<< Objectives >>By implementing the project we want to achieve a continuous preventive work in youth centers and other arenas for youth. There will be tools to use daily in open youth work and youth workers will feel encouraged and competent enough to use them. There will be an understanding of how gender norms effect violence in youth relationships and that young people need help to figure out what a well functioning relationship should look like. << Implementation >>We will implement two training weeks for youth workers. Focus will be on informal methods but also some theoretical parts. There will be methods such as Participatory theater, Psychoprophylaxis, mental health promotion workshops, focus on campaigns on social media and sexual violence. We will implement the concept of Buddy groups, to promote the contact and learning between the participants -in between the two training sessions. We will implement a minimum of 4 online trainings.<< Results >>Expected results:- A toolbox where the tested tools are presented in an accessible way for others to use. It will be tools that are applicable in different context and suitable for open youth work.- Youth workers and organizations with increased competence regarding violence in young peoples relationsships and how this can be prevented.- Specific knowledge about sexual violence and social media campaigns- Ongoing work in the partner organizations and a plan for the future

The project “Sexual education for youth empowerment” initiated by Dominou Association brings together 4 youth organisations and local authorities from SE, SP, PT and RO that will work with local authorities, schools, parents for creating an innovative OER multilingual platform on the subject of holistic sexual and health education. The project is cross curricular because it addresses a main priority of the youth sector, “Promoting, engaging and empowering young people” and a school priority education, “Tackling early school leaving and disadvantage”. There's nothing simple about teaching young people about sex these times of precocious pre-teens, pregnancy among teenagers, and sexually transmitted diseases. Aim: transfer of knowledge and innovation in modern and gamified sexual education tools and activities for youth workers by development of an innovative OER multilingual platform and establishing a network of networks of organizations active in health and sexual education & promotion of qualitative development of youth workObjectives:O1: Creating an innovative OER multilingual platform on the subject of holistic sexual and health education by transfer of good practices from SE, RO, SP, PT and development of modern gamified new tools accessed by at least 1200 youth workers working with disadvantaged young people that will function during the project lifetime (2020-2022) and at least 5 years after.O2: Creating a 6 day training course for 18 youth workers, youth trainers, other professionals educating youth on the topic of sexual education for disadv. young people, tested in national and intercultural settings and transferring these competences for 300 RO youth workers during the project lifeO3: Promoting health and sexual education to local communities from 5 countries (RO, SE, PT, SP) and at least 240 young people, out of which 200 disadvantaged, to increase youth empowerment, gender equality, equity in access to sexual education and healthy lifestyle and decrease early school leaving O4: Creating an international network of 4 organisations, experts in sexual and health education at international standardsActivities:International level:Learning Activities(Training in SE for 18 youth workers; Youth exchange in RO and PT, 40 youth and 8 leaders each);3 Transnational meetings (2 participants/ partner/ meeting, in total 24 staff)Multiplier event (205 stakeholders)Intellectual output - E-learning Platform(min 1200 youth workers enrolled on the platform)National:Pilot testing the platform(20 youth workers trained in the programme)Round table and webinars with national stakeholders(2800 staff and stakeholders)Local:youth work activities testing sexual education methods(involve 240 young people, 83% disadvantaged)parent workshops and seminars(200 parents )local/online center for sex ed counselling(300 young people counselled)Types of target groups: working on youth field educators/street workers, heads/coordinators of youth centers, trainers, teachers, school counsellors, class mentors, school psychologists, active members of youth associations, disadvantaged young people involved in Peer Education programs and participants working on Youth policy and inter-sectoral working groups: policy makers, pedagogues, social workers, heads of services, coordinators of educational campaigns, representatives of institutions and NGOsMethodology used for the innovative cross curricular intellectual output:platform development: SCRUM agile process framework and online gamification principles for learner engagementmethods, activities and tools: OCTALYSIS gamification framework, non formal education methodology and principlesLearning activities use non formal methods and modern ICT tools to attract digital natives.Results of the project:The project will create high quality learning outcomes both in the professionals involved and in the youth, in the field of sexual education, respecting the World Health Organisation StandardsInnovative collection of non formal and gamified methods, activities and videos presented in a modern, sustainable and easily transferable format - a multilingual e-learning platform2800 stakeholders will gain awareness of importance of sexual education and use some of the project toolsImpact of the project:Main impact will be in RO, by cross curricular transfer of the methodologyImproved health and empowerment for the disadvantaged young people the youth workers following the e-learning courses work withAll partners’ impact in their communities and cooperation with stakeholders growsThe sustainability will be provided by frequent long-term use of intellectual output O1 – e-learning, because of the gamified learning process which will ensure users like and promote the platform. The gamified platform will be self sustainable so it requires minimum human effort, which will make it relevant for years, free and with open access to materials, documents and media produced

Inequalities in living conditions and health is a reality for many of the world's cities today. It is also the context of which the project Open the door for reading has emerged. The report, Closing the gap in a generation (WHO 2005), has resulted in strategies in many European cities, of which the partners cities Gothenburg, Bristol, Brussels, Milan and Turku are examples. The action plans undertaken by these cities address the general and specific challenges to enable better livelihood and equality for all. Support for social sustainability exists on all levels, for example the UN Agenda 2030, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the emphasis on social inclusion in the Erasmus+ program. Within this framework all five partner cities are committed towards implementing actions and/or policies to support a good start in life for all children. This ambition has been the common ground for the partnership and Gothenburg´s initiative “The city where we read to our children” has been a driving force for the project’s theme and content. Early language development and reading is perceived as a fundamental right of the child as it plays a vital role in a child's ability and motivation to learn during school years. Open the Door to Reading has been geared towards strengthening the support of children’s language and literacy development. The most important resource to encourage children’s language development are the parents. Focus has therefore been on developing supportive methods to strengthen parent’s ability to support their children. The partners have exchanged innovative practices as well as developed new tools within this field. The projects cross-sectoral structure involved professionals from pre-schools, library’s, child health care services and family Centres. The aim was to share and improve existing tools and methods and in partnership develop a training manual for professionals from different fields of expertise on how to reach children and their families. Transnational Partner Meetings (TPM) have been used to share and develop competence around reading promotion. Each partner has hosted a three-day TPM with a specific theme which included presentations of good practice, study visits and workshops. Workshops around the training manual were also implemented. The five TPMs enrolled 140 people participants (pre-school teachers, librarians, family centre staff, strategic planners in education, university teachers, adult education and teachers working with multilingual families). Two Multiplier Events have been held, in Brussels and in Milan which included representatives from different academic fields and professionals giving both an operative and a strategic perspective to reading promotion. The events reached in total over 250 people, far greater than anticipated in the project proposal. The Training Manual (TM) for professionals is a supportive guide and provides a selection of tools and methods professionals can use on a general basis as well as directed at specific targets groups. Over 190 professionals have taken part in the testing and local follow-up of the TM. The project has influenced the cities' in so many ways and has had an impact at both an operative and policy level. For example, Gothenburg´s programme has inspired Bristol’s new strategy ‘Bristol: A Reading City’ and Milan has implemented a group of Reading Ambassadors. The TPM in Brussels, presented kamishibai as a method to support language learning in early childhood education which generated great interest amongst the librarians from Turku who applied for national funding to implement the kamishibai in Turku. The cross-sectorial collaboration between professionals are the most prominent long-term benefit. Milan has for example introduced a strategic multi-stakeholder group, composed of the early childhood services area, library area and the Health Department. In Turku, the library sector has set up a new network between pre-schools, child welfare, NGOs, church, children culture planner, and director of early childhood education. The TM as an educational tool will also have long-term benefits within the cities. Supporting a continuation of reading promotion and the knowledge amongst professionals on the importance of early intervention and child literacy support. This is expected to have a long-term effect in the form of new co-designed approaches.The partner cities are now also better equipped to adapted reading promotion to meet the needs of children and parents. There is greater insight into steps needed to stimulate reading and literacy from a very early age and better understanding of the needs and challenges facing vulnerable families and their children. Hopefully, the knowledge and practices from this partnership, will lead to greater opportunities for young children, especially those children growing up in a non-literary environment. By supporting children’s learning conditions, we can contribute to the greater goal; social equality.