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As the EU elections 2024 approach, youth voting and engagement in democratic processes remains a critical focus for YEU . In light of this, YEU has chosen to address this goal within the framework of “Coffee with…” , a YEU initiative launched in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative, consisting of a 1-hour online meeting, aims to foster dialogue between young people and several policy makers and stakeholders coming from institutions, organisations and other civil societies bodies. By providing a platform for direct interaction with decision makers, “Coffee with…” gives room to young people to express their opinions and make questions to the guests around political and social topics relevant to their needs, concerns and aspirations for participation in democratic processes. In line with this objective, YEU dedicated its first “Coffee with…” event of 2024, which took place on the 14th of February, to the theme of youth representation in the EU Parliament and youth democratic participation in general. The event featured the youngest member of the European Parliament, Ms. Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, who was elected at the age of 21 and represents a true example for youth engagement. During the event, which was moderated by our YEU friend who is also the board member at European Youth Forum, Ismael Paez Civico, the participants gained valuable insights into Ms. Kira Marie Peter-Hansen’s journey as the youngest MEP. Discussions also revolved around the existing obstacles to youth participation in European politics and strategies to foster greater interest and engagement, with a focus on the important role played by youth organisations. Strongly engaged in the strengthening of the connection between the Parliament and young people, Ms. Peter-Hansen will run for the upcoming elections in June 2024, embodying the idea that age is not a barrier to active citizenship.

LLLP was a partner in the two-year Erasmus+ KA3 Social Inclusion project “ INSCOOL II ”, which took place in 2021-23 aiming at significantly increase the knowledge and skills of school leaders, teachers and student teachers to work inclusively with the increasing range of diverse learners in their schools. The project will scale up the good practice established in the methodology of the Inclusive Schools I project . Objectives To promote change in school culture to enable people to live, work and learn together equitably and peacefully, without fear of discrimination or bullying; To deepen educators’ knowledge and understanding of inclusive education policy, practice and culture; To influence policy change at school, local, regional and national levels; To contribute, through promoting a sense of belonging and the common values of respect, freedom, democracy and equality, to the decrease of radicalisation. Activities National focus groups with school leaders, teachers and student teachers in relation to inclusive education and inclusive pedagogies; An international trainers’ event to allow participants to familiarise with the materials of the project and tailor them for their contexts; Face-to-face courses for school leaders and teachers focused on changing culture and school practices, supporting the introduction of inclusive policies; Piloting training courses for student/newly qualified teachers to collect feedback on the training courses developed. Resources Face-to-face course material for the professional development in inclusive education of school leaders. Face-to-face course material for teachers to provide them with knowledge and tools to build a more inclusive school community. A Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) for students and newly qualified teachers. Impact An international pool of 12 trainers, who will act as multipliers, equipped to deliver CPD courses to school leaders and teachers; 130 school leaders with the knowledge and confidence to lead the implementation of inclusive education in their school; 120 teachers with the knowledge and confidence to embed inclusive pedagogies in their classrooms; Indirect engagement of 10,000 learners, through changes to policy and practice in their schools; 12 school leaders and teachers able to act as role models for their peers, and to influence policy makers both locally and nationally. Partners The British Council (United Kingdom, coordinator) Interactive UK Limited (United Kingdom) CESIE (Italy) European School Heads Association (Netherlands) Lifelong Learning Platform (Belgium) Universidad de Granada (Spain) Project Results Recommendations from advocacy groups The advocacy groups were formed by partners in the first half of 2022 in all participating countries (Poland, Italy, Hungary, Netherlands, Spain and the UK) in the project to support the achievement of policy change at different levels, from schools to the EU level.  Participants got a better knowledge of the project’s outcomes and discussed the further use of the tools and trainings implemented after the project ends. An important point of reflection was how the project results could support them in their own local advocacy for inclusive schools. Partners involved several stakeholders such as individuals taking part in the project activities such as school leaders, teachers, parents and teacher trainees or as well as representatives from other stakeholder groups in line with a whole-school approach such as project managers working on inclusion, non-teaching staff (i.e. psychologists), teaching training institutions and foster homes. The advocacy groups also included representatives from public bodies and private entities. The different backgrounds and places of origin of participants ensured a diversity of perspectives and experiences. Policy Recommendations The policy recommendations bring together the current policy context around inclusion in education, the results of the advocacy groups, the inputs from the Final Conference and previous projects focused on inclusion in relation to teachers, teacher trainees and school leaders. This document is focused on recommendations for EU institutions to work together with Member States in different areas: i) professional development, training offer, ii) shortages and wellbeing, iii) systemic cooperation and whole-school approach and iv) public funding to education.   Online publication – good practice summary This publication consists of a short description of the project, explaining how the consortium worked on collecting the policy recommendations – including the methodology applied and a summary of all the recommendations collected. The document is based on the advocacy groups reports, as well as the need assessment report’s conclusions. Find all resources: https://www.inclusiveschools2.net/download.html

LLLP is partner in the two-year Erasmus+ KA2 project “ImproVal: Improving validation in the voluntary sector”, involving five partners from five European countries (Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Slovakia). The project kicked-off in Helsinki, Finland on October 29-30th 2018 and aims to provide a synthesis of the work undertaken in the EU on the validation of volunteering experience. It will do so by bringing together the coordinators of a number of previous validation projects, making known the methods, tools and thinking behind validation of learning in the voluntary sector, in a validation compendium, conducting a small-scale study on the usefulness of validation for volunteers, and by encouraging a dialogue between relevant stakeholders locally, nationally and at European level. The main virtue of voluntary work, that is not always recognised, it is a great non-formal and informal learning opportunity for the volunteer. The ImproVal project starts from the statement that competencies acquired through volunteering activities need to be better recognised in the society. Indeed, the recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning is highly relevant in the European educational area. This is widely acknowledged at EU level, for instance, in the 2012 Council Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning. More and more people and organisations are becoming aware of the educational value of volunteering, and of validation opportunities for the voluntary sector. At the same time, no bridges between projects have been created, which includes the risk of reinventing the wheel on one side, and ‘’missing links’’ on the other side, e.g. in connecting the validation methods with the European Guidelines or the European Qualification Framework for Validation and/or because some forms of volunteering would not be recognised. ImproVal project partners have developed three main outputs: Volunteering validation compendium: It is a synthesis of the tools and practices used in the voluntary sector to validate competences based on desk research and the results of partners’ previous project on validation. The compendium is available online here. It was presented in a webinar in June 2019. Study on validation in volunteering: The study looked at the outcomes of the validation of volunteers’ competences. The data was be collected through an online questionnaire and interviews and resulted in an article published in a scientific journal. Have a look on this page. Policy recommendations: Towards the end of the project, partners used the results of the two first outputs in order to provide recommendations for the European voluntary sector. They were finalised in June 2020. Multiplier events: Multiplier events took place in Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Slovakia. The purpose of the events was to present the project results and to engage relevant national stakeholders in a dialogue about validation in the voluntary sector. Coordinator: Sivis Study Centre, a nationwide non-formal adult education centre, whose mission is to foster citizens’ competences and promote active citizenship and voluntary work in cooperation with its members. Partners: the University of Bamberg (Germany), Edos Foundation (Netherlands), Platform of Volunteer Centres and Organisations (Slovenia) and the Lifelong Learning Platform (EU).

DIGIT is a European project funded under Erasmus+ KA2 ‘Strategic partnerships’ and coordinated by Polish company INnCREASE. With partners stemming from seven different countries (Belgium, Spain, UK, Poland, Greece, Italy and Slovenia), the project will last for two years (2017-2019) and will seek to boost digital competences for a responsible use of online identity. Through this project the consortium aims to investigate digital identity implications for adults and provide the necessary educational instruments and supporting tools for adult educators. Digital competences are one of the current key educational priorities of the EU institutions. While digital skills are considered necessary in order to meet labour market needs, the concepts of ‘virtual citizenship and identity’ pose a growing challenge for society. Individuals that may or may not be digitally literate, including the so-called ‘digital natives’ (a person born or brought up during the age of digital technology and so familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age), all need to be informed and aware of how their identity and footprint are being tracked on the internet. Aiming to develop comprehensive materials that analyse the issue, the DIGIT project will inform digital users about all aspects that come with having a digital identity, and provide some elemental guidelines to minimise cyber threats to one’s data and to one’s public image. In this respect, it will also deal with aspects of cyber bullying and hate speech. The consortium, led by an innovation consultancy (INnCREASE, Poland), is further formed of a lifelong learning centre (Platon, Greece); a European NGO working on all aspects of lifelong learning (Lifelong Learning Platform, Belgium); a mentoring and consultancy agency working with SMEs (Inova, United Kingdom); an adult education and training centre (DomSpain, Spain); a European network of organisations active in the field of education which promotes digital skills (DLearn,Italy); and a public organisation in lifelong learning education (UPI, Slovenia). Overall, the project intends to develop two main outputs: The DIGIT Manifesto and guidelines for adult educators, which will result from partners’ research and information gathered through Focus Groups, where our target groups (adult educators, adults and other relevant stakeholders such as digital experts and public body representatives) will be brought together to discuss the issues, dangers and opportunities of the digital world. The DIGIT training strategy, which sees the development of training materials for adult educators that will be available on our online platform, tested in a series of pilots. Results from these pilots will feed into a report with policy recommendations targeting policy makers at EU level that will be presented at the project’s final conference in November 2019. For more information about the project, visit the website: https://digitproject.eu/

The project “Building learning societies: Promoting Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning” aimed at developing an awareness-raising campaign for the validation of learning outcomes of non-formal and informal learning as a tool to further improve adults’ career perspectives and stimulate their further education and training. Partners have been exchanging on existing validation practices and developed methods for the identification, documentation, assessment and certification of the learning outcomes of non-formal and informal learning. Together they launched a EU-wide action campaign to promote validation amongst adult education and training providers, employers, trade unions, civil society organisations, and learners themselves. By bringing together different actors who are stakeholders in the validation process, the long-term cooperation has been established, both at national and European level to further work on supporting the process of implementation of Council Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning. Moreover this project seeks to contribute to diminishing inequalities within society and to unlocking its full potential through the aim of promoting the concept of “learning societies” where each personal contribution is being utilized, and skills and competences are recognised and further developed. To better reach out to those who wish to advance their knowledge on validation, the “European strategic guide for fostering the participation and raising awareness on validation of learning outcomes of NFIL” publication was prepared with an ambition to to improve ones’ career perspectives and stimulate lifelong learning. Main results: 2 European seminars-workshops, 8 national workshops (1 per country), 8 policy papers (1 per country), a conference and an European guide. Building learning societies: Promoting validation of non-formal and informal Learning – 539962-LLP-1-2013- FR-GRUNDVIG-GAM Implementation period: 11/2013 - 11/2014

GR-EAT (2014-2016) aims to propose a comprehensive tool for the implementation of recognition systems and contribute to the overall advocacy process toward the recognition of non-formal and informal learning (NFIL) taking place within youth organisations. Led by AEGEE, the Lifelong Learning Platform is one of the six partners (KA2 Strategic Partnership, Erasmus+) and is responsible for conducting research among employers in order to find out about their needs and expectations regarding the recognition of NFIL and will draft a study report. The objectives of the project are to create common guidelines for recognition of NFIL acquired in a volunteering context, supporting youth organisations in providing internal validation systems which can be recognised externally. The project also wants to support longterm volunteers in raising their awareness of competences acquired and their value in an employment context as well as in acquainting them with the identification and documentation procedures that are useful to go through national validation systems. Another objective is to raise the awareness of companies on the benefits and impact of long term volunteering for transversal competence development. In the framework of the GR-EAT project (AEGEE), the LLLP led a survey approaching employers on how they value volunteering in recruitment. Led from February to April 2015, it gathered 131 responses destined to evaluate the recognition of non-formal and informal learning prior, for and during employment. Three mismatches were revealed: first, between the value employers give to volunteering and their capacity to assess it; second, between assessment tools and employer’s knowledge of their existence, as well as correspondence to their needs; third, between the competences gained by volunteers and their capacity to highlight them to employers. Read the Full Survey! Find more information on the official website on: Guidelines for Recognition: How to make your volunteer experience count in the eyes of your future employers? Study report on self-assessment of non-formal and informal learning Study research on expectations from external stakeholders regarding competences and recognition processes of Non Formal and Informal learning (NFIL)

LLLP was partner in the 30-months Erasmus+ KA2 project “Tracking and monitoring the progress of adult learners” (TaMPADA), which is involving five partners from five European countries (Greece, United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden, Slovenia). The project kicked off on the 20-21st of November 2018 in Chesterfield, UK and aims to develop an outreach mechanism for tracking and monitoring long-term outcomes of disadvantaged learners’ participation in adult education (AE). The project is the follow up of a previous project called “IMPADA”, that aimed to develop a (self-)assessment methodology for adult education providers on the effectiveness of AE provisions for disadvantaged adult learners while TaMPADA sets out to develop further instruments of measuring the impact and effectiveness of adult education. IMPADA focused on the educational impact on disadvantaged learners and a main finding was the identification of outcomes-tracking of learners’ lifelong educational journeys as a challenge that the sector is currently facing. The premise of TaMPADA is that tracking and monitoring lifelong progress would function as performance enabler for adult education providers by increasing data inflow for the elaboration of evidence-based strategies aiming at increasing supply quality, demand and regulatory effectiveness in adult education. In TaMPADA, the partners are foreseeing four main outputs: Assessment toolkit for disadvantaged learners’ lifelong and lifewide progress Outreach tracking and monitoring framework for disadvantaged learners’ lifelong and lifewide progress Digital lifelong and lifewide progress assessment tool Survey report and policy recommendations Coordinator: Derbyshire County Council (UK) Partners: PROMEA (Greece), Folkuniversitetet (Sweden), AZM-LU (Slovenia) and theLifelong Learning Platform (EU).

The LLL-HUB is a project funded with the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme under Key Activity 1 “Policy cooperation and innovation” and coordinated by the LLLPlatform. Engaging 10 partners from 8 EU countries with various backgrounds, it lasted for two years, from December 2013 to March 2016. The LLL-HUB: what is it? The LLL-HUB aimed to create a feeling of shared responsibility on EU lifelong learning strategies through a multilateral network and ownership among relevant stakeholders (Europe 2020 headline targets, ET2020, European Semester Country-Specific Recommend­ations…). This was achieved by fostering national and transnational public spaces for debates and mutual policy learning, involving the grassroots level in a genuine reflection with decision-makers on the design and implementation of coherent and comprehensive lifelong learning strategies. The LLL-HUB: how did it happen? A research phase (LLL-LABs) and a seminar (LLL-FORUM) tookplace in the different partner countries, involving key LLL experts and policy-makers. The project had three transversal objectives: Foster a shared meaning of lifelong learning Enable a cross-sectorial, multi-stakeholders cooperation Structure the first transnational policy learning based on a genuine research and dialogue at regio­n­al/­national level on EU LLL strategies They were invited to gather for transnational policy learning and the elaboration of key political messages in real bottom-up democratic settings. This last step, the LLL-AGORA, an international expert conference, took place in Mechelen, Belgium, on 7-8 March 2016. Three organisations received the LLL-HUB Awards at this occasion to celebrate their efforts in making lifelong learning a reality in their territories. The LLL-HUB: Outcomes Key project results areComparative Report on the implementation of Lifelong Learning in Europe compiled by the LLLPlatform which includes a set of policy recommendations to policy makers and which is based on theNational/Regional States of Play from 7 partner countries. The LLLPlatform also produced an EU Handbook and Glossary which guided the partners through the initial research phase of the project and which has been recently updated. Methodological Guidelines on the implementation of the LLL-HUB Methodology have been produced in order sum up the project methodology and invite other countries and regions to join the LLL-HUB by implementing what has proven a very successful three-step approach. Comparative Report and Policy Recommendations National States of Play: Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey EU Handbook and Glossary Methodological Guidelines Visit our website: www.lll-hub.eu.

InnoVal (Innovative Assessment Methods for Validation) aims to address the urgent need to offer valid and reliable assessment methods that allow all learners to have a chance at validation with a special focus on disadvantaged groups such as migrants, long-term unemployed, and those who have had an adverse experience with formal education including with school-based assessments. The 2012 Council Recommendation gave a strong political impulse to the goal of having national validation arrangements in all countries by 2018. Yet, according to the CEDEFOP 2014 Validation Inventory Report, EU countries still greatly diverge in terms of mechanisms in place. In order to ensure the validity and reliability of assessment procedures, and to avoid additional costs, many educational institutions prefer to use standardised tests. The use of alternative methods such as portfolios, declarative methods and simulations, is on the increase but remains limited. The partners believe that the use of standardised tests hinders learners’ take up in validation and represents one of the strongest obstacles to their development in Europe. Validation systems often target adults who have had a bad experience with formal education and formal assessment methods. This may leadthem to not complete their secondary education and not participate in any further formal education. Yet, they have acquired many skills and competences in non-formal and informal learning environments that they would validateif the assessment method did not bring them back to their bad past experience with formal education. InnoVal aims to foster a change in practices related to the assessment of non-formal and informal learning across Europe and across sectors. InnoVal is highly innovative as it brings together VET and HE providers who are advanced either in the use of innovative assessment methods, in building links with the labour market and/or in dealing with disadvantaged groups; research bodies who can provide the evidence with a EU perspective and European networks which can ensure policy impact and broad dissemination and exploitation of results. InnoVal covers 6 countries (BE-FL, FR, FI, EL, PT, DE) and well beyond. The potential transferability of the case studies and of the innovative methods will be included in all of the project’s outputs. The partners will engage various target groups from the start of the project (Ministries in charge of Validation, EU, NQF Agencies, EU networks, etc.) in order to ensure a broad impact.

LLLP is a partner in the two-year Erasmus+ KA2 project “Job Bridge” (2018-2020), involving eight partners from seven EU countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Spain). The project kicked off in Paris, France on February 12-13th 2019. It aims to improve the recognition and the validation of volunteers’ experiences and competences in a way that it could also be valued towards employers. It addresses labour market needs for workers with certified transversal skills as well as the needs of educational providers dealing with volunteers (adult education centers and voluntary-based organisations) to assess their volunteers’ competences and to support their learning paths. There is still a lack of feasible and easy-to-use instruments for validating informal learning in volunteering. Job Bridge will develop a fully-fledged user-centred approach for validating non-formal and informal learning processes in volunteering activities, including well-proven and web-based documentation, both for learners and those supervising them (the “facilitators”). Job Bridge will bridge informal, non-formal and formal learning by integrating social, personal and organisational competences in a system, which can be linked to existing validation and certification instruments such as EQF, ECVET, ECTS and/or EUROPASS. It will enable volunteering organisations to assess and evidence the competence development of their volunteers, according to a tailor-made reference system. Our Objectives Better understanding of the skills acquired in volunteering activities by collecting examples of tools and competence frameworks in use in the different partner countries Identify life skills developed in volunteering and how they can be connected to existing frameworks (literature review) Develop a competence matrix that is adapted to a volunteering context Develop and test a user-friendly tool for facilitators to assess the competences of their volunteers, build a learning plan and deliver a certificate at the end of the process Raise awareness of employers about the skills developed as part of voluntary activities Website: https://job-bridge.eu Coordinator: BUPNET, which an adult education provider based in Germany. Partners: La ligue de l’enseignement (France), Catro (Bulgaria), Lifelong Learning Platform (EU / Belgium), CCUM – Conferenza dei Collegi Universitari di Merito (Italy), Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Servicios de Cáceres (Spain), Volunteering Matters (United Kingdom), Blinc (Germany)

The LLLPlatform is partner in the two-year Erasmus+ KA2 project “IN-QUAL: Imprinting quality to entrepreneurship education”, involving seven partners from six European countries. The project aims to develop the methodology and tools to support the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms within training and work-based learning pathways for entrepreneurship education providers. The actions of the project will be directed to strengthening the entrepreneurial education offer towards more qualitative standards (inspired by the EQAVET system), boosting the transparency and of VET education providers and improving the quality assurance skills of educators and mentors. Our objectives Over the last few decades, the idea of infusing entrepreneurship into education has spurred great enthusiasm in light of the myriad of positive effects stated to result from it: from economic growth and job creation all the way to individual growth, increased school engagement and improved equality. EU policies have shown equal interest in entrepreneurship and recently produced a competence framework (EntreComp) to build consensus around a common understanding of the topic. In light of this and of the EQAVET framework, the project seeks to improve the quality assurance in entrepreneurship education and enhance the training offers for VET providers in this sector. These goals will be achieved through the joint efforts of all organisations involved in the consortium, as well as third parties and stakeholders, through the development of specific tools addressing the needs of the entrepreneurship providers. To this end, the project seeks to develop the following results: A baseline report to highlight difficulties and successes in implementing quality assurance in entrepreneurship education so far, as well as collect relevant data; A common reference framework developed to help future Quality Managers in entrepreneurship education to understand, plan and implement the quality assurance strategy in their organisation; among other resources, the reference framework will include a glossary, practices for an effective engagement of providers and staff as a whole and a strategy to reach out to the right stakeholders; Guidelines aiming at providing the right adaptation of the EQAVET standards and tools to entrepreneurship education; A description of the Quality Manager’s main competences and required skills, as well as training contents; Recommendations for the implementation of the whole system. Newsletters: Newsletter 1, Newsletter 2, Newsletter 3, Newsletter 4 Coordinator: Instituto Pedro Nunes – Portugal Partners: Eurocrea Merchant – Italy; IDEC – Greece; BDF – Netherlands; Effebi Association – Italy; LLLPlatform – Belgium; Civic Computing – UK

Specific LEArning Disorders no more! LEAD! project wants to identify and defeat the barriers that students with Specific Learning Disabilities meet at school when they start writing and reading. EUROPE 2020 Strategy wants to reduce ESL to less than 10 % around EUROPE, and, according to EUROSTAT (Disability statistics – access to education and training), 1 out of 4 people in EUROPE who faces basic activity difficulties, leaves the school prematurely. According to EPALE (JULY 2017) there were around 35.67 million students with such disabilities, 13.88 million coming from primary school and 21.700.000 from secondary school. LEAD! wants to empower and support students (9-14 years old) in developing the right competences about the adaptive technologies and their use thanks to the support of an innovative platform, MY SKILLS. The learning material will be validated according to the European Guidelines Of The Validation Of Non-formal And Informal Learning (CEDEFOP) and, at the end of the learning path, students will have the chance to get the European Adaptive Tool Licence. The direct target group of the project is represented by students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SLD) with age range 9-14 years old. The indirect target group is instead composed by teachers, headmasters, tutors and trainers and all the school and no school staff dealing with students with Specific Learning Disorders. In pointing out the this target group, families have to be considered as indirect beneficiaries of the project due to the fact that they will exploit project results with their children. LEAD! wants to promote forefront knowledge regarding the adaptive technologies (and their use) and create the European Adaptive Tool Licence targeting students with SLD (age 9-14). Students with SEN (Specific Educational Needs), which include students with Learning Specific Disorders, indeed have a higher probability to leave school prematurely compared to those students without disabilities (Early School Leaving and Learners with Disabilities and/or Special Educational Needs, European Agency for special needs and inclusive education, 2017). To reach its objective, LEAD! will develop and adapt to distant learning a training course targeting the adaptive technologies which it will adapted to MY SKILLS platform. At the end of the learning path, students can award the European Adapting Tool Licence which it will support them to acquire the necessary learning competences and, on the other side, it will be the quality label that it will certify to the teachers that the students are able to use the adaptive tools and technologies. Website: https://www.myskillslead.eu/