Its main activities are in providing information, training and technical assistance to any organization in Italy and abroad on EU policies and European action programmes. InEuropa also carries out research and evaluation works in the field of European policies, territorial cooperation and culture.
For this, InEuropa team is composed by facilitators and catalysts able to introduce strategic planning in any organization, being it public or private, fostering networking and avoid defragmentation in any field, with special regards to local development actions, culture and environment and social issues. InEuropa fosters innovative smart approaches and helps for positive change with special regards to environmental behaviour changes and entrepreneurship through gamification approach.
Specifically, InEuropa is running an Erasmus+ project called “Gamify your teaching”, aimed at increasing vocational competences of teachers and trainers of entrepreneurship through an innovative pedagogy and approach to teaching with the use of gamification. It works closely with schools and youth organizations at local level, preparing scenarios for the new game aimed at fostering entrepreneurial initiatives and leading its testing in Italy.
In addition, InEuropa is the Italian antenna of the network GLOBAL ACTION PLAN INTERNATIONAL (http://www.globalactionplan.com/) committed to training for environmental behaviours’ change within local communities, working environments, schools etc. The GAP approach is mainly based on non-formal and informal training experiences but it is useful to integrate sector professional competences. The heart of the approach is the attempt to drive individuals to live and work in way that is increasingly sustainable starting from actions that each of us do every day even in non-conscious way.
From 2009 to 2013 InEuropa has run GAP UK Environmental Champions Programme for energy savings in businesses focusing on employees’ behaviour related to energy savings topics such as use of electricity and gas, water, paper, waste and transport and in schools through training, teachers and pupils’ engagement to measure energy consumption and carry out communication campaigns aiming at empowering people and local communities to save energy and live sustainably.
Since 2014 InEuropa has been running the project Waterexplorers with GAP UK, a project targeting schools in 11 countries that is based on the platform www.waterexplorers.orgwhere teachers and students are proposed challenges and simple actions to learn how to save water and raise awareness within their communities on water related issues and actively involves almost 90 schools throughout Italy.
Again concerning environmental issues, InEuropa is now involved in the final evaluation of the LLP project “Schools for Resilience” aimed to introduce a new approach to environmental education and sustainable development in schools, designing didactic material based on participatory and student-centred approach that enable pupils to get acquainted with the “resilience” concept and pushes them to explore environmental issues and solutions relevant for their local communities.
Moreover InEuropa is partner in the following ERASMUS PLUS projects:
>KA2 VET project ANHER – Innovative format of education and training of the integrated archaeological and natural heritage, aimed at improving skills for green jobs for professionals of the archaeological and natural heritage sectors by developing a new e-learning course. It aims to introduce an approach that integrates natural and archaeological heritage valorization, which are currently two split fields in national legislations, stressing the climate change threats that these assets are subject to.
>KA2 ADULTS project Fact! – Food Actions! Participatory learning and training package for food-wise household is aimed at fostering informal self-learning opportunities for adults in relation to sustainable food habits to decrease food waste and environmental footprint of food consumption.
InEuropa cooperates with a local social cooperative Cooperativa il Girasole, which works with NEETs by activating local projects for their involvement. InEuropa cooperates to help them defining projects and also looking for EU opportunities to improve their skills. Also, it collaborates with the co-working space EDERA, a space for pooling ideas and creativity, involved in the Gamify project as well by hosting its activities.
InEuropa has great experience in advising public local and regional authorities, private and public equivalent entities to design&manage projects concerning these topics and is strongly committed to training these entities with a learning for change process, thus attempting to influence policy-makers.