The TRIANGLE project focuses on developing a secure digital education system to enhance vocational skills of youngsters in closed institutions.
Many of those who live in youth institutions do not have access to the opportunities that technologies and blended forms of learning offer, although these could enhance a successful reintegration. The closed setting can be an obstacle for young people to become intrinsically motivated to learn and recognise their qualities and abilities, therefore the dropout rate has consecutively achieved high values.
Numerous juvenile justice institutions across Europe still lack digital solutions and resources including access to information and education on technological skills. Similarly, there is a lack of digital instruments to support safe processes and interactions between institutional educational environments and the outside world.
The TRIANGLE project’s goal is to pragmatically develop the competencies and vocational skills of youngsters living in closed settings. It aims to build a blended learning platform (analogue and digital) that will support young people on their way back to society.
What does TRIANGLE stand for?
The project is based on the three elements forming the digital education triangle: People, Platform, and Program. Therefore, the initiative will bring these elements together, seeking to learn more about their synergy.
One of the main goals is to develop a digital (secured) platform with a whitelist system and/or blocklist system for each institution that will take part in the project. In this process, it is aimed to develop a complementary learning environment that supports educational programmes with access to educational tools, creative programmes, 21st-century skill exercises, and skill lessons made by teachers with the support of the pupils.
In this system, youngsters will develop a personal digital portfolio capturing their competencies, motivations and skills. The goal is to increase their employment opportunities after leaving the institution and reintegrating into society.
Moreover, the project plans to develop training, learning, and practising activities targeting a large sample of staff and young people, as well as trainers and teachers beyond the institutions. Overall, the project will directly involve 600 individuals, mostly institutionalised youth, across different countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal.
The TRIANGLE project has officially launched at the beginning of December 2021. The consortium gathered on a hybrid kick-off meeting (face-to-face and online) that included representatives of Click F1 (project promoter, The Netherlands), Stichting Defence for Children International (The Netherlands), IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (Portugal), Eduvier (The Netherlands), Flemish Support Centre for Adult Education (Belgium), The Federal Public Service Justice (Belgium), Aproximar (Portugal), Foundation 180 (The Netherlands), and Opgroeien (Belgium). The project is funded by Erasmus+ in action KA220-VET – Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training.