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Author: Anna Christou

SOMRA – 3rd Newsletter

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SOMRA – Supporting meaningful Occupations for low-qualified Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum seekers using the Green Entrepreneurship Model is an Erasmus+ project that offers an innovative approach to tackle two major challenges of the 21st century, namely climate change and refugee crises, by engaging refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in meaningful occupations that transform them into environment role models with a sustainable impact in their new and previous home. Read more about what we have been up to in the third newsletter of the project.

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VideoTeach Kick-off in Schwerin, Germany

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With a two-day hybrid kick-off meeting in Schwerin and online, the VideoTeach partners initiated the project on March 1st and 2nd 2022. During the meeting, partners agreed on the next concrete steps, discussed the development of a competence profile in terms of content and expertise, collected ideas and discussed and agreed on organisational issues.

The project consortium will work together to create tools and resources to produce high-quality educational videos to promote wider use of online, blended and distance learning. Based on their individual skills, teachers will be supported and motivated to produce their own videos efficiently and in good quality and to use them as a supplement in their teaching.

VideoTeach is funded by the Erasmus+ programme and brings together nine partners from Finland, Spain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Turkey, Cyprus, Czechia, and Germany.

Read the Greek version below:

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Integrating Virtual and Augmented Reality in Higher Education Curricula

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VRinHE aims to: build the capacities of HE institutions and their staff, to integrate Virtual and Augmented Reality in teaching and learning, targeting key EU priorities.

The project will sustainably promote digital transformation of the HE sector, by providing relevant stakeholders with innovative methods, approaches, and guidelines to increase the participation rates, improve the quality of HE, and foster university learners’ digital, 21st century skills.

Specifically, the VRinHE project aims at:
1. Building the competences of academics, learning designers, and teaching staff in integrating VR/AR in the design and delivery of courses.
2. Developing a Toolkit, a training course, and a MOOC on integrating VR/AR in higher education.
3. Raising awareness on the need and value to integrate VR/AR in HE in close cooperation with all stakeholders involved, including universities, SMEs, policy makers.
4. Improving the supply of quality higher education opportunities for all.

The project’s main target groups are:
1. Policymakers and leadership teams
2. Learning designers and academics in HE
3. VR development experts and IT companies
4. HE students

Developing innovative video competencies for teachers of the Green Industry

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The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated the necessity of a digital transition in every level of the society, which has emerged another reality, in order to promote a digital society, first is it necessary to equip teachers with the necessary competences to fully exploit the potential of digital technologies in education, and adequately prepare learners to live and work in a digital society. On the other hand, during the last years, online videos have been growing in day-to-day use, placing themselves as the main daily used format on mobile phones, rising consumption by 100% per year and consuming more than 70% of internet traffic in 2020.

The VideoTeach project aims to develop educators’ digital competences and promote video education as the main tool for digital teaching.

The project also will work towards:
● promoting video education in rural areas, by providing rural teachers with competences and tools covering digital and video necessities.
● promoting video education in the green industry, supporting the development of methodologies, tools, and video contents in the specific industries of renewable energy.
● supporting rural teachers in the development of their professional career by facilitating the recognition of existing digital learning outcomes, providing structured training and more.

Digital Youth: Preparing Youth Workers for a Digital World

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According to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) Thematic Report on Human Capital in 2021, Spain, Cyprus, and Greece ranked below the EU average in terms of advanced skills and development. In the same index, Ireland, Greece, and Cyprus rank below the EU average in terms of internet user skills.

At the same time, the European Commission and relevant organisations’ call for structured activities and initiatives that will boost the digital skills of young people in Europe. Also, according to Eurostat, Young Europeans spend an increasing amount of their time-consuming digital media and use daily devices such as mobile phones, tablets, notebooks, laptops, and computers.

In this direction, the Digital Youth project aims to prepare youth workers to develop their skills and knowledge in order to be able to effectively engage in digital youth work.

The project will:

  • promote the importance of Digital Youth Work in the partner countries and Europe
  • build the skills of youth workers to use digital tools in youth work
  • develop quality resources for digital youth work
  • improve the overall quality of youth work conducted in the participating countries.

VAM*Rs: University Business Cooperation for Promoting Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Applications within Small and Medium-sized Manufacturing Companies

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Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Realities (VR/AR/MR) play an increasingly significant role in many areas of life and the economy, especially in the manufacturing industry. With the speed of technical developments and the mass of information, products, and services available, however, it is difficult to keep track of things. How can you find out quickly and reliably which VAM solutions are the most useful and target-oriented for your needs?

In the VAM Realities project, higher education institutions, companies, and business representatives from all over Europe join forces to provide answers to these questions. The project’s online platform will offer unique networking opportunities, Europe’s largest network of VR/AR/MR experts and a comprehensive showcase of related EU projects.

FMID – Film Making for Inclusion and Development

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Let us introduce you to our project “FMID – Film Making for Inclusion and Development”, which officially started its work in November 2021 and will be implemented until August 2023.

The project, led by the German Partner Jugendförderverein Parchim/Lübz e. V. brings together a group of expert partners from Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus.

The project will create a suite of video creation resources for young people and will support youth workers and educators in delivering video creation training through bespoke in-service training and a handbook. The project will also develop an e-learning portal.

In the framework of the project, two transnational training events will be organised in the form of an In-Service Training Programme for youth workers and educators and a Film-Making Masterclass for young people. In addition, each partner will be tasked with organising a Film Festival on a local level.

Despite our first consortium meeting taking place online due to COVID-19 restrictions, we are excited to finally be meeting in person next month in Schwerin, Germany.

The general objectives of the project are: 

1) To create a suite of video creation resources for young people

2) To support youth educators in delivering video creation training with the help of bespoke in-service training and handbook

3) To provide a series of virtual learning and collaborative environments for sharing project results, enabling education resources usage and gaining recognition for videos created by project participants

4) To provide a series of events for both young people and youth educators

The main goals are:

1) To train Youth Educators in Delivering the In-Service Training Programme During the Short-Term Joint Staff Training Event

2) Front-Line Youth and Community Educators Will Have Completed the In-service Training Programme and Upgraded Their Professional Competences in The Piloting Phase Of the first project result.

3) Young People, Including Marginalized Youth, Will Grow Their Digital and Media Literacy Levels by Using the Video Creation Resources and Approaches While Piloting The second project result.

4) Young People, With Special Emphasis On Marginalized Youth Will Complete the Transnational Film-Making Masterclass

BLUE TOURISM: Build a network of local advisors to put small tourism providers in watercourse regions on a more sustainable path

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Due to COVID-19 epidemic, the tourism industry has been hit extremely hard as restrictions to international travel have caused a decline of the tourism economy at least between 45 and 70% (OECD). Through this project, there is an opportunity to rethink tourism as a whole, by shifting more decisively from over tourism models to existing sustainable tourism models.
The aim of this project is to equip a network of future local advisors with the necessary competencies so they can support and advise small tourism providers in watercourse regions to be more sustainable and competitive, with a strategic focus on:

1. Sustainable Tourism and SDGs;
2 Ethics and Social Responsibility;
3. Natural and Cultural Heritage;
4. Competitiveness and Sustainable Local Business Development;
5. Innovation and Digital Transformation;
6. Networking and Local Partnerships;
7. Branding and Digital Marketing; and
8. Internationalisation Strategy.

The objectives of the project are to:

● Create a new competence profile for the tourism sector: the sustainable local tourism advisor
● Contribute to local sustainable tourism development through the capacity building of small tourism providers
● Promote less renowned watercourse touristic destinations, giving visibility to their sustainable and innovative practices in the tourism sector
● Contribute for local sustainable tourism practices and policies by increasing awareness and discussion on the challenges and opportunities regarding the potential of watercourse tourism and sustainability

Green VET Choices – Fighting climate change and fostering innovation by increasing interest in green VET professions through empowering digital storytelling

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Climate change concerns everyone and is a very real threat to global society, affecting millions of people and causing natural disasters all over the world. The Green VET Choices project joins this fight for a healthier planet by developing and implementing an innovative learning methodology to increase green skills and raise interest in green vocational education and training.

VET professions offer rich opportunities for individuals interested in green technologies, green entrepreneurship, green social business and related environmentally-conscious industries. These professions and career paths play a key role in the pursuit of a healthier environment and green growth in European economies. The Green VET Choices project sees its central objective

in developing a way to combine green VET with the fight against climate change by increasing the attractiveness and awareness of environmentally-friendly VET career options and fostering required green & digital skills and competences.