"<< Background >>The project SIMPL4ALL intends to respond to the needs of the participating Organizations and, through them, to those of the main target group: young people, between 14 and 21 years old, with disabilities, learning difficulties and disadvantages, which prevent their full personal and professional fulfilment. The Consortium, committed in many ways to SOCIAL INCLUSION, is represented by 8 Partners from 6 different countries: Italy, Austria, Belgium, France, Slovenia and Spain.> THE PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS 'NEEDSThe emerging need is to enhance and make the VET system more attractive, transforming it from a ""second chance"" to a land of opportunities for all. The project carries out three main types of coordinated interventions : 1. Upskilling for teaching and support staff, with the use of more participatory methods and the enhancement of ""learning mediators"". SIMPL4ALL works on the new methods and tools that the European Agency for Special Educational Needs and Inclusive Education (EASNIE) outlined in the Position Paper on Inclusive Educational Systems for the training update of sector operators. 2. Stimulation of the use of digital, through open, accessible and inclusive ""user-centred"" resources, enhancing the potential of technologies for teaching/learning (trainers will be invited to use the SELFIE tool as a preliminary self-assessment) 3. Promotion of networking, locally with Services, Associations, Families, and internationally, through the sharing and exchange of protocols and best practices, to face educational challenges and the digital transition.> THE TARGET GROUPS NEEDSThere are two target groups: staff engaged in training and socio-educational activities and young people in the 14-21 age group. In the previous section, we pointed out the professionalization and training needs of the staff engaged in inclusive education. Conversely, the needs of young people at risk of exclusion and marginalization are the following: 1. the reduction of obstacles that prevent people from contributing with their resources and abilities to social and democratic life, in different community contexts: school, vocational training, labour market, peer group. 2. the diversity enhancement, because diversity has not to be stigmatized and ""trapped” in special categories or classes, but accepted. SIMPL4ALL, reversing the paradigm of SPECIAL EDUCATION, claims that not the needs, but the PEOPLE are SPECIAL. We are all SPECIAL, nobody excluded. Everyone has the right to simply satisfy the need to learn, interact and feel good, according to their own capabilities. The project SIMPL4ALL promotes the active participation of the young, both in the research for the production of the materials and the piloting. In particular, the focus groups with advocates lead to building resources that respond to the needs and requirements of the end-users. A quick guide is devoted to Peers: young people, often with disabilities or learning difficulties, acting as informal mediators in the learning process. Furthermore, students will be the protagonist of VET Video Modeling in professions and trades. SIMPL4ALL will collect the end-users feedbacks (in terms of accessibility, usability, usefulness ...), thus contributing to the final implementation and product validation. Different needs and learning contexts require personalized and individualized tools. Therefore, the learning mediators' training focuses, more than on the product itself, on the use of simplified language in inclusive teaching/learning, as a METHOD which is easier to adapt and apply to different contexts and learner’s characteristics.<< Objectives >>> THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVESThe objectives to be achieved, through the activities of the project SIMPL4ALL, are:>> contributing to inclusive learning, based on the paradigms of the pedagogy of mediation (Vygotskij, Bruner, Feuerstein) and pedagogical activism (Dewey, Montessori, Decroly)>> promoting the digital transition, guaranteeing opportunities, inclusion, sustainable growth and resilience>> increasing the attractiveness of VET, introducing methodological innovation and new tools to facilitate learning ""so that no one is left behind"".This will happen through:a. the creation of accessible teaching tools and materials, suitable for the characteristics, methods and speed of learning of everyone, promoting the participation (according to the possibilities) and protagonism of the learners;b. the qualification and development of enabling skills in the 'inclusive learning mediators', even in non-formal contexts.c. the participation and advocacy of end-users in the construction of ""tailor-made"" teaching materials.SIMPL4ALL, in line with the CEDEFOP’s TEL-Toolkit (Toolbox to prevent early school leaving), and with the priorities set out in the VET (see webinar: Making excellence inclusive: towards a new Cedefop survey of VET teachers and trainers - Feb. 2021), specifically:- Promotes VET excellence, through the training of trainers in inclusive teaching (LTTA 1 and 2);- Supports learners, who are marginalized and at risk of school leaving, by creating inclusive and participatory learning environments (INVOLVEMENT OF BENEFICIARIES IN THE TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS, TOOLS SET UP AND PILOTING);- Enhances digital transition, a necessity imposed by Covid-19, but also a great resource for teaching/learning (THE PORTAL WITH TOOLKIT AND RESOURCES).<< Implementation >>During the SIMPL4ALL 30 months' project lifespan, the 8 Partners, each one with specific tasks and responsibilities depending on the technical characteristics and experience gained, will implement the following ACTIVITIES AND INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS:- Activation of focus groups with the final beneficiaries for the co-definition of educational paths starting from needs (self-advocacy as a tool for self-representation and self-determination)- IO1 Simplified language instruction Manual: the creation of an operating manual for the production and implementation of texts written in simplified language, suitable for the largest number of users- IO2 Pedagogical Toolkit: EtR EtU teaching materials for different types of students, mainly in the 14-21 age group: E-books, practical tips, examples of lessons with exercises- IO3 Pedagogical Mediation for inclusive education-instructions for use (with Quick Guides on the use of materials and tools for formal and non-formal learning mediators and a specific section on cooperative learning and peer mediation)- IO4 Realization of 6 video-modelling in the technical-professional sectors of interest (working in the office; working in the green; working in catering)- 2 LTTA events for the training of staff facilitators on simplified language and the use of the materials produced, which will be held at the University of Maribor in Slovenia and Mons in Wallonia, before the start of the piloting- Product testing in 6 Countries- Dissemination events, both in physical and virtual mode.The end-users of the products, as well as the wide network of the Associated Partners, will be directly involved in many research activities, preparatory to the realization of the Guides, as well as in piloting and dissemination.SIMPL4ALL, to support the synergic use of resources and the sharing of strategies within the Partnership and associated partners, will also implement:. An Action Plan. A Quality and monitoring and evaluation Plan, with tools and metrics for collecting and evaluating feedback. A Communication and Dissemination Plan, fostering a coordinated image and communication strategy, responsive to the needs and characteristics of the stakeholdersThe choice of channels and communication and dissemination plan responds to two strategic objectives:1. “SIMPL4ALL goes DIGITAL”, promotes teaching/learning materials made with new technologies, in compliance with the accessibility and usability standards of the Universal Design;2. “SIMPL4ALL goes GREEN”, through the digitization of materials, puts into practice the ""zero paper"" policy, minimizing paper waste and thus contributing to the responsible consumption of resources.<< Results >>At the end of the project, the following RESULTS AND IMPACT are expected:- Increased knowledge of the models to design inclusive learning, of the references to active pedagogy and mediation, of the tools and methods for the creation of texts in simplified language- >40 participants in self-advocacy groups in different countries for the co-definition of learning objectives and issues to be addressed- >/=20 process facilitators able to create texts in simplified language and use the materials and models proposed through the short-term joint transnational training- Free didactic material, written in an accessible format and simple language, in 6 European languages for end-users, downloadable from the project website- Quick guides on the method and materials produced, disseminated in the languages of the partnership and English, dedicated to the widest range of formal and non-formal learning mediators- Products testing, with the involvement of >/=250 users (including learners, teachers and informal mediators)- Dissemination events with an audience of>/= 450 participants at the European level, between physical and virtual events.The change from the starting situation to the one at the end of the project will be measured starting from the ""baseline"", consisting of the desk research on the educational systems in the partner countries and the strategies to respond to the so-called ""special educational needs"". Some stakeholders will be interviewed before and after the experimentation interventions, in the different territories.The qualitative and quantitative collected feedback will be used for the Sustainability Report, feeding the Final Evaluation of SIMPL4ALL."