Europe's Parents Stand Up - We Learn Everywhere

<< Background >>This project was born from the willingness of partners to respond to the needs of families, parents and children, initially in response to the consequences on the mental health and well-being of children caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and secondly to support parents, carers and future professionals in analysing and addressing the daily challenges of parenting, going beyond the mere impact of the pandemic. Hence the main categories addressed by the projects are: -parents and carers who are often left with a sense of helplessness because they lack (paedo)psychological knowledge, the familiarity with digital tools of home-schooling/e-schooling, the background to help with school chores, the access to modern technology or the means to afford it, all aspects that are exacerbated in time of crises.-adult education staff and future professionals (psychologists) who have a crucial role in accompanying and supporting parents, carers and families in general, especially in the most difficult and unpredictable situations such as crisis and pandemics. Parenting and parenthood constitute a dimension of our civil society that necessitates the care and support, especially for childrens’ wellbeing, who are the future of European society.<< Objectives >>The projects aim in the first place to promote inclusion and diversity in adult education, to improve the availability of high- quality, flexible learning opportunities to adults, and to create an upskilling pathway for adults in challenging situations, improving the accessibility and the take-up of adult education in Europe. More specifically it aims to mitigate the mid- and long-term consequences of the pandemic on children's mental health and well-being, on children's pedagogical and learning needs and on family ties, taking up the lessons learned from the pandemic to build resilience in front of future crises or challenging situations. The projects goals are to provide fundamental insight to parents, carers, adult educational staff and future professionals on children’s mental health and well-being post-pandemic; empower parents and carers in their social role, to support their children through learning opportunities and upskilling pathways; help parents and carers gain skills and key competences through a toolkits and set of pedagogical and didactic activities at home and in everyday life; enhance the exchange among parents from different countries and backgrounds, demonstrating the common experience of European families.<< Implementation >>Related to R1: a careful scientific literature search conducted by UNITO’s academics for the development of a Booklet; research and careful selection of contents by Symplexis and all partners for the development of the set of pedagogical activities; a work of feedback collection and partners expertise for the development of the Learning guide collecting the project’s training experiences. Related to R2, a huge work of preparation of training materials and participants' engagement has been implemented through call for participants and contacts with stakeholders’ networks in each country. 15 training sessions and 3 transnational matching programme sessions between parents have been implemented resulting in the creation of innovative training materials and guidelines for the matching programme. Several interviews done during these sessions have been integrated in the Documentary. R3 implied a huge work of preparation with audiovisual production and research of materials for the Parents’ Forum and virtual Library. Partners have also strengthened relations with relevant stakeholders and networks at local, national and European level with parents' unions, Psychologists, ect. involving more than 300 participants in dissemination events.<< Results >>R1: Booklet on children's mental health and well-being in times of crises; a Set of 39 pedagogical activities; a Learning guide addressed to educational staff to replicate and readapt the project activities to future initiatives. R2: 15 training sessions with 248 participants; 3 Matching programmes with 81 participants among parents, carers, adult education staff, future professionals; A documentary (trailer and full version of about 30 mins.) of the project experiences and direct testimonies available in all project languages; A 2-episode podcast interviewing an expert Greek psychologist on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemics and of crises more in general.R3: Development of a Digital Learning Centre containing an Online course for parents, carers, education staff, future professionals with 9 training modules (with learning objectives, theoretical videos, interactive quizzes and the delivery of a Certificate upon completion); a video collection of 12 educational videos with development activities for children to do in the daily life at home or outdoor; a Virtual Library collecting 104 external resources; an interactive Parents’ forum on Facebook with 60 members where additional resources are published on a regular basis.