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Welcome to the BLAST project – Fostering Youth Social Inclusion through Blockchain for Sustainability.

About Us

The stakes are high as the young generation is at risk of being less well-off than their parents, for the first time since the Second World War, with “29% of 16-29 year olds at risk of poverty or social exclusion and 11.6% of those aged 15-24 not in education, employment or training (NEETs), while 15.9 % of the young people in this age group are unemployed – double the rate of the general population”(EC, Engaging, Connecting and Empowering young people: a new EU Youth Strategy, 2018, p.1).

Social inclusion plays an important role in the achievement of these goals since a large part of the youth population are suffering or at risk of social exclusion or marginalization (e.g. NEET youth, young refugees and migrants, LGBTIQ+ youth, young women and girls, youth from minority ethnic, racial or religious backgrounds, socio-economically marginalised youth and youth who have committed or have been a victim of crime), as discrimination is multidimension (political, social, cultural and economic) and cumulative (EU–CoE, Social Inclusion, 2020).

The youth is taking the lead on the efforts to fight for climate justice and a more sustainable way of life since “the “great acceleration” in human economic activity since the mid-20th century, which has yielded impressive improvements in human welfare, research from many Earth-system scientists suggests that life on land could now be entering a period of unprecedented environmental systems change” – WEF, Building Block(chain)s for a Better Planet, 2018

BLAST! project aims at fostering social inclusion through a non-formal learning programme on the Sustainable Revolution, through Blockchain and DTL emergent technologies. The project objectives are to develop a state of the art non-formal learning programme, complemented with video-based digital learning to enhance youth engagement. BLAST! project must be carried out transnationally to ensure the products will meet the previously identified EU needs, through the wide experience of project partners in different areas of expertise and joint EU efforts from different sectors to address the issue of youth social inclusion.

Outputs

The BLAST! project will develop innovative education methods and digital tools to foster and strengthen social inclusion of marginalised youth. All outputs will be available in English, Dutch, Portuguese and Turkish. The results expected in the BLAST! Project are:

IO1 - BLAST! Curriculum for Sustainable Revolution through Blockchain

A set of Learning Units will be designed, using the Learning Outcomes (LOs) approach (learner-centred) which will be develop for an EQF level 3 on the topic "Sustainable Revolution through Blockchain and DLT technologies".

The curriculum will comprise

the Learning programme aim and objectives,
the LOs,
the "BLAST non-formal education methodology for Sustainable Revolution" with a model of dialogic evaluation, and
the learning materials.

IO3 - BLAST! Learning programme

In the scope of this IO, state of the art digital video-based learning materials will be developed, in bite sized units, on the topics of sustainable revolution - climate change, natural disasters, biodiversity loss, ocean-health deterioration, air pollution and water scarcity. Starting as a fun activity, the BLAST learning programme will allow the continuous growth and learning of participants beyond the project results.

IO2 - BLAST! non-formal education methodology for Sustainable Revolution

The Blast project will adopt a non-formal education methodology, where a range of learning activities will be designed, each exploring one topic on the Sustainable Revolution.

This IO will comprise

the methodology principles for the BLAST! learning programme,
at least two learning activities (one face-to-face and one web-based) for each topic (Learning unit),
the dialogic assessment model recommended,
the Youth Educators/Workers/Leaders guideline on the implementation of the Learning programme.

IO4 - Good practices webinar for the implementation of the BLAST! Programme

A webinar with the lessons learned during the implementation of the learning programme will be implemented and be available at the project website for future reference. It will be key for stakeholders that will adopt project results, to allow a smooth adoption and implementation with the best results possible, taking into consideration the different national experiences.

IO1 - BLAST! Curriculum for Sustainable Revolution through Blockchain

The curriculum will comprise

the Learning programme aim and objectives,
the LOs,
the "BLAST non-formal education methodology for Sustainable Revolution" with a model of dialogic evaluation, and
the learning materials.

IO2 - BLAST! non-formal education methodology for Sustainable Revolution

The Blast project will adopt a non-formal education methodology, where a range of learning activities will be designed, each exploring one topic on the Sustainable Revolution.

This IO will comprise

the methodology principles for the BLAST! learning programme,
at least two learning activities (one face-to-face and one web-based) for each topic (Learning unit),
the dialogic assessment model recommended,
the Youth Educators/Workers/Leaders guideline on the implementation of the Learning programme.

IO3 - BLAST! Learning programme

IO4 - Good practices webinar for the implementation of the BLAST! Programme

The Partners!

BLAST! is brought to you by a team of 5 expert partners from 4 European countries, namely: Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Turkey. Together, partners jointly cover the expertise needed in order to successfully implement the project goals.

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK

IERC/TYNDALL is a experienced project coordinator in several EU projects. It has previously led the research on Blockchain in different projects and it is the National Representatives on the IEA DSM TCP Global Observatory on Peer-to-Peer, Community Self-Consumption & Transactive Energy models. The experience of coordination will be of high value for the BLAST! project along with deep knowledge within the sustainability thematic and blockchain and DLT, as well as their experience in learning activities within the university context for youth and adults. It will lead O4 due to its experience in organising web-based teaching activities.

INSTITUTO DE SOLDADURA E QUALIDADE

ISQ was selected based on its very relevant experience and contribution on EU projects, on education and training activities and technology. ISQ is a VET Centre of Excellence, providing high quality ivet and cvet, being the second biggest VET provider in Portugal. However, ISQ also develops education activities for the youth sector, the most recent being a summer school for entrepreneurship competencies (based on entrecomp) through webquests methodology.

ISQ will lead IO1 due to its very relevant experience in curriculum development using the Learning Outcomes Approach (learners centred approach), having led this specific activity in multiple EU projects. ISQ will also lead Project Quality & Evaluation, having developed and improved its own 3P methodology (below), by leading this activity in many EU projects as well.

Inthecity Project Development

INTHECITY is a private company specialized in artistic, new technologies, IT solutions and social issues. It provides services in development of full concept and production of multimedia and web-based products with educational presentation and entertainment purposes. It is focused on developing of innovative multilingual products, materials and approaches, applicable to different target groups. For this reasons, INTHECITY was chosen to develop the video-based learning materials relating the Sustainable Revolution theme with the blockchain and DLT topic.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

ISMEK has a key role offering a public entity perspective to the BLAST! results. It was selected due to its 24 years experience in life long learning and the development and implementation of non formal educational programmes with youth, in particular youth from disadvantage backgrounds (including NEEETs).

Future in Perspective

FIP was selected to lead IO3 due to its experience in developing non-formal learning programmes for young people, in a socially inclusive way. FIP will also lead Dissemination & Exploitation as it is very experienced in these activities and has already developed several communication channels, such as their own Newspaper and is currently establishing its own Community TV. FIP also have a core team working in its Digital Media Zone who can produce visual and audio branding strategies, leaflets, posters, newsletters and anything else that is required.

Events

The project will include national dynamic workshops in order to engage a sizeable number of stakeholders who will have the opportunity to access the project outcomes and to ensure that the project has a wide impact across Europe, ensuring that key messages are disseminated. The main stakeholders are:

Education and training organisations, education providers that target youth, youth, youth associations, ONGs that work with youth and associated partners.

Training

The BLAST! Learning Experience will be held in Turkey. The BLAST! learning outcomes will be developed by project partners in close collaboration with associated partners which will contribute and be engaged in the testing phase. When developing the methodology, not only associated partners will be equally engaged but BLAST! results will benefit from a joint transnational learning activity where youth workers/leaders from partners countries can share their experience in methodologies used in their current activities with youth, but also actively discuss and pre- test the methodology developed. This transnational training event will guarantee the high quality of the project results and assure the future exploitation of this learning programme.

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