More specifically, the training aims to help professionals empowering the sense of agency in young people at risk of social exclusion and in developing a solution focused mindset that can help to use their agency to improve their active citizenship. Active citizenship supports social inclusion and helps fighting poverty and is one of the European Commission's strategies for increasing social cohesion and reducing the democratic deficit. We believe that the process of improving and facilitating active citizenship in young people at risk of social exclusion must take into consideration their sense of agency, as single individuals and as members of a larger community. As “sense of agency” or “agency” we mean the subjective awareness of initiating, executing, and controlling one's own volitional actions in the world. Active citizenship can be seen as a consequence of the sense of agency: the stronger the sense of agency is, the more effective are the actions made by an individual and/or a community in terms of solidarity and social inclusion. Empowering young people’s agency facilitates their active citizenship as members of EU society, who can contribute to the improvement of the European society by acting as responsible citizens. In other words: If young people feel that they a part of a society and they can actively shape their life and the society, they will involve more actively and try to be part of it.PARTICIPANTSThe project involves 5 partners from 5 EU countries. They incorporate numerous professionals, experienced in working with disadvantaged groups. MAIN TARGET GROUP- Professionals working with young people at risk of social exclusion: e.g, educators, teachers, professors, coaches, trainers, social workers, social-health workers, professional workers in employment, occupational therapists, management in different educational & social organisations, psychologists, psychotherapists, HR managers of NGOs- 20 directly involved in implementation, >240 in multiplier events, >5000 indirectly involved in dissemination.MAIN FINAL BENEFICIARIESThe final beneficiaries of the ECCAY project are young people at risk of social exclusion (NEETs, young people living on the verge of poverty or in areas in decay, etc.). They will be active players throughout the project (>100 directly involved in implementation). PROJECT AIMS, OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGYECCAY's aim is to develop a C-VET curriculum and learning programme which gives the professionals working with young people at risk of exclusion the knowledge, skills and competencies to develop a solution and creativity focused mindset, which will allow them to empower the sense of agency among their clients/beneficiaries and enhance their inclusion and involvement in society.ECCAY will provide an effective framework of practice based on solution-focused and co-constructive mindset in working in working with youth at risk of exclusion that will teach professionals how to formulate effective and transformative questions and empower their clients’ skills and abilities in solution building and effective problem solving. LONG-TERM GOAL of this project is to foster inclusion and active involvement of youth at risk of exclusion in their local but also in EU-society. This should be the result of the improved quality of the service professionals offer to their target group (youth at risk of inclusion) after the doing the ECCAY training.The curriculum and learning programme will be provided online, so that they can download the units and apply them easily to learn easily also when the project will be finished. The project activities will be implemented in 4 Intellectual Outputs (O1-4)- O1: Compendium of literature and best practice about working with youth at risk of exclusion- O2: ECCAY - Curriculum for empowering and co-constructing agency of youth at risk of exclusion- O3: ECCAY Methodology Finalization- O4: ECCAY Learners Handbook with an online platformMultiplier Events- E1-E5: ECCAY - Curriculum and learning programme- E6-E10: ECCAY - A programme for change, presentation of the IOs- E11: ECCAY Final ConferenceIMPACTThe project is expected to have impact on:1) PROFESSIONALS dealing with youth at risk of exclusion. They will get new knowledge and skills to facilitate and empower agency of their clients/beneficiaries2) YOUNG PEOPLE AT RISK OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION, marginalization, stigma and discrimination.3) ENVIRONMENT. The project will have Impact on stakeholders (VET provideres, professionals´ associations,.etc.) through 11 multiplier events and Dissemination, Exploitation and sustainability activities. The partners as members of relevant networks will also use these to spread the outcomes of ECCAY.

The composition of classrooms is becoming gradually more diverse and nowadays bring together a wide range of students with different cultural, family and social backgrounds, increasing numbers of students in classrooms and the presence of diverse talents and learning difficulties/barriers create a complex environment, with emotional and behavioural problems which teachers find quite difficult to cope with. Teaching is becoming more difficult, due to these issues and complex situations, and has an impact on student's learning processes and academic achievements, which can add on more pressure to the school and classroom climate. In this context, secondary education institutions have a need for strategies, methods and tools to improve schools climate, increase respect for teachers and peers and reduce/resolve situations related to violence, bullying or absenteeism. An improved school/classroom climate has shown to have a positive effect on academic results. Schools (and teachers/educational staff) need to be able to improve the climate form a perspective of empowerment, respect, conflict resolution, empathy, and increased engagement. They also need to be able to involve their students as active players in this process. TASC provides teachers, educational staff and school managers with the skills, competences and knowledge on how to handle conflict and challenging situations at school and how to manage their classroom efficiently. They will be able to address issues related to school/classroom climate through the implementation of the right approach or solution in a specific situation or context. As such they will be prepared to analyse the situation/context and select the most appropriate approach, action or solution, and do this taking into account the particularities of their students (e.g. with regards to age, family circumstances, classroom size, etc.) and the best moment to apply them (during a class, or extra-curricular activities for example). In a school environment which is based upon mutual respect and trust, both teachers and students are more motivated and better academic results are achieved. This contributes to the reduction of dropout. TASC main aim is to create a learning programme for teachers, educational support staff and school managers, that provides them with the knowledge, skills and competences to enhance and improve the climate in their classrooms. They will also acquire the knowledge and skills to approach this challenge in a strategic and coherent way, not only by applying the right actions, solutions or activity in a particular situation, but as a strategic and comprehensive programme across the whole school. As such the main targets for TASC are the secondary education teachers, (non)educational (support) staff and school managers, for whom a teacher training (O1) and a strategic handbook (O3) are developed. Special attention will be paid on the involvement of relevant stakeholders from the school´s ecosystem in the strategic plan for improving the quality of school life (i.e. school inspection, parents associations, local educational authorities, etc.).Complementary, a set of learning resources and materials to be used in the work with their students for implementing the selected actions, solutions or activities (O2). Additionally to enhance student empowerment and engagement, a specific set of materials for student-driven approach and activities is included, which students (under the supervision and guidance of teachers and educational staff) can use to develop activities for improving school climate themselves. This motivates and empowers the students to also become active players in the process.