<< Objectives >>Path2EU4AE empowers access to EU programmes relevant for adult education institutions with low/little prior experience by providing an information path as an online tool for professionalization. Project managers in AE institutions can use it to assess the benefits and requirements of central EU programmes for projects, funding and international collaboration. It will enable them to decide in which cases a specific programme is appropriate and promising for their respective institution.<< Implementation >>Major activities:1.Run a process of Knowledge Creation, during which the content for the information path is researched, collected and selected; using an online survey, a development workshop and conceptual work2.Designing and implementing a conclusive online information path on basis of the results of the Knowledge Creation process; the information path will be available online3.Project Management, including planning, controlling, meetings, reporting and dissemination, e.g. on EPALE<< Results >>The main result of the project is a well-designed and conclusive information path as an online tool for professionalization of adult educators. It is supposed to help adult education institutions to find adequate (centralized) EU programmes and to estimate, which programmes fit to the needs and requirements of the institution. Based on this, the path should lead to a reflective decision for suitable EU programmes and provide underlying information about the programmes.

<< Background >>Our capacity to access, have a critical understanding of and interact with media has never been as important as it is today. According to the Flash Eurobarometer (2018), 85% of europeans think that disinformation is a problem in their country and 83% consider that it is a problem for democracy. Most europeans trust the information they receive through traditional media like radio, TV or newspapers, but only 47% trust online newspapers. In order to fight disinformation it is essential to train citizens to be critical so they can analyse and verify the information they receive. The EU Commission released a joint communication in 2020 warning about the increase of disinformation during COVID-19, and that this can have grave consequences for our societies and democratic institutions. It highlights that this “can directly endanger lives and severely undermine efforts to contain the pandemic” as disinformation spreads “Conspiracy theories that may endanger human health, harm the cohesion of our societies and may lead to public violence and create social unrest” as well as “Illegal hate speech”, “Consumer fraud” and “Cybercrime”. Over 50% of Europeans believe they have been exposed to disinformation online, according to a recent Eurobarometer survey (March, 2021)Given its cross-border dimension, the adverse effects of disinformation in the EUI require a coordinated and long-term approach to respond to the challenge at both EU and national level. It is also necessary to highlight the importance of adult education as a means to counteract disinformation through media literacy. Media literacy has been defined by the EU Commission as the capacity to communicate in all media and access, analyse and evaluate the images and words, which constitute a very important part of our information society.As more daily tasks are carried out online, from applying for a job to paying taxes or booking tickets, using the Internet has become an integral part of daily life. The report ICT for Work: Digital Skills in the Workplace (2016) shows that digital technologies are used in all types of jobs, also in economic sectors not traditionally related to digitisation like farming, health care, vocational training and construction. Between 2011 and 2016, the use of ICT increased in more than 90% of workplaces and in 2016 a 93% of European workplaces used desktop computers and 94% used broadband technology to access the Internet.However, according to the Eurostat (2018) an 11% of Europeans have never used the Internet and a 6.72% of Europeans have no information skills (2017). Information and data literacy is one of the key components of digital competence and is defined in the European Digital Competence Framework (2018) as the capacity “to analyse, compare and critically evaluate the credibility and reliability of sources of data, information and digital content.” The 2021-2027 EU Digital Education Action plan stresses the need for a quality, inslusive and accessible digital education. The group of Europeans with no information skills is made up mostly of people aged 65-74 years old, people on low incomes, the unemployed and the less educated. This is an important need to be addressed at a European level, given that digital competence and media literacy have never been as important as nowadays and their lack contributes to the exclusion or partial exclusion of these people from society. These groups are also the most vulnerable in front of disinformation and, therefore, they will be the target group of our project. Since digitization is on the rise in the labor market and there is a need to tackle disinformation across Europe, this inequality is a challenge that needs to be addressed and adult education has an important role to play. In order to give a practical answer to this problem, disinfoEND aims to develop the digital and media capacities of vulnerable adults, with a special focus on adults aged +55, unemployed and low-educated.<< Objectives >>Therefore, the disinfoEND project will:1. Strengthen social inclusion and active digital participation in society of vulnerable groups, especially adults with low levels of education, unemployed and aged +55, with the implementation of he Dilalogic Media and Digital Literacy Gatherings in different contexts: 3 different countries (Spain, Italy and Romania).2. Transfer the Dilalogic Media and Digital Literacy methodology to tackling disinformation in adult education with an intercultural and intergenerational approach, in diverse topics such as health, migration, ethnic minorities, gender violence, etc. (PR1)3. Offer an innovative Toolkit (PR1) co-created with vulnerable adults that supports inclusive and participative ICT and Media Literacy training through the implementation of SEAs with a participatory, sustainable and dialogic approach. 4. Promotion of common EU values and critical civic engagement and participation, by developing social and intercultural competences, critical thinking and media literacy of vulnerable adults. 5. Training of adult education professionals and volunteers on how to combat disinformation in their ICT courses and/or courses in other areas of knowledge, using the DMDL methodology. PR2 will develop staff competences that lead to overall improvements in provision, targeting and effectiveness of adult education in the field of media literacy, with an innovative and evidence-based methodology.6. Increase the quality educational offer in the digital field oriented to digitally excluded groups.<< Implementation >>PROJECT RESULT 1: disinfoEND Toolkit on how to implement Dialogic Media Literacy Gatherings to counteract disinformation in adult educationA Toolkit for educators on how to counteract disinformation in adult education. The toolkit will consist of 2 deliverables (A curriculum and a methodology) and a testing phase (pilot course)1. disinfoEND Methodology: We will Transfer the Dialogic Media and Digital Literacy (DIMELI, e-Quality) Methodology on how to use Dialogic Media Literacy Gatherings (DMLG), to learn how to think critically and have the ICT and ML competencies needed to specifically counteract disinformation (on topics like health, migrants, culture, ethnic minorities, gender violence, etc.). 2. disinfoEND Curriculum: With the specific content DML programme needed to tackle disinformation in adult education, in topics like Health, Migration and ethnic minorities, Gender Violence and others that the adults participating in the pilot course choose. It will also include concrete activities with usable materials for implementation and evaluation of the curriculum and methodology3. disinfoEND Pilot course: A testing phase with a pilot course to develop participants’ critical thinking will be implemented in 3 countries (Romania, Spain, Italy). It will have a duration of 64 hours in 4 months.PROJECT RESULT 2: disinfoEND MOOC course for educators on how to implement Dialogic Media Literacy Gatherings to counteract disinformation in adult education.The objective is to train educators and adult education volunteers on an innovative methodology to teach ICT and ML competences while promoting critical thinking, in order to tackle disinformation. The DML methodology in which they will be trained will be both evidence-based and co-created with vulnerable adults; to which DML the courses these professionals implement will be targeted. The course will have a total duration of 20 hours and participants will have 1 month to complete it (Dedication of 5h x week). It will be implemented in 3 countries (Romania, Spain, Italy).The materials of the MOOC course (video lessons, questionnaires with answer key, interactive activities) will remain available on the project’s website, for them to be freely used beyond the project’s life. They will be available in all the languages of the consortium (Spanish, Italian, Bulgarian, German and Romanian) and English. The platform used will be Coeus, Moodle Learning Management System or Wordpress.NATIONAL MULTIPLIER EVENTS AND FINAL CONFERENCENational MEs will be held in all participant countries (Spain, Italy, Romania) and Final Transnational Conference will be held in Belgium, in order to let people know about the project and its results and multiply its impact both at national and EU level.<< Results >>1. Digitally empowered vulnerable adults by providing a quality training on digital and media literacy, which is going to increase the level of digital and media competence among the target group, and as a result is going to permit the target group to increase the level of inclusion and participation in society.2. Acquisition of new skills by vulnerable adults; to identify disinformation and analyse critically all the information they receive, which will in turn contribute to better informed citizens, who will have the resources needed to critically analyse information and to contrast it with diverse, reliable sources.3. Promotion of EU common values, such as human rights, freedom and equality, as well as other related topics like the right to be informed about the scientific evidences in health, education, gender violence, etc. and combatting prejudices against migration, ethning minorities, among others. 4. Transferring two Successful Educational Actions (SEAs) Interactive Groups and Dialogic Gatherings to Media Literacy in order to tackle disinformation among vulnerable adults, with an inclusive, democratic and evidence-based approach. The project will adopt an educational model based on the democratization of training activities and focused on providing participants digital fluency. This is going to generate dynamics of cooperation and collaboration between people at risk of social exclusion, members of the participating organizations, and other organizations outside the consortium. The results will also be disseminated in other educational levels asides from adult education.5. Better trained professionals and volunteers in adult education organisations. Professionals and volunteers from the partner organizations will be trained in PR1 and, in PR2, educators and volunteers from other organizations will be trained as well. They will be trained on how to implement DMLGs to tackle disinformation addressed to vulnerable adults aged +55, unemployed and with a low level of education, with a democratic approach based on dialogic learning and the SEAs Interactive Groups (IGs) and Dialogic Gatherings (DGs). Therefore, they will be trained in an innovative teaching method, as well as on how to better motivate, guide and advise vulnerable adults in the learning process in order to surpass the digital breach (both in their personal lives and in competencies needed for work, especially after COVID-19, as there is a growing tendency of virtual and remote work). After the course, they will also be able to apply this approach in other fields aside from ICT or Media Literacy courses (Social Sciences, literacy programmes, science literacy, etc.). This MOOC course will also be open to other professionals and volunteers working in other fields, for example in the youth training/education sector or secondary education, to create synergies and amplify the impact to other sectors.6. Co-created tools and resources for ICT and Media Literacy training, focused on how to create a collective understanding of information and to contrast information in order to tackle disinformation. A Toolkit (with a methodology, curriculum and concrete activities) to implement DMLGs with a democratic approach and based on dialogic learning, IGs and DGs will be made (PR1), both tested in a pilot course and improved and co-created with the participation of women from the disinfoEND project. These resources will be available with a Creative Commons license free for download on the project’s website and they will also be uploaded to the Erasmus+ results platform. These tools will be transferable to other fiends of education.

Problem solving is the process of identifying a problem, developing possible solution paths, and taking the appropriate course of action. The European Commission has identified problem solving, and the ability to solve problems and work collaboratively as a main indicator of the transversal skills to be acquired as part of the key competences. It is the view of the “SUPport of Problem-solving mentality in lifelOng leaRning for Trainers” SUPPORT consortium that adult learning consists of a an everlasting process of problem-posing and problem-solving, especially in the case of dealing with persons with low level of skills or qualifications where the learning environment is not only challenged by the knowledge to be acquired but has to deal with a variety of existing preconceptions, social exclusion, stereotypes, language barriers, cultural limitations and others. By supporting the trainers in what we call “problem-solving” situations, with multiple tools and methods as well as valuable background information and scenarios, the project aims to enforce in an antihierarchical way inclusion, retention and outreach in the adult learning environment in order to maximise the positive effect for the direct and indirect target group. SUPPORT will provide trainers with an online platform with useful tools and methods and an open discussion forum that will extend the trainers’ competences and professionalize their work. The SUPPORT project will also develop a “near-peer” methodological framework for learners in order to promote their active participation, on equal terms with the tutor, and foster their motivation. More specifically the objectives of SUPPORT, considering as well the specific objectives of the Erasmus+ Programme in the field of education and training, will be as follows:1. Support and extend the competencies of educators and trainers in tackling challenges and solving problems2. Improve the level of key competences and skills of learners in dealing with challenging environments3. Promote the emergence and raise awareness of a European lifelong learning area designed to complement policy reforms at national level and to support the modernisation of education and training systems through concrete policy recommendations and the dissemination of good practices4. Increase awareness on the importance of inclusive and collaborative education The most important activities of SUPPORT consist of the development of 4 intellectual outputs, 2 local events and a final project conference. It is expected that approximately 160 trainers, professionals and learners as well as policy makers and interested stakeholders will attend the multiplier events and final conference. The multiplier events will have as their main objective the acquisition of constructive feedback from multiple stakeholders in order for the optimal development of the outputs. The project aims, along its duration and upon its completion, to have, namely, the following results:1. It will support and extend the competencies of educators and trainers in tackling challenges and solving problems. Through facilitating communication between them through the available forum of the SUPPORT platform, their access to a clearly user-friendly environment providing tools and methods for the organisation and planning of their needs, and the supporting them find a way to reach a concise, inclusive and stimulating learning environment thriving for outreach.2. It will produce a concise methodological framework ready to use with trainers and adult learners, as identified.3. It will increase the quality of adult education provision, with a strong drive towards policy reform through the recommendations policy paper developed.4. It will map the current situation in lifelong learning organisations, by adult educators and adult learning on problem-resolution, problem-posing and how the above affect the impact of training.5. It will support the overall effort for participation and retention of adult learners. The SUPPORT Project is expected to have a visible and sustainable impact to organisations, trainers and trainees with low level basic skills and qualifications, that will be directly and indirectly involved in the project processes and consequently to the community as a whole. The project has an extent consortium active through the whole spectrum of adult education provision and advocacy, VET, formal, non-formal and informal education. In this way the project has a strong European added value since it addresses the importance of sustainable, problem-solving, inclusive and collaborative education through outreach and cooperation as the centre of its actions. Specifically SUPPORT will target adult educators, experts and professionals working in formal, non-formal and informal structures, learners with low level basic skills and/or qualifications, as well as Policy makers concerned with education and lifelong learning.

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.

"The project ""Education by the way"" results from the cooperation of organisations focused on adult education from Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Finland and Belgium. The project focused on the needs of low-skilled people who avoid non-formal education. These people become a group of ""educationally excluded"" - in a sense double losers - first because of poor performance (or bad experience) in formal education and second because of lack of motivation to participate or lack of access to non-formal education in adulthood. The challenge is not only access but also the shape of non-formal adult education. Therefore, the Partnership dealt with this topic and developed new approaches, methods and educational tools in a form adapted to the limited time and specific expectations of the participants. Therefore, the direct recipients are trainers and educators who conduct educational activities for people with low competencies, low motivation, and reluctance to continue education. Each of the four partners (except EAEA) works with people with low competencies (target group of the project). Among the trainers and educators cooperating with each partner, there are people with different experiences working with various methods and tools in their work for the target group in the environment of non-formal education. The opportunity to exchange experiences, good practices, and tools was an essential part of the project and the starting point for producing results. It was possible thanks to three short-term learning activities and the testing phase.The project's implementation allowed to invent and popularise new forms of out-of-school adult education, emphasising inclusive education aimed at people with low competencies. Thanks to our project, educators are equipped with tools (toolkit, textbook, practical conclusion) that will allow them to more effectively and engage in work with people with different needs. Dissemination and national events allowed Partnership to share products with a wide audience. The partner from Belgium (EAEA) made it possible to disseminate results at the European level. Products (outputs) created during the project:O2 - Methodological nuggets - toolkit - Descriptions of the best consortium methods, approaches and good practices used in working with people with low educational skills and their surroundings (family, neighbourhoods) with peer review from our trainers and educators. O3 - Education by the way. Manual for education activists working with people with low competencies (English and national versions) O4 - How it works - Recommendations and description of the implementation of manual for education activists working with people with low competencies (publication and videos)"