The project
NUTCRACKER – Learning by doing and helping is a project cofunded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Commission and will be active from 2022 till 2025.
The inclusion of people that is usually left behind in the education sector is one of the main priorities of the Erasmus+ programme and by the NUTCRACKER project itself. The project aims at creating training materials for adult learners that are at risk of social exclusion, long-term unemployed or with migrant backgrounds. The NUTCRACKER project is aimed at creating a methodological framework for teachers and trainers working with adults with fewer opportunities, and they will be involved in the pilot activities in each country. The NUTCRACKER project pivots on the learning by helping methodology.
This innovative methodology creates projects with a high social impact. Adults that are beneficiary of social services have the chance to also collaborate with social services by donating the things that have been refurbished during the pilots. The project will also contribute to the European Green Deal by implementing practices that foster circular economy principles of reduce, reuse, recycle.
The Covid pandemic is leaving many adults disengaged, disconnected and discontent. From mental problems to unemployment, from radical social changes to the failure to cope with them, many adults feel inside a turmoil that cannot navigate. So, there is a risk of social exclusion as many feel that they are left behind. It is called the “fourth Covid Wave”.
Finally, with companies demanding XXI’s century skills and the Covid pandemic accelerating those changes, adult learning should focus on them. Creativity is one of the ten first skills demanded by enterprises, according to OECD. With the NUTCRACKER project they will learn creativity through the activities on the pilots that include refurbishing of the items donated by particulars, that will be later donated to NGOs. The items to be repaired can be clothes, simple electronic devices, toys, books etc. Participants can be encouraged to think of alternative uses of the items that can not be refurbished or even to turn them into art pieces.
The organizations that partnered for this Erasmus + project are:
