Vulnerable people digital inclusion through digital volunteering

<< Background >>The project responded to the needs of two educational organisations, adult educators and vulnerable groups, including older people and migrants. The diagnosis carried out in Poland and the Netherlands showed an urgent need to develop the digital skills of educators so that they can effectively support learners in using online tools. In particular, the older generation of adult learners required rapid digital competence support, which would enable them to function more fully in modern society. The project also responded to the need to strengthen the organisational and pedagogical competences of educators and to develop the administrative skills of staff managing international projects. Project activities focused on counteracting social exclusion by engaging older people and migrants in digital learning, which supported their activation and social inclusion.Participation in the project enabled partners to expand international cooperation, test their strengths and weaknesses and implement innovative solutions in adult education. As a result, the project increased the number of adults actively learning and education became accessible and relevant to their needs.<< Objectives >>The project aimed to support the digital inclusion of older people and migrants through their active involvement in digi-volunteering. This enabled seniors to reduce loneliness and migrants to gain access to essential support services. We wanted to enable them to develop digital skills to counteract social exclusion and improve their quality of life. As part of the project, adult educators gained skills to create informal learning situations that would engage these two vulnerable groups in learning and digital inclusion, so that everyone, regardless of age or background, had the opportunity to participate. The aim was also to increase the competence of international cooperation among adult educators and to involve other target groups in them, so that the effects of the project would have a lasting impact not only locally, but also be available in other EU countries and beyond.We wanted to develop the idea and skills of digital volunteering, to raise the level of digital skills and to raise awareness of their growing importance in everyday life and work. The aim of the project was to strengthen motivation to work with vulnerable groups and to promote the Erasmus+ programme, especially among less experienced organisations. << Implementation >>We implemented the following activities:Development of 10 good practices (5PL and 5NL) of digital inclusion for older volunteers and immigrants. Development of a manual for adult educators on ‘Digital Inclusion through volunteering initiatives’. Conduct 4 training sessions in each organisation on ‘Digital Inclusion of Vulnerable People through Volunteering Initiatives’. -online presentations, seminars, onsite training) for 82 people (43 from PL, 39 from NL), including adult educators and representatives of vulnerable groups. 1 information brochure in Polish and English was produced. Each partner carried out internal activities in their organisation that effectively strengthened the team's competences in the digital inclusion of older people and vulnerable groups, including migrant women. We set up a project website with downloadable materials - digitalvolunteering.eu We carried out dissemination activities through various channels such as EPALE, the project website, partners' websites and their social media profiles: https://www.facebook.com/wiedza.innowacja.rozwoj. << Results >>E-training (courses) quizzes, and downloadable educational materials in 4 languages on digitalvolunteering.eu The good practice examples collected (5PL, 5NL), the training delivered, the seminars and the manual, fully met the needs of the target group, which included older people, migrants and adult educators.Developed digital skills in 20 older people and migrants. Developed 4 PPT presentations on thematic experiences of partners and volunteering in PL and NL.Delivered 4 trainings and seminars to 82 (43 PL, 39 NL) people: adult educators, vulnerable groups, where they learned about and practical opportunities for digital inclusion through volunteering. WIR Association staff organised workshops for older generations from remote areas. A special group were those who stayed at home during the pandemic. We involved people from vulnerable groups in digital volunteering.We inspired and supported the involvement of older people (PL) and migrants (NL) in digital inclusion through digital volunteering as one form of informal learning.We have disseminated the idea of mutual learning.We strengthened cooperation between partner countries by sharing experiences of different organisations, cross-sectoral and generation.