<< Objectives >>Project Objectives1. To ‘Break the Taboo’ and contribute to the discourse of Sex and Sexuality by educating Professional Caregivers to support the people with IDDs they work with2. To provide improvements to the Quality of Life of people with IDDs3. To increase VET Education opportunities for Caregivers4. To promote equality in education among all citizens and inclusion of vulnerable groups with disabilities5. To expand the EU VET providers’ portfolio<< Implementation >>SEX-ED.NEXT Project Activities:1. Project Management, Quality Assurance and Dissemination Activities2. Project Result VET Curriculum and Training Material on Sex and Sexuality Education delivery for People with IDDs, addressed to Professional Caregivers and VET Educators3. Kick-off Partner's Meeting in Greece4. Partner's Meeting in Cyprus5. Pilot Training-of-Trainers Activity in Cyprus6. Multiplier Event in Greece7. Multiplier Event in Cyprus<< Results >>SEX-ED.NEXT Project Results1. Project Management Handbook, Quality Assurance Handbook and Dissemination Handbook2. Learning Needs Survey for Caregivers and Corresponding National/Final Reports2. VET Curriculum and Training Material on Sex and Sexuality Education delivery for People with IDDs, addressed to Professional Caregivers and VET Educators3. Transnational Partner Meetings in Greece and Cyprus5. Pilot Training-of-Trainers Activity in Cyprus6. Multiplier Events in Greece and Cyprus

The Personalised Youth Work project combines the efforts of four organisations from the UK, Austria, Cyprus and Bulgaria. All partners are actively involved in the youth sector with particular focus on applying innovative and effective measures to enhance the quality of youth work and the well-being of young people. The decision to join forces comes as a natural response to the common challenges that the young people we are working with are facing today, is in line with our organisations’ pressing needs and lessons learnt. Globally, the number of young people not in education, employment or training is on the rise; according to the UN, it grew from 259 million in 2016, to 267 million in 2019, and is expected to hit 273 million in 2021. Moreover, COVID-19 pandemic and related lock-down measures have produced significant interruptions in young people’s lives and have put into question the transition to adulthood and autonomy. Despite the differences that exist with regard to the work we do to enhance young people’s employability at national level, there is a common trend valid for all our partner countries. First, there is no definitive targeted needs assessment process carried out by youth workers working specifically with young people seeking to enhance their employability. In addition, very often the work we deliver in this field is in joint cooperation with local or national authorities and follows a structured curriculum, which requires more or less the same content to be delivered to all end-users, irrespective of their specific profile and background. Last but not least, the pandemic has lead to more young people seeking support for enhancing their skills outside the formal education system. The above mentioned circumstances lead to our youth workers struggling to cater effectively for individual needs and aspirations and ensure that each young persons acquires the right set of competences.Our aim is to develop an innovative approach to be applied by youth workers in times of unprecedented circumstances. This will contribute to fostering quality and innovation in Youth Work with a particular focus on capacity building of youth workers. Our objectives are to design, pilot and disseminate bespoke methodology and toolbox, which will enable youth organisations to effectively assess young people’s needs, as well as to empower and increase their chance for sustainable employment. The direct target group are youth workers providing services to enhance employability and the end users are young people aged 16-24 seeking to acquire skills for better employment.What we want to achieve with this project is to adapt and apply the personalised learning approach in youth work. The innovative rationale for our initiative is to raise standards in youth work for employability by focusing the support and the learning process on the aptitudes and interests of young people in a structured and clearly defined manner (methodology). Second, personalised learning demands that we develop the competence and confidence of each young person through strategies that actively engage and stretch all young people, that creatively deploy youth workers and new technologies to extend learning opportunities, and that accommodate different paces and styles of learning (toolbox).We expect to produce the following results and effects:-PYW Methodology providing detailed guidance on how youth work in the field of boosting the employability of young people can be enhanced through the application of innovative practices and techniques. -PYW Toolbox containing a wealth of activities and techniques to be applied by youth workers depending on the needs, profile, background and aspirations of the targeted young people. This output will allow youth workers to co-create with their trainees and customise the training content in line with the individual learning goals.-More than 2000 stakeholders and youth organisations reached through a comprehensive dissemination campaign.-4 multiplier events (described in the relevant section).- YOUTH WORKERS•enhanced knowledge of applying innovative methods and techniques in youth work;•new competences to bring the learning process closer to individual needs and the current context;•enhanced skills to assess the specific needs of young people seeking to boost their employability;•enhanced professional development.-YOUNG PEOPLE•enhanced awareness of own aspirations and needs, as well as opportunities for further development and employment;•improved motivation for learning and development;•improved employability;- PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS:•direct involvement in transforming a key aspect of youth work;•improved quality of the services provided to young people.- YOUTH SECTOR:•better inclusion and employability of young people;•greater synergies across all areas of actions that address the concerns of young people, including synergies with the formal education and training.

The current COVID-19 crisis has greatly accelerated the need for modernisation and digital transformation of education and training systems across Europe. At the same time the pressure on teachers to master a number of new skills and accustom to online teaching, while at the same time deliver high quality inclusive education is tremendous. This creates a lot of preconditions for further increase of the otherwise high number of educators exposed to extreme stress and potential burnout, which is a chronic phenomenon that continues to be a main cause of teacher exodus in the 21st century (Lavian, 2012). Burnout prevalence varies according countries and occupations, but is estimated between 3-16% (Maslach et al., 2001) and for teachers was reported between 25-35% in Europe. A recent survey, conducted by Teachers Assurance UK, published in the Guardian, found that secondary school teachers rate themselves as more stressed than those in the primary sector. In 2019, the Syndicate of Education to PODKREPA, together with the Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski” and upon request from the Ministry of Education and Science, initiated a large research of the burnout effect on teachers in Bulgaria. The analysis offers a comprehensive insight into the factors that lead to burnout among Bulgarian teachers. The current project comes as a natural continuation of our efforts, moving towards finding a solution to a high on the agenda global issue through transnational cooperation aimed at developing a bespoke strategy to prevent teachers from burnout. Now, in times of unprecedented crisis, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, enhancing teacher resilience is more important than ever (S.Duffield & D.O’Hare, British Psychological Society). A survey conducted in March 2020 by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence asked more than 5,000 teachers about their emotional responses regarding COVID-19. The survey found that the five most frequent emotions teachers were feeling every day since the eruption of COVID-19 were anxious, fearful, worried, overwhelmed, and sad.Our project is aimed to design, develop and test a bespoke school teacher resilience toolkit to equip educators with efficient strategies on how to prevent and handle burnout, as well as foster mental and health well-being. We strongly believe that by supporting school teachers in managing stress levels at work we will contribute to strengthening the profile, recruitment and professional development of educators, but most of all to their retention. Our approach suggests that the change should start from inside-out, hence, the focus of our work will be on developing teachers’ own skills and competences to manage stress, thus also having a strong impact on pupils’ well-being. The target group are teachers at secondary level of education because of the intensity of challenges occurring during this stage, related to the specific profile of pupils at this age and the complexity of the curriculum. Also the pressure of teachers for high performance, related to preparing students for different final exams and transition to next education levels and labour market is an additional factor that causes stress. The indirect target group are students at secondary level, as we believe that reducing the levels of stress among teachers will lead to increased quality of teaching and eventually - high attainment levels among pupils.The approach we suggest, which is based on all partners’ unique expertise (hence a transnational cooperation is required), envisages the following core areas to be covered: self-observation and analysis; nurturing one’s own well-being in times of global crisis; managing online relationships with parents, pupils and peers; fostering creativity for high quality online and blended learning; managing effectively the shift from face-to-face to online teaching.The Teacher Resilience Toolkit will contain practical activities that teachers could undertake on a daily basis in order to enhance their own resilience and digital competences. Our consortium is composed of 4 organisations from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Austria and Italy, i.e. a social partner, a consultancy, a training provider and a school.The project will be delivered across 18 months and our methodology is aimed at developing, testing and evaluating the results in a timely and efficient manner to allow for immediate exploitation of the core output. We will also organise 4 multiplier events to further support our dissemination efforts.What we aim to achieve at TARGET GROUP level is:*enhanced competences for self-observation and analysis;*more responsibility towards one’s own well-being thus supporting teachers’ efficient professional development; *a better and more effective relationship between teachers, parents, peers, students and the wider society; *enhanced digital skills and proactive behaviour; *introducing creativity in all aspects of the school life.

"NextGen4SC (Next Generation for Supply-Chain) forms a project aiming to strengthen the professional profile of young people willing to work in the supply chain sector, supporting them by providing tools & methods (like open education & innovative digital practices) to develop such high-quality skills & competences, promoting this way the quality youth work. Two were the agents motivated this consortium’ synthesis to plan & develop such project: 1) the high rates of Youth unemployment in EU-28l according to Eurostat (March 2018: 1st place for Greece: 43,2% , 3rd place for Italy with 31,9% & 5th place for Cyprus with 22,4%) and 2) the fact that the supply-chain sector claims for well-trained young professionals to carry out positions of responsibility; It seems to appear a great demand of supply-chain experts’ personnel, highly qualified & well prepared by means that achieving excellence in logistics is vital for EU-competitiveness. Even there is a great offer of senior-level staff with supply-chain skills & competencies, in contrary there is a great demand by businesses to find entry- level experts, mostly young. Based in current statistics, reviews & analysis, there are several indications that countries can reach higher levels of logistics competences than their economic output per capita predicts. Considering the stated challenges, NextGen4SC consortium, defined its target groups as following: 1) Generation Z, 2) Employers,3) Youth stakeholders, 4)Company stakeholders, 5)Economy (local, regional, national & European) stakeholders. Within firms, skills need to be nurtured & developed through improved provision of training. There is need for the development & enhancement of career paths for lower skilled young workers. To meet the demand for skilled workers, the relatively poor image of the supply-chain sector needs to be improved. Motivated by this, the consortium aims to increase the number of qualified & certified specialists to work in supply-chain sector around Europe as well as to support low-skilled unemployed young people to upgrade their skills, providing them with better job placement opportunities. The fundamental element of the "" NextGen4SC"" project is the aim to create a “Win-to-Win” background for youth working in the supply chain market, supporting them & empowering their involvement & competitiveness to the job sector, facilitating their preparation as the next generation of the supply Chain staff, to win the employment bet. The innovative character of this project is that is addressed not only to youth workers. The other interesting & innovative aspect is that is pursued the establishment of e-incubators, which using the digital technologies trends, which will lead to new relationships between partners & local entrepreneurial ecosystems, regional authorities & the labour market. All those, will lend their support to mentor NextGen4SC beneficiaries as either entrepreneurs or youth workers, to gain the enhanced skills & competences demanded by a 21st Century Supply-chain market. NextGen4SC focus to create this winning situation through activities as: 1)Encompassing the use of technology in order to create a training methodology, addressed to Generation Z, to prepare a successful training approach for Junior-Level supply-chain staff, that will best service the interests of their workplace.2) Following a blended-training method, engaging the participants through exercises, role play, case study discussions and team work presentations, the aims is to develop a train-the-trainer training curriculum to prepare the Gen Z entry level new entrants to the Supply Chain sector. 3) Creating an open & free for access online platform operating as Network/ Information Hub, will enable access to a plethora of targeted information focused in supply-chain addressed both youth & employers. Amongst the general outcomes of the project are considered the improvement of the job-matching procedure within Youth & Business in Europe, the contribution to the decrease of Youth Unemployment in EU-level, the facilitation of information finding (+access), the facilitation of creating links between youth-business world.The impact of NextGen4SC project is not limited to the partnership level, but is wider as project’s results are expected to foster not only the local business development but generally the European as well as the cooperation transnationally. The society will also have benefits as the younger people will contribute to enhance the skilled labor force which correspond better to the labor market needs & will have the potential to strengthen the social inclusion & improve equal work opportunities."

Digital innovation continues to change every business. Therefore businesses are facing the challenge to stay ahead of the market, particularly in Europe with growing market tensions from America and Asia. This is only possible when they understand threats and opportunities which come with a fast changing business environment. To create smarter, more efficient businesses is therefore the goal for all enterprises and employees play a crucial part in the success of every business. Today, it’s often argued that flexibility helps organisations get more from their employees and teams. Many businesses now offer flexible working to help employees in this respect in their work/life balance; while some even go much further, implementing ‘‘AGILE WORKING’’ practices to enable all staff to work wherever and whenever they want, with the help of the latest technologies. Businesses and employees need to get prepared for these digital future work environments, but according to the European Commission (Digital Education Plan, Action 2 SELFIE Tool, 2018) only 20-25% of students are taught by teachers who are confident with technology use. Only with a strategic foresight in education it will be possible to create an impact on EU’s education and training systems so that they are better aligned to the needs of and opportunities offered by the labour market, closer link businesses and the community aiming at future skills’ gaps and mismatches be avoided. Through appropriate measures, educational stakeholders can proactively plan for and lead the necessary change.The project therefore aims to ANALYSE MISSING DIGITAL SKILLS of trainers and beneficiaries with the help of SELFIE which is based on the Framework for Digitally competent educational organisations (Digcomporg) developed by the European Commission. Deriving from this, the project consortium will develop a FUTURE WORK MANUAL AND TOOLBOX FOR TRAINERS which will include exercises based on the needs’ results, since only skilled trainers are able to equip (future) employees with competences they need for a digital based working environment. It will also hold implementation recommendations to better address future work skills. As a next step, to ensure an appropriate access to the future work skills for beneficiaries (defined as young adult learners from VET providers and higher educational institutions aged 16-25), the project consortium will develop a FUTURE WORK SKILLSAPP - a mobile app for this learner groups, holding also a CASE BOX FOR BENEFICIARIES with innovative exercises and learning activities. All of these will be validated in pilot activities with trainers (in a C training activity) and in work-based learning when implementing lessons learnt in their work with their learners..To sum up, the strategic partnership intends to produce outcomes, which benefit a more modern, dynamic, committed and professional environment inside organisations so that trainers get prepared to integrate new methods into daily teaching and working activities, which ultimately will benefit our beneficiaries to be equipped with future work skills as well as businesses to ensure they receive employees prepared for new work environments. The following intellectual outputs will be produced:- FUTURE WORK manual and toolbox for trainers (including exercises based on needs results and implementation recommendations to better address future work skills). - FUTURE WORK SKILLS App - a mobile app for beneficiaries (based on needs results) with case box for beneficiaries (learning activities for them).A number of dissemination events will support the consortium in their development and implementation work. Associated Partners will contribute with representatives of target audience to high quality results.