Erasmus+ Project

Digital Education for Parents at Risk of Technology Exclusion

Confident, connected parents in a digital world.

Overview of the project

The DEPART e-learning platform is already online and freely accessible at https://depart.erasmus.site/, with no registration or payment required. Parents find three complete modules covering information literacy and online services, communication and collaboration online, and digital security for the family. Trainers, teachers and social workers find a methodological guide for each chapter, a workshop structure they can run as it is, and additional trainer resources. The platform also offers educational videos and a glossary of more than sixty terms, from phishing and deepfakes to passkeys, grooming and parental control tools, each explained in plain language. All materials are published under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licence, so schools, associations and parent groups can keep using and adapting them after the funding period. Beyond the materials, the project leaves behind trained facilitators, parents who use essential online services with more confidence, and a European network of organisations that continues to work on digital inclusion. Project website: https://departproject.eu/

The partnership brings together organisations from Romania, Belgium, Italy, Poland and Slovenia and started with the kick-off meeting in Targu Jiu, Romania, on 4 December 2025, where the target groups, the activities and the structure of the work were agreed. The central output is the DEPART Learning Kit: a practical guide in three chapters (information literacy and the use of online services, communication and collaboration online, digital security for the family), six educational videos built around realistic family scenarios, an e-learning platform and ready-to-use workshop models with a methodological guide for trainers. The kit is developed step by step in transnational working sessions, including the Brussels meeting on the first guide chapters, workshop activities and videos, and a five-day session in Salerno dedicated to the family digital security chapter, the testing of the platform and the finalisation of the video scripts. Alongside this the partners run training and testing workshops with parents and educators, awareness campaigns and multiplier events, and build a European network of organisations working on digital inclusion and digital parenting.

The aim of the project

DEPART supports parents who are at risk of being left behind by technology, and helps them become genuinely involved in their children's digital education. The starting point is an everyday reality: school communication, administrative services, homework platforms and family life itself have moved online, while a significant group of parents was never given the chance to learn how these systems work. The project addresses four areas: information and data literacy, digital safety, online communication and collaboration, and safer, more responsible digital habits within the family. The aim is not to turn parents into technicians, but to give them enough confidence to use essential online services, to talk with their children about what happens on their screens, and to recognise risks such as fraud, manipulative design and inappropriate contact before they cause harm.

Our Role

Vision Tree (Belgium) is a partner in DEPART and works on both the content and the reach of the project. Our team authored the guide chapter on communication and collaboration online, contributes to the digital safety and AI-related material for families, and takes care of the translation and localisation of the guide, the educational videos and the e-learning platform, so that the results are not only available in English. Vision Tree hosted the transnational learning activity in Brussels, where partners reviewed the first guide chapters, the workshop activities and the videos, and coordinated the Europass Mobility documents for the participants. Alongside this we ensure accessibility through plain-language and Universal Design for Learning principles, lead digital dissemination towards schools, parent groups and community organisations in Belgium, and contribute to monitoring, evaluation and impact reporting.