Too many people in Europe lack basic life skills (see, eg the PIAAC results of the OECD). It could be literacy, numeracy or digital skills, but also health capabilities, financial literacy etc. They often lack the know-how to access social services, proper health care that goes beyond urgencies, and democratic participation. Refugees need to learn the host language, but also acquire the knowledge on how to make a home in their new countries. Additionally, too many of the native population of Europe respond aggressively to refugees through xenophobic and violent actions. All of these target groups can benefit from a life skills approach. The life skills approach builds the curriculum around the learner and takes their needs in to account: it combines basic skills with health, financial literacy and many other aspects that enable the learners to manage their lives successfully. This project brought together partners from Denmark (national level), Belgium (European level), the UK (national level), Greece (regional/local level) and Slovenia (national) in order to improve basic skills provision by explaining, further developing and up-scaling the life skills approach. The work was first based on the experiences of the partners but then further developed through surveys, interviews, good practice collections and further analysis. The project had the following objectives, which it has all fulfilled:• Improve life skills provision in Europe• Provide tools and recommendations that can be used for and with the three target groups • Develop an overarching framework and modules that are transferable across Europe• Support people from all target groups to access learning and other services; increase their participation in a democratic society and develop greater intercultural understandingThe project targeted adult education providers and networks through the multiplier events but also policy-makers and stakeholders working in other educational sectors and in life skills areas (e.g. health, social issues etc.). The project has produced several concrete outcomes:Output 1 consists of a thorough report including a glossary based on a survey among adult education organisations and desk research, a collection of good practices of life skills initiatives across Europe and a collection of educational tools. A leaflet was made to communicate the concept of life skills short and clear. The leaflet has been translated into Greek, Danish, Slovenian and French. The summary of the report is also available in Danish, French, Slovenian and Greek.Output 2 consists of a generic learning framework for life skills provision, that was tested in the participating countries. The framework is available in English, Danish, French, Slovenian and Greek.Output 3 consists of an awareness raising and strategy toolkit aiming at both education providers and decision makers (English, Danish, French, Slovenian, Greek).Three inspiring multiplier events were held, two in Brussels and one in Patras, Greece. Given the fact that the projects outputs are available online (see https://eaea.org/project/life-skills-for-europe-lse/) and are acting as a continuing source of inspiration is ensured that the project will have more of mid-long, long-term impact on policies that is hard to be measured at that point. Partners informed their colleagues about the work that has been done on life skills, approaches to life skills and they acknowledged the life skills approach as very promising for vulnerable groups of adults, especially those with less experiences in learning.The project deliverables offer learners and providers inspiring tools to use while they provide to policy makers and stakeholder with a chance to understand better the LSE approach and its benefits. Based on those deliverables the Life Skills Approach will impact the work of the above mentioned target groups. The increased knowledge on the field of Life Skills that LSE offers will lead to a more prominent position of the approach within the area of adult education, especially when it comes to disadvantaged groups of learners.As pointed out earlier, the partners have implemented the results on their levels and will continue to disseminate the results. There are talks ongoing (in 2019) about cooperations with other sectors on how the life skills approach could be shared and further implemented. The annual theme of the EAEA in 2019, life skills and participation, will mean that there will be a Grundtvig Award on the topic of Life Skills, a conference and statement of the EAEA (in close cooperation with DAEA). The further impact is therefore already assured - it clearly demonstrated that the results of this project are being and will be mainstreamed and up-scaled.

Our project is inspired by two observations, shared by most European education policy documents and relevant studies. Firstly, there is a clear need to increase participation in adult education across Europe; and secondly, new ways of sharing best practices among European adult educators must be found. We want to address this need in an innovative way: through the medium of videos. We will produce professional high-quality videos on adult learning that target adult educators, general public and policy makers. A video aimed at the adult educators will tell the story of an adult educator and offer practical ideas and share good practices for professional development for European adult educators. The video for the general public and policy makers tells the positive growth story of an adult learner, inspires to learn and freshens the image of adult education and furthers knowledge about its benefits. The videos will be produced in five partner countries with partners experienced in video production: Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Portugal. The sixth partner, European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA), will lead the dissemination activities of the project.HD video are an effective, time-economical medium speaking to both people’s intellect and emotions. For example, showing good educational practices instead of writing about them is much more effective. Another example: a European citizen is much more likely to be inspired into adult education through the filmed story about a fellow learner than a brochure on learning benefits. Also, videos reach that segment of the population who, for various reasons, do not like to engage with written text. This includes for example special learners such as dyslexics. In other words videos fulfil accessibility criteria better than text. Our project would pioneer and pilot cross-European video production in the adult education sector.Production team, consisting of a camera man, sound operator and a journalist, will travel to each selected location and shoot material based on the research and script developed by the partners. After shooting the material will be edited and post-produced by the production team. The videos are disseminated as an open educational resource in adult education media (LLinE, website of EAEA, with social media sharing options), Erasmus + dissemination platform, and potentially in European national television channels. In adult education media the videos will be complemented by written analysis of the methods and practices filmed, with the possibility to comment and discuss the content online. This analysis, written by education experts and scholars, is, on its part, a bridge between education research and practice. This project will produce innovative adult education promotional material for the use of adult educators and adult education advocators. It thus aims at bringing positive and long lasting effects to the adult education professionals to support their work and also bring adult education closer to the general public in an understandable and easy-access form. The videos produced will be integrated into project partners’ existing communications and they will be made available for different advocates of adult education throughout Europe. By introducing a variety of European examples of adult education issues the project outcomes, the videos, can be utilized in countries with different adult education history and perspectives. The videos produced in this programme will serve as advocacy and training tools for many European organisations. Through the dissemination networks of EAEA (an umbrella organization for 116 adult education organisations in Europe) the videos will reach the main European adult education organisations and policy-makers on education. High quality videos will contribute also to the profile of smaller adult education organisations that wouldn’t have the resources to produce such videos themselves but can exploit the videos in their own work.

STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLSStrategy To Raise Awareness and Improve, Generalize and Help Tackling European Needs for BASIC SKILLSImproving the accessibility of learning opportunities for adults, especially for low qualified employees and long term unemployed, with a view to training needs of workplace basic skills is one of the core areas of the European education policy. In the past a lot of projects in the EU Lifelong Learning Programme have developed different kinds of instruments and material encouraging the definition and implementation of new courses and curricula, teacher training and educational material for promoting approaches to employers and employees. Nevertheless there is a lack of full and systematic implementation. From these researches initiated in recent years, partners have learnt from the importance of the combination of factors in order to properly develop basic skills training. They are convinced that only the interaction of some influencing, successful factors could result into real improvements in basic skills for work.The innovative approach of the STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS project will be the systemic view of all these successful indicators. Only taking into account many different aspects to strengthen basic skills trainings for adults will be successful and sustainable: What are successful environments, legal conditions, something like “vocational training cultures”, supportive collective agreements or agreements between the social partners etc. to provide work related basic skills trainings and make it acceptable or profitable for employers to join in those measures.But those enabling framework are not automatically successful without considering other indicators like the special pedagogical and educational training concepts, the access pathways to employers and employees, the professionalisation of counsellors and trainers, the quality assurance and evaluation of courses being offered, the involvement of all relevant actors in the field of work related basic education and the networking on regional and local level and so on. The STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS project offers a multiperspective view and pools the successful indicators in a comprehensive strategy to effectively promote work related basic skills training for adults.Based on these observations, 6 organizations from Austria, France, Germany, Norway, UK and Romania, gathered together in order to develop the concept and methodologies at stake, and do adapt this model in their countries, approaching it through implementation of 6 pilot projects focusing on 2 of the success indicators defined in previously.In order to realize this, the project can rely on a solid partnership made of organizations which are expert VET providers in the field of work-based training, large-scale lifelong learning promotion bodies, and academic institutions, which all focus on the developement of lifelong learning access to low-qualified adults. These partners have a very good knowledge of the topics and target beneficiaries involved and can rely on their long experience in European cooperation to successfully develop their common proposition. The STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS project expects the following results:1) STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS Set of indicators (success indicators for implementing work related basic skills training for low qualified workers and unemployed) (IO1)2) STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS Synthesis of Country reports (IO2)3) STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS Experimental phase / country pilots (IO3)4) STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS European roadmap (IO4), Policy recommendations/guidelines STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS project intends to have a large impact especially considering the strong interest shared by the consortium members and their abilities to reach a large audience, either at level of education and training actors, policy makers and final beneficiaries which can be educational training entities, decision makers and financers, companies, intermediaries or trade unions. The project work program strongly supports the large impact on beneficiaries:- Awareness raising to the situations of low-access and dangerous low-mastering ofbasic skills in EU and highlinght of the success indicators developed;- Development of STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS adapted pilots in 6 countries;- Valorization of the win-win STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS methodologies to efficiently and successfuly implement basic skills training activities;- Creation of a large strong network of STRAIGHTEN BASIC SKILLS promoters at EU level.

UP-AEPRO (https://eaea.org/project/up-aepro/?pid=11709) aimed to address the constant need and interest of adult education (AE) trainers and staff to learn more about European developments in adult education and other countries’ systems and innovation. After more than 2 years, the project has effectively contributed to deepen the knowledge and foster the discussion about a recently launched European strategy in adult education: the Upskilling Pathways initiative (UP), which happened through the whole project and culminated with the project IO6 - The Advocacy Toolkit and its final conference/ multiplier event. The initiative, which approved by the European Council in December 2016 within the New Skills Agenda, aimed to tackle the need for basic skills and qualification in Europe through 3 steps: skills assessment; tailored-made learning offer; and validation and recognition of the skills acquired. After 4 years of implementation, the consortium members believe they have managed to contribute for its interim evaluation. The choice of the Upskilling Pathways initiative is due to an advocacy need, because AE providers and organisations (like the partner organisations) have the interest in knowing more about it. Thanks to UP-AEPRO, AE organisations and providers are now more capable in what concerns our advocacy skills and we feel empowered in being involved in the initiative implementation. The project activities managed to involve more than 60 different organisations, in different project phases. The initiative’s three steps will also provided the teams with the opportunity of an enriching deepening and exchange about their organisations’ and members states’ practices. Participants used from each other´s innovations and knowledge and thus the aim of a better professionalisation and quality of adult education staff will be reached. Thus, the project had the following objectives, which were met: - Increase the knowledge about the Upskilling Pathways initiative and other Lifelong Learning policies at the European level - Allow the exchange of innovation across Europe on the Upskilling Pathways initiative related topics - Improve quality, professionalisation and capacity building of AE staff and providers - Support UP-AEPRO learners and partners to develop online learning and introduce ICT tools into their daily work (this was especially useful with the boom of distance learning initiatives during the pandemic) - Increase the intercultural skills of AE trainers and staff - Strengthen the cooperation with peers and policy-makers in their countries and in Europe - Improve the UP initiative implementation at different level by enabling AE trainers and staff (and the organisations for which they work) to be involved The project results were the following: - An online course on the Upskilling Pathways initiative including four innovative modules on the following topics: Policy overview and European Advocacy (IO1), Skills assessment (IO2), Tailored-made offer (IO3) and Validation and recognition (IO4); - Five peer learning sessions (IO5) organised by the learners themselves with the support of the UP-AEPRO partners; - An advocacy toolkit (IO6) - A transnational learning activity (C1-2) - A final conference (ME1) The benefits of the project are already very visible. Thanks to extended and developed competences of educators, the learning provision is now more effective, meaningful and inclusive for all learners. After learning from each other's systems and innovation, trainers and staff are now able to improve their own practice and methodologies, which is fostering the supply of high quality learning opportunities tailored to their needs (low-skilled or low-qualified adults and the UP initiative potential users in particular). More coherent and grass-rooted education policies obtained through the engagement of trainers and staff into the UP initiative implementation, lead to an increase of participation (especially of disadvantaged learners) and the reaching of the ET2020 goals. An enhanced technical and ICT skills of trainers was both inspiring for them, enriching for their future learners and very valuable for the project sustainability. The fact that 2020 was the year where all the teaching/ learning methods were transformed due to the pandemic, made more visible the efficiency of our distance learning UP-AEPRO course and methodologies. Due to their online nature, the project outputs are open, free and highly sustainable. Partners are now working on a sound and effective dissemination and exploitation plan to reach the highest number of AE trainers and staff and thus maximise their impact. With a relatively low budget and in only two years, the project contributed to a better quality and an increased innovation in adult education that will support the progress towards a truly European area of lifelong learning.

OERup! took up the need of promoting and fostering successful implementation of practices with OER in adult learning institutions in Europe, with the aim of raising awareness of the value to be derived from OER, as well as supporting an OER-friendly environment in education institutions to increase the uptake of Open Education practives. The core of OERup! was the development of a training package consisting of a blended-learning training concept and material on the topic of OER, addressing European adult education institutions (its management, staff and teachers). This training package which is now available on the OERup! Platform http://oerup.eu informs about the general principles, and new developments of OER with a special focus on pedagogical concepts on how to integrate OER production and use in the lesson plan, take up necessary specific tools and skills needed to create OER, and explain on the basis of good practice examples how OER can be successfully integrated in the business concept of an adult education institution. Complementing many current EU initiatives that focus on the uptake of OER by policy means (e.g. POERUP, OEREU), OERup! has taken this approach one step further and addressed its target group directly hands-on. Adult education institutions (with or without experience in the uptake of OER), Adult education stakeholders, but also Higher education institutions were integrated in the development of the training in three steps: First of all in the regional need analysis, including desk research and particularly round table workshops; secondly in the training-review meetings; and finally through the uptake of single OER business model cases, developed and implemented in selected institutions and supported through online coaching by the consortium. Main results of the project were:- 1 in-depth need analysis, summarizing the state of the art, best practices, existing policies and current use and development of OER in adult education on the regional and European level, - a training package consisting of different relevant modules, delivered and tested in a blended-learning concept in Baden-Württemberg (DE), Timisoara (RO), Leicester (GB) and explained in a guideline, - a collection of existing good practice examples- a train-the-trainer guide on how to conduct a similar training on OER in adult education- a guideline to provide support and practical ideas on how to start or to further implement Open Education. All these results are made publicly available in all five partner languages on the OERup! training platform http://oerup.eu under the open license CC BY-SA 4.0 which allows other adult education institutions or trainers to retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the products. The consortium that has taken up this ambitious task came together from five different European countries bringing different valuable angles and perspectives on the uptake of OER to the table. MFG, the Innovation Agency for Media and Creative Industries Media Baden-Württemberg, from Stuttgart (Germany), NIACE, the National Institute for Continuing Adult Education, from Leicester (United Kingdom), and IREA, the Romanian Institute for Adult Education, from Timisoara (Romania) who work closely with private and public adult education providers and their staff within their regions, having an in-depth insight into their daily challenges and needs; SOPHIA, a strongly internationally oriented research and innovation organization based in Rome with expertise in promoting innovative teaching methods; and finally the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) with its expertise in the production and inclusion of OER in Higher Education. Results and impacts:OERup! has been designed to have a strong long-term impact on European education in the future in various ways: The finished training package can now be used and reused by a large number of adult education practitioners to learn about OER and its benefits, as well as to gain new abilities, acquire techniques and new digital skills and receive first-hand tips and tricks to successfully take up OER in their daily work. Nevertheless, it’s still a long way to go as implementing an OER strategy in an organisation or integrating OEP in one’s training concept is also linked to a cultural change. In order to successfully take up OER in the European regions, it is highly important that the framework conditions are set, so educational institutions are capable to grasp the opportunities open learning methods and ICT provides. Raising awareness of the sustainability and potential of OER in adult education among national governments and their education departments and making them understand the current situation and challenges of adult education providers, should influence their lifelong learning policy and help them stimulate the uptake of OER by policy means.