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"Seafarers’ work in vessels at sea is one of the hardest, most demanding and under very difficult conditions profession. Seafarers often work for very long hours, far from their relatives, isolated in a multicultural, highly hierarchised micro-society. Studies have also shown that bullying is an often phenomenon in ships. This situation often generates mental health problems , which put at risks lives, the vessel, passengers, cargo, the environment from pollution and local coastal economies.PROmoting MEnTal HEAlth at Sea (PROMETHEAS) is an Erasmus+ KA2 Strategic partnership for VET, development of innovation for the merchant maritime industry.The central aim of this project is to develop a training course and learning resources for seafarers and maritime workers concerning the preservation and improvement of their mental health. It will focus on the various issues that derive from mental health problems and it will provide learners with necessary information and consultation on how to deal with these problems.Main target group of PROMETHEAS project are captains of merchant navy, seafarers and cadets, whilst additional beneficiaries will be trainers on mental health and bullying, VET centres and consultants of the sector as well as nautical academies and shipping companies.Partners are seven organisations (3 maritime universities, 3 private training companies-consultants experienced in the sector and an association of companies of the marine sector with strong links with social partners) coming from 6 countries (Poland, Finland, Greece, Slovenia and Spain).More specifically, PROMETHEAS will produce three core intellectual outputs:1. Repository of resources on mental health for maritime staff2. E-learning course for captains and seafarers3. Digital app- self evaluation.It will also organise a joint staff learning activity in Rauma (Finland), on the ""Design and initial development of training contents on mental health of captains and seafarers"" and 6 multiplier events in Szczecin, Rauma, Ljubljana, Cadiz, Piraeus and Coventry. Dissemination activities include:Development of Dissemination and exploitation strategyDevelopment of website/ social media (Facebook, LinkedIn)Development of project brand/ logo/ leafletEstablishment of recipient lists for dissemination Development and distribution of five newsletters Articles (EPALE, DISCUSS, University Press, maritime magazines etc)Presentation in national conferences and eventsPromotion on Facebook and LinkedInUpdated and final exploitation strategyAll partners will utilise their dissemination networks and will also involve in the project EU wide networks and international organisations such as IWHO, ILO, European Transport Workers (ETF), International Maritime Organisation (IMO), International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) etc.PROMETHEAS has embedded activities , such as numerous focus groups and extensive piloting embedded in the project plan to ensure the quality of project results. Around 15,000 persons belonging to the target groups are expected to be reached within the project lifetime. The project is innovative as:- mental health and bullying in vessels are subjects that Erasmus+ projects have not tackled up to now.- it will use a holistic approach to seafarers’ well being including diverse range of physical, emotional, cultural and organisational factors (and respective exercises).- it will take full advantage of digital technologies and deliver training and monitoring application at the workplace instead of relying to the traditional means of training that do not correspond to the actual needs of the target group.- it will use the gaming element, having in itself an anti- stress and curative effect on mental health and a rewarding system with badges upon completion of each stage of acquisition of learning outcomes. Results will be available in English, Polish, Finnish, Slovenian, Spanish and Greek."

More entrepreneurial life at European schools (MELES) project has been created as an answer to an educational challenge, which is lack of effective tools that could be used to increase the social and professional activity of young generation entering the labour market in order to make full use of their potential for the development of the economy. This challenge created an urgent need to improve the entrepreneurial skills of students in the fields of science and engineering at European universities.The main project objective was to prepare a comprehensive and coherent educational product which introduces the entrepreneurial-skills oriented courses to the curricula of the Institutions that, up to now, had no or small experience with entrepreneurship teaching.The MELES project allowed both students and teachers to develop skills that have so far been neglected in the curriculum. It also fostered cooperation between higher education institutions, representing different fields of study as well as introduced unconventional and innovative methods of teaching, displacing the traditional approach to the teaching process.The Entrepreneurship course shaped hard business skills such as recognizing the market, preparing a business model, product design, and services based on customer strategy development, attracting investors or protecting intellectual property. But it also shaped soft skills necessary for every entrepreneurial graduate, namely: cooperation in multi-disciplinary teams, leadership and presentation techniques. The curricula have been tested at each of the participating institutions during two summer schools organized within the project. In particular, the latter led to intensive work with students representing all the partner universities and from more than a dozen countries around the world. Conclusions and lessons learned in the testing phase were used to develop comprehensive teaching materials in the form of an e-book.The project was funded under Key Action 2 Strategic Partnerships. It focused on sharing, developing and transferring innovative practices between participating countries. By working together, involved organizations developed new approaches to youth work and encouraged cooperation over longer periods. Young people benefitting from the project learned about social entrepreneurship and were encouraged to take a more active role in their local economy and society.MELES followed the objectives of the Strategic Partnerships by1. Developing key competences including entrepreneurship, knowledge of languages, knowledge of information technology,2. Customizing the education and skills to labour market needs,3. Entrepreneurship education, active citizenship, better opportunities in the labour market.The project involved two types of partners: those which started with no experience in entrepreneurship teaching (BEGINNER Partners – Maritime University of Szczecin – consortium leader and University of Aveiro) and three faculties that have had already developed and introduced such courses but still wanted to make them more attractive (ADVANCED Partners – Białystok University of Technology, Leipzig University and University of the Aegean).Project descriptionMELES was the first project organized by the consortium and the first project in ERASMUS+ Programme for the partners. During the project, the institutions not only had a chance to create the Entrepreneurship course but also to know better each other, share their best experience and practices, show how they cooperate with their business environment. To find out more about activities carried out during the transnational project meetings please visit the project website http://meles-project.eu/index.phpProject phases:The project was divided into three phases, which were implemented in the following academic years:• Phase one – 2014/2015 – Preparation of Entrepreneurship course for the multidisciplinary group of students;• Phase two – 2015/2016 – Implementation of the Entrepreneurship course for the multidisciplinary group of students;• Phase three – 2016/2017 – Dissemination of the project results.The course developed in the project, which was implemented at all partners universities, was earlier tested during Summer Schools.The numbers describing them are impressive. More than 60 participants (six of them as volunteers) from 13 countries (Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Palestine, Portugal and Poland). More than 10 teachers from the partner universities and two visiting teachers (from University of Szczecin). More than 100 hours of classes, a lot of fun, a lot of work, 12 developed projects during more than 20 days. Among them, Welcome day, Team Building day, Leadership day, Creativity day, Value Proposition day, Business Model Canvas day, Learning from Entrepreneurs day, Presentation day, Coaching day and Final Pitches day.

"The digital era is entering every area of our lives, including education at each level. Young people are more eager to search for knowledge on the Internet rather than listen to lectures, read paper textbooks or even standard e-learning materials. That is why remote education methods, such as e-learning or blended-learning are gaining popularity The educational content is presented in standard e-learning materials ranging from ordinary presentations to video recordings of educators giving lectures, lessons and training. The more interactive they are, the more engaging it is for learners. Generation Z, which is now in the process of education in secondary schools and colleges, eagerly ""talks"" via messengers, chats, using this form of communication also to acquire knowledge and develop skills. They prefer short texts, pics, games, stories and step-by-step instructions presented in an entertaining way. At MELES-BOT, we will use this very strong trend taking into consideration that the Internet contains many unverified sources. The purpose of the project is to develop and test, using specific learning content (entrepreneurship course), an innovative educational BOT-learning method based on the use of tools such as chatbot (virtual educator) and chat (text conversation with a real educator). It means that we adapt channels widely used by GEN-Z and fill them with verified and useful content.The main output of the project is the chatbot and chat tool for entrepreneurship education. The chatbot definitely belongs to digital technologies and is not a common tool used nowadays in academic education, which makes it an innovative solution. The implementation of MELES-BOT outputs fit directly into the main features of the transformations of education systems to the so-called Education 4.0, which essentially uses technology-based tools and resources to drive education in non-traditional ways. Education 4.0 should serve the Industry 4.0 revolution, which is changing the world around us and requires staff with proper competencies. MELES-BOT objective is to deliver basic skills and key competencies to the students, who will form Industry 4.0 staff. Designing, developing and using MELES-BOT in education process will give speed and scale-up the digital transformation. The digital competencies obtained by teachers would help them equip young people with digital skills. MELES-BOT is also addressing differences concerning education access by underrepresented groups. Thanks to distant access, all, who from different reasons, cannot attend direct classes, will have an equal education opportunity. Distant access plays also an important role in crisis situations (e.g. pandemic) when direct classes are suspended.Entrepreneurship course is only the example of the BOT-learning methodology but it is a very eloquent example because such courses are attended by more and more students these days. Our goal is not only to present this particular course but to convince the academic community to use BOT-learning methodology to conduct other courses in the future e.g. Programming or other IT courses.Our target groups are students and academic teachers. The project is likely to produce outcomes that may be relevant also to other fields of education, training and youth. It is planned that over 600 students and around 100 teachers will be involved in the project during the execution phase. Over 50 people from target groups will take part in mobilities directly connected with the project.There are the following phases connected strictly with project activities:1.Collecting users' preferences,2.Developing Minimum Viable Product,3.Preparing the prototype,4.Testing the prototype during summer school,5.Pilot testing at universities,6.Dissemination and sustainability activities.To reach the objectives and deliver the results, the consortium will use PCM (Project Cycle Management) methodology. PCM is recommended by the European Commission in the planning and implementation of EU-funded projects. This methodology includes the application preparation process and has been used in this case.E-learning platform with an implemented chatbot will be tested at least at 5 Partners' universities throughout Europe i.e. the Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Northern Europe), Maritime University of Szczecin (Eastern Europe), Veliko Tarnovo University (Southern Europe), University of Leipzig (Central Europe) and University of Aveiro (Western Europe). Each phase of the project ends with collecting feedback, discussion and implementation of the results in updated versions. After successful piloting, a chatbot can be implemented as an educational methodology at universities. It enables the development of digital skills and key competencies in the target groups, which is in line with horizontal priorities of the European Union.All Partners are convinced, that such tools are the future of the educational process."

"The 2014 Communication ""Innovation in the Blue Economy” recognizes the lack of skilled workforce knowledgeable in the latest technologies and a range of other disciplines, as a challenge and hindering factor of blue economy. Alike, the New Skills Agenda for Europe confirms same status and suggests taking action for the improvement of the quality and relevance of training for obtaining the necessary skills. A challenge met across blue economy is the poor image of the activities among young and the lack of information in respect to career opportunities, which in combination with the ageing trend of European population may generate lack of qualified personnel.Maritime schools face several challenges in preparing students to meet workplace demands in an increasingly complex, knowledge and technology-based environment while lacking generic skills that are requested by employers, such as critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, communication and teamwork. In this context iSOL-MET aims to:-Bridge the gap between shipping world requirements in respect to human resources soft skills and competences, through developing innovative educational material based on the case study methodology-Bridge the needs of maritime professionals for ongoing career opportunities even after completing their sea service on board-Bridge the experience gap of maritime universities’ students in respect to the on-board operations and the shipping practices.-Exchange best practices and cultural awareness on maritime education and shipping issues.Project addresses the needs of the students for obtaining the required skills for entering the shipping market and provides to educators new educational tools. Furthermore, addresses the needs of the shipping industry for qualified personnel.To achieve the aforementioned objective iSOL-MET will produce:1.Maritime skills courses for multidisciplinary and multicultural groups of students: a comprehensive course program that will integrate International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) model course guidelines, practice-oriented, to link theory and practice through using maritime case studies, for cultivating specific soft skills2.Maritime Case Study Handbook: a collection of all case studies identified and analyzed during project’ life time. Case studies will be identified in close collaboration with the industry and will constitute an integrated educational material, designed to address current soft skills gaps, while providing to the educators with useful material in respect to the content and the teaching methods3.Guidelines for the development of soft skills educational material: a practical set of recommendations to course designers in developing, conducting and evaluating a course focusing on soft skills using cases studies.4.Soft skills evaluation tools: a set of tools that an educator or a manager can use for evaluating the soft skills competences of students or employees. The aim is the creation of an Assessment Center for systematizing the process of soft skills evaluation, through case studies.. Assessment Center will link the academia with the business world since, the case studies developed in combination with designed assessment tools could be used in the shipping industry for assessing the competences of existing employees or for recruitment reasons. Through iSOL-MET is expected to:•Enhance the quality and relevance of the learning offer in maritime education through developing innovative educational material, using the case study methodology •Help students recognize and adopt ""growth"" mindset, meaning that their capacities are expandable. Students' mindset shifting is expected to affect their performance and motivation. •Develop competency and knowledge sharing, through mobilizing the maritime skills across participating countries.•Meet the demand of highly skilled maritime professionals and enhancing youth employment possibilities•Improve the attractiveness of the maritime profession and remedying to the observed lack of articulated educational proposition for sea-related activities, by adapting the courses content to the new maritime environment and emerging trends of the industry•Bundle forces from intergovernmental organizations, research institutes and the shipping industry to provide innovative skills for marine business•Promote and support networks connecting education and training organisations in EU level and encourage opportunities of cluster academia cooperation.•Change the professors’ mentality about teaching techniques helping them to improve their effectiveness and the quality of their teaching method."