Best practices Exchange for youth Trainers in the field of Sharing Economy and Ecology (BETSEE) aims at exchanging best practices in the field of ecological education with a special focus on “green” sharing economy among organizations that are all expert in youth education, each with a focus on a different target group. will focus on environmental education and “green” sharing economy to improve the youth workers’ teaching competences and increase, at once, disadvantaged youth’ soft skills. The idea of implementing this exchange of best practices was born from the need observed by the project partners of supporting youth educators in adopting an innovative methodology able to teach young people how to be eco-responsible in order to tackle climate change and waste. In Europe the overconsumption of goods has reached levels that are no longer sustainable and that are bringing to major environmental issues. According to the European Commission, “we currently use 16 tons of material per person per year, of which 6 tons become waste”. Learning what new “green” practices are and how sharing economy works can also be beneficial for disadvantaged younger people who have difficulties in finding their way into the job world. By studying ecological practices and by learning what sharing economy is and its advantages for future young entrepreneurs, young people with fewer opportunities will have the chance to acquire soft skills useful for their integration in the job marker, for instance, they can develop critical thinking by reflecting on the importance to reduce waste and to avoid intensive production/consuming behaviors; they can increase their entrepreneurial skills by learning about the sharing economy businesses and so on. BETSEE will organize 4 Study Visits in each partner country to exchange good practices on how to train youth workers to give classes focusing on “green” sharing economy and green habits among youth, encouraging, at the same time the development of their soft skills to succeed in life and work. Once partners’ educators will have observed best practices implemented in the other partners’ countries, they will organize Local Activities in their communities to promote sharing economy and green habits among young people from disadvantaged groups with limited access to non-formal education offer. Thanks to the observation of best practices for teaching “green” sharing economy, the partner organizations will be able to collect the best methods for youth education in the BETSEE Green E-Manual. This Manual is the central product of the project and will include 2 sections: section 1 with the methodology and best practices on how to develop and deliver courses about “green” sharing economy and ecological practices also promoting the acquisition of soft skills among disadvantaged youth and section 2 listing the latest “green” sharing economy tools and apps in each partners’ country. Therefore, BETSEE proposes to use the best practices of experienced youth organizations, each one focusing on a specific target group of youth (young people from the suburbs, unemployed young women, young people from rural areas and foreigners and migrants), to train youth workers teaching to young people soft skills (critical thinking, entrepreneurial skills, ICTs, curiosity, communication, etc.) to develop ecological behaviors thanks to “green” sharing economy. Finally, the International training of BETSEE will help young people and youth workers to consolidate their knowledge acquired during the learning process started in the beginning of the project.

The importance of cultural heritage as a vital element in intercultural dialogue has been formulated in a multitude of policies from international to local level being in line with the 21st Century (2017) European Cultural Heritage Strategy for the 21st century, the (2018) European Agenda for Culture, the EU's 2018 Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022 and the UN 2030 Agenda with 17 SDGs. The project TOGETHER – TOwards a cultural understandinG of thE oTHER – includes 6 partners (CulturePolis, EWORX, IED, FPD , GACC, LDN) from 5 different countries (Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Georgia, Lebanon). TOGETHER derives from the need to create and disseminate know-how regarding the intercultural dialogue among EU countries and countries outside the European territory, based on the common values cultural heritage represents in order to really empower all sectors of society to build bridges between people, reinforce mutual understanding, boost economic and social development and enable Europe and its neighbors to face common challenges as a whole context for social cohesion and sustainability. In the increasingly multi-cultural European environment of the 21rst century where more and more individuals have to manage their own multiple cultural affiliations, some people still view cultural diversity as a constraint to human and economic progress or a threat to national stability. Europe’s rich cultural heritage have the potential to promote common values, inclusion and intercultural dialogue within Europe and beyond, creating a sense of belonging, being an antidote to any confrontation society is facing nowadays.In this context, TOGETHER targets local actors and practitioners, representatives of local alliances, cultural associations and federations, leaders of NGOs and CSOs, professionals of cultural and social centers, networks and stakeholders from the cultural and creative industry as well as public authorities and policy makers, leaders of local authorities, representatives of local and national governments; its objectives are to: • Develop a transnational approach for cooperation between countries of EU and the neighboring region (the Middle East and Back Sea), established in the European common values which are generated and represented by various cultural assets and traditions of participating countries. • Address the challenge of embedding intercultural dialogue processes in the Agendas of local communities for Sustainable Development • Empower local actors through upgrading their professional skills and competences and rendering them ‘ambassadors’ of cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding. • Develop and deliver innovative training materials, digital tools and content methodologies for successfully meeting the needs of local actors and their communities and empowering them at all levels. The activities include respective intellectual outputs and multipliers events (National Seminars/Workshops, Final Conference); the TOGETHER IOs comprise of Comparative Analysis Report -IO1, Ambassadors Curriculum-IO2, TOGETHER e-Toolbox-IO3, TOGETHER Intercultural Dialogue Guidebook -IO4.