<< Objectives >>By implementing this project, we aim to raise awareness about the importance of interfaith dialogue in promoting the peaceful co-existence of different faith and religious groups across European society. We also aim to support young people to engage in citizen journalism, and to plan publications that will provide counter-narratives to some of the disinformation and misinformation that is online, related to different faiths and religious groups and which aim to incite hate and prejudice.<< Implementation >>CO-EXIST partners will deliver a 50-hour citizen media curriculum to 60 young people across the consortium; support these young people to engage in interfaith dialogue and to produce 300 pieces of media content that provides accurate counternarratives about different faiths to address disinformation online; engage 12 youth workers in a transnational piloting of the in-service training programme in Greece, and reach a further 30 through local piloting, and to develop a Digital Newsroom platform.<< Results >>The expected educational results produced by the CO-EXIST team will include 2 different results targeted at young people:- Citizen Media Curriculum with modules on: Citizen journalism; Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue; Interviewing & Writing; Video Production & Editing and Podcasts & Audio Interviews- Toolkit of WebQuest resources that will support young people to engage in interfaith dialogue.As well as in-service training for youth workers, and the CO-EXIST Digital Newsroom.

As countries increasingly move toward more relaxed drug laws, the role of education will become the main focus of public services who wish to prevent drug abuse. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s (EMCDDA) 2019 Country Drug Reports; The UK has seen an increase in the use of all major illicit substances in the last decade. In Ireland the same study showed that drug use has become more common among the general population in recent years, with the highest use of cannabis, cocaine and MDMA all among 15 – 24 year olds. In Spain, cocaine was involved in almost half of the reported drug-related emergencies in 2016. Available data in Germany suggest there has been an increase in cocaine and amphetamine use among young adults particularly. Interestingly the prevalence of illicit drug use in Cyprus has been relatively stable in recent years, with cannabis being the most used substance. Possession of most common street drugs is treated as a misdemeanour in Cyprus and only criminalized when it is an “amount larger than small” which arguably makes the Cyprus one of the most liberal EU countries in terms of drug liberalization, apart from Portugal. In 2001, Portugal became the first European country to rescind all criminal penalties for personal drug possession and offered remedial treatment rather than prison sentences. EMCDDA data from recent years has shown that lifetime use of cannabis and other illicit substances among Portuguese students is lower than the European average and so to is the use of psychoactive substances. This carefully selected consortium of partners will offer a diverse collection of attitudes and empathys to drug abuse. Partner organisations and stakeholders will experience a unique opportunity to share and discuss best practices.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). Young people reportedly use basic internet skills 20% more than the average for the whole population. The encyclopaedia of mum and dad is no longer. Google is now the go-to source for information. There was a time when even the most relaxed parent would caution against peer pressure, now we celebrate professional influencers. Our attitudes have collectedly shifted and so with it has the role of parents, educators and youth workers. They are no longer the escorts of information. Instead, they are now tasked with providing the necessary skills to enable young people to apply critical thought, reason and structure to the information they gather from a vast multitude of sources. Infographics have been steadily gaining popularity, both in digital and print formats and in organizations and education. They are clear, effective and visually engaging. They present a variety of information while retaining the attention of the viewer. Today’s youth are inundated with information every day and opportunities for distraction are increasing. There are unfathomable amounts of data and sources online, much of it biased, inaccurate and often wrong. Young people need tools to easily digest information while also being offered the opportunity to conduct further, credible and safe research to areas of their interest.A toolkit of purpose designed Interactive Infographics will provide a holistic approach to drug awareness and prevention. The Toolkit will provide a complete suite of 12 interactive infographic resources comprised of 3 core areas selected by partners, namely:1. Problem definition: The role of drug type and patterns of use in drug related harms, Who it impacts and where it impacts to gain understanding of the social costs of drug problems, Early warning systems and key indicators.2. Appropriate response actions: Contextualizing factors and influences such as public attitudes and legal framework. Promoting harm reduction: how to help an individual and establishing the importance of individual and community wellbeing.3. Prevalent problems today: Information on new psychoactive and synthetic drugs, addressing the misuse of medicines and the dangers of the dark web.By the end of the project:- 12 interactive infographics addressing drugs awareness issues will be developed in 5 partner languages - 36 front-line youth workers will complete the pilot of the in-service training programme- 36 young people will complete the peer leadership programme- 300 young people will engage with the interactive infographics developed through the online portal provided

In the context of mental health issues FOMO is one of the newest, anxiety causing, stressors that impact the mental health of today's young digital natives for whom social media plays such an important role in identity building. The NOMO FOMO project proposes 'unpacking' the term FOMO to see what lies beneath and provide a toolkit of interactive learning resources to address the elements identified. In a survey with young adults the following themes were commonly identified in all partner countries as being the basis for FOMO anxiety. Fear of being unpopular; uninteresting; unattractive; unworthy; unfriendly; unkind; uncaring; are just a sample of the 12 most common themes that emerged. Addressing these themes, partners will pilot NOMO FOMO outputs in 7 local settings where the partners are based.Educational games are not a new phenomenon, and have been a part of the educational landscape since the development of the abacus and before. In today's ubiquitous technology environment online gaming, especially on smartphones has grown exponentially and a survey conducted by Nielsen in the USA found that for young digital natives the amount of time spent playing games on their smartphone is 12 times more than the time they spend talking or texting. It is clear that smartphones are the device of choice for young digital natives and responding to this the NOMO FOMO consortium are proposing to develop a completely new smartphone based learning experience that promotes positive mental health. Young adults have the latest tech gadgets in their palms, are hyper-connected, and eager to innovate. They live in an online 'bubble' surrounded by technology. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok and a whole range of other social media platforms are the new street corners where today's digital natives 'hang out'. They are the perfect, familiar and attractive places to engage young adults and address the impact of social media on mental health.Infographics have been steadily gaining popularity, both in digital and print formats in organizations and education. They are clear, effective and visually engaging. They present a variety of information while retaining the attention of the viewer. Today’s young adults are inundated with information every day and opportunities for distraction are increasing. Young adults need tools to easily digest information while also being offered the opportunity to develop key skills in a digital environment where they are most at home.The NOMO FOMO consortium partners will create 12 interactive infographics each one addressing one of the key themes associated with FOMO anxiety and stress which directly impact mental health. Each individual interactive infographic resource will comprise a series of 4 different but related learning elements. Each element will have clear learning outcomes to be achieved. Research conducted to inform this proposal with young digital natives found that they do not use up to 60% of the apps that they have downloaded and the vast majority of them expressed an unwillingness to download new apps due to the data mining activities of app developers. For this reason the resources developed will be presented and accessed directly through the camera on their smartphone through the built in QR code reader.Partners will develop an in-service training programme for front-line adult educators with two specific elements namely Unpacking FOMO and building the digital skills of front-line adult educators to build their own interactive infographics using software programmes like PowToon, StoryBoardThat, VideoScribe, KAHOOT, LearningApps, Google Forms, etc.A suite of 12 interactive inforgraphics addressing key thematic issues directly relating to FOMO will be developed 36 front-line adult educators will complete the piloting of the in-service training36 young adults will complete the peer leadership training2500 young adults will engage with the interactive infographics and the NOMO FOMO MOOC

The extent and success of integration can be measured by the degree of parity or equality of outcomes with other members of the receiving or host community. The THRIVE project will directly address this 'parity gap' across the consortium by developing educational and innovative solutions to actively bring people and cultures closer, and help female migrants realise their true civic and social potential through education. Trust is also at the heart of the matter; social inclusion happens at the local level, there is significant value in working with local authorities and communities to cultivate a climate of mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation that THRIVE will build upon.During the second half of the twentieth century, all Western European states became countries of immigration and permanent settlement. Due to a number of circumstances; income inequalities between countries, processes of economic integration and labour market shortages in host countries - immigration will remain an important feature in these, and increasingly all, European countries until at least 2050 according to many current demographic projections.(appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu)The proposed model for female migrant integration in the THRIVE project is being developed and piloted in 6 very different EU Member States, 3 countries with a long history of immigration – France, Spain and Germany and 3 countries more associated with emigration for whom mass immigration is a relatively recent phenomenon – Ireland, Italy and Portugal. This will help to ensure that the processes and outputs are robust and have considerable potential transferability to other countries. The EC Action Plan (2016) on the integration of third country nationals recognises the need to harness the potential of technology, social media and the Internet at all stages of the integration process. THRIVE aims to harness the potential for learning within female migrant communities that comes with 'always on, always accessible' mobile technology platforms. However, partners are of the opinion that the project will only achieve its objectives if bespoke, online learning resources are provided. Interactive infographics are a new learning concept that provide access to learning content through QR codes that can be activated through the camera in any modern smartphone. They provide the perfect framework for developing innovative learning resources that will be appealing and accessible for migrants and third country nationals. To achieve these objectives, the THRIVE project entails three Intellectual Outputs:- Compendium of Interactive Infographic Integration Resources - to build key competences to support the Civic, Social and Economic integration of migrant women- In Service Training Programme - A comprehensive intervention to support the continuous professional development of adult education and migrant support staff- Infographic Learning MOOC - An online learning platform designed for a range of fixed and mobile devicesThe extent of integration can be measured by the degree of parity or equality of outcomes with other members of the receiving or host community. The THRIVE project will directly address this 'parity gap' across the consortium by developing educational and innovative solutions to actively bring people and cultures closer, and help female migrants realise their true civic and social potential via education.The target groups are; community staff and educators, trainers and mediators workers working in formal and informal community and adult education. Community organisations and agencies looking for new ways to integrate and engage incoming female migrants and third country nationals. female migrants and third country nationals themselves looking to integrate, assimilate, understand and claim a stake in the civic and social life of their new country. The impact of this project will be significant on a number of levels; cultural mediators, community educators and social workers will gain new tools to engage often marginalised and vulnerable female learners, organisations will be empowered to take the initiative in what is a very sensitive and politically charged area, end beneficiaries will have a better understanding of their host culture and all parties will be more have a better grasp of social and civic responsibility.

"<< Background >>Among adults, the risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age, with older adults at highest risk. Severe illness means that the person with COVID-19 may require hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, or they may even die. As you get older, your risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases. For example, people in their 50s are at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 40s. Similarly, people in their 60s or 70s are, in general, at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 50s. There are also other factors that can increase your risk for severe illness, such as having underlying medical conditions. By understanding the factors that put them at an increasedrisk, people of all ages are making decisions about what kind of precautions the need to take in their daily lives. Those at highest-risk for severe illness from COVID-19 include people of all ages with underlying medical conditions, including people with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma; people who suffer from hypertension or have have serious vascular conditions; people who are immunocompromised perhaps as a result of cancer treatment, immune deficiencies and prolonged use of corticosteroids and other immune weakening medications; people with obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, with liver disease. It is widely accepted health fact that as people get older they are more likely to have some form of underlying condition that would render them in the high-risk category. There is a vast number of people in all EU Member States who would be easily classified as high-risk where Covid-19 is concerned. Many of the have been self-isolating, restricting their movements, reducing their social contacts, even resorting to extreme cocooning to try and protect their health. But how do they protect their livelihood? How do they protect their mental health? How do they maintain their place in society and economy?For some, the solution is to remote work and many people are lucky enough to have both the skills and the employment opportunity to remote work. There is also a large group of older adults who simply don't have the digital skills or the professional competences to remote work. Are they to be cast aside? If the EU economy is to recover from the devastating impact of Covid-19, it needs to build a solidarity between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' in our communities now more than ever before. Many older workers and workers with an underlying health condition have a considerable pool of experience, tacit knowledge and interpersonal skills that are of significant value to society and economy. As workers they are loyal, committed, trustworthy and motivated. It is surely worthwhile, in this time of great upheaval, to consider the training needs of these people and put a dedicated and targeted training programme together to build the necessary skills to enable them to continue to work and contribute to both society and economy in all Member States. By teaching older workers or those with an underlying health condition how they can work from home using today's technology, we can ensure that they continue to succeed, work, and prosper in today's digital world of work. We can help to integrate the elderly and prepare them to continue working without having to worry about retiring early or change jobs due to today's technological demands. Simultaneously training employers and building the digital skills of workers who are vulnerable due to an underlying health condition for effective remote working are the key aims and objectives of the RETAIN-ME project. The European Green deal and the Sustainable Development Goals propose a fairer, more equitable society where no one is left behind. RETAIN-ME responds to those ideals and will develop bespoke training resources to ensure that vulnerable workers can be retained in employment.<< Objectives >>The impact of lockdown has impacted different sub-sets of the economy and the workforce much more than others. Higher skilled workers in many sectors have been able to stay at home and continue their working life with minimum disruption to their earnings. While for some, remote working has resulted in a better quality of life without the need to commute for often long periods each day. There is, however, one very specific group for whom the decision whether to work from home or not has to be taken on medical grounds. All available medical evidence clearly confirms that anyone with an underlying health condition is more at risk of serious health problems if the contract the virus than others. Governments have gone to great lengths to shield these vulnerable groups, many of whom have been cocooning for many months in the past year in some partner countries. Although this cohort of the workforce played their part in society and economy before Covid-19 struck, they are effectively removed from the economy unless they have the possibility, but more importantly, the skills to remote work. It is an accepted fact that the older you are the more likely you are to have an underlying condition that requires self-isolation. Remote working skills among the older population are not as prevalent as they are within the younger digital immigrant and digital native workforce. These older workers need an opportunity to build key skills for remote working if they are to stay active in the workforce. Governments can ill afford to sustain the economic cost of a high number of able-bodied people unable to retain their employment because of an underlying health condition and a skills deficit that inhibits their chances of remote working. Building the skills of this cohort of society for remote working in a pandemic era is an innovative concept in this digital era. RETAIN-ME is an essential project for the health, mental health and social inclusion of workers who are forced to shield due to an underlying health condition. Through the results produced by the RETAIN-ME project team, our aim is to support older and vulnerable workers to embrace the digital transition in European workforces, so that they can continue to make active and meaningful contributions to European economic, civic and social life – all facilitated through embracing digital technologies and platforms.European society is being divided – not only through social distancing measures that we most associate with ‘living with Covid-19’ – but through the digital divide that we see between the digital natives who are comfortable working and learning in online environments and for whom the switch to technology-driven remote working has been less disruptive to their lives – we will call these, ‘the haves’. On the opposite end of the spectrum of this digital divide are the digital ‘have nots’ – these are older workers who are less comfortable in online environments, who can use social media, but for whom navigating new online collaborative platforms to actively contribute to the work on their team in this environment is a daunting task. While the switch to remote working for younger learners has impacted their socialisation severely, they did not have to overcome any barriers or challenges to working digitally and remotely – digital environments are where younger employees live and thrive. However, for older employees, as well as the anxiety they feel about their health, and the mental health concerns of living and working through a global pandemic; they are also faced with having to navigate new technology platforms and working practices; often without support or training, and this can severely impact their sense of pride and purpose in their work. Through the RETAIN-ME project, partners want to address these fears, anxieties and worries of older and vulnerable employees in our networks, so that they can be supported to live and thrive in our digitally enhanced, remote working reality.<< Implementation >>The RETAIN-ME consortium proposes an approach to raising awareness about remote working; aiming to support employers, vulnerable employees and VET tutors to take action by implementing a remote working policy in their business or life. The project work plan is designed as a series of sequential phases that will contribute to the overall objectives of the RETAIN-ME project being met. Partners have been allocated tasks and responsibilities under two distinct headings namely; (1) Project Management and Implementation; (2) Development of Project Results.1) Project Management and Implementation- BECREATIVE as project coordinator, will be responsible for the overall management of the project; update the mobility tool provided for the project; and oversee and support the development work of all partners;- SRC will develop a project branding framework for the project and design themes for all results developed. SRC will also produce a short promotional video for the RETAIN-ME project in month 18. The aim of this video will be to showcase the project results produced, and to support the further sharing and the sustainability of project results, by encouraging other VET providers and local businesses to adopt the RETAIN-ME training package in the up-skilling of their remote teams.- SKILLS ZONE will also develop and maintain the project website complete with a dedicated Dropbox or Google Drive for sharing all content developed. SKILL ZONE will also develop the project Facebook page and will develop a schedule for partners to share posting responsibilities;- FHB will draft a Promotion Plan and monitor promotion actions throughout the project life-cycle. - CARDET will produce newsletters every 6 months;- CARDET will also draft a Sustainability Plan to identify key exploitation targets in VET and business sectors to ensure that the results developed reach the appropriate targets for sustainability;- PM will manage the impact assessment process. Using the Impact+ Methodology developed by the Slovenian and UK national Agencies specifically for Erasmus+ projects. PM will organise Impact+ workshops to coincide with the beginning of each project result to agree the required impact at staff, learner, organisational and systemic levels. PM will conduct impact assessment exercises in months 12 and 24;- BECREATIVE will manage risk assessment and perform a risk assessment prior to every partner meeting to ensure the adequate progress of the project;- STP will lead quality assurance actions and conduct assessments every 6 months with project partners and with stakeholders engaged.(2) Development of Project ResultsPR1 - RETAIN-ME Employer's Toolkit – SRC, FHB, STP and PM will develop the learning content for masterclasses and the content for the manualPR2 - RETAIN-ME Vulnerable Employee Toolkit – BECREATIVE, SKILLS ZONE and CARDET will lead the development of the job readiness, job retention and job seeking resources. CREFOP will develop the step-by-step guides for vulnerable workersPR3 - RETAIN-ME MOOC & Community of Practice – CARDET will lead the development of the RETAIN-ME MOOC supported by FHB who will develop and manage the Community of PracticeAll partners will test all resources with their local advisory groups and pilot the resources produced in their own countries. Partners will translate and localize all content to ensure suitability before the project ends. Partners will each engage fully in the promotion and sharing of project results, most notably through the planning and implementation of RETAIN-ME Workshops in each partner country, where key stakeholders will be invited to review and test the project results, and the final conference that is planned to take place in Sweden in M24. To establish the Community of Practice foreseen in the project, partners will also participate in a transnational Virtual Multiplier Event.<< Results >>In the economic and social landscape that will follow this Covid-19 pandemic, governments, businesses and education providers are aware that there is need to adopt innovative practices to support employees who can work but who are nervous about emerging back into social life post-pandemic due to an underlying health condition that places them in the high risk category; and to support businesses to reduce their overheads and adapt their business models so that they can re-boot their businesses and help to re-start the European economy from the ground up. These are realities that will face every European country; and the RETAIN-ME project will support business owners and managers and individual vulnerable employees to take the first step towards re-building their social, civic and economic lives, by adapting to remote working. There are 3 main project results proposed within the framework of the RETAIN-ME project that are essential to its success:(1) RETAIN-ME Employer's Toolkit - this manual will act a ""Go-to Guide"" for managers wishing to adapt their business to fit within the scope of the remote working revolution. The Manual will be presented online as an interactive PDF, with the short video lectures and simulations embedded directly into the pages of the Manual. An offline version, of the Manual will also be available through the MOOC as a downloadable PDF, for business owners and managers to reference as they adapt their business model accordingly. The content of this programme will be suitably comprehensive and will include in-depth and practical information on the topic of remote working for employers.(2) RETAIN-ME Vulnerable Employee Toolkit - The RETAIN ME Vulnerable Employee Toolkit to be developed by the consortium aims to develop the remote working literacies of vulnerable employees so that they can manage successful remote careers. As such, rather than addressing just one element of remote working, the Toolkit will provide a complete suite of resources which addresses the issue from a holistic perspective. The Toolkit will comprise 18 Remote Career Planning Resources, which will be available online through the MOOC in all partner languages.(3) RETAIN-ME MOOC and Community of Practice - The proposed RETAIN-ME MOOC will provide access to the RETAIN-ME Employer's Toolkit and the RETAIN-ME Vulnerable Employee Toolkit. Learning content will be under-pinned by clear learning objectives to be achieved by those who have completed the learning exercises within a given period of time.Each individual learning resource will have a beginning and an end. Each piece of learning material will contain some quizzes and challenges that have to be completed as a skills demonstration to assess the knowledge acquired by learners. The social media features incorporated will support interaction between VET tutors, business owners and managers and learners from the vulnerable worker target group through the Community of Practice which will be actively promoted by all partners to achieve a critical mass of users and contributors.In addition, the following project outcomes are planned: - all project results will be produced in Swedish, English, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Greek. All resources developed will be available online and made available to all interested parties without restriction in keeping with the open access requirements of the ERASMUS+ programme.- each partner will host an event, 'The Future is Remote Working - A Workshop to Promote RETAIN-ME' in their local area to engage a minimum of 20 employers promoting remote working and the benefits it can have for their business.- 40 business owners will complete masterclasses to improve their ability to manage a remote workforce- 40 vulnerable employees will use the digital resources produced to build their key remote working skills"