Europe is experiencing an increasing number of disasters due to natural hazards. The potential for a hazard to cause a disaster mainly depends on the vulnerability of the exposed community to a particular hazard. According to EM-DAT, for the period 1998–2009, earthquakes in Europe rank second in terms of fatalities and third in terms of overall losses. Further, flooding, along with storms, is the most important natural hazard in Europe in terms of economic losses. Actions and measures, can reduce the economic impact of a hazardous event. Within this context, scholars, government agencies, professional organizations as well as local communities seek to understand the three main stages of a disaster (i.e. Normal/Risk Reduction Stage, Emergency Response Stage, Recovery Stage) and take measures to lower the negative impact. The goal of ISTOS is, by the end of the project, to significantly strengthen the Scientific Excellence and Innovation Capacity of the collaborative Advanced Infrastructures and Materials (AIM) laboratory established at the Frederick Research Center (FRC) and the Large Structures laboratory (LSL) established at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT). The aim is to turn the collaborative laboratories at FRC and CUT into a Center of Excellence, “ISTOS”, which will be based in Cyprus. The proposed ISTOS project will achieve its goal by creating strong links between the AIM, LSL and two internationally leading research institutions namely the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) of Greece and the PLINIVS Study Centre, University of Naples Federico II (PLINIVS-LUPT) of Italy. Through ISTOS, the research profile and expertise of the staff, of FRC and CUT, will be raised while at the same time enhancing the S&T capacity of the linked institutions.

The overall objective of the TASC-RestoreMed programme is to strongly contribute to the Mission Ocean programme “Restore our Seas and Waters by 2030”, forcing a transformative change through the Blue doughnut concept – Phase 2 with: [1] A FSTP programme of 9 million euro supporting 2 types of projects, one type being at the stage of scale-up and deployment of solutions in the Mediterranean Basin and another type on Transition Agendas, being local and regional roadmaps for the Mediterranean Basin to support the solutions scale-up and deployment and legislation development/adaptation for the future. [2] Attracting, engaging and onboarding strong consortia with challenging projects, showing critical mass for scale-up and deployment through an open call organised according to fair, transparent, objective and open principles. [3] Offering technical support measures on relevant topics that suit all projects in TASC-RestoreMed, with a focus on policy/legislation, access to funding and business/impact case and business plan development, realised through feasibility studies, clustering and networking activities, impact assessment, digital tool for funding, access to infrastructure and a variety of more general support activities. All tangible tools developed and used in the programme brought together in RestoreMedTOOLS, for the sake of the programme and for the future. [4] Support Member States/Associated countries national, regional and/or local authorities, as well as all concerned stakeholders, to implement EU legislation related to marine/freshwater ecosystems and reach the biodiversity, pollution and climate targets of the European Green Deal, through Transition Agendas and impact assessments. [5] A vibrant dissemination and communication plan to promote the call for proposals as well as to maximise the visibility of the TASC-RestoreMed programme and the projects within TASC-RestoreMed.

The BioINSouth project aims to support decision-makers to incorporate considerations of ecological limits into their regional bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps, when it comes to circular bio-based activities. The project aims to develop guidelines and digital tools, considering the safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) assessment framework, to support the adoption of innovative methodologies to assess environmental impacts in multiple industrial bio-based systems, increasing regional competitiveness and innovation capacity, and contributing to the EU fair & green transition. The project will focus on Southern Mediterranean European Regions with particular attention to regions currently lagging behind, i.e. regions in widening Countries, such as Cyprus, Slovenia, Greece, and Portugal, while the project will see the wider participation of other Southern Mediterranean Countries, including Spain, France and Italy and international cooperation with Turkey and Argentina (in the advisory board). Thanks to the experience of the BIOEAST initiative that BIOEAST HUB CZ brings in, BioINSouth will reach the main objective by establishing regional HUBs bringing together a broad range of stakeholders, including policymakers and public authorities, expert voices, market actors (especially SMEs) and civil society (especially NGOs). The methodology will also seek the collaboration and exchange of best practices among the HUBs within a macro-regional BioINSouth Network and with international organisations. The concept will be demonstrated in 8 regions in the partners’ Countries, under a fully transferable case-study approach, that can be replicated throughout other Southern European Regions after the end of the project.

Beyond teaching history, science or languages, teachers guide our children… shaping the attitudes, skills, & values they will use in the world beyond the classroom (Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah)Early Childhood Education is considered an important base for life-long learning & whole person development & the most important & most vital of all stages in the proper development of a child whether is in the emotional, behavioral or cognitive domain. Early years of child life are crucial as it is of the utmost importance in the child's physical, emotional & intellectual development.In line with the current digital era, teachers are required to integrate ICT in their daily teaching &replace their traditional methods with modern tools &facilities. (ICT4EDU) proposal addresses the need in Jo-HEIs for newly graduated student teachers to be able to teach using ICT, & for improving teachers & students digital competence, especially when dealing with children with special educational needs or disabilities, ICT plays a key role to facilitate their education process. Carrying out (ICT4EDU) project trans-nationally is essential for under-setting practices, & impacting policies & curricula in school of educational sciences & the integration of ICT teacher education to meet the requirements for digitally competent youth & children. The Main objective of (ICT4EDU) project in to enhance the quality of ICT competencies of early childhood teacher’s educators in the (8) higher education institutions in Jordan, Palestine and Egypt in line with advance EU practices, thereby enhancing the quality of the education in pre-schools in Jordan, Palestine and Egypt.

"<< Background >>Nautical Tourism workers are key to the Blue Economy and their environmental footprint awareness is in need to be improved.The general need for this project originates in the necessity to maintain a healthy and clean environment for the sustainable development of the sector's activities, an increased environmental awareness of the companies and their customers, as well as the need to comply with local, national and international legislation related to the environment. A lack of control for the environmental impacts related to the boating industry, associated with a lack of knowledge about legislation, pollution control and waste management in the recreational boating community are symptoms of the skills and knowledge gap. Targeted interviews in preparation of the project have revealed that many enterprises working in the sector would like to integrate better environmental knowledge and practices into their companies’ profile and would profit in terms of quality of the services they can offer. To train the existing staff in better environmental compliance would also imply economical benefits for the companies in terms of resource savings and energy consumption. A major concern to address is the common use of many toxic and harmful chemicals, non-recyclable materials and high energy activities used for boat cleaning and maintenance and other services that pollute the marine environment.During these interviews, it was also noted that the needs and skill gaps vary between the different sub-sectors of Nautical Tourism, there are different environmental impacts and knowledge needs for different sub-sectors such as Marinas, Boat Maintenance, Charter, Diving and others. But all stakeholders (companies, employees, associations, etc.) agreed that there is a lack of specific training in environmental issues for the Nautical Tourism and recreational boating sector. As identified in the Commission’s new approach for a sustainable blue economy, the twin environmental and digital transition offer huge employment potential. To achieve their potential, it is crucial that they can draw on a qualified workforce. It should also support the aim of sustainability increasing in prominence for tourism choices, identified as key sector within the blue economy.<< Objectives >>The main project objective is to create a first-ever curriculum for the position of “Environmental Officer in Nautical Tourism” and deliver it in form of a modular online course as a continuous VET training that does not currently exist in the sector. The project will create new environmental competences for workers in this industry, enable the whole sector to become more environmentally friendly, follow the European Green Deal and creating a new set of future-oriented skills for the workers and their companies.The online course will adapt vocational education and training to the labour market needs and will increase the range of possibilities the professionals in the sector will have, adding much-needed skills to their competence repertoire and helping the companies to adapt to the priorities of the European Green Deal and the UN- SDG14. This will help in increasing the attractiveness of the whole sector, enabling growth in the nautical tourism sector, with the related economic improvement and job creation.The concrete objectives of the project will be to create two project results (PR) in form of a new curriculum and its deliverance in form of a modular online course, that will be available for free for everyone and will serve as continuous training for employees in the nautical tourism sector and can also be used by water sport users and the general public to raise their awareness in good environmental practices in the recreational boating and water sports industry. During the elaboration of these specific PR, some specific objectives will be to involve the nautical sector at regional, national and international level within the Union, with the inclusion of specific sectorial needs related to the environment. The project will cover environmental skill gaps and labour market needs in environmental compliance and good practices for employees in the nautical tourism sector. Another objective will be facilitating the transition of the whole sector towards more sustainability and environmental protection, reducing the high environmental impact some sub-sectors in the nautical industry produce. The dissemination and multiplier events at national and big international events will address the projects' objective of increasing the environmental awareness of the whole sector and a broader public.Another specific objective will be the creation of a curriculum that can be used in the whole sector and will be transferable to other countries in the Union and beyond. The delivery of the course and its content will not only foster the transition of the sector towards more sustainability but also contribute to the learning of basic digital skills of the workers by the means of digital learning contents and a modular online course.More general objectives for the cooperation partnership partners will be 'Increasing quality in the work, activities and practices of organisations and institutions involved' by increasing their capacity to work transnationally and through digital cooperation means. 'Addressing common needs and priorities in the fields of education' will be another objective, as the partner organizations in the field of education will incorporate new training materials and skills to their training and the project will 'enable transformation and change', leading to improvements and new approaches, by creating new training materials the partners can offer to their direct users and stakeholders or to the sector they represent.The main project output will be innovative in terms of creating a non-existing curriculum and training for this sector, and in terms of the delivery mode through innovative and multi-functional digital applications and tools. It will give the nautical sector in all EU Member States a new curriculum that is flexible to their specific needs whilst also providing a uniform standard.<< Implementation >>The projects activities will be organised in two different layers:Layer 1: The Project Activities of management, dissemination and reporting activities that run through the entire period of the project to ensure a smooth organisation and effective implementation of tasks. The first set of Project Activities defines the management framework of the project and guides the partnership through the timeframe of the project.The second set of Project Activities includes the building blocks of the general project dissemination strategy and supports the projects' impact by widely informing stakeholders about the activities and the Project Results.The third set of Project Activities summarizes and report the projects activities for control and monitoring of the planned successes.Additionally, four transnational partner meetings will be scheduled throughout the project, to work on project management, intercultural exchange, exchange of good practices and international cooperation. These meetings will take place in Hamburg (DE) in month 2 (March 2022) , Athens (GR) (October 2022), Mallorca (ES) (May 2023) and Köln (DE) (January 2024).Related to dissemination activities, the multiplier events will be of special importance to disseminate the results at national and international levels. Toward the end of the project (November 2023), the partners will organize national workshops and seminars to present the project results in their countries and gather important feedback that will be incorporated into the project's results. The most important multiplier event will be the final conference, during the last month of the project (January 2024), that will take place at the 'boot' show in Germany, the most important nautical tourism fair in the EU, and will help the consortium to present the project results to stakeholders of the sector at an international level, and ensure the implementation of the results in other EU countries.All these Activities together support the development and implementation of the main Project Results which are the Curriculum for 'Environmental Officer in the Nautical Tourism Industry’ (PR1), and the Online Course (PR2).Layer 2: Every project result will involve a series of tasks to achieve the completion of the results and objectives. For PR1, it will include designing the structure and criteria of construction of the curriculum, the research and definition of contents, producing the learning units, translation of the content and external evaluation and improvement. This Result will be lead by the coordinator, and specific tasks will be lead by different partners. In all activities and tasks of the project, all partners will be involved following the lead of the assigned leader. For PR2, tasks will include Research and Content preparation, Design and structure of the online course, Development and programming of the online course and Piloting & Improvement. This project result will be lead by Sea Teach, with specific tasks lead by other partners. In all tasks, all partners will always be involved.<< Results >>The main goals of the proposed project refer to the introduction of the need for an Environmental Officer in the Nautical Tourism sector, the development of the appropriate Syllabus and teaching material and the implementation of the whole course and modules through technologically innovative online tools applicable instantly, effectively and globally.As the demand for a specialized Environmental Officer has been described and recognized in many other sectors including the merchant marine sector, the proposed project implements the idea of the creation of a well-trained Officer that provides his knowledge towards the environmental compliance of companies in the recreational boating and nautical tourism sector.For this the partners will develop the following results:a)A Course Curriculum for Environmental Officer in the Nautical Tourism SectorThe partners will use their extensive network to analyze the particular skills gaps of the different subsectors in Nautical Tourism and develop an innovative curriculum. This syllabus will be developed by all the partners, under the supervision of 2 highly credited Universities, the scientific input in ocean conservation from the German Ocean Foundation and the inputs from companies and associations from the sector. The curriculum will provide modules that cater for general knowledge such as International Environmental legislation and standards, systems and procedures. It will provide specific modules for different onshore and offshore professions, i.e boat maintenance, marina operation, charter services and skipper services. The main characteristic of the scheduled syllabus is the appropriate professional and scientific blend, which delivers the most of reliability and accreditation, towards the best adaptation that can be achieved and disseminated within the nautical tourism sector.b)An online modular courseThe previously developed curriculum will be implemented in form of a modular online course. This course is modular on several levels: 1)Regarding the above mentioned general and specific knowledge2)Providing different levels of skills for different professional positions and/ or national requirements and existing standards.After completion of the course, the user obtains a Course Completion Certificate or if he passes an exam, receive a Certificate of Competence that would be accredited by the national nautical associations from the EBI and the Universities. At national level, the excellent networks of the partners will allow them to search for additional official recognition of the course by entities such as local chambers of commerce or marina associations. In order to ensure long-term sustainability and make that the course can be used at Union Level, the consortium will search for the accreditation of the course by external institutions, such as the International Marine Certification Institute (IMCI).Other outcomes of the project will be: - to increase the knowledge and training in environmental compliance and good practices for nautical tourism professionals- to increase the attractiveness of the whole sector, ensuring the companies are taking up good environmental practices, therefore giving a better exterior image- the environmental protection of the natural resources of coastal and marine areas, that are the base of all the activities in nautical tourism, recreational boating and watersports- to increase the environmental awareness of the professionals and companies of whole sector at national and international level- to increase the environmental awareness of the users in recreational boating, water sports and to reach a broader public not related to the sector- to create a course and ""green"" badge that can be used at international level and can be used as an international standard for environmental training in the nautical tourism sector.- to make the course freely available for everybody to increase the career perspectives of professionals and job seekers"