Project SUSTAIN aims to strengthen joint collaboration between three innovation support agencies through peer learning, and raise their competences to support SMEs in adaptation to EU standards. Project will exploit the “Twinning advanced” approach to motivate and strengthen a learning process between project partners based on their experiences in working with SMEs improving their processes of adaptation to EU standards. Peer learning partners will develop practical and innovative procedure in support to successful adaptation of SMEs to EU standards. Special attention will be dedicated to implementation of regional pilot actions through the following activities: development of self-audit tool in energy, circular economy and digitalization for SMEs; trainings tailored to needs of SMEs; knowledge exchange and transfer of best practices between regions; coaching/mentoring for specific skills related to “standardization” process. Peer learning partners will specifically focus on EU standards related to energy, circular economy and digitalization. These areas are of critical importance for competitiveness of SMEs. SMEs should be empowered to better manage energy consumption, increase energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gases emissions and exploit waste recycling whenever possible. Technological capabilities are constantly improving and to keep up, SMEs must be agile and innovative as they integrate new digital technologies into their business practices. Impact of SUSTAIN project will be evident in raising awareness and knowledge of SMEs on benefits of adoption and use of EU standards, specially related to absorption of know-how incorporated within standards and resulting potentials for innovation development. Innovation support agencies will increase their knowledge and capacities to efficiently support SMEs on their path to adoption of EU standards.

Food allergy is a growing food safety and public health concern and is extremely important due to the incidence in humans; it has been an issue which is needed to be focused on. The frequency of food allergy has increased over the past 30 years, particularly in industrialized societies. The overall objective of this project is to develop skills of food control officers, to increase the level of compliance of food control officers and food businesses with EU directives in food safety monitoring and control strategies and to enhance knowledge about food allergens. Food control officers who are equipped with monitoring and control skills on food allergens will be much more beneficial to business life, and they will contribute to the development of the food premises about allergens. In order to achieve this goal, the specific objectives of the project are -to conduct a strategic road map and action plan, -to prepare an allergen management guideline and an allergen control checklist, -to develop a digital food allergy training website for food control officers and food businesses for easy access to information. -to prepare sample menus for food businesses to facilitate the use of informing allergens.-to provide trainings for food control officers on issues such as food allergy and its importance, food allergens, relevant legislation in Europe, allergen risk management in food businesses. Target groups of the project are food control officers, food producer businesses and collective consumption businesses (caterers, restaurants, canteens, cafes, etc.). Since all the outputs will be prepared for utilization and benefiting of food control officers, employees and employers of businesses, they are among target groups. Furthermore, they will be able to enhance their skills through benefitting from these intellectual outputs. Because they will gain very crucial information about food allergens in addition to their sectorial know-how.The final beneficiaries are people with allergies, students in primary and secondary schools, students in universities who aim to be a food control officer or an employee in a food business as a profession, learners studying in VET in areas such as cooking, gastronomy and tourism. Because the obtained intellectual outputs will make these groups get information about allergens, raise awareness of them, and contribute to their life and occupational experience.The expected results are as follows;1.The strategic road map and action plan for food allergens management will be conducted. (Output 1)2.The allergen risk management guideline, that will be used by food businesses, and the allergen control checklist, that will be used by food control officers, will be prepared. (Output 2)3.The digital food allergy training website for food control officers and food businesses will be developed for easy access to information. The food control officers, and employees and employers of food producer businesses and collective consumption businesses (caterers, restaurants, canteens, cafes, etc.) can get trainings, access to much more information, and use the documents (guideline and checklist) and related regulations needed in the food safety monitoring and control process. (Output 3)4.Open access to guideline, checklist and flexible learning website will be ensured by developing these intellectual outputs.5.A sampling of menus will be prepared for food businesses to facilitate the use of informing allergens in foods. (Output 4)6.Multiplier Events will be organized in each partner country in order to ensure that the project and it outputs will be disseminated to and will reach the target groups.There are 4 partners from 4 countries. The partnership includes different types of organizations; applicant is a local public body, Italian partners is Research Institute/Centre, Slovenian partner is a public-school center of biotechnic, and Greek partner is an agri-food SME. As seen, it is a mutually complementary partnership. Each partner can contribute to the project with its vast experience on food sector. Except applicant and Italian partner, the other 2 partners have experience in Strategic Partnership projects. Italian partner has experience in EU programmes such as Horizon 2020. Besides, applicant managed many projects granted from Regional Development Agency, and one of its staff has a vast working experience on project management and monitoring in Regional Development Agency and CFCU.It is planned to make a transnational project meeting (TPM) in each partner country. The meetings will be carried out per nearly 5 months. Partners’ staffs should participate in these meetings. The delegation of each partner will be constituted of 3-4 staffs. These participants will be the responsible people for the related intellectual outputs.

Agriculture and agri-food industry represent a very important sectors in all countries involved in the project. In the last years. In the last years, more and more knowledge is required in the disciplines necessary to support innovation in the sector: innovative technologies, innovative models, innovative designs etc. Everyone in the sector must have increasingly specialized skills: digital, more useful than ever for certifications, supply chain traceability, online transactions (blockchain, value chain). Even in the food sector many companies have to deal with the mismatch between real skills possessed by their workers and skills actually required.Blockchain adoption in agri-food industry has the potential to simplify and integrate agriculture supply chains but the level of its application is still very low in all EU countries. It has been demonstrated that Blockchain technology can positively influence two relevant aspects of the food supply chain:- Traceability: help to reduce food waste, provide reliable information regarding the origins of food- Optimization of Food Supply Chain: allow farmers to properly set their prices and optimize the quantities of products- Crop Insurance: provide more visibility across the supply chain- Transactions: help farmers to sell commodities, lowering transaction fees, prevent price coercion, provide lower costsThe objective of the project is to improve the knowledge and skills on blockchain technology of people working in agri-food sector by developing and testing a new training module and by providing the agri-food operators with an interactive learning platform to be used for training purposes.The project will be implemented by 6 organizations, having different experiences and knowledge but all working in or with agri-food sector: Rural Development Agency, University, VET provider, Industrial Research Laboratory and Innovation and Technology Transfer Center, SME, University and Organization representing the Agricultural Cooperatives.It is expected that the project will generate some very concrete results such as: - Improvement of specific skills and competences of farmers and agri-food operators required to adopt the Blochian technologies in their work- Development of 2 innovative outputs (Training Modules on Blockchain Technology and Learning platform) that will support the project partners and target groups to further improve their knowledge by organizing additional trainings and providing support to farmers and operators on application of Blockchain technology in agri-food sector. - Improvement of transnational connectivity among organizations working on development of skills in agri-food sector.

The Creative and Cultural Industries are considered as one of the most promising fields of economic activity in EU but also a promising sector to significant job creation. They can act as important drivers of innovation. Long-term structural changes in our societies towards a knowledge-based economy have led to new forms of non-technological innovation in which “culture-based creativity” plays a key role.The rationale of the project is that in recent years many projects have been implemented to improve basic business and management skills of artists/creatives but no one has focused on specific technical skills to be improved with a cross-sectoral approach. In addition, the majority of existing initiatives are targeted to start-ups and not to entrepreneurs who need to consolidate their businesses.The overall objective of the project is to develop specific training tools which will support people working in CCI to improve their competences and skills required to reinforce the competitive advantage of CC sectors by maintaining a virtuous cycle of creative talent, artistic expressions, entrepreneurship and investment. The specific objectives are to:- develop 1 transnational training model divided in 5 macro-area, 1 for each expertise which has been identified as essential to unlock the potential of CCI: 1) Creative and artistic; 2) Technical and engineering; 3) Market and business; 4) Managerial and financial; 5) Process and networking.- test the models both on trainers/VET providers and cultural and creatives businesses.The objectives will be reached through a set of well-defined activities which will be implemented in 30 months by 6 partners coming from 5 different countries (Croatia, Italy, Spain, Slovenia and Greece):- Setting up of 5 working groups with the aim to elaborate detailed training models on 5 identified thematic areas:- 1 International training for internal staff and trainers to transfer the knowledge among partners on training materials related to 5 thematic areas;- 1 International training to test the models and improve the knowledge of people working in CCI;- Development of a handbook to support SMEs and self-employed in CCI to manage their business;- Development of an online learning platform targeted to entrepreneurs in CCI;- Implementation of dissemination activities and 5 multiplier events to actively involve the participation of stakeholders.The direct target of project activities will be businesses operating in the Cultural and Creative sector who will benefit from training activities and intellectual outputs, and also the staff from participating organisations who will improve their knowledge and expertise in assisting the companies working in CCI sector to transform their business models from “project-by-project basis” to “maintainable creative entrepreneurship”.

The rapid shift to remote teaching and learning necessitated by the global COVID19 pandemic exposed areas of significant need in VET schools, especially in those who are targeting students with disabilities and fewer opportunities. It has underscored previously unknown or poorly understood gaps in equity, access, tools, and infrastructure but as well in the VET educators of this underrepresented group. VET educators had to accelerate technology implementation plans and their own professional development to move their teaching online, while simultaneously building educators and students capacity to use technology. Keeping an eye on issues of equity in remote learning environments can seem overwhelming, particularly when moving teaching and learning from the classroom to an online platform, mostly for VET students with disabilities. During this time of transition, ensuring equity for students with disabilities involves ensuring that all digital materials & platforms are accessible & work with the assistive technology tools available to students. The areas of education and training where students with disabilities can thrive differ significantly from those of mainstream students. SOIL project is focusing on a training area that has been proven beneficial for students’ skills and competences development and at the same develops a digital suite of educational tools that will ease VET educators’ job, as well keep students engaged. SOIL is seeking to prevent social exclusion of VET students with disabilities from COVID19 outbreak. It has been proven that gardening & therapeutic horticulture are practices that help the inclusion of marginalised groups. Creating and maintaining flower and vegetable gardens has long been recognized as being therapeutic and is now being widely embraced as a tool to help students with special needs develop skills necessary to enjoy all of the positive paybacks that come with being in nature. It provides a source of exercise, friendship, stimulation & relaxation and moreover it helps to the development of diverse skills. SOIL target groups are: VET students with disabilities & fewer opportunities who are enrolled in a VET schools’ curriculum. We focus on this target group of VET students with disabilities are undoubtedly among the most vulnerable at risk of educational exclusion during COVID19 outbreak. There is a great need for them to continue their VET education as this is the channel through which they achieve personal development & participation into the community; VET trainers & educators who have found themselves amid a significant need to transfer their teaching curriculum on line with the use of digital tools which have to correspond to the augmented needs of their students with disabilities. The online learning environments require them to demonstrate high quality digital delivery skills &confidence in using web conferencing solutions.Unfortunately, not all students have equal skills, resources or opportunities to participate in distance and e-learning. This global crisis has amplified and reinforced the digital, social, emotional, cultural and economic inequalities that many VET students and their families were already facing. A major challenge is the continuation of the work-based component of the VET programmes during lockdown. While theory can usually be taught and learned online, practical aspects cannot be effectively delivered, e.g. due to lack of access to tools, materials and equipment. To this direction we are planning to develop groundbreaking digital training tools in order to facilitate the continuation of practical training of VET students; SOIL project foresees the implementation of 3 Intellectual Outputs, as following: IO1 Digital Learning Suite for Bio Gardening and Therapeutic Horticulture: a suite of video tutorials of training and learning resources for bio gardening and therapeutic horticulture, media reached to qualify the needs of VET Students with fewer opportunities (disability)IO2 Bio Gardening and Therapeutic Horticulture Digital Lab; a web portal with the typology of a lab class where VET trainers can apply IO1 resources to VET Students IO3 SOIL - The Social Gardening AR APP: an Augmented Reality up that can be used by VET students to identify plants, vegetables and trees and with the guidance of their VET trainers on line to practice of garden cultivation and management. IO3 will have the options to connect with other users in SOIL teams and work together under the supervision and guidance of a VET trainer.SOIL partners are INSTITOUTO PROOTHISIS KAI PISTOPOIISIS PROIONTON AGRODIATROFIS, ERGASTIRI EIDIKIS EPAGGELMATIKIS EKPAIDEFSIS KAI KATARTISIS and INSTITOYTO KOINONIKIS KAINOTOMIAS KAI SYNOXIS from Greece, ROMAGNA TECH SOCIETA CONSORTILE PER AZIONI from Italy, FUNDACIÓN BELARMINO FERNANDEZ IGLESIAS from Spain and SECONDARY MUNICIPAL SCHOOL KOCO RACIN C.O. SVETI NIKOLE from RNM.