The Cultural Literacies’ Value in Europe (CLiViE) project develops and applies a Theory of Change (ToC) methodology and Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework to increase our understanding of the value of cultural literacy through arts-based education on social cohesion. It will… Read more be delivered through four main phases: it ‘maps’ arts-based education within the context of cultural literacy learning across different learning environments and over different stages of a young person’s education; it ‘evaluates’ arts-based education to help identify and assess their actual outputs and outcomes; it ‘values’ arts-based education activities through calculating its impact to further contribute to our understanding of the 'where', 'when', 'what' and 'how' young people’s cultural literacies are developed, and differentiated in various learning environments; and it ‘practices’ pedagogies through developing an innovative set of practices and materials to support art-based educators to develop social justice and inclusion and improve the lives of young people through collaborative pedagogy. It has been designed to meet the three main research outcomes of the work programme topic: the ToC methodology and SROI framework for cultural literacies will directly increase our understanding of the value of cultural literacy on social cohesion; the evidencing of value in arts-based education and the collaborative pedagogy practices in cultural literacy through the co-creation of communities of practice (COPs) and a professional development programme (PDP) for arts educators will support the targeted commissioning of activities that will increase cultural literacy in Europe; and the innovative methodology for data gathering (and engaging) through emotional cartography allows young people to find a voice through more effective initiatives to foster cultural literacy around European cultures.

CAPIRE (Cultural Adjustment Project for Improving Relations in Europe) aims at bridging cultural differences within the EU. By removing trade barriers and border controls among its members states and the introduction of uniform standards, the European Union has created one big… Read more common market. But Europe still has one disadvantage compared with other big economic blocks, like the U.S. and China: the linguistic and cultural differences between the constituent countries. More than ever European professionals find work in other European countries or are likely to collaborate in their work with other EU nationals. At the same time business relations and trade between companies from different EU countries are continually increasing. As a result both professionals and businesses are challenged by the cultural differences within the EU. European universities should see it as their mission to prepare their students for the future labour market, which includes working as a professional with other EU nationals or doing business for one's firm with other EU countries. Therefore, one of the skills they should acquire is to adequately deal with cultural differences. The CAPIRE project aims at exchanging knowledge between the partners and jointly developing an innovative method: building a digital training tool that is called a Culture Sensitiser (or Culture Assimilator). This tool challenges students, businessmen and private persons with realistic intercultural situations on the work floor which they have to solve. It provides them with explanations and further cultural background information. With this (digital) tool we can provide university teachers with an easy method of introducing students to real cultural differences. Our experience is that students like to solve real-life situations more than deal with abstract theories. We expect that this tool will not only raise the knowledge about but also the interest in this important subject, both among teachers and students. The Culture Sensitiser is not only useful to prepare students for a stay or work abroad, but also has a more general effect, on dealing with cultural diversity. European universities have become more and more internationalised in the last ten years, meaning that cultural diversity among students (and teachers) has greatly increased. For this reason, university boards are eager to promote an open and inclusive mindset among their students. The use of the Culture Sensitiser will definitely contribute to that goal. The Culture Sensitiser will be equally useful for professionals who are involved in international business and trade, and for private persons who are dealing with intercultural issues. Summarising, this project and the tool that will be created will help Europeans to better understand the cultural differences between them, which will lead to more effective collaboration. That is why the project has the acronym CAPIRE, which in Italian means 'to understand'.

In a global context characterised by geostrategic confrontation and competing narratives, information manipulation can be used to influence perceptions on the ground or fuel a conflict by creating confusion. The transition towards a multipolar world, accelerated by recent shocks such as… Read more the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 war Russia has been waging in Ukraine, has created an “informational battleground”, in which malign actors resort to hybrid tools, including Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), to gain influence or undermine the capacities and credibility of other powers. Such a “global battle of narratives” was already described by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (EU HR/VP) Josep Borrell in his 2020’s article3, highlighting the impact the framing of narratives has on citizens’ perceptions and behaviour, governments’ responses and health, economic, political, democratic and security consequences where time is a crucial factor. The 2022 March Strategic Compass (p. 14) warns that the EU now faces “a competition of governance systems accompanied by a real battle of narratives”. In addition, several other key EU communication and policy efforts have already recognised the threat of disinformation and foreign interference, such as the EU Action Plan on disinformation (5 December 2018), the European Democracy Action Plan (3 December 2020), the Digital Services Act (5 July 2022), the Code of Practice on Disinformation (also this year’s (2022) new updated and expanded version), Council Conclusion on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (18 July 2022), among others. Therefore, this Action also aims to further the implementation of existing frameworks and promote the related knowledge and tools externally. This action aims to enable the EU to address short and medium-term foreign policy needs and opportunities in and with non-EU territories by supporting innovative policies/initiatives and by deepening EU relations and dialogues, forging alliances and partnerships, in the fields of information manipulation and other types of foreign interference. It will contribute to enhancing the resilience and responses against FIMI, strengthening the EU’s role as a global security provider and defender of democratic values. It will lead to establishing a community of practice, bringing the EU, Member States and partners closer together on the understanding of FIMI-related challenges and how to address them. While the EU has developed over the past few years many new instruments and approaches, gaps in the EU’s ability to address these growing and evolving challenges remain. Therefore, promotion of widespread understanding and visibility of the Union’s work in this domain and its role on the world scene, by means of strategic communication, public diplomacy, people-to-people contacts, cultural diplomacy, cooperation in educational and academic matters, and outreach activities to promote the Union's values and interests will be further enhanced by this Action.

DORA addresses priority 4 of CERV-2022-DAPHNE "Supporting and improving national data collection on violence against children (VAC)”. It will contribute to the elaboration and delivery of more integrated and accurate data addressing VAC including Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, and the improvement… Read more of data analysis, fostering accurate knowledge of the intrinsic characteristics of the phenomenon.The general objective of this proposal is to identify the existing informational gaps on VAC and elaborate statistical solutions able to combine, integrate, and thus produce refined and highly available data. By focusing on Italy and directly involving, among other partners, the National Institute of Statistics, DORA will produce the following outputs: (1) identification and systematisation of all the sources currently available on VAC, pinpointing strengths and weaknesses; (2) estimation of the scope of the phenomenon, its several dimensions and risk factors; (3) definition of a new framework for measuring VAC; (4) analysis of the phenomenon through data modelling and integration; (5) support the statistical capability building on official statistics on VAC at the national and international level; (6) advancing data analysis and methodology to understand the extent of FGM/C among girls. The dissemination of the methodologies and produced results will be done at the policy and academic level and towards civil society organisations. Besides, DORA intends to share the achieved results with other countries. DORA will guide policymaking, contribute to better target resources, plan interventions, substantiate claims for funds, monitor progress and assess trends. Target groups include civil society organisations, health care providers, child protection, police, school teachers, and policymakers.

The Y-ACT general objective is preventing and fighting FGM in Italy as a violation of human rights and a form of gender based violence that affects girls and women on different dimensions of their individual, social, sexual and health life.… Read more The project has been built on relevant data and analysis of underline determinants. The latest survey conducted by the partner Università Bicocca in 2019 commissioned by the Italian Government, Equal Opportunity Department reveals the presence in Italy of 87,000 and 600 excised women, of which 7,600 minors. Y-ACT project will focus specifically on changing attitudes in target communities in 5 Italian Regions (Lombardia, Piemonte, Veneto, Toscana, Lazio), through a multidisciplinary approach concerning mutual learning and intergenerational dialogue, fostering Youth engagement, activation and leadership for change as key actors of any action of prevention with and within the communities of origin with relevant selected mentors/champions, from African and European context. WP1. Project management & coordination, monitoring, financial, administration, evaluation WP2. Empowerment, engagement and activation of Youth leaders as change agents. 30 youth leaders are selected and empowered. WP3. Community engagement and activation through the commitment of 5 Communities of Practices to raise awareness on FGM within the communities and to define an action plan to foster behavioural change. WP4. Intergenerational dialogue and practices between Youth and CoP to foster behavioural Change within the communities. WP5 Megaphones of rights to health, security, physical integrity and self-determination of girls played by Youth at European level as drivers of change in the society to end harmful practices and being the bridge between cultures and generations within the diaspora communities.