<< Objectives >>Through the exchange of good practices between ES, PT and IT, Rural Creative Labs aims to increase the sense of initiative, entrepreneurship mindset and digital competence in young adult population living in rural areas by investing in the capacity building of adult facilitators and creating transnational opportunities for learners at European level. We want to fight depopulation and the lack of accessibility of high-quality learning opportunities for young adults living in rural areas.<< Implementation >>We are going to organize (1) transnational mobilities for the partner organizations and adult educators and (2) local/transnational bootcamps for adult learners. The aim is (1) to boost the European networking and exchange of good practices among organizations and adult educators from IT, ES and PT; and (2) to test innovative tools with adult learners in local bootcamps and allow them to share their ideas in a transnational learning mobility, exploring the rural context in Portugal.<< Results >>With this project, we are promoting the capacity-building of organizations to work on a transnational level and increasing the quality of the learning opportunities offered to young adult learners living in rural areas regarding digital/soft skills and entrepreneurship training. Bringing Europe to the local level and opening the mindset of adult educators and learners, we will dynamize these rural regions and create a toolkit with the tools explored for further rural regions to replicate.

<< Background >>In a world of cities, where 68% of the global population will live in densely populated cities in 2050, around 29% of the total EU population today lives in rural areas (Source: United Nations).The European countryside faces existential challenges that range from the decline and aging of its population to the scarcity of job opportunities and basic services, passing through the risk of missing the technological train, with the consequent danger of socio-economic and political marginalization that this implies. stage. If we take a look at digitization, with a vital role in the growth and competitiveness of economies, we find that the digital divide is 14% on average in the EU, but reaches up to 23% in some Member States such as, for example, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Portugal.This also translates into a feeling of abandonment that can lead to unexpected scenarios, such as the proliferation of a feeling of euro skepticism that, for example in the United Kingdom, has led to the departure of the British from the EU.Despite the challenges ahead, there are opportunities to reinvent the rural world.Rural Plus is proposed as a tool to continue supporting this process, offering opportunities and tools, as well as greater synergies, to connect with rural populations, involving them in the construction of the Union.The objectives of the project are:-Improve knowledge and communication, through the training of rural mentors and the use of a language and tools adapted to the local context. The Union continues to have a problem communicating its policies and projects to the public and if the conference on the Future of Europe and the EU Youth Streategy seem to help, there is still a lack of someone to act as a bridge between the institutions and the local population.-Reduce the technological deficit and the participatory barrier, offering quality training opportunities that empower young people and adults, as well as creating spaces for citizen participation through communication channels such as radio, social networks, blogs and newsletters .-To promote the inclusion of young people and women in the rural world, groups that usually face barriers in access to education, the job market or access to services, but also with regard to citizen participation. Similarly, women living in the countryside continue to be underrepresented in the agencies in charge of planning rural development plans and the distribution of funds.-Contribute to creating more cooperative and functional urban-rural links that make it possible to improve the socio-economic system of the rural world, increase its population and thus enable the reactivation of essential services such as education, health and transportation.<< Objectives >>The project will allow the creation of activities and results that will have an immediate impact, as well as in the long term, among the local communities of the participating partners (all located in rural areas), among trainers, educators and mentors, as well as among people with low qualifications and those socially excluded.Among the activities that we will carry out, we highlight:-The creation of a local network of volunteers who will be able to support the partnership in its mission to improve communication and knowledge about European policies and their opportunities;-The creation of training and innovation spaces (Hubs) at each partner's headquarters, with the possibility of conducting incubators and periodic hackathons, stimulating the participation of people from all over the local and regional territory.-The creation of workshops and talks to encourage debate and reflection in order to increase the participation of citizens in democratic and political life-The creation of a manifesto that will be delivered to the regional political leaders of each partner and that will include ideas and proposals born thanks to the workshops and talks organized by the locals.-The creation of a web page to give visibility to the project, share resources, be a reference for the participants (we will include forums) and that can be of inspiration for other organizations, who may ask to join the project or be based on the results to create one new.The expected results are:-Creation of a communication and knowledge toolkit, based on infographics and digital promotional material to offer better communication of European policies-Creation of a mixed training for mentors that can offer them the necessary tools to support the participants in the Hubs as well as mediation and conflict resolution skills, among others.-Creation of an e-platform where we will include training and activities carried out during the celebration of the hubs in order to empower people who live in rural areas, providing them with resources and skills for their personal, civic and professional development.After analyzing the needs and preparing a strategic plan to achieve the planned objectives, we want to achieve the following results:-Involve at least 60 local people who will act as volunteers in the promotion activities of the main European policies in matters of education, employment, entrepreneurship, inclusion, equality, agriculture and fishing.-Getting at least 40 mentors to participate in the local training activities that we will carry out once the training has been created.-Involve at least 100 educators and trainers in the activities, either in the Hubs, or in the participatory talks and debates.-Involve at least 50 people in the hubs to develop your business idea-Strengthen collaborations and synergies with at least 75 between public entities, organizations and private companies, to publicize the project, promote education / business relations and offer internship programs for participants in training activities (Erasmus Rural)Our plan foresees an evaluation of the impact of its results up to 5 years after its completion, thanks to the fact that all partners operate in the same locations where the activities will take place.We want to increase the number of volunteers by 10%, hold 4 annual talks and debates in each country (50 participants per country), contribute to increasing the local population by 1% and achieve an increase in entrepreneurship (10%) as well as employment (15%). We expect there to be at least 200 new participants in the courses each year and that at least 30 citizen proposals can be presented to local politicians each year.<< Implementation >>The partnership has defined the three key actions to achieve the planned objectives: 1) Participation of the target groups, 2) Development of activities and results, 3) Effective dissemination of results.The promotional and impact activities that each partner will develop at the local and national level constitute a key piece in the mosaic that makes up the project. Each partner contributes ideas and examples of good practice that we consider excellent when evaluating the statistical data of scope and impact.The evaluation and monitoring activities will allow us to make an exhaustive analysis of the development of each activity at all times, being able to obtain information from the members of each partner, the participants in the different activities, the users who will access the web portal and view the content, trainers, mentors and educators as well as organizations that will collaborate in the promotion and dissemination of the results.The training structure of the Hub is designed to offer content in a dynamic way, with the active participation of students, group dynamics, teamwork and the possibility of raising the topics to be discussed in some classes. The accessible digital format (with a face-to-face part to guarantee inclusion), the quality of the content offered, together with the Europass recognition and the post-course support until the completion of a real entrepreneurship project, represent more than convincing reasons to motivate participants to be active throughout the development of activities.Volunteer networks will allow us to stimulate local communities to be more participatory in society. This commitment to wanting to help others, offering advice and information on the main European funds for rural areas, will allow us to generate greater interest in the activities as well as in the results. The creation of informal talks and debates will reinforce this awareness, offering a space where people, in small groups, can share feelings and propose ideas and suggestions that, under the supervision of a mentor, can be delivered to local political institutions. to generate a quality civic participation system, based on real citizen collaboration to improve community well-being.The experience of partnering with adults at risk of exclusion guarantees us sufficient professionalism and sensitivity to face, case by case, those eventual moments in which students do not have enough capacity to advance or need reinforcement to continue. Receiving an international certification, as well as requesting a place in the Hub, will further stimulate the target groups not to act passively, but to exercise a priority role and to be, in addition to being participants, ambassadors of the project in their circles of trust.The training course represents a key resource for teachers and mentors to improve their skills, since, to achieve a transformation of rural areas, we first need to train the professionals who provide training in these areas.The creation of a web platform dedicated to the project and an APP will guarantee an effective online dissemination with the tools most used today to obtain information, guaranteeing its use even after the end of the project, since all partners will be able to update the contents of the APP by modifying a simple sheet of Google Sheets.The multiplier events will be a space where not only to disseminate the results, but also to take advantage of the participants present to involve more people and organizations to participate in the project and propose future synergies, as well as bring the results to urban centers, stimulating a greater connection between both territories.<< Results >>3892 / 5000Resultados de traducción1.Creation of the knowledge and communication toolkit:The audiovisual toolkit will comprise a comprehensive set of 12 interactive infographic resources that address 3 core areas that partners believe are critical to raising awareness of European institutions and policies that closely interest them:1) Recognize the information: to be able to understand in a simpler and more direct way, with a language adapted to any type of learning, the main European policies on employment, education, agriculture, fishing and rural areas. If we consider that today 50% of people living in rural areas are completely unaware of information about European policies and funds, it is clear how much need these tools are.2) Raising awareness: raising awareness and mobilizing citizens to actively participate in the democratic decision-making process, contributing proposals and feeding the debate in the activities that we will carry out and in which we will invite local politicians as well as those responsible for European networks such as Europe Direct, Eurodesk and Eures.3) Act: Offer the means to be able to aspire to obtain these funds as well as participate in the activities of the Conference on the future of Europe as well as the EU Youth Strategy.We will create a total of 4 infographics for each area. We want to send a clear and concise message, where we encourage you to act and join forces to be able to avoid the decline of rural areas.The true innovation of this result lies in the fact that each of the 12 infographics will contain a QR code that will lead to a fully interactive version with a variety of different integrated learning resources such as videos, audios, questionnaires and exercises to put the information received into practice. through gamification. A real MOOC to be able to obtain specific training on the subject.2. Training program for mentors and trainersThe program, with both online and face-to-face formats and in pdf manual, is proposed as a training experience that will allow participants not only to acquire key competencies useful at work and for their daily life, but also some skills and capacities to increase their job opportunities in key rural economic activities, other than “traditional” agriculture.The training program will be divided into three sections:1.definition of the context, needs and objective of the mentor / trainer2. Development of key skills using the #NOCODE methodology that allows you to create web pages, optimize work, create APPs, develop communication systems, sell online and many more opportunities without having prior knowledge of computer science and / or programming.3. Development of mediation and guidance skills for the management of informal citizen participatory spaces, as well as the management of face-to-face meetings.3. Training course for adults to be carried out in the HubsWe want to offer participants a high-impact tool that offers them to develop key basic competencies (mathematical, digital and entrepreneurial skills, communication, learning to learn, etc.), prioritizing the identified needs.The training itinerary will be divided into three sections:1. Development of key skills and technical competencies2 Overview on entrepreneurship 4.0 and with a focus on the rural environment3.Advice on bureaucratic and administrative procedures, and market analysis.The training program will last 40 hours, divided into 10 classes of 4 hours each, and can be used both in person, in the Hubs, and online, to allow the participation of people living in more remote areas or who have mobility problems.