SMEs account for 99% of all entrepreneurs, nearly 70% of all jobs and create around 80% of all new jobs. The further development of SMEs is most limited by a large and growing shortage of entrepreneurs, managers and skilled workers. By 2030, the number of younger workers will decrease by up to 25% in most Baltic Sea countries. In addition to quantitative problems, qualitative bottlenecks are increasingly emerging due to rising, dynamically changing qualification requirements. In Germany, dual VET has proved very successful. In the participating countries Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, training is provided in vocational schools, partly with supplementary work placements in companies. Here participation in vocational training is very low, the qualifications achieved are inadequate and youth unemployment is very high. Particularly in the countries with school-based vocational training, the relevant skills and competences must be significantly improved and high quality achieved. For example, according to a survey in Lithuania, 96% of enterprises would like to see better practical skills and 74% better theoretical skills and abilities. In all the countries participating in the project, there is also a need for a strong improvement in participation in continuing training and the skills and competences acquired in it. According to the EU's objectives, at least 15% of adults should participate in lifelong learning every year. In 2016, this rate was significantly exceeded in Scandinavian countries with up to 29%, whereas in the project countries it was only around 4% (PL) to around 9% (DE). While good company and inter-company training capacities exist in Germany, there are insufficient capacities in vocational training in the other participating countries. Vocational schools and companies have hardly any experience with dual VET and also with company and inter-company further vocational training.Against this background, the project pursued the ambitious goals of further developing the VET systems in the participating countries in a future-oriented way, improving qualifications, making VET more attractive in the long term and reducing the growing shortage of qualified skilled workers.The project was implemented by 7 partners from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The internationally active lead partner is particularly experienced in the training and promotion of SMEs and in the implementation of complex training projects. The partners were three experienced vocational training centers and three chambers of commerce, industry and crafts which are responsible for vocational training and operate inter-company training centers themselves. The project comprised 7 work packages with the following main activities.1. project management and implementation of 6 workshops and 2 international multiplier events.2. development, establishment and operation of a sector competence center with realization of dual VET in Slupsk, Poland, on the basis of the Polish reform law, and preparation of implementations in two other countries.3. development and implementation of further training for vocational school teachers, namely for the implementation of dual training and training of lecturers for a technician training4. adaptation and implementation of two different trainings for trainers in SMEs in countries with school-based vocational training so far.5. development and implementation of a two-year further training course for technicians and obtaining the right to study at a University of Applied Sciences.6. development and coordination of concepts for the implementation of dual Bachelor's programs combining dual VET with a Bologna-compliant degree course, and concept for the expansion of the two-stage sectoral competence centers into a three-stage system (VET, CET, higher education) of VET and innovation promotion.7. transfer of the project results to 70 chambers and higher education institutions/universities from 13 countries, which are involved in the project implementation as associated partners and received implementation advice, and implementation of further dissemination measures.For the six products of the project- Blueprints for the implementation of two-tier sector competence centers and dual vocational training courses with curricula- Two curricula for the in-service training of teachers, - Two curricula for the training of trainers in SMEs, - Blueprints and curricula for a two-year further training course to become a technician,- Blueprints for the implementation of dual Bachelor's programs by three-tiered sector competence centers, - Manual with distribution via bookstoreshigh sustainable uses were secured with a process-oriented expansion of the implementation regions including financing.

"Energy efficiency, climate and biodiversity protection belong to the EU top priorities and are likewise of considerable and growing importance of the economy in the member states. In order to meet the challenges of growing landfills, scarcity of resources, air pollution, to name a few of them, new ways of thinking and of innovative economic activity are essential. This is exactly what the Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) concept is: products flow in infinite material life cycles thus being economically successful, conducive to the environment and healthy for consumers without producing any kind of waste. Cradle to Cradle® concept, born as vision by Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart and William McDonough in 1990ies, has become real, and now it is well known on the world market: more than 2.000 products have been developed according to the C2C principles. The way of production ""from the cradle to cradle"" is directly counterposed to the prevailing production model ""cradle to grave"", where the material cycles are set up regardless of conservation of resources or environmental protection. So far, though, there lacks targeting of C2C concept in SMEs while increasing energy efficiency and environmental protection is of growing importance in SMEs. Moreover, SMEs with C2C are more future oriented, capture new market segments and create new jobs to reduce their costs and make a vital contribution to tackling the energy and environmental challenges in the long term. Despite the benefits the Cradle to Cradle approach in SMEs can bring it has been used only in individual large companies and in SMEs it is hardly known. For this reason, the project aimed at the development of further training measures that eliminate the knowledge deficit on C2C, meet the specific conditions of SMEs and start with C2C implementations in enterprises.The lead of the project took over the Hanse Parlament being an umbrella organization of 50 chambers of commerce, crafts and industry from 13 Baltic Sea Region countries. In 2010 Hanse Parlament established an association called Baltic Sea Academy to which currently belong 17 member universities from 9 countries. Together they focus on promotion of innovation and qualification for SMEs. Those 50 chambers and 17 universities are important associated partners and disseminated the project results on a wide basis. An important project partner was the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA), research and advisory centre, which has developed C2C and has all the bases for the realization of further training courses. As further project partners were involved three chambers with their educational institutions: the Chamber of Crafts Schwerin from Germany, the Lower Silesian Chamber of Craft and Small and Medium-sized Businesses from Poland and the Hungarian Ipartestületek Országos Szövetsége. These partners introduced the needs of SMEs, implemented further trainings for SMEs and contributed to the transfer. Satakunta University of Applied Sciences from Finland represented the university sector in the project, developed pedagogical concepts, implemented trainings for lecturers and conducted evaluation. The Project partner Provincial Fund of Environmental Protection and Water Management in Gdansk was involved as relevant public administration and fulfilled advisory and transfer tasks.The developed Train-the-Trainer program addresses universities and chambers so that well qualified personnel are constantly available for SMEs as trainers and advisors for individual support. The second developed advanced training on C2C for SMEs introduces C2C methodology, products and the way to apply C2C, receiving knowledge and skills in an interactive, multi-stage process with the excellent possibility to apply C2C methodology during the training in own enterprise. The environmental management in SMEs is particularly addressed, so that environmentally conscious entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills are promoted. The developed advanced trainings was tested in practice in Germany, Poland and Hungary and subsequently transferred to 50 Chambers and 17 universities from all Baltic countries that receive constant consultations to enable sustainable implementation of C2C. As results - in some cases in multilingual form - two curricula with application guidelines, teaching material, etc., an official training regulation and a manual with C2C concepts for SMEs are presented.This created all the prerequisites for SMEs in many countries to be qualified on a very broad basis in the future, and to successfully use these innovative C2C processes in production, marketing and sales, and to be able to make successful contribution to energy and environmental policy."