An increasingly larger part of the population in industrialized countries is spending longer time in retirement than before. People can expect on the average a retirement that will last between a quarter to a third of their lifetime. The increasing life expectancy of individuals will lead to a steady increase in the number of people in retirement, their „third age“, and within Europe one can expect up to a quarter of the population in this category. The additional life expectancy of European citizens who have reached the age of 65 is estimated to be around 20 years, and has increased considerably over the last decades (Eurostat Demography Report 2010). The UN report on World Population Ageing 1950-2050 states that „Europe is currently the world’s major area with the highest proportions of older persons and is projected to remain so for at least the next 50 years. About 37 per cent of the European population is projected to be 60 years and above in 2050, up from 20 per cent in 2000 and almost 30 per cent is projected to be 65 and above, up from 15 per cent in 2000“. Consequently, it is of utmost importance for future Europe to guarantee the highest quality of life for this large group of citizens and to ensure that their valuable resources of experience and knowledge are made accessible to the younger generations and to the society at large. It is against this background that the project presented here was defined, aiming at facilitating the entry into dynamic third age, the years after 50, through early and successful planning. This project implemented the recommendations and guidelines developed in an earlier Erasmus + project, BALL (Be Active through Lifelong Learning). A survey undertaken in the BALL project showed that the expectations of people are more towards the positive rather than negative aspects of old age. Based on that conclusion and the team´s belief that it is essential for every individual and stakeholders at the labour market to prepare and to plan for an enjoyable and active latter part of life ( „third age“) the team also believed that it is important have access to appropriate tools and guidance to facilitate this exercise, the emphasis being on creating a stimulating learning environment and ambiance, and on the exchange of knowledge.The main objective of the project was to develop and implement two tools, i.e. European Warehouse of Opportunities and European Academy of Opportunities.There were four partners in this project: 1) Evris Foundation ses (Iceland) that was coordinator and took responsibility in leading an expert group in development of Academy of Opportunities. Evris Foundation was coordinator in previous BALL project and has a team of experts in teaching, development of curricula and coaching 2) U3A Reykjavík (Iceland) had a leading role in the expert group that took care of development of Warehouse of Opportunities. U3A Reykjavík is an association of people in their third age who want to keep on learning and sharing their knowledge. It is a part of an international movement of U3A which has now hundreds of thousands of members worldwide. 3) Kaunas Science and Technology Park (Kaunas STP) (Lithuania) is the largest partners of science and business cooperation in Lithuania. It offers training sessions and consultation for people that wants to establish business. 4) MBM Training and Development Centre (UK) offers trainings, consultancy and coaching for individuals and organisations. The main activities were to develop and implement two outputs, i.e. Warehouse of Opportunities and operating plan for it and an Academy of Opportunities - two tools for individuals at the entry of the third age (50+) and stakeholders at the labour market. All partners shared their expertise in this development work and outputs are highly qualified tools ready to be used in Europe in general (in English) and two specific countries (in Lithuanian and Icelandic). The tools have been presented and activated in countries concerned and presented to worldwide networks that focus on development of people of third age. Other activities, as a part of the development of Academy of Opportunities, were so called pre-pilots and pilots courses, undertaken in all three countries added to a Joint Short term training course. In all three countries there were Multiplier events where intellectual outputs, the two tools, were presented.Project´s consortia believe that longer-term benefits will be that individuals and stakeholders at labor market better understand and start to plan earlier for the the third part of life, i.e. at the age 50+.

The main project’s aim is to enhance the agencies’ management efficiency in the field of seeking the ways how to attract innovative SMEs by using emerging communication and marketing tools and facilitating interaction and partnerships with various actors of innovation ecosystem. Four innovation agencies involved in the project will work using twinning+ methodology in order to create valuable Design Options Paper regarding communication, branding and marketing strategy for strengthening the position of innovation centres on the national as well as on the international arena as a high value added business support organisations. The solutions developed in the paper will be implemented in the agencies as new or improved programmes based on these given approaches. The result of peer learning activities within the project will be developing an effective approach to identify new topics in the field of communication, find the attractive methods od engaging inovative SMEs and put them into practice. It involves designing the whole proactive marketing process from the identification of the target group, marketing channels and campaigns, attractive offer, diagnostics of individual needs, consequent support delivery and follow up of the process till key performance indicators. The results of the project will be communicated to regional and national authorities as the topic of reaching the right SMEs is very common with regard to efficiency of policies aiming to enhance SMEs competitiveness, especially their growth on national and international markets as well as their engagement in innovation processes.

"We are a group of organisations (public and private) that have performed a SWOT model analysis to clarify who we are and what we want in order to help our communities. We began by assessing our STRENGTHS. The Slovenian and Lithuanians have much experience (implementation, mistakes and success) in tourism: attracting urban people, both nationally and internationally! They prepared several itineraries to offer great experiences to exploit the rural area (municipalities suffering depopulation due to a lack of employment opportunities). The Portuguese have experience in training learners in different areas related to food and drink. They aim to train their students on the processes for analysing, elaborating and distributing products such as wine, coffee, pastries and ice cream. We value their practical experience on the local labour market. Next, the Bulgarians institution was a vital institution for potential businesses locally, for training, making analyses, and their expertise in different areas: law or accountancy. They also help with networking, negotiating and are experienced in providing vocational training to cater for ""potential"" and established local businesses. We were impressed by all their experience in nurturing entrepreneurship and so believed they would be a great asset. Finally, as coordinators, the Spanish adult education centre have participated in numerous projects on different topics which always concern emotional, linguistic, ITC and holistic training for our learners and teachers. We have always joined the activities and results from different projects so we know what our local community needs to grow. Currently, we are studying depopulation and aim to inspire our learners to improve their knowledge and employment perspectives. That is our main strength, our 20-year experience. Regarding WEAKNESSES. Some councils insist on having specific temporary employment plans for low-skilled jobs, rather than allocating funds to helping people develop self-employment options. SUSTRADER organisations have different fears/obligations: having to provide learners with curricular contents within a specific period or losing the support of their councils by having their funds cut off. This is a permanent threat, but, as we stated previously, we have a great deal of positive and constructive experience for overcoming different obstacles. Actually, SUSTRADER is an attempt to overcome, with positive synergies, all real challenges that can be tackled if we help and learn from each other. As for OPPORTUNITIES. We think this European project offers many prospects to all partners. We are certain that, together, we can create a constructive network primarily among learners who will have the chance to actively participate in the activities proposed by the hosting mobility, as well as those implemented in between them (in which we will take into account suggestions, tips and will replicate what we consider to be viable in our context). This methodology is based on our aim to empower our learners with the feeling: ""I can be the engine of my future!"" which is the attitude we need to help change the perspective of those inhabiting our villages/small towns. That is the opportunity we wish to seize and highlight to local/regional politicians and media. We will involve the whole community by presenting our products and implementing workshops in our mobilities. We will take our learners to successful cooperatives and family-run businesses to give them publicity, not only locally but also in the countries participating in SUSTRADER (on our blog, Facebook, Epale, the partners´ websites, local media…). Finally, regarding the THREATS, we also hope other private businesses will not become tough competitors. Our strong point is our intercultural outlook, with which we have created a working network between us that will be used throughout SUSTRADER and after it ends. This is a protective shield for us (although this might be considered naïve, it is also pure and confident). Another challenge is the constant changes in local/regional/national regulations. Norms related to national parks, guided tours, campsites, rural accommodation, red tape, new taxes, abolition of public subsidies, etc, but, our strength lies in being a learner-focused network. We have demonstrated to evolve/support and/with them and have strong foundations and we are willing to stand up for them. Finally, one major concern we have is negative feedback from some sectors of our different communities (media, politicians, changes in consumer habits…). This is essential in our core of activities as it would be counter-productive if we were unaware of the negative results of any of our actions."

The project Smart Skills Development (SMARTIES) is focusing on the concept of smart cities/villages and the understanding of this concept by the municipalities who are the once implementing smart solutions in their environment. It is based on a premise that the understanding of the concept of smart cities/villages by municipalities is on a low level due to the fact that the problem is too wide, solutions even wider and there is also the lack of experts offering comprehensive solutions for municipalities. Especially those small municipalities that can not afford to have such experts in their employment.Based on the above the project's goal is to prepare a course for trainers who will be able to give municipalities a clear and comprehensive explanation of what smart cities/villages would mean in their specific environment. Moreover they will be also able to give a training to other trainers and thus contribute to further dissemination of project results. To achieve this goal a set of intellectual outputs will be achieved during the project period. It will start with the survey of needs of municipalities and trainers. Following will be curriculum development. Next it is course materials development and an organisation of a webinar for training of trainers. Once all the materials of the course are finalised they will be internationalised, i.e. translated to local languages of the consortium. All the project's course materials will be freely available in the form of Moodle course also after the end of the project. In order to even more strengthen the outcomes of the project its last part will be dedicated to organising international conferences in all the partner countries of the project.The project's consortium consists of five partners from Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Denmark and Italy.The main target group of the project will be represented by adult educators who will be trained also during the project lifetime. Final beneficiaries can be defined as adult educators for whom there will be an online course freely available, representatives of municipalities who will benefit from better understanding of smart cities/villages concept and finally general public that will directly benefit from smart solutions in their municipalities. The project will last for 30 months and its working language will be English.

"IBIS is a consortium of 5 partners from the UK, Spain, Lithuania and Finland all committed to promoting entrepreneurship. IBIS is an innovative training programme for business incubators across Europe. Its aim is to enable start-up companies to grow and become more European in their focus and trade. It responds directly to the contemporary European context, as business growth for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is of paramount concern for future job and wealth creation across the continent. At present, SMEs represent 98% of all enterprises across the EU (with micro-businesses comprising 92.2% of this). The project is based on the highly successful European Business Growth Catalyst (EBGC), a training programme designed by top European Business Schools and consultancy firms, aiming to enable established SMEs in Europe to achieve financial growth. The training provided to SMEs within the framework of EBGC is based on the methodology of action learning, a learning style which requires learners to undertake specific actions and reflect on their results. SME growth is an activity which requires practical action and continuous refinement of the application of methods. Action learning is an excellent method to achieve this. IBIS has worked to adapt the original European Business Growth Catalyst to the context of business incubators. Incubation is a relatively new term in global business terminology. There are currently an estimated 300 incubators in the UK, compared to only 20 in the late nineties, and 7,000 worldwide, which means that the whole notion of incubation has grown significantly. There is evidence to suggest that the number of European accelerators and incubators has increased dramatically since the start of the financial crisis but a lack of long-term impact business programmes remain (Kawalek 2014). EBGC’s existing innovative training programme has been adapted in IBIS and used to train both start-ups in incubators and trainers in business incubators to help them achieve long-term growth. IBIS has worked directly with: 1) Incubator staff 2) Start-ups within incubators with special emphasis on increasing the representation of female entrepreneursand indirectly with: 1) Wider groups of Start-ups 2) Entrepreneurs generally 3) Key decision makers and stakeholders 4) Organisations working in the field of entrepreneurshipBased on a needs analysis of incubators and Start-ups, the partnership completed activities with the overall aim of: 1) Directly helping staff members provide the newly developed IBIS Training Programme to Start-ups in their incubators 2) Supporting Start-ups especially when thinking about growing within a European context or what is also called promoting the ""Europeanisation"" of SMEs IBIS has achieved this through the delivery of concrete results: - IBIS Training Programme for SMEsA new training programme adapted by the partnership (based on EBGC materials) and designed to help start-ups to plan and grow their business. - IBIS Training for incubators' staff A new training programme adapted by the partnership (based on EBGC materials) and designed to help incubator staff to deliver training to their start-ups in business growth. - Online Incubator An online Incubator which makes the materials produced by IBIS available freely to a wider audience of incubators, Start-ups, policy makers and the community. It also brings together a range of other OER resources which help incubator staff and entrepreneurs find useful materials. - Guide for Incubator ManagersA guide to help incubator managers offer the most relevant training and support to their Start-ups in a sustainable way. It is a valuable resource drawing on the learning gained within the delivery of the IBIS programme to provide recommendations ensuring start-ups in Europe receive the most appropriate support. - Guide To Doing Business Online With the Internet being one of the most important ways of doing business for SMEs today, especially with customers in other European countries the partnership provides participants with information on how to best sell their products and services through this resource. The IBIS Training Programme for SMEs has been tested with over 100 participants from across the partner countries and has received excellent feedback. One participant states: “The IBIS programme was very practical, and great methods [were] presented; I am more motivated and ambitious about my business; I’ve got new insights about company finances and met new business partners.” All IBIS materials and resources are freely available online and will continue to be maintained after the project so both start-ups and incubators can continue to access the IBIS tools and use them to help more businesses to set-up and develop."