Europe represents now 4% of the worldwide footwear production (2017 data) but has the highest average price worldwide. Europe maintains a tradition of footwear production, and a capital of knowledge throughout its institutions, schools, universities, which allows it to produce the highest quality footwear in the world. Thus, when it comes to the Top 10 most important footwear exporters, 5 European countries are well represented, summing more than 10% of world share exportations. The future of European footwear production is undoubtedly centred in the highest segments of the market, in terms of quality, functionality, design and more and more differentiation.Footwear and leather goods include a variety of product categories: from commodities to specialised products (sports, technical, professional, safety) and finally to luxury products, exclusive and unique, being much more than high quality goods, respond to the most distinctive and capricious niches of market all over the world. In the same way that bespoke exclusive and high-end products such as Rolls Royce and Bentley’s cars, or some of the most traditional Swiss watches are completely handmade rather than assembled in line, high quality, luxury and exclusive footwear is also totally handmade. Consumers from around the world recognise Europe as the reference of luxury footwear manufacturing, which is represented by a limited number of SMEs and micro companies and successful designers with innate entrepreneurship skills (running their own atelier and commercialising their shoes on-line) that both develop and manufacture complete handmade footwear, where every single component is thoroughly studied and becomes special, exclusive, and which average price of 800 Euros/pair is later clearly justified. Such high-end companies have the “savoir faire”, but they cannot find really youngsters or newcomers to whom to transmit their knowledge and skills and who could continue their businesses. They face not only the problem of attracting the young generations to the footwear manufacturing, but also finding candidates with the right skills and competences to produce exclusive and innovative footwear. There is a hidden potential in an increasingly “generation” of new talented designers who have completed VET in the field of Footwear Design in many European countries with footwear industry tradition, very creative and skilled in terms of design but finds a lot of difficulties to materialize their ideas and creations, because they lack the manufacturing skills and means to turn their own ideas into luxury tradable products. Therefore, if Europe wants to maintain, and spread around the continent, its first ranking position in the production of high-end footwear, the industry needs to work on a complementary strategy focused in the differentiation, details, sophistication, exclusivity, and image, which includes a B2C attentive model of marketing and commercialization targeted to such group of consumers. The success of this strategy includes different factors like high quality materials and components, innovative design, but the most important relies on the development of a very target-oriented skills and competences capacity of the manufacturers. A consortium of 6 partners from the most representative countries in terms of Footwear tradition and positioning in the rankings, meeting all necessary competences in the field, assigned this challenge.The whole project was dedicated to maintain and strengthen the high-end footwear production across Europe taking into consideration the specificities of this product category, while promoting the entrepreneurship of new talent designers and the development of a new generation of high-skilled manufacturers, oriented to high-end products in footwear. The project was focused on the creation and development of innovative vocational training ICT and practical based, targeted to a wide range of groups – VET students, new talented designers, footwear workers/technicians, new entrepreneurs in the field of Footwear as a mean to cope with the lack of skills/competences in the field of high-end (luxury) footwear manufacturing in Europe. A wide range of outputs were delivered for the success of the upgrading skills/competences, starting by a deep study on the luxury aspects and the real evidence based training need in this field, evolving to a new profile on technician toward high-end/luxury segment, a programme and a compilation of training contents, a B-learning course which was tested and piloted, as well as diligences for the recognition and validation of the professional certification.All the outputs are available in English and in all languages of the consortium: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Czech.

DIABETES is a global disease that preoccupies all governs worldwide. There are 425 million people with diabetes in the World. There will be 629 million people with diabetes in the World in 2045. https://diabetesatlas.org/across-the-globe.html . Two-thirds are adults in the working age. Only in Europe there are about 60 million people with diabetes, nearly 8% of the European population. Prevalence of diabetes is increasing among all ages in the European included, mostly due to increases in overweight and obesity, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. There’s a huge support to the patients, including in the educational strand. However, there’s a point that education didn’t reach yet, which is the relationship between FOOTWEAR and the DIABETIC FOOT CONTROL. A frequent complication of diabetes is the involvement of the lower limbs, the so-called diabetic foot, where a number of irreversible changes occur in the lower limbs in connection with changes in the body of diabetics. These are primarily due to neuropathy and ischemic disease of the lower limbs, a common cause of serious complications (ulceration, gangrene), which in many cases end with amputation in the lower limb. Expert medical reports indicate that the main cause of complications on the feet of diabetics is inappropriate footwear, to maintain movement activity and the health of the diabetic foot. In diabetics, inappropriate footwear is up to 80% cause of complications to the legs, many times led to amputations. To have available in the market on demand, to purchase, to use and to maintain the adequate footwear for each case are the pillars to prevent the development of diabetic foot syndrome.The project addresses the real lack in terms of knowledges and skills on Diabetic Foot Control of:- Footwear technicians, Designers and Managers, reflecting on the manufacturing strategies to produce appropriate footwear;- Health Technicians, Shoe-shop Assistants, regarding capacity for advice, interpret and implement medical prescriptions on the adequate footwear to address to each case, accompanying the patients/consumers;- Patients, their Families, Educators, informal Carers, and everyone who can contribute to the better life of the patients. The partnership composed by a set of 3 research and development entities, one University, and one footwear association all related to footwear joint efforts to provide a contribute for the above identified need, allied with their umbrella organization vis-à-vis European entities and an expert on digital education resources developer. All together from a wide range of regions in Europe, will develop a response to the need of knowledge and skills on the problematic, always focus on prevention, reaching education on Diabetic Foot Control through the manufacturing and address of adequate footwear to the development of digital competence toward VET population. The project focuses on the RELATIONSHIP between the DIABETIC FOOT CONTROL and the ADEQUACY OF THE FOOTWEAR, which is the real lack of knowledge and skills and the arise of educational opportunities, which will make the difference at various levels: -modernization of VET, including innovative dedicated training and curricula up-taking of curriculum on Diabetic Foot Control through adequate Footwear;-increasing of digital competences of a wide range of target groups;-increasing of the quality life standards of the diabetic population;-the potentiation of results from research and development initiatives on the fieldThe project will produce 3 digital educational packages to 3 different targets in 6 languages (Portuguese, Spanish, German, Romanian, Czech, Polish) plus English, as following: Digital Educational package for Footwear manufacturers on Footwear for Diabetic Foot Control - target to footwear technicians and designers, envisaging to develop knowledge on the diabetic foot and create capacity to articulate manufacturing strategies with the needs of diabetic patients, allowing them to use fashionable footwear but adapted to their special needs.Digital Educational Package for Health technicians and Shoe-shop assistants on adequate Footwear for Diabetic Foot Control - “capacity building” tool to help/advise on the choose and/or on the understanding of the medical prescription of the most adequate footwear for diabetic foot control regarding each patient situation.Self-caring digital educational package for Diabetic Foot Control - for patients, their families, other relatives, their teachers/educators and all supportive education personnel who are in continue contact with them, all kind of informal carers and community in generalA project website and promotional and advertising material will be provided along the project as well as a set of workshops/multiplier events in each country involved, including a wide conference in Brussels vis-à-vis with European organizations.

Over the last years, the European footwear sector has been changing in the way it demands more specialised expertise and new skills suitable to company’s specific requirements towards new business models, innovative and high-tech technologies, design and styling, environment issues etc.Furthermore, in order to remain competitive, businesses must be able to adapt to changes. The latest updated assessment of the needs for skills in European footwear industry, performed by European Sector Skills Council for textile, clothing , leather and footwear (TCLF) industry in 2014 hasidentified various drivers of employment and skills that are influencing and shaping the TCLF sector, including the footwear sub-sector too, such as: regulation and multi-level governance, demographic and population change, environmental change, economics and globalisation, technological change, changing values and identities, consumer demand. The TCLF 2014 Report reveals that “five times more jobs are to be opened for highly qualified employees than for low-qualified employees by 2025”. Within this context, the necessary qualification requirements for working in the European footwear industry must be redefined in order for the labour market to be reinvigorated with skilled professionals that will offer their full potential to the industry. dicSHOEnary aims to provide the technical language infrastructure necessary for strengthening the international communication of the shoe industry and for the establishment of new partners and to support the current and enthusiastic managers of the sector according to the expectations of the most current and necessary language skills and training needs.In order to do so, dicSHOEnary will produce a set of 3 intellectual outputs that materialise the project objectives, supported by management activities and an exploitation plan that will ensure the dissemination of its results even after the project has ended. The activities include: a) Need Analysis& State of the Art Report, b) Language guide in 10 languages with 3000 vocational terms e) Interactive web portal The dicSHOEnary partnership was established on the basis of combining the different backgrounds, experience and expertise of 10 partners from 9 countries, who have had experience in implementing transnational projects, in the field of vocational training, or in the field of footwear industry, in order to complement one another regarding their role in the project.dicSHOEnary aims to reach a large number of persons inside and outside the partnership, using different communications activities and channels by promoting the project and its results among European involved and/or interested organizations, and, at a national and regional/local level, bypromoting the project results among target organisations and end-users. Almost 1500 persons are estimated to be able to be informed about the project and benefit from its activities, including VETs, policy-makers, associations and organisations dealing with footwear, universities, research centres, managers of the sector and potential ones and trainers.The intellectual outputs developed by dicSHOEnary will be concrete and transferable, so that they can be exploited even after the project conclusion, both by the partners and by other stakeholders.The research activity implemented during dicSHOEnary can be the starting point for implementing research activities in the field. Managers and potential managers will be offered the opportunity to access the dicSHOEnary on the platform even after the end of the project and the world of Education, Research and Industry will have the opportunity to be part of a community which will be set the ground for developing innovative footwear products, new projects and common initiatives.

The European footwear sector has been changing and it demands now much more specialised expertise and new skills that are suitable to the company’s specific requirements towards new business models, innovative and high-tech technologies, design and styling, environment issues, etc. To be competitive, companies must be able to adapt to these changes. The latest needs for skills in European footwear industry, performed by European Sector Skills Council for TCLF industry in 2014 identified various drivers of employment and skills that are influencing and shaping the TCLF sector, including the footwear sub-sector, such as: environmental change, economics and globalisation, technological change and consumer demand. The TCLF 2014 Report revealed that “five times more jobs are to be opened for highly qualified employees than for low-qualified employees by 2025”. Within this context, the necessary qualifications for working in the European footwear industry must be redefined for the labour market to promote skilled professionals to the industry.The SHOEMAN project aimed to provide these instruments for the footwear sector and to offer to the existing and aspiring managers the most up-to-date required skills, training needs and information. As such, a set of 6 intellectual outputs was created by the partners, targeting the project objectives, supported by management activities and an exploitation plan that ensured the dissemination of its results and their future reuse. These outputs were: a) the development of a research report, based on desk and field research, depicting the state of the art for the footwear sector, basis for the development of the other project outputs (2,3,4,5,6) and a comparative study of the footwear sector which can also be consulted by external stakeholders interested in studying the industry; b) the development of a European Qualification Framework (EQF) of the New Manager for an Efficient and Innovative Footwear Industry, a descriptor of qualifications based on learning outcomes and with ECVET scores; c) the development of the MOOC “New manager of the footwear industry”, a freely accessible and open licensed training platform dedicated to the improvement of knowledge and skills of managers and potential managers; d) the creation of the Virtual Challenge Community, a community made of relevant stakeholders active in the sector of footwear, that served as a platform for the Innovative Footwear Products Competition and that lead, in the end of the project, to the launch of a crowd funding campaign for the winners of the competitions; e) the development of a Book of lectures for the Intensive training course; and f) a Decalogue of the 10 benefits deriving from the collaboration between companies, research and training centres in developing innovative footwear products. The consortium also conducted a training activity with the virtual presence of trainees (due to the COVID 19 pandemia, the planned C1 training in Romania couldn't be conducted in physical presence but was done online).The intellectual outputs developed by the SHOEMAN consortium are concrete and transferable. As an example, the SHOEMAN MOOC reached more than 1400 students not only from the EU but from all over the World. The content can be exploited even after the project conclusion, both by the partners and by other stakeholders. Managers and potential managers are thus offered the opportunity to access the MOOC on the platform even after the end of the project and the world of Education, Research and Industry will have the opportunity to be part of a community which will be the ground for developing innovative footwear products, new projects and common initiatives. Another example is the research activity implemented during SHOEMAN that became the starting point for implementing research activities in the field. SHOEMAN aimed to and reached a large number of persons inside and outside the partnership, using different communications activities and channels by promoting the project and its results among European involved and/or interested organizations, and at a national and regional/local level, by promoting the project results among target organisations and end-users. Almost 150000 persons are estimated to be able to be informed about the project and benefit from its activities, including VETs, policy-makers, associations and organisations dealing with footwear, universities, research centres, managers of the sector and trainers.The SHOEMAN consortium was established on the basis of combining the different backgrounds, experience and expertise of 10 partners from 8 countries, who had experience in implementing transnational projects in the field of vocational training, also for the footwear industry. It is clear that this approach allowed to perfectly complement each other's expertise reaching success with very high quality results..