Recently, the real face of Domestic Violence in Europe became clearly captured for a first time, in a survey, that involves participants from all 28 European states and reflects the experiences of 42 000 women across EU. The data from the survey dreadfully shows that one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15. This project aims at addressing this crucial topic by building on the successful idea and results of a previous LLP project PACT, which (as its full name clearly reveals) was aimed at Promoting Awareness and Cooperation and Training in the Field of Domestic Violence (DV). Building on major and crucial European developments like the Istanbul Convention and the EU Victims’ Directive (Directive 2012/29/EU) and being strongly aligned with the main priorities and values entangled in strategic documents like the Paris Declaration and Europe 2020, EMPROVE! Aims at: EMPowering DV survivors by IMPROVing the DV intervention and prevention. More concretely, the EMPROVE! Project will train counsellors and trainers, as well as NGO staff, that works with DV survivors, enriching their training repertoire with the EMPROVE! Intellectual products. In other words, the main target groups of the project will be counsellors, tutors, mentors, trainers, working with DV survivors and final beneficiaries of the project will be the DV survivors, whereby EMPROVE! focuses on women, because they are disproportionally affected by this major problem.The overarching goals of EMPROVE! are going to be achieved through the following activities: - comprehensive good practice research and qualitative needs analysis of the challenges both counsellors and DV survivors face;- international and national train-the-trainer events, that will educate the first wave of EMPROVE! Counsellors- introduction of an innovative element in the training and counselling of the DV survivors – an EMPROVE! Social Platform, developed based on the theory of Gamification. This methodology is known to increase the intrinsic motivation, the empowerment and the feeling of community of the learners, keeping them involved throughout all phases of their training and counselling process. - Network Guidelines for successful prevention and intervention of DV- EMPROVE! Competence models and validation reference systems- Policy Paper with recommendations for amendments in local and international policies and practices on DV prevention and intervention- Assessment and validation activities of informally acquired skills and competences - Dissemination & Sustainability- Quality AssuranceIn the piloting of this unique EMPROVE! Approach, the project will train directly between 40 and 50 counsellors, piloting the EMPROVE! Training programme with ca. 60 DV survivors around Europe and disseminating the project products to further 250+ DV survivors. More than 70 professionals and key stakeholders will participate in the EMPROVE! Foundation Seminars and further 1000 will learn about the project through the dissemination activities of the consortium.The EMPROVE! Methodology, that will be applied in the current project, has the following key values in its core:• Holistic approach • Distribution of tasks according to the areas of expertise of each partner• Focus on Competence Oriented Learning in the development and implementation of all educational materials• Promotion of Validation of Formal and Informal Learning for all target groups and final beneficiaries • Impact on EU level: Project management and training/research experts in each partner countryAs a result from all these activities, Good practice brochure, Training products, Policy recommendations, Gamified EMPROVE! Social platform and EMPROVE! Network Guidelines will be developed.With these activities and products, the project makes important steps towards the response of education and training to the main challenges of today's world and to the need to improve the intervention and prevention of such huge social problem as DV. Potential long-term benefits from the EMPROVE! Activities and products are expected for counsellors, trainers, DV Survivors, but also for employers, local and national public bodies, Moreover, the impact and the benefits from the EMPROVE! Project are increased by the fact that the project products are designed to live after the project lifecycle has ended. This will be further ensured by the readiness and motivation of all partners (representing seven of the EU member states) to include the EMPROVE! Training programme in their core activities.To sum up, the project is expected to make a significant contribution to enhance knowledge on the matter of domestic violence, to enhance skills and competences for DV prevention and intervention and to promote social and civic competences, democratic values and fundamental rights, social inclusion, non-discrimination, active citizenship and first and foremost – empowerment of DV survivors.