"CONTEXT The Europe 2020 Strategy has defined among others, one key priority that is to raise ""Europe’s employment rate – more and better jobs, especially for women, young people and older workers"" so to achieve a benchmark of "" 75% employment rate for women and men aged 20-64 by 2020– achieved by getting more people into work. One of the main obstacles to the full achievement of this ambitious objective is that there are high rates of low-skilled and low-qualified adults that competitive within the labor market. The demand for digital technology professionals has grown by 4% annually in the last ten years. Yet digital skills are lacking in Europe at all levels. Despite continued strong employment growth, the number of unfilled vacancies for ICT professionals is expected to almost double to 756000 by 2020. Furthermore, almost half the EU population lacks basic digital skills; with around 20% of people having none at all. Education and training should equip everyone with a broad range of skills which opens doors to personal fulfilment and development, social inclusion, active citizenshipand employment. Project partners work everyday with adult students in situation of vulnerability facing multiple barriers (such as social exclusion, poverty or discrimination) because of their lack of qualification to be incorporated in the labor market. Within this context the partners of this project will explore these issues and identify solutions to help ADULT students to be inserted in the labor market establishing effective links between adult schools and the world of work and entrepreneurship using social media and ICT. The project partners have identify 3 main NEEDS of the target groups that play an important role in the above described context: -Adult teachers and trainers need to acquire the skills to train their adult students on the aware use of ICT and Social Media to find job opportunities and develop their entrepreneurial spirit -Adult students need to scale up their key and tansversal comptences adapted to the digital era to be incoroporated in the labour market -To promote inclusion of adults paying particular attention to adult vulnerable groups with low skills and qualifications promoting equality between women and men, combating discrimination, promoting tolerance and a high-level of quality and sustainable employment, combating long-term unemployment and fighting against poverty and social exclusion. To answer to these 3 main needs the project AIM is to promote the entrepreneurial spirit of adult learners using social media and ICT to create new e-enterprises ensuring increased opportunities for being incorporated in the labor market in an effective way. ACTIVITIES -""e-entrepreneurship"" training package. The training package will contain a collection of video lessons on how to create the digital - Testing of the training package by adult teachers, trainers in order to make them acquire the skills to exploit the full potential of ICT and social media for to create new e-enterprises ensuring increased opportunities for participation on a modern, flexible and inclusive labor market. -National training experience ""how to become an e-entrepreneur"". Adult students will be trained to promote their entrepreneurial spirit using social media and ICT to create new e-enterprises -International training experience on ""Adopt an enterprise experience"" exploiting social media and ICT. This activity with adult learners will take place in Greece. During 5 days 5 adult learners selected for each partner will attend this training activity. The participants selected by each partner will be paying particular attention to adult vulnerable groups, promoting equality between women and me. -Enterprises will collaborate in the workshops in how to exploit social media and ICT for creating a new e-enterprise in Europe. Furthermore adult students will integrate formal, non-formal and informal education. -International Conference about ""International e-entrepreneurship"" in Spain at the end of the project with the participation of all the partnership, adult teachers, trainers and learners, public authorities in charge of adult education policies, trade unions, enterprises.. for promoting the project results and activities. PARTNERSHIP The project will involve 5 institutions of 5 different European countries. The partnership is composed by institutions with experience in the development of innovative projects for adult students and can ensure the quality of the project results. OUTCOMES -Training package created to the needs of the target groups. -Project website -Learning community -Teacher and students training -Insertion of the project results into the European adult systems -Entrepreneurship classroom -Final conference IMPACT People involved in the project. -100 adult Teachers -30 Enterprises -400 adult students half of them with fewer opportunities -Other stakeholders 1220"

<< Background >>Ensuring that all students reach their full potential in accordance with their abilities is vital for the sustainable evolution of every society. According to the EU policy framework (ET 2020) in regards to education, it is a top priority to establish effective educational practices in order to maximise productivity and continued innovation. Future professionals need to acquire skills and knowledge as effectively and efficiently as possible in the current education system so that Europe continues to evolve and expand advancements. Educating gifted and talented pupils is crucial as they could potentially be the future eminent path breakers and innovators (Subotnik & Rickoff, 2009.) In a survey that took place in the UK by Ofsted (2013) it was found that the most able pupils were not achieving their potential in over 40% of the participating schools. According to the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), underachievement (a discrepancy between ability and achievement) of gifted and talented pupils is a common phenomenon at a global scale that needs to be addressed. The main potential causes are:-lack of interest in curriculum due to lack of challenging and engaging material;-low teacher expectations;-lack of opportunity to be recognized due to disadvantaged background;-psychological/social issues as well as undiagnosed learning disabilities;This project aims to tackle the issue of underachievement of talented and gifted pupils by addressing each of the risk factors. In addition, teachers need to feel like their time is well spent in order to get the most out of it for themselves and their students. In addition to their limited time, the pressure to learn new teaching strategies that speak to the new and higher demands of the system, puts more emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving as opposed to rote-based learning (Meador, 2020.)Studies in this field have clearly shown that the “gifted” pupils population has specific needs, requiring specific teaching methods and a tailored challenging learning environment. Current researches (Khalil & Accariya, 2016; Keren & Hamovitz, 2020), show that teachers dealing with gifted and talented students should possess the following qualities:Awareness of the cognitive and affective needs of gifted and talented students.Knowledge of instructional methods appropriate for highly able learners.Ability to impart intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for learning to students.High level of energy, enthusiasm, confidence and resourcefulness.Willingness to seek experts to supplement the program where additional expertise is needed.Ability to organize and manage instruction to provide for a balance of structure and flexibility.Openness to innovation and acceptance of divergent, creative thinking.Ability to facilitate students' independence and development of personal responsibility for their own learning.Willingness to pursue training for needed professional understanding and competence.GATE responds to these needs as further research will lay the foundation for the understanding of the gifted classroom teachers' effective and meaningful characteristics. Furthermore, research will emphasise the way of tracing and selecting those teachers and the gap needed to be closed in order of bringing them to full effective performance in the classroom.Lastly, this issue is more relevant than ever in the context of COVID19 and its aftermath. The digitalization of education in multiple countries has had a great impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of traditional teaching methods. Andreas Schleicher (2020) asserts that knowledge loss leads to skill/productivity loss which implicate negative economic consequences for future societies due to the effect of COVID19 on education. The need to accelerate and effectively and efficiently enhance the abilities and skills of the most able students is essential in limiting the negative effects of COVID19 on future societies.<< Objectives >>The project “Teachers Training Programme for Supporting Gifted and Talented Students” (GATE) aims to enhance the competencies and skills of primary education teachers to help gifted and talented pupils (age 8-11 y.o.) develop their full potential and thrive. To achieve this general aim, the project will reach the following specific objectives: 1. To design an innovative teaching methodology supporting gifted and talented pupils’ cognitive and emotional needs;Since current teaching methodologies adopted in most schools are failing to address the needs of gifted and talented students, GATE project will aim to overcome this issue by redefining the correct practices that teachers should follow to maximise their students' potential. The methodology devised within this project will be designed according to an holistic approach, addressing both the cognitive and affective needs of gifted and talented students through the integration of the STEAM approach with Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) in order to help pupils develop the following three sets of skills, i.e., Learning Skills, Literacy Skills, Life Skills, also called as “The 21st Century Skills” .2. To provide a training programme for teachers that will help them obtain relevant knowledge and skills on how to recognize and teach gifted and talented pupils.As most teachers are lacking the competencies and skills necessary to provide gifted and talented pupils with the adequate support to express their abilities and feel motivated, GATE will aim to tackle this shortage by designing and testing a specific training programme targeted to develop such skills in primary education teachers. The programme will be based on the most recent findings in the literature and it will train teachers in the GATE methodology.3. Increase the academic performance of gifted and talented underachievers in STEM, as well as their socio-emotional competencies.The project will aim to increase the results of gifted and talented underachievers in STEM and improve their socio-emotional competencies by training primary teachers and educators from both primary schools and education centers for gifted and talented students. Trained teachers will test the methodology learned in their schools and centers, generating an immediate positive impact on the gifted and talented students in their classes. 4. To increase the awareness of teachers, school staff, public authorities and education experts about gifted and talented children.The project will also aim to raise awareness among target groups (i.e., primary education teachers, educators, pupils) and stakeholders (i.e., school staff, public authorities, education experts) about the topic of gifted and talented students, in order to promote the spread and adoption of new strategies helping reduce the number of gifted and talented pupils underachieving.<< Implementation >>The activities of GATE project could be divided into three main phases:Phase 1 - Research.All project partners will conduct research to define the GATE Teaching Methodology. This step will include two different kind of researches:Primary research. It will consist in the administration of questionnaires, the conducting of semi-structured interviews, and/or focus groups with primary education teachers, educators, school staff, education experts, gifted and talented pupils (8-11 y.o.) from primary schools and education centers for gifted students in partner countries. The primary research will aim to collect from all the above-mentioned groups their opinions, expectations and wishes on gifted education and on what makes a “good teacher”, in an effort to co-design with them the GATE Methodology. Each partner will create a “National Report'' (5 in total) summarizing their findings. The results of the report will be further analyzed and compared to create a “Transnational Analysis” of the research carried out. Finally, the results of the reports and the “Transnational Analysis” will be used as a starting point to determine the “21st Century Teacher skill set”, a document defining thoroughly the hard and soft skills that teachers dealing with gifted and talented students should need to possess in order to help them thrive. Desk Research.The desk research will be devoted to the collection of useful information to define the theoretical basis of the GATE Methodology. All partners will identify:The skills and competencies that teachers should possess to address the needs of gifted pupils;Good teaching practices for gifted and talented students adopted at national and international level;National and EU policies;Knowledge on how to adopt the STEAM approach and Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) with gifted and talented pupils;How to adopt digital tools for teaching to gifted and talented students;The outcomes of these researches will determine the first result of the project: R1 - GATE Methodological Material. Phase 2 - Training Programme Design.During Phase leading partners will propose a structure of training programme and all partners will work on the creation of the GATE Training Programme, defining together its modules, content, outcomes and specific activities. The Training Programme will be based on the results of the previous phase and it will be created to maximise its impact on both teachers and pupils.Phase 3 - Testing. Finally, Phase 3 will be devoted to the testing of both the GATE Methodology and the GATE Training Programme. The testing phase will be carried out in two rounds:The first round will be dedicated to the testing of GATE methodology in primary schools that receive both gifted and non-gifted pupils. Partners will administer the GATE - Training Programme to teachers from partners and associated partner schools, in order to give them the necessary abilities to adopt GATE - Methodology in their schools. After completing the training, teachers will be asked to test the methodology in their classes for 12 weeks, while partners will monitor the development of the activities through the administration of monthly questionnaires to both teachers and students.The second round of testing will be devoted to the training and testing in education centers for only gifted students, in order to verify the efficacy of the GATE Methodology in classes composed only of gifted students. Also this testing will last 12 weeks and partners will monitor the activities by sending and receiving questionnaires every 4 weeks. The results of the 2 rounds of testing will be collected and analyzed by partners to elaborate two summary reports, presenting strengths and weaknesses of GATE Methodology, its results, as well as instructions on how to adopt it in classes composed by gifted and non-gifted students and in classes with only gifted and talented students.<< Results >>GATE project foresees the development of two main Results (R):R1- GATE Methodological Material.This result will include three main deliverables:1. Five National reports and 1 Transnational; A summary of the findings obtained during the primary research phase, in which partners investigated the opinions, perspective and expectations of primary school teachers, educators, staff, pupils (8-11 y.o.), researchers and education regarding gifted education and what defines a “good teacher”. 2. Skill set of the 21st Century Teacher;The second deliverable of this result will be the definition of the “Skillset of the 21st Century Teacher”, which will determine the hard and soft skills that teachers dealing with gifted and talented pupils need to possess in order to ensure the provision of a high quality education. 3. Methodological Material.The third and final deliverable will be an ebook comprising all the previous documents together with the results of the desk research: a) a systematic literature review on teaching methodologies suitable for gifted and talented students;b) a practical guideline to support the recognition of giftedness and talent in pupils;c) the presentation of national and international good practices;d) the description of GATE Teaching Methodology for gifted and talented students.R2- GATE Training Programme.A complete programme aiming to train primary education teachers on the GATE Methodology to teach gifted and talented students. GATE Training Programme will be based on a mixture of theory and practice to maximise its training potential. The theoretical part will mainly be based on the results of R1, presenting the benefits the GATE Methodology can bring when teaching to gifted and talented students. During the theoretical part of the course, teachers will learn considerably about the theoretical practices supporting the GATE Methodology (i.e. the STEAM approach and Socio-Emotional Learning [SEL]), while during the practical section they will investigate real-life scenarios, in order to learn the correct behaviors they should adopt when teaching in classes with gifted and non-gifted pupils or in classes with only gifted pupils. This result will also include two separate testings, one in primary schools and the other in education centers for gifted students. The deliverable of these two testings will be two reports on the efficacy of the GATE Methodology and the GATE Training Programme, including instructions and tips on how to better adopt them.Main deliverables:1. GATE Training Programme;2. Two Reports from the testing occurred in primary schools and gifted centers;In terms of impact, the project will generate the following outcomes:- Establishment of teachers and educators trained in GATE methodology;- Increase of gifted and talented students’ academic results and satisfaction with scholastic activities;- Increased awareness among schools, public authorities and education experts about giftednessLong-term benefits of the project will be:- Diffusion of teaching practices for gifted and talented students at European level;- Decrease of gifted and talented students underachieving;- Establishment of a stronger collaboration between education centers for gifted students and primary schools

CONTEXTEuropean policies in education focus, among others, on basic skills such as literacy, numeracy, science. The results of the PISA survey, the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, showed that almost one out of five 15-year-olds in the EU has insufficient reading and writing skills. This is a serious threat in a social and economic environment dominated by the written word, both online and in print, where individuals can contribute and participate actively only if they are able to appropriately read and write.School education plays a strategic role to provide students with the necessary reading and writing skills to foster the awareness of the challenges and potentials offered by new technologies.OBJECTIVESThe objective of the Parsifal project is to use ICT to allow students to improve literacy through an aware knowledge of the cultural heritage surrounding them, at the same time carrying out a comparative analysis with the cultural heritage of other European areas.The specific objectives were:-Improvement of secondary school students' achievements in literacy and digital skills making reference to the cultural heritage-Promotion of a multidisciplinary approaches in education based on references to be made to historical, cultural, geographical and artistic issues-Promotion of a learner-centred pedagogical approaches-Integration of ICT in the learning processTARGET GROUPSSecondary School teachers-Almost 50 teachers directly involved in the creation of the 3 Intellectual Outputs-Almost 100 teachers involved in the evaluation of Intellectual Output contents-More than 100 teachers and policy makers participating in Multipliers eventsSecondary School studentsThe project impacted on the achievements in literacy and digital skills of a number of around 850 secondary school students (considering an average of 20 students per teacher) of the 13 schools involved in the project.IMPACTThe project foresees long term impact on:Secondary School teachers-Increasing their skills and competences to plan and adopt innovative methods for motivating students to study and get to historical and heritage aspects at European level-Improve their capacities to make full use of ICT teaching materials increasing at the same time their literacy skills-Providing them with didactic contents developed through a strong cooperation pattern with academic and technical experts to ensure that the available materials are scientifically and didactically reliable and usable in their real everyday life teaching activitiesSecondary school students by:-Enhancing their pro-active attitude towards their learning process on cultural heritage using their means of communication, i.e. Web and Mobiles/Tablets-Reinforce their literacy as well as digital skills-Stimulate their willingness to learn through a comparative analysis with the cultural heritage of other European areasRESULTSIn order to guarantee the long-term impact on the aforementioned categories, the Parsifal project developed three Intellectual Outputs that students, teachers and end users in general can access and use for free from the project portal. The three Intellectual Outputs are:IO1 – On-line Repository of legends and traditional talesThe repository aims at providing secondary school teachers with a consistent set of learning materials for the students in order to allow them to improve their literacy skills making reference to local legends and traditional tales.The legends identified are divided per country:Bulgarian legends: https://parsifal.pixel-online.org/bulgaria.phpItalian legends: https://parsifal.pixel-online.org/italy.phpLithuanian legends: https://parsifal.pixel-online.org/lithuania.phpPolish legends: https://parsifal.pixel-online.org/poland.phpRomanian legends: https://parsifal.pixel-online.org/poland.php IO2 - Essays on European legends, myths and traditional tales related to the cultural heritageThe Essays (https://parsifal.pixel-online.org/essays.php) consist in a transnational analysis of the legends available in the repository in order to identify, describe, analyse and discuss similarities and differences between legends.IO3 - On-line Interactive map of the areas of cultural relevance and the related Legends/talesThe interactive map aims at identifying the hot spots where there are places/objects with a cultural relevance that are presented through the legends and traditional tales related to them according to the media and approaches though photos/videos/hypertexts, relevant references, transnational analysis.The Map was developed as web and mobile app and it is available at the following links:Web App: https://parsifal.pixel-online.org/travel-ui.phpiOS: https://apps.apple.com/it/app/parsifal/id1532377200Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pixelonline.parsifal

Mental health problems pose a significant and unnecessary obstacle for students to overcome in the classroom. Studies show that students with emotional disturbance and poor social-emotional functioning have difficulty meeting academic standards.Mental Health is a looming issue within the European Union with reports suggesting that 160,000,000 Europeans (38% of the populace) are affected each year. (Wittchen, H.-U. et al. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 21, 655-679 (2011). | Article). Additional studies show that mental health problems may cause learning obstacles for our young people and students, therefore providing diagnosis, awareness and support in our learning organisations will be key as we move forward to the future as these young people move from education into employment.This is further endorsed by Warwick et al (2008), highlighting a number of factors that influence provision of support services for students:* awareness amongst professionals of links between student’s mental health and their achievement at college * having in place national/college policies that address mental health* building an inclusive college ethos* access to in college/external support services* provision of professional opportunities for staffThe OSCAR project aims to identify best practice in how organisations across the EU tackle the issue of student drop out through having mental health challenges. It also aims to take a wider view through the approach of identifying ways of enhancing positive well being, as well as improving systems in mental health challenges. The best practice approach will arise from research and the synthesis of ideas into a trainers toolkit that will be developed based on a common set of standards but customised by each partner for their own territory.Training will be given by the D&A service design team to the partners. Service design techniques will be used to create new user and learner journeys through the education system, to ensure that those with possible issues are not ignored or missed out and the appropriate support mechanism are in place. Also that connections are made to the relevant agency for individuals at the right time so drop outs are avoided where possible.The partners will work with local, regional and national agencies and charities will act as advisers and 'test beds' for the OSCAR approach and materials. and then a set of guidelines for organisation and managers will be published that will embed the process into the partner's VET education systems. The local bodies will also act as dissemination routes for the project and its outputs.The project aims to reach, via a cascaded training process - 100 teachers and 1,000 learners, who may have been at risk of drop out due to some social, mental or related issue - therefore OSCAR will have a direct impact on the lives of learners in the partner countries. The project partners will attempt to identify and measure the impacts of the project by comparing the student's retention rates compared to a norm for the group.OSCAR aims to:1. Identify a baseline of current mental health awareness processes and procedures in partner countries;2. Identify current Best Practice in the area of mental health, mental health awareness and curriculum design in VET organisations that will increase student retention3. Use the service design philosophy to identify solutions to the current issues on an European and National level4. Provide a ‘train the trainer’ approach for VET staff in mental health awareness based on project learnings5. Disseminate via guideline development for relevant stakeholders and development of policy recommendations for policy makers.

<< Background >>The linear economy model (take – make – waste) currently in use is showing all its limitations over time. For this reason, the EU is promoting an alternative economic system designed to regenerate itself and ensure its eco-sustainability (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Financing the Circular Economy, 2020), called circular economy (CE). In fact, CE can help countries to reach the global climate goals, changing the way they produce and consume goods.Companies have started to consider the fight against waste as their priority, adopting more sustainable practices. This will also affect the job market because, as stated in the EU Green Deal (2019), “the circular economy offers great potential for new activities and jobs”, connected with low-emission production processes and sustainable products. Thus, it is essential that future workers acquire knowledge related to the CE and sustainability, strengthening their green skills (EC, Education for Climate Action). This is particularly urgent in the economic sectors identified as priorities in “The new circular economy action plan” (2020) of the European Commission (EC, A New Circular Economy Action Plan for a Cleaner and More Competitive Europe, 2020), such as wood, plastics and agrifood. A fundamental role in this changing process will be played by VET institutions, particularly those active in the priority fields identified by the EC, in order to “engage with pupils, parents, and the wider community on the changes needed for a successful transition”(EU, Green Deal, 2019). Including in their learning and training programs courses of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) related to the CE and its principles (recycle, reuse, avoid wasting, eco-design, etc.), would enable educational institutions not only to disseminate knowledge and skills in line with global priorities on the environmental protection and with the labour market, but also to make students aware consumers and, potentially, future aware producers. Sustainability must be conceived as a transversal theme in the courses of schools and VET institutions, that is, as a lens through which we can reconsider the other subjects that are taught (ACR+ & Zero Waste Scotland, Circular Economy and Lifelong Learning - scenarios, methodologies, in action, 2019).In this context, the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) identified the main challenges affecting the establishment of a CE and the role of green skills in supporting this transition (ILO, 2011):1- A lack of skills is hindering green economic development. In this skills shortage, it is reported that “many countries lack sufficient teachers and trainers in environmental awareness”;2- Many countries did not put in place development strategies for “green skills”;3- Green skills have not been sufficiently identified;4- Appropriate training has to be put in place to respond to this skills shortage. In particular, VET, which represents the bulk of training for green occupation, has been reacting more slowly than other educational sectors;5- The CE will have a profound negative effect on high carbon emitting sectors, such as petrochemical, manufacturing and agricultural industries. In all these sectors, workers, trainees and students need training in “green skills”.TREE project was designed to effectively respond to the context and the challenges listed above. In particular, TREE project will address the following needs:Provision of common definitions of “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sector;Provision of training for teachers to implement ESD in VET institutions;Increase of VET students environmental awareness and “green skills”;Integrating the teaching of ESD in VET institutions to provide “green skills”;Harmonization of educational policies for promotion of the green transition and the CE;Establishing closer cooperation between businesses and VET institutions.<< Objectives >>“Micro and project-based learning for Teaching ciRcular Economy and Ecological awareness in VET” (TREE project) aims to increase the employability of VET students through the creation of an innovative course on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and promote the CE through the infusion of new “green skills”. Drawing on Micro- and Project-based learning practices, TREE project will aim to provide a programme that can readily be adopted in VET’s curricula. The above goals will be reached, through the attainment of the following 7 specific objectives:Provide definitions of relevant “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sector: The project will aim to fight the skills mismatch hindering the development of the CE by identifying, selecting, and defining the “green skills” that workers of the plastics, wood and agrifood sector will need to participate in the green economy. In order to ensure the direct applicability of these skills in the job market, their definition will be established through a cooperation between education experts, VET teachers, job and HR consultants working in green companies of the three sectors identified.Integrate the teaching of ESD and the CE into VET institutions’ curricula:In order to contribute to the green transition, VET institutions all over Europe need to teach ESD as a transversal theme, integrating it in their current curricula. The TREE project will aim to do so, by establishing a training course based on micro- and project-based learning, to maximize its transferability and simplify its adoption in regular teaching activities of VET institutions.Promote collaboration between VET institutions and companies that adopt sustainable practices:The TREE project will aim to foster collaboration between green companies of the plastics, wood, and agrifood sector and VET institutions, in order to reduce the gap between education and the job market. In particular, companies will provide relevant support in defining the “green skills” needed by their workers, ensuring the effectiveness of TREE project training course.Increase VET teachers’ competences to teach ESD for the CE:As VET teachers are lacking the relevant competencies to teach ESD, notions of the CE and transfer “green skills” on their students, TREE project will aim to establish relevant training for them. The training will aim to increase their teaching competences, knowledge of sustainability and ecological awareness, making them active participants of the green transition.Promote the infusion of relevant “green skills” for the job market in VET students:Through the training course developed within the TREE project, students will obtain new “green skills” that will increase their employability and help them contribute to the green transition. The usefulness of the “green skills” identified within the project will be guaranteed by the direct involvement of green companies.Increase the ecological awareness of VET students and teachers, as well as promote the adoption of “green habits”:Within the TREE project, both teachers and students will gain relevant knowledge about ecological awareness and sustainable behaviors. In this way, the project aims to support the diffusion of “green habits” at the local level.Support policy harmonization at national and EU level for teaching ESD:The training courses will be based on extensive and comprehensive researches about national and EU policy relating to ecology, CE and ESD. These researches will be completed with the development of policy suggestions that will be presented to relevant institutions with the aim to foster harmonization of educational policies at national and EU level.<< Implementation >>The activities planned to reach the objectives mentioned above may be divided into three steps:Step 1 - Knowledge building: All partners will conduct researches to define:The appropriate “green skills” that VET trainees will need to participate in the green economy;The partner countries and European contexts in relation to current practices and methodologies for teaching ESD in VET institutions and their connection to the job market and the CE;How to integrate Micro- and Project-based learning to teach ESD and infuse “green skills” in VET students;Instructions on how to effectively teach ESD within VET institutions.This step will be mainly carried out through the integration of primary and secondary research activities. Primary research will consist in the administration of questionnaires, the conducting of semi-structured interviews and/or focus groups with VET teachers, VET staff and green companies, to better understand their opinions, expectations, wishes and challenges in relation to ESD, “green skills”, CE and the needs of the job market. Primary research will be mainly used to identify, select and define the appropriate “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sectors, as well as ensure that project’s results will answer to the needs of the target groups. On the other hand, secondary research will comprise a desk review aimed at collecting useful information on (i) national and EU policies, (ii) best practices for teaching ESD in VET institutions, (iii) knowledge on how to adopt micro- and project-based learning to teach ESD and “green skills”, and (iv) how to integrate the teaching of ESD in VET institutions. Step 2 - Training Course design and testing:Step 2 will be devoted to the creation of the project teaching material, the training of teachers and the testing in VET institutions. All partners will collaborate to create the modules of the course and define the methodologies that will be used in the training activities for teachers. Then, after completing the training of VET teachers, teachers will be asked to test the project’s course in their institutions. To verify the effectiveness of the teaching methodologies and the training course, all partners will carry out monitoring activities through the administration of questionnaires among teachers and students. The results of the monitoring activities will be collected to develop a final report on the testing of the training course.Step 3 - Digitalization:Finally, during Step 3, the material produced in the previous phases will be collected, digitized and uploaded on an online Open Educational Resource (OER) platform. Partners will cooperate to determine the technical solutions that are more appropriate to answer the needs of the target groups and develop multimedia material (such as videos, slides, texts, audios, etc.) to upload on the OER platform. The platform will provide both training materials for teachers, as well as pre-made lessons to be readily adopted in classes. Moreover, the platform will also include a section dedicated to the presentation of different green companies contacted to share information about their processes, products and in what way they contribute to the green transition, presenting relevant and concrete examples of sustainable industrial practices. Partners will contact these companies and involve them in the project as associated partners.<< Results >>Within TREE project three main Results (R) are foreseen:R1 - TREE Methodological Material (e-book)A comprehensive review of ESD, CE topics and educational policies related to sustainability in partner countries and at EU level, that will include:- A definition of the main topics and green skills addressed by TREE project course;- A description of how micro- and project-based learning will be adopted to successfully instill the green skills identified in - students;- A list of instructions on how to implement ESD in VET institutions - Good practices for teaching ESD in VET institutions- Policy recommendations on how to foster the teaching of ESD at national and EU level.Main deliverables: National and Transnational AnalysesMethodological Material (e-book)R2 - TREE Training ProgrammeA complete training programme on ESD and the CE, divided in two macro-sections, one devoted to the teaching of more general ESD and CE topics through “micro-learning modules”, addressing also sustainable behaviors that can be adopted on a daily basis, and a second one that will explain to students how CE and sustainability are declined in specific economic sectors (wood, plastics and agrifood), through the adoption of “project-based learning” practices. This result will also include a testing phase in VET institutions. Teachers will be trained to learn the methodologies adopted in course and update their knowledge about sustainability and the CE. After their training, they will adopt the TREE Training Programme in their institutions for a period of 12 weeks, during which partners will collect data to monitor the process and analyze the effectiveness of the content and the teaching practices. The data collected will be used to develop an analysis report on the impact of the training programme. Main deliverables:TREE Training ProgrammeTesting reportR3 - TREE Open Educational Resource (OER) platformA web-based online repository comprising all the materials developed throughout the project. The OER will be freely accessible and it will allow the dissemination of TREE results at EU level. The OER platform and TREE progrmme will be tested by external experts, in order to obtain data on their effectiveness, as well as relevant feedback and suggestions for their implementation in VET. Moreover, it will also include a specific section, called TREE Network Database, which will include information about companies of the plastics, wood and agrifood sectors that adopt relevant green practices, as well as international opportunities for VET students, such as internships, jobs or other relevant offers for them.Main deliverables:TREE OER platformReport on platform testingTREE network databaseIn terms of impact, the project will generate:- Increased knowledge and awareness about ecology and circular economy of VET students and VET teachers;- Establishment of a closer link between VET institutions and business;- Strengthening of VET’s institutions curricula towards ecological issues;- Increased adoption of eco-friendly habits in all target groups involved;- Infusion of “green skills” in VET students directly involved in the project's activities.Long-term benefits envisaged are:- Increased employability of VET’s students;- Diffusion of ecological habits at local, regional and EU level;- Increased awareness and diffusion of “green skills” at local, regional and EU level.