<< Objectives >>TeSTED Project aims to:•Create a powerfull mechanism in the VET environment for the early detection and prevention of the dropouts due to socio-economic difficulties. •Increse the capacity of the VET tainers and staff on VET dropout and its social and labour market implications. •Transform the VET providers into a safety net for at-risk learners by offering consultation, alternative pathways and securing their retention in, and graduation from, education and training.<< Implementation >>With the support of the grant requested, we intend to carry out activities that will be deployed during specific phases of the project but also horizontally. The activities ar the following:•Coordination/Implementation activities (physical meetings, monthly virtual meetings with specific agendas)•Quality Assurance (annual and final quality reports, project results’ quality control)•Annual and Final Project Reports to be submitted to the NA•Information, promotion and dissemination activities<< Results >>Our project will produce the below main results:•Creation of an assessment psychometric tool for the early detenction of propable dropouts•Preparation of a VET staff/trainers upskilling package for the early detection of propable dropouts•A complete intervention mechanism, in the form of office, for tackling dropouts in the VET environment•30 persons will test the LMS platform•Approximately 30 Stakeholders will be informed about the TeSTED project in each partner country

<< Background >>CONTEXT/BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECTGlobally, construction accounts for 11-13% of global GDP. One of the main objectives of Construction 2020 EU Strategy refers to the improvement of the human capital basis in order to boost both the performance of companies and the EU competitiveness in this sector. Boosting new competences of the sector’s workforce is a key aim of BUILD UP Skills initiative with specific attention to vocational training and the digital component. Construction is one of top 10 principal sectors of employment for migrants in EU and globally, since migrant workers can be found in considerable numbers in construction domains and thus their contribution to construction industry is important worldwide. However, according to the latest report of European Construction Sector Observatory (2020) there are several specific barriers to the training of building workers, which are linked with the lack of new technologies that support the access of migrant workers in training. Cultural and linguistic barriers may also pose a difficulty for attending training. Thus, low-skilled migrant workers are at the risk of losing their jobs.According to CEDEFOP, globalization and technological changes have affected the EU construction and building workers forced them equipped with new skills (technical, soft, language skills). For this reason, there is more need for VET support on this sector, while establishing partnerships between sectorial companies and VET providers is another important issue. However, as CEPS indicates there is still a lack of investment in skills training by construction companies, due to a variety of reasons (market failures, unaffordable costs, etc.). One more challenge should concern the construction industry is the informal experience migrant workers and their prior learning recognition. Last, but not least, language learning of construction terminologies was happening on-the-job place and time until now. However, COVID19 impact has affected this type of learning due to the demand of keeping social distancing and working as remotely as possible.AIM OF THE PROJECTMiTRUST aims to develop and deliver an innovative digital tool with the intention to support migrants who would like to work in the Construction Sector to acquire the necessary language competences, soft skills and proper behaviors in the construction site. Taking into consideration that, according to ILO 2016, migrant workers can be found in considerable numbers in construction domains and according to Eurostat, construction is one of top 10 principal sectors of employment for migrants in EU and globally, the project focuses on targeted open and distance learning opportunities which will offer better career perspectives to migrants who want to be transferred in an EU country and to enter in construction industry labor market away from social exclusion and marginalization. Besides, access to learning offerings and enhancement of employability is one of the most efficient ways for Migrants' successful Integration into the recipient EU societies.<< Objectives >>OBJECTIVESThe project has set the following objectives:O1. To identify the specialties within the construction sector where migrant construction workers are mostly neededO2. To support migrants to enhance their foreign language competences, soft skills and behaviors for construction industryO3. To help migrants to have access to online learning language materials and be able to personalize the virtual learning environmentO4. To develop distance training programmes and materials targeted to the needs of migrants and their tutorsO5. To create digital learning tools and multimedia online materials in order to enhance their access in vocational education and trainingO6. To provide social inclusion and integration to labour market through digital education and open learningO7. To increase migrants’ employability in the construction sector and enhance their integration into EU societies<< Implementation >>DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES - METHODOLOGY MiTRUST incoroporates three (3) main phases of implementation:1st Phase: P.R.1. User Requirements for the MITRUST OER ToolThis is the initial and preparatory phase of project implementation. Partners will analyse the construction industry, they will identify the construction related job positions where migrants fit better and they will deliver the User Specification Requirements document. This report is a key step for the next phase of the project, which is the desing and developement of OER tools of migrant construction workers.2nd Phase: P.R.2. Development of MiTRUST OERThe main aim of this phase is the development of the Open Educational Resources of MiTRUST project aligned mainly with the priority of “Addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity” and the general perspectives of distance education readiness and the empowerment of vocational education systems. All tools that will be delivered during this phase, namely glossary, soft skills curricula, constructionpedia and self-assessment tool, will cover some of the most urgent needs of migrant construction workers. The digital tools of the 2nd phase will be inserted in the e-platform which will be developed in the last phase of the MiTRUST project.3rd Phase: P.R.3. Finalization of e-platformThis is the last and the core phase of the implementation activites of MiTRUST project, since it will lead to the the production of an innovative e-learning platform for migrant construction workers, icluding all the previous Open Educational Resources that have been developed. In order to extend the number of users and to achieve the greatest possible impact, we will include an implementation phase of Use case Scenarios for the finalization of the platform. The OERs will be tested now for their effectiveness and responsiveness. Finally, during the project implementation we are going to include:• C1: Short-term joint staff training event• 4 Multiplier EventsNUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTSAlthough this project's aim is to reach as many beneficiaries and end users as possible, it will originally engage 10 tutors/trainers and 60 migrant learners who will take part in the online learning and implementation of use case scenarios courses. Other stakeholders, such as migrant organizations, construction companies and associations, VET providers, NGOs, policy makers and local/national/European authorities will be contacted via partners' networks.<< Results >>RESULTSThe main results could be summarized in:R1. An analysis of construction sector specialties where migrants mostly needed R2. The enhancement of migrants’ foreign language competences and soft skillsR3. The increased use of digital tools, multimedia training materials and Open Educational Recourses in vocational training R4. The increasement of the attractiveness of the sector to migrant workers via trainingR5. The enhancement of migrants’ employability in the construction sectorR6. The fostering of migrants’ social inclusion into EU societies and their active participation as EU citizensR7. The reinforcement of synergies between Vocational Training stakeholders, Migrant Associations and Construction Industries.Additional tangible results include: R1. An e-linguistic support tool with construction-relative terminology (glossary)R2. Development of new “Soft Skills” curricula, targeted to the needs of migrants in the construction R3. Development of a knowledge database, namely “ConstructionPedia” with multimedia training material for migrant construction workersR4. A self-assessment tool which will be used by migrants themselves as a method to evaluate their current language competences, soft skills, behavior demanded in the construction site.R5. Creation of a new innovative OER platform in the form of an integrated Software in all partner languagesIMPACT ENVISAGED- To increase migrants' access in employment through their foreign languages and soft skills upskilling and facilitate their learning with the use of open and distance learning which fully response to COVID19 implications- To effect positively in the employability and social inclusion of migrant population.- To increase the attractiveness of construction industry - To give recommendations for the creation of new innovative VET curricula and pedagogies.- To facilitate the mobility of staff (migrant workers and employees) in construction sector among the countries, which is fully aligned with EU Agendas for internationalization - To allow the transferring of knowledge and promote best practices in the field of vocational training and enhance the regional cooperation between the countries- To boost the EU initiatives regarding “working towards a knowledge economy” and brings positive implications on EU competitiveness of construction labour markets.

"CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT Tour2Include aims to establish an innovative approach with the intention to support low-skilled migrants who would like to work in the Tourism Sector to acquire the necessary typical and soft skills. Taking into consideration that, according to Eurostat, 7% of the total workforce in Tourism comes from third, non-EU, countries (2016 data), the project focuses on targeted training opportunities which will offer better career perspectives to migrants away from undeclared work and marginalization. Besides, access to formal, dissent and secure jobs is one of the most efficient ways for Migrants' successful Integration into the recipient EU societies.Under this scope, the project has set the following objectives:- To identify the professions/positions within tourism sector where migrants could be better fit - To support low-skilled migrants in order to acquire the necessary hard and soft/intercultural skills and competencies so as to be able to access the ever demanding tourism sector- To assess migrants' prior learning and determine a renewed skillset that corresponds to the existing demands of the Tourism Sector- To develop training programmes and materials targeted to the needs of migrants and their tutors.- To offer better career perspectives to migrants who work or wish to work in the Tourism Sector- To increase migrants' employability in the Tourism Sector and streamline it through formal channels of employment, offering a higher protection level away from undeclared work.- To enhance migrants' integration into EU societies through their inclusion into the labour market.MAIN RESULTSThe main results could be summarized in:- Development of a self-assessment tool to be used by migrants themselves as a method to evaluate their current skills, competencies and formal and non-formal qualifications in the identified tourism-related professions.- A typology of qualifications and soft skills which migrants lack but they are of paramount importance within the Tourism Sector- Design of migrants-oriented training materials for the identified tourism-related professions/positions, grounded on the findings of existing gaps between their competencies and actual market needs that will have been determined during the assessment stage.- Development of an online platform, which will incorporate digital learning materials, lectures,""e-classrooms"" and interim and final tests, responding to the needs of a digitally-skilled migrants audience. On a second stage, the use of the platform will be efficiently promoted by partners to its end users with the intention to reach as many of them as possible. - Development of two training courses; one for tutors/trainers specialized in the Tourism Sector and experienced in working with migrants; the other for low-skilled migrants currently or potentially working in the Tourism Sector- Implementation of two pilot training sessions for the above described groups to assess the relevance of the developed training courses with the identified tourism professions/positions. - A career pathway for migrants that wish to work on the identified tourism professions/positionsNUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTSAlthough this project's aim is to reach as many beneficiaries and end users as possible, it will originally engage 18 tutors/trainers and 300 migrant learners who will take part in the training courses and pilot sessions. Other stakeholders, such as migrant organizations, businesses, tourist associations, VET providers, NGOs and local/national/European authorities will be contacted via partners' networks. IMPACT ENVISAGEDOur partnership aims to achieve a strong impact on local, national and European level, through well-designed and tailored activities depending on the target group we are, each time, addressing to. More specifically: Local/National Level- Migrants' standardization of hard and soft/intercultural skills will improve their perspectives in better career opportunities in the Tourism Sector, avoiding precarious jobs and marginalization.- Local communities and microeconomies will be benefitted by the intercultural exchanges and by migrants' work- The access of migrants to normal jobs and social security will contribute to increasing resources of social security funds and combatting social security contributions' evasion.- Migrants integration into the labour market and their collaboration with nationals will contribute to knocking down stereotypes and fighting racism.European Level- A common understanding is going to be established on the necessity of customized training materials and programmes for migrants- The project will contribute to the European dialogue on Migrants' Integration, supporting the argument that one significant factor for successful integration is their effective inclusion into the labour market- New policies on migrants' integration field could be inspired by project outcomes"

<< Background >>The European Green Deal sets Europe on the pathway to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, while the EU’s first-ever Gender Equality Strategy is designed to make gender equality in the EU a reality. Building synergies between these two strategies, especially in the rural area, will be crucial to improving gender equality in energy, climate, and sustainability space in Europe and harnessing Europe’s talent to support a green and sustainable recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. European rural areas can be characterised by a gender-selective migration, since the number of women leaving rural areas exceeds the number of males doing so. This process results in severe demographic imbalances between and within regions, and hampers the solid economic and social development of rural areas. Although women in rural areas of the EU make up just below 50% of the total rural population, they represent 45% of the economically active population, and about 40% of them work on their family farms. Female entrepreneurs represent only one third of self-employed people in the EU and women farmers represent 30% of the total number of EU farm managers. What is more,women tend to play a greater role than men in natural resource management – farming, planting, protecting and caring for seedlings and small trees – and in ensuring nutrition and as care providers for their families. Yet, in the long run, no one – women or men, rich or poor – can remain immune from the challenges and dangers brought on by climate change. Therefore, adequate actions are needed to tackle such challenges. Greening the rural economy, as suggested by ILO guidance, should be at the heart of rural economies. It could be an engine for a sustainable economic transformation: powering the rural economy through green business initiatives; revitalising agriculture through durable and high productivity farming methods; fostering sustainable tourism; restoring ecosystems for productivity, income and resilience. Without appropriately targeted training, education, employment placement, financial tools and supportive social policies, transitioning to a green economy may exacerbate existing inequities and hinder global human development goals. Rural people’s access to education and training is often limited by financial barriers (e.g. training costs) and non-financial barriers (e.g. scarce education infrastructure, inflexible training schedules). Unequal gender relations and traditional gender roles entail specific difficulties for rural girls and women in accessing education and training. According to ILO (2019), 1.2 billion jobs (40% of total employment) depend on a healthy environment. Also, the estimations of ILO on measures tackling the environmental issues consider that taking action to address climate change can generate 24M new jobs by 2030. The EU analysis (Green Deal) showed that there is insufficient development of green entrepreneurship initiatives. In rural areas, many actions in the sustainable development area focus on agriculture and food, but these are less supported by fiscal measures or other public policies. The project addresses the need for transformation of the EU economy into a green one and the development of new skills required for both green jobs and entrepreneurship in the rural area, using digitalisation and social economy models. Fostering female social green entrepreneurship in rural areas can be crucial for the vitality of our countryside.<< Objectives >>The proposed project focuses on the adult education stream by aiming to foster social green entrepreneurship among women in rural communities through education in the form of practical local programs, which is the main objective of the project.The project aims at bridging the “gap” in the educational system between the need for new green skills and entrepreneurial skills and the lack of adequate educational content for the development of such skills, through an innovative training course for teachers in delivering green social entrepreneurship education, utilizing blended learning methodology.The specific objectives of the project are: a) Building awareness in rural areas about women and green entrepreneurship as vehicles of the empowerment of local communitiesb) Building the capacities of formal & non-formal educators in a rural area on green social entrepreneurship for women;c) Design & implementation of local programmes aiming at empowering women in rural area through green social entrepreneurship. d) Develop guidelines for stakeholders at local, national and European level about needed measures for building an enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship in the rural area<< Implementation >>There is an important need for developing green skills in rural areas and empowering women to be more involved in social entrepreneurship. The project addresses the need for transformation of the EU economy into a green one and the development of new skills required for both green jobs and entrepreneurship in the rural area, using digitalisation and social economy models. For that purpose the consortium is going to implement the following activities: -Project Management activities: by developing a project management handbook to communicate all necessary information from the funding agency to ensure partner are following guidelines and rules regarding communication, project meetings, administration and financial arrangements.-Dissemination and Communication activities: To ensure the promotion of the project and the involvement of the stakeholders via online dissemination, multiplier and networking events, etc-Quality and Impact Evaluation activities: to measure and manage the quality of our work, understood as the congruence with the end goal of the project, the relevance to target groups and the professionalism of the execution.-Partners meetings: To help the partnership focus on how to organize the work to be done and how to complete the work done on specific results or activities that the project foresees during its completion.--Research, collecting of good practices, Learning, Teaching, Training, capacity building activities and networking. Through the collection of existing tools and experiences (PR1) will give the opportunity to better understand the European trends and especially to analyse the main gaps in supporting green social enterprises creation among women. The definition of a common online capacity building programme (PR2) tested thanks to the direct involvement of adult educators at the local level (Pr3 ) will facilitate intermediary organizations in supporting the creation of sustainability-driven activities. Finally, the Guide for stakeholders(PR4) will be developed for building an enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship in the rural area Also an awareness-raising campaign will be designed by using the testimonies and the material collected during the different project phases. The aim will be not only to disseminate the project result to a large audience but also to sensitise communities, aspiring entrepreneurs and established entrepreneurs to the relevance of the green transformation and social impact.<< Results >>WE GREEN foresees four Project Results:PR1 Inspirational package: development of a sound and updated knowledge base repository on rural women’s green social entrepreneurship, necessary for the preparation of the upcoming activities. This repository will include reports at the national and EU level on specific needs of rural women and the exact problems they face, preventing their integration in the labour market and fostering green social entrepreneurship and a collection of best practices related to green social entrepreneurship for women in rural areasPR2. Development of the capacity building programme for formal and non-formal educators working with women in a rural area: a training programme for formal and non-formal educators working with women in a rural area. For delivering the training programme, it will be developed a comprehensive interactive online tool that will serve both the delivery of the capacity building programme for formal and non-formal educators and make available useful information for the development of green social entrepreneurial skills in rural areas. This includes the development of the capacity building programme and information material for formal and non-formal educators, along with the basic tool that will be utilized for their delivery (online platform).PR3. Implementing Capacity building programme at the transnational and local level. Delivery of the capacity building programme for formal and non-formal educators supporting women in rural areas with the upskilling path in green social entrepreneurship. It involves the training of trainers that will deliver this training, following a 3-day transnational webinar. The capacities of 40 formal & non-formal educators of rural women/social entrepreneurship/green skills in the 4 implementing countries (Romania, Cyprus, Slovenia and Serbia) will be developed in terms of implementing the developed capacity building programme in green social entrepreneurship.PR4. Guide for Stakeholders. Elaboration of a guide for stakeholders at local, national and European level with recommendations about building an enabling environment for women’s green social entrepreneurship in the rural area. For local and national level a toolkit will be developed on local policies and best practices for the inclusion of rural women at the local level having education and training as the main vehicle. In this toolkit will be highlighted the key success factors in each case, the specific skills and competencies necessary for the successful implementation of this practice, as well as dos and don’ts for future reference.5 dissemination events (4 at the national level and 1 at EU level); dissemination activities and awareness campaign in order to promote social green entrepreneurship among women in rural communities The networking activities proposed allows the creation of long-lasting relations between stakeholders at the national, regional and European level to increased synergies and linksbetween education and business; to reinforce interaction between practice, research and policy in each system; intensified use of open educational resources (OER) for continuoustraining of the teaching community; to increase the number of good practices in content and language integrated learning.The educational professionals will learn the importance of fostering green skills, especially in rural area, through methods and tools (online education platforms) to deliver high-quality education. Furthermore, they will improve their digital competencies and their understanding of green transition in a digital Europe

Having faced the first COVID-19 wave, Europe is trying to cope with severe social inequalities. Moreover, the impact of Industry 4.0 influences the labor market and the way that all Europeans leave. According to the Eurobameter's survey, 53% of respondents believe that Member States are close in terms of shared values. Having this in mind, culture can help bridge this divide, increasing cultural participation, and bring Europeans together to experience what connects them rather than what divides them. nder the afforementioned perspective, CUBE project is linked with the formulation of educational activities, but in a way that it is modern and digital, aligned with the new challenges. Our project desires to help artists to acquire skills and competences, including digital competences and entrepreneurial spirit that reinforce creativity in education. This aspect will bring innovation and sustainability of cultural sectors and industries in an era, when everything changes. Its objectives are: - Promoting the upskilling pathways of adult artists and low-skilled culture workers, through the adoption of a virtual training programme - Enhancing inclusion of all adult artists in their society, eliminating their risk of poverty and job loss- Encouraging new entrepreneurial ideas related to culture and artistic sector, revealing new methods of funding - Creating cultural incubators which will lead to the employability of adult artists, since it is being reshaped under the pandemic.Based on the above the project responds to: -the lack of specified training towards entrepreneurship -the shortage of collaboration among all relevant stakeholders, regarding the concept of artistic sectors eliminated access of low-skilled adult artists in entrepreneurial education-the lack of jobs in the creative sector, due to the COVID-19 pandemic