TeleGrow: “Enhancing the Teleworking Digital Skills for the Middle aged employees”
Summary of the project
Before COVID-19, teleworking was adopted by very few countries and in very few sectors and thus a great number of employees lacked experience in remote working. This fact can fuel even more hurdles when accompanied by a lack of the necessary digital skills. As a result, teleworking becomes available only to particular groups while on the other hand becomes a major challenge to those not used to remote working and/or not possessing digital expertise. Employees in the age group of 50+ seem to be a particularly vulnerable group to the overall situation as they are not only threatened by the virus itself but also by the rapidly changing working conditions. Older employees aged over 50+ tend to have fewer ICT and digital skills than younger employees and face more challenges in terms of acquiring new digital knowledge.
Telegrow is a 24-month project that aims to create a teletraining and teleworking environment, inclusive and accessible to all, which will maximize the efficiency of the users while safeguarding public health. The project is consisted of a consortium of 6 partners from 5 different countries.
Telegrow project mainly aims to:
-Provide data on the current situation regarding teleworking and the issues that arise for employees of older age
-Pinpoint the national frameworks on teleworking
-Equip VET Trainers with knowledge and tools on digital and ICT training for older VET learners
-Highlight the importance of balancing life and work and provide solutions to VET learners in order to maintain their well-being, both physically and mentally.
The project is addressed to:
- VET trainers
- VET institutes
- VET learners belonging to the age group of 50+ years old
Telegrow Outputs
IO1:
TeleGrow Report will be an interactive source that will provide an extensive and useful outline of the overall framework that exists in each partner’s country regarding teleworking. TeleGrow Interactive Report will be an interactive and informative visualization with data that will be presented using eye-pleasing means.
IO2:
The IO2 How to stay Gold practical guide for empowerment will be a 50-page guide with tips, methods, and examples/good practices on how the VET learners and employers aged 50+ will maintain a balance between the extremely demanding and stressful working conditions and their personal life and the responsibilities following up. The guide will train and enhance some soft skills crucial for the employees that are called to face a really competitive employability “terrain” while providing also very practical and applicable tips for enhancing their inner personal world.
IO3:
The IO3 TeleGrow Training Modules will come to bridge this existing gap with the aim to enhance the 50+ aged people skills in order to keep up with the teleworking transformation era. The Training modules developed will equip VET trainers with the necessary tools and knowledge to help middle-aged+ employees face the challenges presented by the recent sudden shift to online and distance working, supporting them to develop the digital competencies needed and thus fostering both their learning and employability opportunities and changes in today’s extra-competitive work life. The training modules will be structured under a common modular training package and will cover a wide variety of thematic from digital communication and collaboration and digital skills to digital privacy and safety.
IO4:
TeleGrow partnership developed the idea of the TeleGrowing Hub, an e-learning platform, designed in a dual structural format, which means that it will be split into two sub-platforms, each one of them with different operations, features, and content. The one sub-platform will be addressed to the VET learners/employees aged 50+ and the second one to the VET providers. A split-screen in the start menu will give the option to the user to make a simple and cost-free registration and choose the target group he/she belongs to and thus, be led to the corresponding training material. Each TG sub-platform will provide to its group different VET paths.
The Partnership
FLORIDA CENTRE DE FORMACIÓ, COOP. V – applicant, Spain
Florida Centre de Formació, Coop. V. (FLORIDA) is a Valencian worker co-operative created in 1977 working in the field of education. It has a wide experience in education and training in several education levels: higher education (university degrees, seniors university, postgraduate courses, and Master’s degrees), Vocational Education and Training (higher and lower levels), continuous training and training for unemployed people and Secondary education. All of them share the same vision, principles, and values, having as their main mission to offer a quality educational project, educating their students to turn them into people with an academic formation of excellence, human and professional, which allows them access in the best conditions to university studies and the world of work. Currently, Florida has 2 campuses located in Catarroja (a municipality in the metropolitan area of Valencia) and Valencia and employs more than 250 professionals. The main campus (Catarroja) is composed of 6 buildings covering 26,869 m2. Every year Florida hosts more than 5,000 students.
KAINOTOMIA LLC2 – partner, Greece
KAINOTOMIA provides business consultancy to companies & supporting services and consulting support services to trainees to facilitate their (re)entrance into the labour market. KAINOTOMIA has participated in several national projects, offering a high degree of expertise regarding training in contemporary fields, matching them with those that have a high demand in the job market, in order to develop trainees’ knowledge, skills and attitudes towards their integration in the labour market. KAINOTOMIA has been participating in co-funded national projects under the name of “local development plans and entrepreneurship for unemployed based on specific local needs and growth potential”.
E-SENIORS: INITIATION DES SENIORS AUX NTIC ASSOCIATION – partner, France
Since its creation, E-Seniors has provided ICT courses for seniors in various public locations and the association is constantly opening new locations all over the Parisian region in order to provide a “proximity” service that takes into account the rhythm, interests, and needs of its audience. The organization also aims at raising awareness among seniors about the importance of ICT solutions for their social inclusion and for cognitive training. E-Seniors proposes also interactive gaming activities in residences for the elderly, retirement homes, and day-care centres. The association is aware of the challenges that seniors – healthy or dependent – need to face in their everyday lives and therefore it invests resources in developing new applications and services to promote independent living and physical and mental health. The association is also involved in intergenerational activities bringing together disadvantaged groups, such as seniors, migrants, and younger people with few opportunities, to promote social cohesion and solidarity. Besides ICT classes and intergenerational workshops, E-Seniors proposes innovative actions to promote active retirement and healthy aging. Finally, E-Seniors relies on expert adult educators giving ICT classes to seniors at all levels and on an experienced team of project managers running and managing educational activities in the field of European lifelong projects.
EURO-NET – partner, Italy
EURO-NET is a not-for-profit association (born in 1998) that is a member or associated member of 59 international networks. EURO-NET is also recognized as OFFICIAL PARTNER OF EU PARLIAMENT in 2 sectors (ON-LINE MEDIA and EVENT) has developed 77 antennas of its own in 26 different countries in Europe.
EURO-NET co-operates with many public bodies with which it has particular agreements for the diffusion of juvenile and adults’ activities and helps all juvenile organizations and any other NGOstype to develop European programs.
EURO-NET realizes training courses, workshops and exchanges, cultural, artistic, or sports activities, researches, mentoring, orientation, coaching activities, stages and internships, counseling, crisis support, and prevention actions.
MARKEUT SKILLS (MEUS) – partner, Spain
MEUS is a private organization based in Valencia, Spain, aimed at bettering people´s capacities in their environment, both at professional and private levels. Thus, it focuses on the skills development of the individuals at each stage of their life, from school to adult education.
In line with the European strategy related to education, MEUS works on the development of new training materials and methodologies adapted to different target and market needs, so improving the integration on the labour market. It also encourages the development of new business projects, offering assessment and training to entrepreneurs, supporting them in being creative, innovative, and successful in their initiatives.
MEUS explores and promotes sustainable business models, seeking the implementation of best practices of CSR. MEUS strongly supports new and growing sectors of the economy, and is attentive to societal changes, this is why we are particularly engaged in issues such as the green economy
(and green skills), the orange economy (culture), ICT, adaptation to the aging population, and new demographic features generating higher demand in-person services, etc.
STOWARZYSZENIE CENTRUM WSPIERANIA
EDUKACJI I PRZEDSIEBIORCZOSCI (CWEP) – partner, Poland
The Centre for Education and Entrepreneurship Support (CWEP) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded on 30.06.2004 by a group of entrepreneurs, teachers, social activists, and IT specialists from Rzeszow, Poland. The CWEP association works in the field of youth, cooperates with businesses, universities, schools, enterprises, and educational institutions operating as the associated partners. CWEP has experience in organising complex support for individuals at different stages of their lives, from childhood to elder age. It promotes entrepreneurship among young people at school, as well as to those who already run their businesses. CWEP association’s mission is to increase the quality of education training at all levels and in all its forms, as well as to promote entrepreneurship in order to foster the integration of any social group regardless of gender, age, and ethnic origin.