<< Objectives >>The StressOut project aims to enable individuals to learn how to recognize, manage and prevent work-related stress and burnout, through an innovative digital training course and tools. The expected impact of the project is to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and contribute to the creation of safer and healthier workplaces by providing innovative instruments for work-related stress management and prevention.<< Implementation >>The objectives of the project will be achieved by implementing a number of activities with the main aim to determine the real needs of the end users. Based on this, the most important outcome of the project will be created - the StressOut Training Course, to help them build up the skills and competences they need for healthier mental wellbeing and resilience. At the end, all results will be embedded in the innovative StressOut mobile application.<< Results >>A Policy Recommendations Report, meant to provide an impetus for a EU-wide action on work-related stress prevention & management will be created. Training course on Stress Prevention & Management, Stress Assessment Tool and First Aid Kit will be also developed to provide skills and tools for healthier mental wellbeing, facilitated by innovative mobile application. Stress Awareness Days will be also organised, to engage stakeholders and raise awareness to the project and its topic.

Reducing inequalities, ensuring economic recovery and inclusive and sustainable long-term growth with focus on co-creation for growth and inclusion, by engaging citizens, social partners, public authorities, businesses including SMEs, and social entrepreneurs, are key for the future of Europe. The trend of rural depopulation faced by many European countries and regions, is generating areas considered “Empty Europe”, who upfront specific and related challenges such as: demographic ones (ageing population, emigration to urban areas, low birth rates) and economic ones (high unemployment rates; low activity rates; high representation of primary sector in GDP) and a lack of public services. For example, in Hungary, rural areas are characterized by a strongly aging population and high unemployment rates, and decreasing the number of farming companies. This is especially true for the selected target region South Transdanubia.At the same time, these territories have a rich culinary heritage, gastronomy and/or food production, which at the same time can generate opportunities. The consumer perception of quality, ecological and sustainable food production stemming from these rural areas provides ample opportunities. But these are not only related to the creation and development of food, gastronomic and culinary products, but could also serve to attract tourism, as culinary experiences are an important aspect of cultural tourism and make local heritage an important economic factor. Many of the participating (remote) regions have in tourism an important source of income.SAGA aims to contribute to reducing inequalities, ensure economic recovery and inclusive and sustainable long-term growth through a co-creation and collaborative focus, engaging all relevant stakeholders, develop and validate a training programme for populations living in “Empty Europe”, but who at the same time have a rich culinary heritage and/or food production. SAGA develops and evaluates an innovative training programme for those living in these types of rural areas, addressing their pressing issues such as unemployment and economic and social revitalisation, giving them the knowledge, competences and skills to develop social enterprises in gastronomic, food and culinary heritage fields. More specifically is targeted to- (Potential) Individual social entrepreneurs belonging to disadvantaged groups (due to social, economical or geographical disadvantages).- (Potential) Individual entrepreneurs from the food, gastronomic and culinary heritage sector who want to align their business idea to the social challenges identified.Special attention and effort will be made to address women of these areas (directly or through the NGOS), as they are underrepresented in the employment or economic activity rates, have higher levels of unemployment and frequently have additional labour market barriers due to their caretaking role (e.g. for young children or elderly family members).These groups, although the primary target and beneficiaries, are not the only ones the programme engages as learners, it also foresees addressing NGOs and civil society organisations working directly with and for them. For instance staff from an NGO working with rural women can use the training programme to acquire skills and competence to create a social enterprise to provide employment opportunities to their beneficiaries, but also to support them in the creation of their own social enterprises. This generates a cascade effect which enhances the reach and impact of the programme further than by only addressing the inhabitants directly.The establishment of (collaborative) social enterprises provides an opportunity for professional and economic development. Through the use of action learning and e-learning methodologies on co-creation and entrepreneurship skills, SAGA, enhances the skills needed for the creation of socially innovative and impactful, collaborative social enterprises. The focus of the programme is on co-creation, co-sharing and co-operation as basis for survival of the envisaged enterprise, as well as on the particularities related to the ideation, creation and running of a social enterprise (such as social value creation and social impact measurement skills), within the specific field of gastronomy and food production/elaboration. Social value creation and social impact measurement skills

Storytelling is not usually taught in institutional learning places as career opportunities. The Storyteller is quite a new profession and does not usually have a training background. The project created the base for a new professionalism based on storytelling for SMEs and corporates in response to the new challenges in the marketing and communication strategies field. OBJECTIVES1 Long-term objective of the project was to lay the foundations for a change in awareness of the need for a new professional figure such as that of the Corporate Storyteller in the job market2 The creation of a training, able to support SMEs in terms of marketing and branding strategies3 Increasing the quality of training materials for future jobs in order give better opportunity to the unemployed people, students and SMEs through the methodology and the contents of the results of the project4 Improve the competitiveness of EU companies by providing a new training for the creation of a new professionalism. PARTICIPANTSThe participants directly involved in the project activities were about 137. They were involved in the main activities such as the creation of the geographical map of the best case and the creation of the CV for the new professional figure: the corporate storyteller, the multiplier events and the learning activity. Their profile was different and changed according to the activity in which they have been involved. Due to the limitations related to covid-19 the participants were involved mostly online.Both in the creation of the geographical map of the Atlas (IO1) and the creation of the skill-set framework (IO2), the type of participants involved were SMEs, consultants, founders, entrepreneurs, company staff, university professors and storytelling experts. The profile of participants in multiplier events and learning activities was more varied and ranges from unemployed, universities students, young professionals in the field of communication and corporate communication, high school teachers; SMEs' managers from different sectors, marketing experts, Chamber of Commerce; journalists, communication experts, marketing experts, and freelancers; Banks, Foundations, NGOs, local action group, Italian Trade Agency, European Training Foundation; Startup founders, Startup coaches, business consultants and entrepreneurs.ACTIVITIESThe project was designed around 5 Work Packages (WP):WP1. Project Management phase, aiming at managing partners' time and budget. WP2. Dissemination and Communication plan and all the activities concerning the visibility of the project. WP3. Research activity and Development of the Geographical map and database of best cases of corporate storytelling in Europe (IO1).WP4. Development of a skill-set framework of competencies for the new professional figure: the Corporate Storyteller (IO2).WP5. Development of the Training Content and the validation of all project results through the Learning Teaching Training Activity (IO3).RESULTS & IMPACTThe main result was the definition of a new professional figure: the Corporate Storyteller. This was possible thanks to the set of 3 outputs produced by the Storylines project. The partners worked on creating a geographical map of the best cases of communication strategies and storytelling experiences on SMEs app.storylines.eu/atlas.Subsequently, thanks to teamwork, they developed a specific set of skills (hard and soft skills) relating to the figure of the Corporate Storyteller. This output was validated by 3 experts external to the partnership. The experts consulted by the partners are: Adity Saxena Professor from Amity University - India, Haibo Li Professor from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden and Christine Erlach founder of NARRATA Consult. Finally, in the IO3, the work focused on the creation of the teaching material, and on the development of the learning activity for its validation. You can find the course released on the Moodle platform here: training.storylines.eu. Thanks to the results of the project, SMEs, managers and staff can have a booster of support through the modern learning materials and methodologies, increasing the awareness of the importance of storytelling and the economic opportunities linked to it. Moreover, the training methodologies, materials and tools are available to VET providers and career guidance agencies, to improve competencies and employability of low-skilled and unemployed. The project through the people and organizations involved in the outputs and the events contributed to increased awareness about this new professionalism: the Corporate storytelling.LONGER-TERM BENEFITSThe project activities were designed in a view of longer-term benefits. The high level of adaptability and flexibility of all the project materials and tools permit to transfer the outputs in different countries, moreover, the results remain available on the project’s website 5 years after the end of the project.

"The CreatINNES partnership is dedicated today to the topic - the relationship between creativity and successful business development, between creativity and innovation in the economy. CCIs are acknowledged as a key driver for growth and innovation, increasing the competitiveness of the European economy and other sectors. The employment in CCI is constantly increasing. Nevertheless, there are identified gaps in the sector and related needs: CCI has always been fragmented by micro-enterprises, startups and freelancers who meet different business challenges. On other hand, the creative thinking, new models of cooperation, thinking ""outside the sector"" and cross-sectoral cooperation are other important topics for non-CCI organizations.As a result of in-depth analysis, the CreatINNES partnership developed two special training programs aimed at different target groups - on the one hand are freelancers and startups in the cultural and creative industries (CCI) that need business skills to be successful on market; and on the other hand, there are entrepreneurs who have innovative thinking but lack knowledge about creative thinking and its application in business. Therefore, creative people and business people have what to exchange as learning experience and knowledge. This was also the base, on which our consortium was build. The project addresses the identified priority needs of start-ups and freelancers in CCI sector and non-CCI innovative entrepreneurs regarding development of entrepreneurial, business, financial, creative, IPR and digital skills.Moreover, in the situation of COVID-19 and the applied restrictions for the society to deal with this pandemic, online training has acquired a very important role, especially for working students who want to combine learning with their daily work activities from a convenient location. CreatINNES team develop the “CreatINNES Academy” platform for blended learning to provide opportunity of the learners to choose how to gain knowledge in preferred by them topic according to their flexibility – only self-learning or supported also by a trainer. The overall objective of our strategic partnership was to provide support for business development in the CCI and digital sectors through innovative VET programs for startups and freelancers. The following specific objectives guided our project wotk: identification of skills gaps in the CCI sector, creating, implementing and promoting a sustainable VET program at transnational level, and providing knowledge to improve access to finance and growth opportunities for CCI and digital start-ups. The multidisciplinary team represents the target groups and expertise needed to achieve target results. They involved in the project activities: •> 950 individuals working in the cultural and creative industries•> 650 non-CCI entrepreneurs•> 600 regional multipliers •> 1000 members of the partnership networks •Representatives of media, press, and bloggers supporting 38 external publications in total.CreatINNES implemented the following activities: -Research with two surveys and in-depth need analysis; -Development two multilingual training programs, which are tailor-made for blended learning, targeting for freelancers and startups acting in cultural and creative industries, non-CCI entrepreneurs including such as arising from European cultural heritage, and from cross-sector cooperation with tourism sector; -Development of a digital platform (https://moodle.creatinnes.eu) for blended learning “CreatINNES Academy”;-Creation of a methodology named “Blended Learning Methodology for CreatINNES”, targeting trainers, learners and other stakeholders, introducing an innovative approach in creating VET programmes for CCIs;-Performing communication and dissemination activities; and-Sustainability actions such as development of services and trainings activities, which will be further deployed by project partners also after the end of the CreatINNES project duration.CreatINNES is bridging the training gap between creativity and innovation. As a results, it impacts even in a longer term benefits by -Unlocking economic potential for obtaining cutting-edge skills for creative entrepreneurship and development of the so-called “creative culture of entrepreneurship”.-Strengthening the capacities to drive and turn the passion and existing creative concepts into success stories.-Offering practical and free open education training for freelancers and small companies in CCI and innovative startup for effectively exploring their ideas and make sure there is a market that will pay for what they have to offer.-Creating a business environment for business ventures based on creativity and innovation.-Raising awareness of needs and benefits by integrating entrepreneurial and creativity education. -Using digital instruments in the training for establishing and promoting sustainable VET support in a transnational scale."

The project aimed to develop an innovative training system to support micro enterprises (MEs) to adopt digital transformation. It was agreed that e-leadership should be a core component of the support we offered to MEs. As a consortia, we undertook initial research in the form of a survey shared across all six countries. The findings of this research informed the content of the online platform units. In addition, we undertook a literature review of the current academic and professional articles in order to further identify the gaps in knowledge for MEs.Micro-enterprises were identified as the end-users for this particular project in recognition of the lack of specific digital transformation support targeted at this demographic. Furthermore, DiTEM built on previous studies and initiatives promoted by the EC which focussed on e-leadership skills for SMEs rather than MEs.Objectives We developed an e-learning platform in order to transfer knowledge and understanding of digital solutions to the MEs in a user-friendly and easily accessible manner. The platform provides an introduction to digital technologies. As a consortia we agreed that due to the nature and pace of technology development, the platform should be an explanatory rather that instructional platform. In doing so, we have ensured that this is accessible to MEs of all levels. At the end of each unit we provided signposting tools that they could adopt in order to start exploiting this form of digital transformation. The VET DITEM Manager coaching element to the programme was developed to complement the online platform, allowing the trainer to utilise aspects of the platform that are relevant to the MEs they are working with. This was a deliberate decision in order to address disparity in levels between MEs across the six countries. For instance, it was advised very early in the project that MEs in Bulgaria were at a significantly different level of adoption to those in the UK and Finland, therefore would be likely to utilise different aspects of the platforms to start their digital transformation journey. The combined format of the online platform and DiTEM coach has worked well and is a format we will continue to use post-project funding. Participating organisations At initial survey stage, we engaged with 224 businesses, from these 157 also took part in the pilot phase. The demographic was predominantly MEs (1-10 employees), however in Denmark they expanded the demographic to also include identified businesses with up to 20 employees, as it was felt that within that country the concerns they had mirrored those of MEs'. Description of undertaken main activitiesAs outlined above the activities undertaken consisted of: - Initial survey to establish a baseline of understanding of the technologies amongst MEs across the six countries. The results of the survey helped to inform the level and depth of the content. - The next stage consisted of developing the online platform and the content for the individual units. We then trained 15 DiTEM coaches to complement the online platform through VET training. These coaches subsequently trained further trainers. - Once the pilot platform was ready for testing we undertook the pilot workshop phase of the project, which included each country delivering training to MEs and helping them develop a digital transformation plan. Results and impactAs highlighted, we took the decision to have two key components to the project: face to face coaching and an online platform. The online platform provides an overview of the technologies available but not specific training on using the technologies- being too prescriptive would date the platform before it was even launched. From the workshops we have gained information about the needs from MEs and have compared with the results from the EU project LEAD, which analysed leadership skills for SMEs. In this project it is obvious that there is major difference between SMEs of 15 employees and SMEs with 200 employees. It appeared that the smaller SMEs had the same or similar challenges as the MEs. It therefore seemed sensible to limit future projects to MEs. Based upon the experience gained we identified key policy recommendations: - Training format for further training of MEs - Development of an ME platform – offering overview of tools, consultancy companies and technologies for MEs (and potentially SMEs) - A repository of activities across Europe that support digital transformation