Distance learning // homeschooling - a lot is demanded of parents during the Corona crisis. However, many are unable to provide their children with the support they need due to socio-economic disadvantage and a lack of digital skills.

When we work with young people, especially young, educationally disadvantaged and / or socio-economically disadvantaged families, we know that they often need help with similar issues.

The aim of our project is to show different solutions in a European comparison, which will be published in an online article, a guide and a number of methods and will be freely accessible to all interested parties. With this the main goal of an additional professionalization of our organizations has been achieved. Not only do the individual organizations benefit from European exchange, but families can also get the feeling that other people in Europe are similar to themselves.

EDUCOMMART is among other things responsible for the organisation of training events in Greece.

Programme: Programme Erasmus+
Action:
Titel: UPSKILLING PARENTS | How to guide children safely through distance learning through times of crisis
Acronym: Upskilling
Project No.: KA204-407880C9
Duration: 24 months
Start-End: 01\09\2020 – 31\08\2022
Coordinator: Akademie für politische Bildung und demokratiefördernde Maßnahmen, AT
Homepage: www.upskilling-parents.eu

• LUETEC – Libera Università Europea Luetec, IT
• EDUCOMMART – Meeting Point for Creative Education, GR
• Systeme in Bewegung e. V., DE
• VsL Zmogiskuju istekliu stebesenos ir pletros biuras, LT
• Associacao para a Acao Educativa Cultural e Desportiva Form2you, PT

The family is the smallest system in European society, the starting point for democracy building and social change, and therefore deserves special support. We know from our previous project that families across Europe are in conflict about similar issues, that almost everyone is "stuck" in the same places. There we have exchanged ideas in a consortium of DE, AT, BG, ES and GR, collected the results and prepared them for publication.

In "Europarents 2020" we will be building on these results: we will first carry out a survey in order to be able to orientate our further steps exactly to the needs of parents. We will then work together to develop a game that facilitates and stimulates communication on difficult issues in families. Experience shows that many parents are already relieved when they realize that they are not alone with their problems. With the game to be developed, they can not only get a feeling for the fact that some topics affect families throughout Europe, but also come into direct contact with approaches from other countries and can reflect on them in a playful way.

Furthermore, the needs analysis, the further exchange and the joint development of the game will lead to an additional professionalisation of our organisations. One target group are also the employees of the organisations who, through their work and finally through the distribution of the game in the vicinity of the organisation, will carry the results into the target group of parents and families. In this way, not only the individual organisations benefit from the European exchange, but also the families can get a feeling that other people in Europe are similar to themselves, a feeling for the European community, and at the same time find new solutions for family conflicts.

In previous projects in which the individual organisations have worked together, everyone had the impression that "Europe works best on a small scale" - direct human contact, and, where this is not possible, the knowledge that families are similar throughout Europe, leads to mutual understanding and sympathy across national borders, which nowadays are threatening to become stronger again.

EDUCOMMART will use the dissemination experience and the existing extensive network to disseminate the project idea and results and to support other dissemination partners.

Programme: Erasmus+
Titel: EUROPARENTS 2020 |
Project No.: 2020-1-DE02-KA204-007394
Duration: 24 months
Start-End: 01\10\2020 – 30\09\2022
Coordinator: Systeme in Bewegung e.V., DE

• Stiftung Medien und Onlinesucht, DE
• EDUCOMMART – Meeting Point for Creative Education, GR
• UCHEBNA RABOTILNITSA EVROPA SDRUZHENIE, Lernwerkstatt Europa e.V., BG
• ASOCIACION DE INNOVACION FORMACIONY EMPLEO PARA DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, ES
• Akademie für politische Bildung und demokratiefördernde Maßnahmen, AT

educommart is participating in a "network of cities" together with the municipality of Kifissia on the theme european unity. Under the leadership of educommart in Athens (Kifissia), there will be exchanges with the cities of Kifissia, Pleven, Timisoara and Lüneburg.

Europe and its values are a great asset: human dignity, freedom and solidarity. They have been achieved with courage and commitment – 30 years of reunification and democratic change in Eastern Europe.

The current challenges facing Europe as a result of populism, nationalism and racism will be tackled by the UNITY project together with citizens. Various innovative methods serve this purpose: With eyewitness workshops, citizens exchange information across generations about the time of the junta, dictatorships and over 30 years of European "UNITY". The values of UNITY in diversity, human dignity and solidarity are also expressed in the essays and poems of citizens, which are recited in public places in every city during balcony speeches.

The Prοject aims to bring together different generations and citizens of different classes and social backgrounds to discuss the current challenges facing Europe.

educommart – with the support of the Municipality of Kifissia - will carry out activities of national and international character to inform and involve citizens, to find solutions and to better address the challenges that threaten Europe.

Programme: Europe for Citizens
Action: Town-twinning
Titel: EUROPE – Unity, human dignity and solidarity – Just a dream?
Acronym: Unity
Project No.: 601989-CITIZ-1-2018-1-EL-CITIZ-REMEM
Duration: 22 months
Start-End: 15\09\2020 – 30\06\2022
Coordinator: EDUCOMMART – Meeting Point for Creative Education, GR
Homepage: www.europe-unity.eu

• Miteinander in Europa e.V., DE
• UCHEBNA RABOTILNITSA EVROPA SDRUZHENIE, Lernwerkstatt Europa e.V., BG
• Fundatia romano-germana de pregatire si perfectionare profesionala in domeniul constructiilor, RO

The Project „NEW Schuman Declaration – Cross-Generational Conversation about a NEW Europe“ aims to generate ideas for the future of the European Union. It will link the past and the present to give young Europeans a powerful tool for building the future. The instrument is the memories and lessons of the past 70 years. Talking to contemporaries of the 1950 Schuman Declaration, of their country’s admission to the EU and of the changes in Central and Eastern Europe after 1990, young people will add to the lines of history textbooks the experience of „ordinary“ people. They will also become familiar with the full text of the Schuman Declaration, which everyone has heard of, but few have read.

On May 9, we will announce an essay contest „My Schuman Declaration“. We’ll introduce young Europeans to the human rights set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (2000). The rights - dignity, freedoms, equality, solidarity, citizenship, justice - seem indisputable. But in all four countries involved in the project, there’ve been periods of their suppression. This must be known and remembered so as not to be repeated.

The „New Schuman Declaration - cross-generational conversation for a New Europe“ project activities will be implemented in the 4 countries of the consortium: Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Poland, in these cities respectively: Pleven, Athens, Granada, Warsaw. This will bring together participants from countries with more than 30 years of EU membership with those accepted only 10 or 15 years ago; countries developed under conditions of capitalism and socialism; residents of capitals and of two big, but not metropolitan cities. Our project stands symbolically within the limits of time and space - from the laying of the foundations of the EU in 1950 to the present, and from the external borders of the Union in the four directions of the world - from Bulgaria to Spain, and from Greece to Poland.

The focus group of the project is young people between the ages of 14 and 29, so most of the activities will be held in schools and universities in the 4 countries: cross-generational meetings, flash mobs, puzzle room competitions. We will promote and run online the essay contest „My Schuman Declaration“. This way, participation in it will be accessible to all interested who meet the criteria of the regulations.

Programme: Europe for Citizens
Titel: NEW Schuman Declaration - Cross-Generational Conversation about a NEW Europe
Acronym: nEU dec
Project No.: 618207-CITIZ-1-2020-1-BG-CITIZ-REMEM
Duration: 18 months
Start-End: 01\02\2021 – 31\07\2022
Coordinator:Contemporary Pleven Media Foundation, Pleven, BG

• EDUCOMMART – Meeting Point for Creative Education, GR
• ASOCIACION DE INNOVACION FORMACIONY EMPLEO PARA DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, ES
• FUNDACJA AUTOKREACJA, PL

The coronavirus pandemic affected the whole world. In Europe, the number of cases reached 42 million and 1 million deaths. Unprecedented measures against the spread of the disease have quarantined hundreds of millions of EU citizens. Now that the spread of the virus appears to be largely under control, it is time to learn from the crisis, and for us all to do our part to ensure that it does not happen again.

According to a recent survey commissioned by the European Parliament and conducted in the second half of June 2020 in the Member States, almost seven out of ten respondents (68%) want a stronger role for the European Union in combating the crisis. More than half (56%) of respondents at pan-European level believe that this requires the EU to have more financial resources, which should be directed mainly to overcoming the consequences of the pandemic on the health and economic sectors.

• To analyze the actions taken in the EU against the pandemic both by countries and by sectors: health, economy and employment, social activities, education, culture, media (fake news);
• To identify, show and promote good examples and practices for dealing with the Covid crisis as manifestations of solidarity at all levels;
• To acquaint citizens, including Eurosceptics, with the actions and role of the European institutions in overcoming the crisis more quickly and successfully;
• To summarize the conclusions from all project activities in a final document - Civil appeal to the EC and EP;
• Creating a strong community of civil society organizations from all participating countries, thus contributing to intercultural dialogue and the presentation of European diversity and unity.

Programme: Europe for Citizens
Titel: Manage the Covid crisis with Care, reasOn, Values, unIty, soliDarity
Acronym: COVID
Project No.: 625413-CITIZ-1-2020-1-BG-CITIZ-CIV
Duration: 18 months
Start-End: 01\05\2021 – 31\10\2022
Coordinator: FONDATSIYA SAVREMENNA PLEVENSKA MEDIYA, BG

• FUNDACJA AUTOKREACJA, POL
• ASOCIACION DE INNOVACION FORMACIONY EMPLEO PARA DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, ES
• JUGEND-& KULTURPROJEKT EV, DE
• UDRUZENJE GRADJANA CENTAR ZA RAZVOJ MANJINSKIH I LOKALNIH MEDIJA MINORITY & LOCAL MEDIA DEVELOPMENT CENTER, SRB
• EDUCOMMART – Meeting Point for Creative Education, GR
• SPIRALIS, Z. S., CZE
• VIESOJI ISTAIGA ATVIROS LIETUVOS FONDAS, LTU

Sensitising the next generation to the value of democracy and empowering them to act democratically is an important building block for maintaining peace and freedom in Europe and the European community.

With the implementation of our project "FED" "Promotion of Democracy Education" (FED) based on the didactic approach of game-based learning, we want to do exactly that: to enable every user to better understand democracy and to sensitise them to the value of democracy.

Since imparted knowledge about democratic processes often remains abstract, we have opted for the didactic approach of game-based learning. According to Frank Walter Steinmeier, "discussion is the cement of democracy", and it is precisely this discussion that we achieve with the production of the card game, based on the didactic approach of game-based learning. (game-based learning). It is based on the "Vertellis" game (https://www.vertellis.de), in which there are neither winners nor losers, because the discussion itself is the goal. In a playful way, all players learn what it means to act politically and to shape their own living environment together with others.

They will learn not only to pursue their own interests, but also to put themselves in the position of their counterparts. Because getting to know other points of view, weighing up arguments and understanding and respecting attitudes that differ from one's own opinion are all part of the democratic debate and the goal of our project "FED".

That is why democracy education has such a crucial socio-political significance. If these values are taught, young people learn to look after their interests and to treat their fellow human beings with respect.

The project proposed here is a playful and participatory way of learning. It can be applied in promoting democracy education in non-formal education with the main aim of engaging, connecting and empowering young people.

For applicability to the professional community in adult education and social work, a handout is being produced in the form of a companion booklet with discussion prompts, food for thought and philosophical questions in 7 languages.

With the involvement of politics, we are taking on this transnational educational task in a consortium of GR, BG, ES, NO and DE, with the aim of promoting democracy education in relation to learning about, through and for democracy. The experiences in Europe are different, so it is more important than ever that the value of EU democracy is strengthened through transnational learning.

• a card game based on the didactic approach of game-based learning.
  It conveys knowledge, promotes the exchange of different attitudes and serves as a basis for discussion.
• As a basis for the development of the game and the handout, a comprehensive needs analysis in the form of a desktop research with subsequent questionnaire survey among 100 European parents is carried out, which precisely captures the current needs and topics with regard to democracy education.
• In order to deepen the dialogue in the family as well as to make the game applicable for the professional association and multipliers in adult education and social work, an accompanying booklet is produced as a handout. In addition to the game instructions, it contains thought-provoking impulses, suggestions for discussion and philosophical impulses on various current topics.
• The educational game will be available in 7 languages.

After completion of the project:
The game will be available as a print & play template or for free download on each partner site.

EDUCOMMART is responsible, among other things, for carrying out the needs analysis with regard to democracy education in European families. Furthermore, it will use its experience in dissemination and the existing far-reaching network to disseminate the project idea and results and will be responsible for the documentation and evaluation of the dissemination results.

Programme: Erasmus+
Titel: FED | Promoting democracy education in everyday family life
Acronym: FED
Project No.: 2021-1-DE02-KA220-ADU-000026502
Duration: 24 months
Start-End: 01\12\2021 – 30\11\2023
Coordinator: Miteinander in Europa e. V., DE

• EDUCOMMART – Meeting Point for Creative Education, GR
• UCHEBNA RABOTILNITSA EVROPA SDRUZHENIE, Lernwerkstatt Europa e. V., BG
• ASOCIACION DE INNOVACION FORMACIONY EMPLEO PARA DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, ES
• Systeme in Bewegung e. V., DE
• Nyskolen i Oslo, NO

Digital media use is on the rise worldwide and it's hard to do without it. The Corona crisis in particular has strongly driven the use of digital media and significantly changed the digital information gathering behaviour of media users, with the consequence that they are more susceptible to false reports. Young and highly emotionalised people in particular are quicker to believe aberrant information and take little time to reflect on what they have read.

But this is exactly what they need in order to filter information appropriately and truthfully, because users of digital media and also companies are now dependent on learning about and processing current changes quickly so that they can act quickly and prudently.

Therefore, a critically reflective media competence has become a developmental task for media users in order to be able to deal with phenomena such as fake news in social media, cyberbullying and data security.

The project "Cyberbubble" supports parents and professionals in their own media use and at the same time in their media education of children and young people for a healthy use of digital media.

This is a highly topical issue that requires urgent action, both personally and institutionally.

The main goal of the media education project "Cyberbubble" is to raise awareness and educate adults as well as multipliers in the educational and cultural sector in their digital competence. Digital competence is considered a central key competence for lifelong learning and thus means more than just being able to use it. In addition to knowledge and practical skills, it includes in particular the safe and reflective use of digital media. Detailed objectives are:

• Raise awareness of the importance of digital literacy with a focus on fake news and data protection.
• To raise awareness for a vigilant, critical and self-determined handling of one's own and other people's data.
• Address a broad target group of media users.

"Cyberbubble" aims to promote central aspects of digital literacy and specifically focus on the handling of data and information sources.

The focus is on the aspect of mutual learning.

As a result, in 3 European cities, Hamburg, Athens and Pleven, an experiential installation in the form of a dome tent with digital elements is made possible, which through interactive parts, dissolves the viewer distance with an insight gained directly through experience and is sustainably accessible through a virtual tour.

The project "Cyberbubble" realises:

1. an experiential installation in the form of a dome tent that imparts knowledge and encourages one's own reflective engagement.
2. working material to teach digital literacy
3. a multilingual website with a virtual tour of the installation and background information in English, Greek, German and Bulgarian.

Educommart is responsible, among other things, for the implementation and supervision of the experiential installation in Athens and the management of project dissemination through a social media campaign.

Programme: Erasmus+
Titel: Cyberbubble | Εxperiential installation: "Cyberbubble" – An Awareness-raising campaign to promote digital competences in adult education
Acronym: Cyber-Bubble
Project No.: 2021-1-DE02-KA210-ADU-000050869
Duration: 10 months
Start-End: 01\03\2022 – 01\01\2023
Coordinator: Stiftung Medien und Onlinesucht, DE
Homepage: cyber-bubble.eu

• EDUCOMMART – Meeting Point for Creative Education, GR
• UCHEBNA RABOTILNITSA EVROPA SDRUZHENIE, Lernwerkstatt Europa e. V., BG