MYComm aims to contribute to a more inclusive society in Europe by strengthening the capacity and the role of youth organisations that target migrant and refugees, through communications and audio-visual skills training, social networking and mutual learning that connects such organisations at European level and promotes collective advocacy.
Specifically, it will strengthen the institutionalism and visibility of youth organisations targeting migrant and refugees when it comes to their role in enhancing intercultural dialogue for tolerance, mutual understanding and integration; it will provide youth organisations targeting migrant and refugees with training opportunities for communications and audio-visual competencies and for public policy advocacy; sensitize civil society on youth migrant and refugee struggles and successes, through audio-visual production, narrative techniques and awareness raising for migrant social inclusion; and reinforce a sustainable EU network of youth organisations committed to migrants and refugees which can serve as a motor for public advocacy at local, nation and EU level.
With the ocean pollution rapidly increasing and affecting marine life, a strong need emerges: to raise awareness about environmental and climate change challenges and develop sustainability and green skills from a very young age. This is the main aim of the RoboAquaria project, which focuses on the protection of marine environments by integrating Educational Robotics into the classroom and building teachers’ competences to use them. The project will develop a Methodological Framework for the Pilots, Guidelines for the Teachers, and validation, a RoboAquaria Toolkits and Lesson Topics and an E-Learning Toolkit and (OERs) Lesson Plans.
DD@S strives to move beyond mere acknowledgement of diversity and focuses on how the classrooms can operate harmoniously and challenge the notion of ‘otherness’ from within the educational structure. It ultimately offers practical tools and educational material to ensure that children have equal opportunities not only for education, but to foster friendships, a sense of belonging in their communities, as well as reshape our future society.
This month’s training focused on bringing teachers from Belgium, Greece, Italy and Cyprus to an open transnational dialogue on how to best combat prejudice and inequality in their classrooms. With the support of the partners, EhB – Erasmushogeschool Brussel, Centro per lo sviluppo creativo Danilo Dolci, CARDET, IISS Einaudi Pareto Palermo, University of Nicosia, the Interorthodox Centre of the Greek Church and Symplexis, the 2-day training was held on the 9th and 10th of May, in Athens. It hosted over 50 teachers who shared their real-life experiences, perspectives, approaches and examples of good practices in a process that enabled them to not only learn from the presenters, but from each other too.
The keynote speeches covered the importance of teaching and discussing controversial issues at school, as well as delved into ways of enhancing a democratic dialogue in the classroom. Separate modules were presented to address sensitive and controversial issues such as politics, religion, gender and vulnerable groups. On this occasion, the secondary school teachers also participated in the training workshops to get hands-on experience with each separate module. Their professional feedback on the proposed practices and tools proved invaluable in further enhancing the project’s toolkit and creating a new teachers’ training course.
DD@S is part of the ongoing and diverse work CARDET is doing to empower teachers and make a tangible contribution to the educational system to the benefit of students. The 2-day training consolidated the efforts to provide an efficient inclusive education framework, which without a doubt, will have a positive long-term effect on challenging discrimination in school communities. For more information about the project, to access its resources and stay in the loop for upcoming events and actions, please visit DD@S website.
ACT-INCLUSIVE aims to empower students with disabilities and their Allies in the mainstream school communities (classmates, teachers, school staff, etc.) by providing them with the right tools and knowledge to become Actors of Change towards Inclusive Education and to bring change in their learning and future working environments.
This project will promote social inclusion and diversity in the field of school education, favouring the creation of more inclusive learning environments fostering equity and equality. The project – through awareness-raising formal, non-formal, and informal education activities – will address the barriers faced by pupils with disabilities in learning in a fully inclusive educational environment by facilitating a change in the knowledge, attitude, and behaviour in the whole school community.
SAFE is an Erasmus+ project that aims to enhance the capacity of seniors (65+) to detect fake news on the internet, by helping them develop their media literacy and critical thinking skills.
LEARN – Learning Skills for Refugees and Immigrants with low or no educational background is an initiative that seeks to assist refugees and migrants at the beginning of their educational journey in their new country of residence. This will enable them to pursue a career so that they can be self-sufficient and equally integrated into society. During the project’s lifecycle, the partners are committed to working on the development of free resources to facilitate the above, which will be accessible through the project’s website.
INCLUDE project puts forward a comprehensive program, involving research, direct action and the development of learning resources, to educate and support coaches, executives and staff of sport academies working with young athletes (12-18 years old) so that they can actively contribute in tackling discrimination in youth sports.
INCLUDE focuses on promoting inclusion and diversity by taking concrete action to tackle existing barriers linked to discrimination in the field of youth sport. Additionally, its scope, proposed actions and deliverable will make a meaningful contribution to an array of the priorities set by the Erasmus+ programme in the field of sport. Namely, the project will work towards combating violence and tackling racism, discrimination and intolerance in sport and to promote integrity and values in sport by helping improve good governance in sport and promoting the positive values of sport.
However, amidst this general sense of loss, young communities across Europe have once again proven their resilience and ability to create and develop even at times of despair. Young people have gathered to support their communities through actions of social solidarity, something that is now needed more than ever.
Such young people have been identified and supported through our project REBUILD, in order to facilitate youth civic participation and create more networking and capacity building opportunities. REBUILDers from Europe who took part in the project, finally met at the International YouthNet Forum in Brussels last week. The Forum provided for a safe space for young people to meet and share their experiences from the 25 local initiatives that have been implemented in Cyprus, Spain, Martinique, Italy, Greece and Lithuania. The winning initiatives from each country also had the chance to present their actions at the European Parliament and make their initiatives visible to an even wider audience.
The youth groups from Cyprus that have been an integral part of REBUILD are Pel Art Project, Zero Food Waste Cyprus and 71 Scouts.
Find out more about REBUILD here and discover the 25 youth initiatives from across Europe.
The project is fully in line with the priority “Developing STEM/STEAM in higher education, in particular women participation in STEM” as its aim is to empower and inspire women to engage in STEAM, with the use of hands-on, digital and non-digital STEAM activities and tools. Students (with emphasis on women) will participate in a comprehensive mentorship program that will help them enhance their confidence and self-esteem towards STEAM, motivating them to consider engaging with STEAM in the future. STEAM4LIFE will be implemented in HE Institutions and will help to promote the participation of women in STEAM. Research indicates that there is only a small percentage of women consisting the workforce in science, technology, engineering, math, and arts (STEAM) and men vastly outnumber women majoring in most STEM fields. Thus, through the Guidance and Mentoring Programme implementation and the collaboration among Industry and HE, students’ confidence and self-esteem will be improved, and there will be efforts by industry leaders too (especially women) to encourage females to also consider a relevant career in the future.
The project aims to develop new methods and resources for including gifted people in STEAM education, taking into account their educational needs and talent development. Majority of research shows that gifted students need specialised educational methods, both to include them in educational activities and to develop their talents. Experts say that if the educational needs of talented individuals are met, they will be able to succeed in school disciplines at the highest level and become a productive part of society. The project will develop a specific educational method and learning resources to help a specific group of learners engage in teaching and learning through STEAM activities. The ‘design by learning’ approach can provide gifted students with the opportunity to engage in educational activities in which they can transform their subject knowledge into creative educational products. Moreover, learning about the ‘design by learning’ approach and the toolkit for creating digital and virtual applications enables teachers to develop pedagogical competences for teaching activities where students learn and design their knowledge through digital and augmented reality applications.
