"<< Background >>In words of the EC Vice-President for Promoting European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, “The digital transition profoundly changes the way we live, study and work. We must equip people with the right skills to master this transition and make the most out of the opportunities the future brings”.Technology has been integrated into our daily lives, and its rapid evolution has not gone hand in hand with an increase in the skills and abilities of users. Some data supports these facts: while 86% of Europeans aged 16-74 used the Internet regularly , 42% still lack the minimum basic digital skills .Thus, currently the digital divide is more related to the lack of skills and abilities for an adequate and critical use of technologies than to the difficulty of access to them. Efforts are necessary to improve the level of digital literacy of all people, understood as the ability to relate to today's society: find a job, order takeout, seek an answer to a question, or carry out negotiations with our bank. Similarly, artificial intelligence (AI) literacy also becomes increasingly necessary, as AI systems become more integrated into our daily lives.The term AI is highly influenced by the imaginary generated by science fiction, and is linked to robots or virtual assistants, minimizing its real scope of expansion at all levels, and thus amplifying the risks and dangers derived from it. The manipulation of information and, therefore, of society, the invasion of privacy, or discrimination and bias issues are some of these risks.The EU itself, in its White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, focuses on the need to prioritize the development of specific skills, so that European citizens can ""begin to assume a real awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of AI, more beyond speculation and prejudice"". It is essential that the critical capacity of citizens is fostered, to strengthen them in their interaction with AI. The answer to these needs that we propose is the development of the ArIN project, focused on responding to this lack of specific training aimed at adult AI literacy, especially at those with less qualification and/or digital skills. The project is based on the concept of AI literacy as the capacity of a person to understand what AI is, how it can benefit him/her, how AI systems work, and, most importantly, how to adequately engage and interact with AI.<< Objectives >>The project initiative arises in an environment highly influenced by technology and digitization that, in the last year, has taken off as a result of the mobility restrictions imposed by the pandemic situation. Lockdowns have occurred in most European countries, for weeks or even months, forcing an unwanted isolation that has led most European adults to increase the use of technologies.In this context, training deficiencies have become even more evident, which to a large extent affect all facets of life in a transversal way when it comes to the use and interaction of artificial intelligence.Thus, this project's main objective is to improve the level of competences of European adults and to make them literate in Artificial Intelligence.Other objectives that are raised are:- To contribute to create an all-inclusive ecosystem where all European adults count on the basic skills needed to pursue further learning to better adapt to a changing world where AI will be prevalent.- To innovate in the field of adult education by closing the gap about knowledge, skills and competences on a forward-looking field, such as Artificial Intelligence is.- To empower adults for a critical and secure use of AI systems, increasing their levels of literacy and awareness of AI risks and dangers.- To seize the potential of ICT and game-based education, to design engaging and motivating training resources addressing adult audiences.- To promote digital inclusion and digital active citizenship for European adults, especially those with fewer opportunities.- To increase the capacity and readiness of the adult trainers and organizations to offer up-to-date training opportunities and programmes addressing the topic of AI literacy.- To provide a new upskilling pathway in the field of AI literacy, offering a training programme based on a leveled system, in which lower qualified adults can progress towards higher levels of AI competences.<< Implementation >>The project has been designed so that the activities to be implemented adequately include the 5 main phases: planning, preparation, implementation, dissemination, and evaluation.The planning phase has been carried out prior to the presentation of this project proposal. It has included research, needs analysis and the joint design of its objectives, expected results and timing.The preparation phase includes all the activities necessary for the correct implementation of the project and has to do with the implementation of the action protocols, the formalization of internal and external agreements, the establishment of collaboration and communication instruments, the agreement about the exact dates for the meetings of coordination and follow-up, and the launching of the actions oriented to guarantee the sustainability of the results in the medium and long term. Includes a set of activities, such as:- Contratualization, performance protocol agreements and risk management plan.- Partnership building activities: organization of the Steering Committee and Technical Committee.- Financial and administrative reporting guidelines and tools.- Preparing collaboration and communication tools: Asana-Google Drive-Zoom.- Formalization of agreements with associated partners and other collaborators.The implementation phase has been designed to lead to the development of the main result: the R1 - Educational Programme in AI Literacy. This phase is structured according to the classical workflow of projects´ development: Research, Development, Testing, and Improvement; following working scheme:A1.- Definition of the training path (RESEARCH – STAGE 1) A2.- Contents´ development (DEVELOPMENT – STAGE 2)A3.- Online platform programming and development (DEVELOPMENT – STAGE 2)A4.- Translation of the prototype into partners languages (DEVELOPMENT – STAGE 2)A5.- Testing of the Educational Programme in each country (TESTING – STAGE 3)A6.- Analysis of the training testing results, implementation of suggestions and improvements (IMPROVEMENT – STAGE 4)The evaluation stage includes a set of activities aimed at supporting partners monitoring that the planned objectives are achieved, resources properly spent, and activities successfully implemented. This is transversal stage, covering all the project lifetime. The activities and sub-activities included under this category are:- Elaboration of the QMP and evaluation tools.- Evaluation reporting (each 6 months)- Regular checking of milestones and indicators.Finally, another key and transversal stage for the proper implementation has to do with the dissemination and exploitation of the project and its results. This phase includes the following activities:- Creation of the dissemination toolkit (logo, leaflet, website, social media profiles…)- Social media campaign.- Communication and dissemination activities: project consortium joint actions.- National communication and dissemination activities – including multiplier events.- Dissemination activities reporting.<< Results >>The ArIN project focuses in the development of one complete Educational Programme on Artificial Intelligence Literacy (PR1). The development of this output will comprise a set of activities that, in 4 main stages (research, development, testing, improvement) will allow the project partners to achieve the planned result. The Educational Programme will be available in an online platform, and formed of:1.Training modules created following andragogy principles, for self-learning: oAdults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.oExperience (including mistakes) provides the basis for the learning activities.oAdults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance and impact to their job or personal life.oAdult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented . 2.Digital Breakouts to challenge learners applying acquired knowledge and skills. Those are conceived as evaluation tools.3.Guide and Handouts for adult trainers, for physical or mixed training and breakouts preparation, including other possible engaging activities in the training topics.Thus, the PR1 (Educational Programme) comprises a set of outputs that, although constituting a comprehensive resource for the AI Literacy of adult learners, can be independently and interdependently used under other training programmes or initiatives in the field of digital competences and skills education.In addition to this main project result, some other tangible outputs will be produced as consequence of the activities implementation. We can outline the following:Results and deliverables produced in the preparation stage:D1 – Partners contracts.D2 - Communication plan and tools.D3- Project RoadMap.D4 - Risk management and performance protocol. D5- Financial and administrative management protocol.D6 - IPRA – Intellectual Property Rights Agreement.D7 – Project Management Dossier.D8 – Collaboration and communication tools (internal platforms and tools)D9 – Meetings´ dossiers.D10 – Sustainability Action Plan. Results and deliverables produced in the monitoring and evaluation stage:D11- Quality Management Plan and tools.D12 - Evaluation reports (4): After each six months, partners will evaluate the project quality (management, cooperation and communication among partners, quality and consistence of project results so far, etc.). The results of the evaluation process will be collected in a report by the evaluation leader and shared with all partners to make improvement decisions. The final evaluation report will be relevant also to guide the final exploitation strategy.D13 – Monitoring matrix for the verification of milestones and indicators achievement.Results and deliverables produced in the dissemination and exploitation stage:D14 – Dissemination Action Plan, including updated calendar and reporting guidelines and templates.D15 – Dissemination Toolkit – logo, templates for documents/communications, leaflet, website, profiles on social media…)D16 – Dissemination reports (4): Each six months, partners will report all the dissemination activities carried out so far describing the kind of activity, number of people involved, results, etc. The report will be completed with pictures, lists of attendance and other evidence.D17 – Multiplier Events reports."