Volunteer work is closely linked with social, civic and intercultural competences, with critical thinking and with the fight against discrimination, segregation, racism and violence. Volunteer work has an economic value, increases social well-being and social prosperity. Lots of volunteers live the European values and stand for it. They are active citizens and contribute to the civil society in Europe. Democracies thrive from the engagement of their citizens, their readiness to help in society, to feel a part of it and to take over responsibility. With other words: Democracies need volunteers! In 2011 the European Year of Volunteering was designated. Since then the number of volunteers grew up, but by far not as much as expected. There are remarkable differences of volunteering between the european countries, influenced by their tradition, politics and history. Statistical data about volunteering are different in the european countries and often not sufficient to reflect the real situation. There exist already European programmes like the European Voluntary Service that provide opportunities for volunteering for young people. Nevertheless, further transnational exchange, promotion and education campagnes are needed in Europe in order to raise awareness among people of all ages, organisations and companies for voluntary activities and its great benefits. It was the main objective of the project to support this approach. The five project partners documented interesting voluntary activities in their region: they made photo reportages, interviewed volunteers and representatives of organisations active in the field of volunteering. Different kinds of voluntary activities and volunteers of all ages were taken into consideration. Many situations, where volunteers could be active in society, became visible and the work of many volunteers could be honoured by the project. Transnational exhibitions of photos and photo collages from volunteering as a tool of non-formal education were conducted in all partner countries to provide informations, increase awareness and encourage people of all ages to become active as volunteers. Meetings with volunteers and representatives of organisations for volunteers allowed an interesting exchange of knowledge and provided possibilities to enlarge the networks. The partners were from Estonia (Eesti People to People, Tallinn), France (Mitra France, Nice), Germany (European Photo Academy, Rastatt), Italy (Acquamarina Associazione Culturale, Trieste) and Sweden (More Mosaic, Stockholm), came from countries with different traditions in volunteering. The three NGOs and two education providers contributed to the project with different backgrounds and skills: they already were involved in projects with volunteers, some of them organise voluntary work, they provided high qualifications in PR, journalism, photography and the organisation of exhibitions, meetings and conferences. Nevertheless during the Volunteers4Europe project each of the project partners learned a lot about the volunteering sector in the partner countries and in his own country. The main tangible result of the project is an e-book containing more than 100 photo reportages on volunteering in the partner countries, reports of the 5 V4E-exhibitions and further information on the topic. It contributes not only to more transparency of the voluntary sector in Europe, but also to the impact and sustainability of the project, The Volunteers4Europe e-book is an OER. A permanent free download can be found on the Internet platform of OERcommons ( https://www.oercommons.org/courses/volunteers4europe-an-insight-into-the-world-of-volunteering-in-europe). The comprehensive work can be used in many areas, for example as educational material in all educational sectors, as information material for individuals and groups wishing to volunteer, or as input for new ideas and methods in the voluntary sector in Europe. Additionally the results of the project were summarized in a transnational webinar at the end of the project.

The project Tools and Games against cyberbullying is based on an international cooperation of involved organizations from different areas of education and their experience with target group of people in danger of cyberbullying. The project aims to create battery educational methods and outputs through international meetings and exchange of knowledge and experience, such as videos, comics, brochures, games, workshops, simulation strategy, posters, etc., that will lead to the prevention of dangerous phenomena internet violence, focusing on cyberbullying. The project will work on innovation and developement of a number of relevant outcomes applicable in every EU country. The dissemination of material will be substantiated by the project webpage, partner network, practical adult education and will offer an option to download all project outputs to everyone interested, as well. The website will be in the languages of all partners, including English. The added value to the project is the connection of organizations working with youth through the actual topic, which despite of its risk is not publicized enough nor sufficiently. The purpose of the project is to share experience in adult education, processes and procedures of all involved organizations, including internationalization of partners. Specific objectives include testing and developing the project outputs, introducing elements into their adult education, including the necessary dissemination. Irrevocably, will dispense an impulz through international mettings to project participants for their work activation, motivation, self-development, to combat burnout and a new working vigor. Since the methods of cyberbullying and risks of the Internet are evolving rapidly, the prevention must be adjusted accordingly. This project responds to the aims of Europe 2020 and Education and training (ET 2020) strategies.

"Transnational cooperation of different education providers is becoming increasingly important in particular as regards the European Educational fields. Against this background the development and practice of innovative and efficient pedagogical approaches and ways of communication is required. Although, webinars could be used in all education sectors for seminars, lectures, discussion groups, they are still not very common in Europe. There is a lack of online-trainers, who are able to conduct webinars and of guidelines for the pedagogy of webinars, increasing the attractiveness and efficiency of such learning activities. Additionally, many learners, including disadvantaged persons, cannot estimate how useful and efficient webinars are and how easy it is to participate without the need of extensive digital skills. The project ""HDR Photography and Blended Learning"" (www.vir2cope.eu) delivered an example in the field of transnational Blended Learning with the inclusion of real-time online seminars (webinars) as a special form of E-Learning.The six project partners represented the huge range of potential users for webinars. Coming from Czech Republic (ALVIT, Ostrava), Germany (VINC Learning UG, Rastatt), Hungary (University of Pannonia, Veszprem), Italy (Acquamarina Associazione Culturale, Trieste ), Portugal (Technical School of Image and Communication, Lisbon) and United Kingdom (CRYSTAL Ltd., Birmingham) they are active in higher education, further education and adult education, being national and transnational networkers of different education sectors and companies. Thus, the project contributed to the internationalisation of education in all sectors, the growing use of digital learning and better access to education for all. HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging) photography was the common learning topic of the partners. It was chosen because it affects the interest of a huge target group throughout society: everywhere the communication with images has become an important factor, in private life and also for professionals working in media, art, documentation, business or marketing. Although the HDR-technique became already standard in the film industry, it is still far away from that in photography. But it has a huge potential: The whole range of light can be captured in one image (avoiding over- and underexposed areas in a picture) and a huge amount of tonal values is available to process high quality images. It is quite easy even for amateurs to make HDR-photos. After having met for a common training and exchange, the project partners worked on different topics about HDR photography and tested new application fields. Against the backdrop to conduct webinars with a good pedagogical approach, 17 international webinars were carried out where each partner presented his work. Guests, also from disadvantaged groups, participated in the webinars in order to learn how efficient webinars are and how easy it is to participate. They also learned about HDRI photography. All participants were invited to evaluate the webinars via an online-questionnaire. Based on this interesting empirical study the partners worked out an essay about the pedagogy of webinars. Translated in six different languages it is available as an Open Educational Resource. The English version was published in a peer-reviewed journal. Additionally, to this essay a film was made summarizing clearly the best pedagogical approach to conduct webinars. This film is available as OER on YouTube. The partners produced the E-Book ""HDR-Photography: A practical guide"". Available in English (256 pages) and German (343 pages) language the comprehensive E-Book provides interesting know-how for amateurs and professionals. It generated strong interest (more than 15 000 downloads at the end of September 2016 and an invitation to present the E-Book on the world leading fair for imagery PHOTOKINA in Cologne Sept. 2016). The E-Book became an important element for the dissemination and impact of the whole VIR2COPE project. Additionally the project partners conducted HDR photography exhibitions in their home countries. The main important exhibitions in Trieste and Lisbon included small public conferences. In order to enhance the sustainability of the events virtual galleries and printed catalogues with information about HDR photography and the VIR2COPE project were produced. In particular, the Blended Learning approach turned out as very efficient for transnational cooperation. Blended Learning in combination with webinars could have a longer-term benefit for all kind of education providers, institutions and companies. Using webinars contributes to the inclusion of all learners, enhances access to learning for disadvantaged groups, and reduces costs (no travelling) and time."

"The European Cultural Heritage is a unique melting pot of different cultures. ""United in diversity"" - that is the declared motto of the EU and a guiding principle of this unique community of nations. At the same time this motto bears a task for all Europeans, to create a synergy of cultures and regard each single culture as a valuable part of the unique community in the context of other cultures. The EliCCon-project aimed to explore the rich cultural diversity of europe and raise awareness about its high value for our common life. The focus was on the lived cultural heritage: the values, the traditions, customs and habits. The more the people in Europe will learn from each other, the more fears and prejudices against other cultures can be reduced and valuable synergies can arise. Nowadays learning about lived cultures in Europe requires to consider also cultures from non-european countries, that are practised in Europe and the change of cultures in the course of time. Coordinated by the European Photo Academy from Germany, project teams from the Czech Republic, Spain and the United Kingdom made photo reportages of interesting examples of intangible cultural heritage in their country. A Swiss student of the European Photo Academy rounded off the result with examples of intangible cultural heritage in Switzerland. Altogether 25 photographers were working for two years to document the intangible cultural heritage in their country. 92 photo reportages resulted from the extensive data collection.The results were presented with exhibitions on interesting public places during the project lifetime: In May 2019 more than 60 exhibits were shown at the University of Huelva in Spain. In July 2019 the EliCCon-Exhibition was presented in the South and City College in Birmingham and in October 2019 the czech project partner organized the exhibition in the Michal Mine, that is a national cultural monument in Ostrava. The exhibition series was concluded with an exhibition in the municipal library in Rastatt. It started in July 2020 and ended in October 2020. The project partners used the project meetings for an intercultural exchange with lectures and visits to culturally interesting sites. The project teams conducted four transnational online-conferences, where each project partner presented examples of the intangible culture in his country. The recordings were uploaded on Youtube and remain available for free to all people. The project results were summarized on more than 600 pages in an E-Book (OER) in order to ensure the sustainability of the project, to preserve and disseminate the intangible cultural heritage in Europe. Many people who actively practise culture were pleased with the documentation of their activity. A feedback from a traditional german brass band sums this up: ""First of all… I would like to congratulate you on this project and the associated e-book.Just a glance at the table of contents and the very first browsing through the many articles and photo reportages show the scope of this project. But it also impressively shows the incredible diversity and wealth of European culture.Admittedly, it makes us a bit proud to be a small part of it and we feel honoured to be able to stand as an example of the music tradition in our region in this e-book. Many thanks for this!...""The transnational exchange is of particular value. Because people have a certain idea of strangers, which makes it easier for them to classify others. Such stereotypes are mostly inconsistent with reality. Through the mutual exchange of information about the lived cultural heritage of the respective countries stereotypes can be reduced enormously. The active exchange of cultures through non-formal and informal learning contributes to the growing together of the European states and to the fight against nationalism and xenophobia. All project partners provided comprehensive experiences and skills for the project. Whereas the german project partner has its focus on adult and further education in the field of photography, digital media, e-learning and intercultural management, the spanish partner is a social enterprise focused on training, innovation and traineeship in digital skills at European level. The partner from UK is a non-governmental organisation that is passionate about improving lives of disadvantaged people in society. They actively engage especially young people through the use of sports, culture and creativity. Their motto is ""Ideas into Action"". The mission of the czech project partner is to improve peoples lives through high quality intercultural training, transfer of innovation and lifelong learning. They provide an extensive knowldege about the history of the Moravian-Silesian region. The qualifications and experience of the partners ensured a high quality of the project. All project teams will continue to work on cultural issues after the project. The preservation of cultural heritage is an ongoing task."