The design and realization of age-friendly living and working environments is a huge challenge that we have just only started to address as the number of older citizens who are and want to continue being active members of society and live independently is constantly increasing. SmartWork builds a worker-centric AI system for work ability sustainability, integrating unobtrusive sensing and modelling of the worker state with a suite of novel services for context and worker-aware adaptive work support. The unobtrusive and pervasive monitoring of health, behaviour, cognitive and emotional status of the worker enables the functional and cognitive decline risk assessment. The holistic approach for work ability modelling captures the attitudes and abilities of the ageing worker and enables decision support for personalized interventions for maintenance/improvement of the work ability. The evolving work requirements are translated into required abilities and capabilities, and the adaptive work environment supports the older office worker with optimized services for on-the-fly work flexibility coordination, seamless transfer of the work environment between different devices and different environments (home, office, on the move), and on-demand personalized training. The SmartWork services and modules also empower the employer with AI decision support tools for efficient task completion and work team optimization through flexible work practices. Optimization of team formation, driven by the semantic modelling of the work tasks, along with training needs prioritization at team level to identify unmet needs, allow employers to optimize tasks (e.g. needed resources), shifting focus on increased job satisfaction for increased productivity. Formal and informal carers are able to continuously monitor the overall health status and risks of the people they care for, thus providing full support to the older office worker for sustainable, active and healthy ageing.

The AutoTRUST project aims to develop and demonstrate a novel AI-leveraged self-adaptive framework of advanced vehicle technologies and solutions which optimize usability, perception, and experience on-board, and when boarding/off-boarding, in terms of security, privacy, well-being, health and assistance. AutoTRUST provides enhanced inclusiveness and trust in the interaction between users and new automated modes of road transport and mobility services in the transition from human-driven to automated vehicles. Safety and security of vehicle occupants in all circumstances even when the vehicle is driverless by helping to prevent dangerous and inconvenient situations will be of paramount importance. Intense cooperation between users, vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, researchers, and other stakeholders to co-design vehicles with solutions that optimize the on-board experience will be adopted. Moreover, an in-depth knowledge of the benefits of new vehicle technologies and solutions in terms of on-board experience, accessibility, inclusiveness, and trust will be acquired to enable wider user acceptability and contribute to the creation of future standards.

The project aims enhancing cross-sector, international and interdisciplinary collaboration in the area of social robotics technology for care. Are robots ready for society, and is society ready for robots? How can social robots can be included in people’s lives? Robots are increasingly being used in the healthcare sector as a potential solution to the current and future challenges faced by the healthcare sector. Due to the global population ageing, by 2035 the world is projected to lack 12.9 million healthcare professionals (WHO: 2013). Social robots may benefit the quality life and wellbeing of patients, their families and healthcare professionals. Evidence and much of the needed knowledge are still lacking. Strong interdisciplinarity and cross-sectorial research and innovation activity is needed. A knowledge hub for social robotics will be created with a threefold aim: (1) To enhance the competencies of involved staff members, refining and focusing their skills; (2) To build a tri-sectoral network involving academia, industry and users of technology, and (3) to create an enduring network that will outlive the grant funding. The core of the project includes some of the strongest actors in international research, SMEs and user organisations, focusing on three activity lines: technological, sociological, care-and-welfare. To be able to understand the impact of introducing social robots in care, the three areas that will be affected by this technical evolution will be researched: (1) care provided as medical practice; this is the care given to patients in hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centres and other medical facilities. (2) residential care - this area refers to all care institutions accepting patient/clients as residents: elderly homes, nursing homes, special needs schools for children or adults, etc. (3) family care, investigating how social robots can be implemented in the home, and as a part of domestic life.

Improving Guidance And Counselling In Adult Learning is a two year long project of Erasmus+ KA204 - Strategic Partnerships for adult education. It is a cooperation between four adult education institutions; AFEdemy, Academy on age-friendly environments in Europe B.V. from The Netherlands, Caritas Diocesana De Coimbra from Portugal, Ljudska univerza Celje from Slovenia and Työväen Akatemia from Finland, which is the coordinator. Two of the partners work mainly with elderly adult learners, while two other partners work more with young adults. This will give the project better understanding of the needs of lifelong learning.The project will increase the quality of adult education by innovating effective ways of lifelong guidance and counselling. The aim is to develop a pedagogical tool to map background learning parameters of adult learners and thus support the setting up of, and access to, upskilling pathways. It is possible to facilitate adult learners’ studies through effective guidance and counselling, aimed at overcoming the barriers to learning and studying. In the case of low skilled adult learners, individual guidance and counselling becomes essential. The pedagogical tool will extend and develop the competences of educators and other personnel who support adult learners. Through effective outreach, guidance and motivation strategies they will be able to encourage low-skilled or low-qualified adults of all ages to progress towards higher qualifications. By doing so, they will increase the demand and take-up of adult education.The educational staff in each partner organisation will also use the tool after the project with future adult learners of different ages, including low-skilled or low-qualified adults. That will encourage new sets of adult learners to progress towards higher qualifications.As well as promoting cooperation, the sharing of experience, and the exchange of knowledge and best practices from different European countries in four transnational project meetings there will also always be shared local cultural activities and an introduction to current societal or political issues in the country by a special expert lecturer. This will give to the participating adult educators a chance for better understanding of the similarities and differences between various areas of the European Union. This will improve the professional skills of the staff of every partner, and thus build organisational capacity to operate on a wider European level. There will be an online version of the methodology of the developed pedagogical tool, that will present it there to a wider audience. It will be written in English and translated into the native languages with national perspective. There will be an article on EPALE about guidance and counselling practices in adult learning written by the project. The article will also be published on the web pages of each partner as well as in their social media.

HANDS-ON SHAFEThe Hands-on SHAFE project takes on a multifaceted approach to social inclusion, within the context of the WHO concept of age-friendly environments. This is achieved by focusing on the successful implementation of age-friendly environments through a stronger alignment of the ICT-sector with the construction sector in order to meet the real needs and expectations of end-users and locations. This concept of aligning ICT, construction, People and Places, the so-called Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments (SHAFE), is fundamental to achieve active participation in society (social inclusion), health & wellbeing and independent living. Our project aims to deliver training packages for informal learning experiences and hands-on tools to improve the skills of people of all ages, and especially seeks to enable people with low-skills or low-qualifications to choose and implement smart healthy age-friendly environments in their own homes or neighbourhoods. In this way the project fosters and promotes social inclusion for people of all ages and genders, including people with cognitive or physical impairments or disabilities. The Hands-on SHAFE project also aims to enable people to become innovators and trailblazers in their neighbourhoods or to become entrepreneurs in the field of smart healthy age-friendly environments services and products. The project partners will elaborate four (online) training packages on smart healthy age-friendly environments and train the drafts and full developed packages with involved teachers and staff of the consortium. Further the training packages will be disseminated by multiplier events and active involvement of the great variety of associated partners, such as AGE Platform Europe, International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth and public authorities Hamburg, Campania, The Hague and Warsaw.Expected results of Hands-on SHAFE are:1. Comprehensive study to bridge existing knowledge gaps between partners on smart healthy age-friendly environments topics and to prepare the training packages.2. Four interrelated training packages on ICT, housing and public spaces, health and wellbeing and starting a smart healthy age-friendly business.3. Online training courses of above mentioned training packages, manual for stakeholders and hands-on tools, such as chatboxes, self-assessment questionnaires and interactive design and feedback on a creation.4. Two short term training events to prepare the trainers to use all training packages in the future and to present these during the multiplier events to people with low-skills or low-qualifications.5. Twelve national multiplier events in six countries, dedicated to low-skilled or low-qualified adults and other interested persons.6. One international multiplier event in close relation with existing European network to further disseminate the results.The expected impacts of Hands-on SHAFE are: - Participants of the national multiplier events are enabled to learn and understand better how to use, install, detect, or handle with issues regarding ICT, housing and public spaces, health and wellbeing in their own living environments or for their family, friends or neighbourhood. Some of them may ask further questions and communicate with each other and the trainers in the dedicated chatboxes or by using telephones.- Participants of the national multiplier events are also enabled to set up their own smart healthy age-friendly business and how to be an entrepreneur.- Involved associated partners are able to guide their citizens or members to the training packages, hands-on tools and online courses. - Staff personnel from the involved partners have been trained to use all modules of the training packages, online training courses and hands-on tools.- Staff personnel from the involved partners have been trained to present and guide the training packages, online training courses and hands-on tools with low-skilled and low-qualified persons on the topics of SHAFE.With these expected impacts the Hands-on SHAFE consortium hopes to achieve that the project will lead to improved social inclusion and participation of low-skilled or low-qualified adults, their parents and children, other family members, friends and neighbours. To the sustainably involvement of volunteers and to higher social skills to support the estabilishment of social and accessible physical indoor and outdoor environments. Finally that Hands-on SHAFE will lead to an increased trust in society.The results of the project will disseminated by using a variety of dissemination means and using the large networks of coordinator and (associated) partners.When approved and finalised, the results of the project will remain available on the www.shafe.eu website for at least 10 years (till 2032).