An eco- industrial park is an area where businesses work together to optimize the use of resources. Waste from one company provides the raw material or energy for another. This synergy between industries fosters economic benefits while contributing to sustainable development. The main purpose of the project Recycling Business Models – RBM is indeed to investigate and analyse the possibility to transform traditional science and technology parks in more sustainable areas, to establish the basis of models of Eco science and technology parks. The principal objective of the project is indeed to create a methodology and a specific strategy to impulse especially the creation of new business opportunities for SMEs and the creation of new companies, based on the revalorisation of the wastes, equipment and its reincorporation in the life cycle of the companies located in science and technology parks. More than 80% of the companies located within technology park in Europe are SMEs, which create the majority of new jobs in the economy of these countries. The development and improvement of ecosystem of innovation support to SMEs is indeed crucial for the scale up of the companies and the creation of new jobs, including the recruiting of talent. RBM is based specifically on the opportunities for SMEs and companies the Circular Economy (CE) perspective can bring. New business models within this concept are beginning to deliver success and impact in terms of driving competitive benefits. Creating enterprises around sustainable models can improve both their environmental impact and competitiveness. Great opportunities are arising due to new consumer demands, environmental regulatory pressures and innovation challenges, and early SMEs adopters are likely to enter the market and attract investment so the project will investigate on the establishment of new strategies for the design and delivery of more adequate innovation support programmes for SMEs within the field of CE.

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.

<< Background >>The COVID-19 crisis is having a greater impact on some workers than others. Young people are among those at greatest risk of joblessness and poverty. Youth unemployment and general economic developments are highly correlated (OECD 2020, Dietrich) and the COVID-19 crisis has emphasised the often difficult start many young people face in the labour market. Before the pandemic, EU youth unemployment (15-24) was 14.9% and in July 2020, it rose to 17% with an increase of 64.000 youth unemployed. The impact of the pandemic was visible mostly at the beginning of 2021 where 2.967 million young persons became unemployed with a youth unemployment rate of 17.2%. Compared with February 2020, the rate increased by 230 000 in the EU (Eurostat 2021).Following the data, there is an extreme need for improving the school-to-work transition for young people, supporting them to undertake training in more future-proof sectors and occupations (OECD, VET in a time of crisis 2020).Industry 4.0 technologies are considered by the European Union as horizontal technologies “enabling” multiple sectors that are expected to be decisive in tomorrow’s economy (EC, 2019 Curriculum Guidelines for Key Enabling Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies).Despite the great potential of these technologies in supporting youth employment, there is a lack of appropriate and multidisciplinary curricula providing the related digital skills. This is identified as a key barrier also to the development of innovation and digital transformation (EC 2020 Youth Employment Support: a bridge to jobs for the next generation).<< Objectives >>The emerging Maker Movement (JRC Report, Overview of the Maker Movement in the European Union, 2017) can support students in acquiring advanced digital competences needed by Industry 4.0. The maker activities are based on the same technologies used in the advanced manufacturing industries and the European Fab Labs should be used as testbeds for developing VET curricula focused on those digital competences (EC, Curriculum Guidelines for Key Enabling Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies 2019).Digital practices (3d printing, CNC machinery, 3D, etc.) promoted by Making movement (Dougerty, Anderson) in the last years are demonstrating to upskill young people with those digital competences, helping them access formal employment (and self-employment) opportunities (A desk review of the makerspace phenomenon and its potential to enhance youth employment and empowerment, Susan Njambi-Szlapka 2019).Thus, the project aims at supporting VET teachers in implementing maker-based activities for providing VET students with advanced digital competences, in line with the changes of Industry 4.0. The project aims at increasing the employability of VET students and synergies with advanced manufacturing companies.PRIMARY TARGET GROUP is composed by secondary VET school teachers and educators and all the people involved in the school-to-work transition process in the VET sector. FINAL BENEFICIARIES are secondary VET school students attending the last years of their education, including disengaged students.The partnership includes 8 partners coming from 5 different countries: Assindustria Consulting, Learnable and Polo3 (Italy), Fablab Muenchen (Germany), MCAST (Malta), PTA and IES Martin de Aldehuela (Spain), Pedagogical University of Cracow (Poland)<< Implementation >>The partnership will implement the following activities:- In the preparatory activities, each partner will involve the main stakeholders to share information with them and create the basis for the future cooperation - Production of the MakeMyFuture Competence Framework: VET teachers, experts in industry 4.0 and maker education will be involved in each partner country in questionnaires and interviews defining the most important digital skills for Industry 4.0. 41 VET teachers will be involved in testing this output. - Production of the MakeMyFuture Modules: VET teachers and experts in Maker Education will be involved in mapping the Maker Education potential with the profiles identified in the previous phase. 51 VET Teachers and 100 VET students for a duration of 20 hours will be involved in testing the output produced.- Production of the MakeMyFuture MOOC: VET schools and experts in delivering online, blended training courses and MOOCs will contribute to define the structure and layout of the MOOC through formal and informal meetings. 41 VET teachers for a duration of 32 hours will be involved for testing the output produced.- Joint Staff Training Mobility: 2 VET teachers, trainers, or educators for each partner organisation will be involved in a five days training course. - Project staff and local stakeholders will be involved in 3 transnational project meetings in order to monitor the project tasks and results, share experiences and improve the awareness-raising process. - The quality assurance process will involve project partners, beneficiaries and stakeholders in different project phases through questionnaires, interviews and evaluation sessions. - Dissemination activities: each partner will use its own networks and contacts in order to disseminate the project's results and output. - Multiplier events: In the multiplier events, VET teachers and students will be involved to take over the outputs of the project and make the most use of them in order to disseminate the potential of maker education within the VET communities in each partner country. Stakeholders, potential users and VET teachers interested in improving school-to-work transition processes will be involved in the multiplier events.<< Results >>The project, through the expertise of the organisations involved, will provide VET teachers and schools with resources and guidelines to effectively implement Maker education at school for adapting learning towards the digital transformation of the modern Industry. The tangible results are:- MakeMyFuture Competence Framework: it will provide different profiles needed by Industry 4.0, described applying the Learning Outcomes approach and in line with the standard VET curricula. This will ensure a link between the world of work and the VET sector, so as to align the advanced digital competences acquired by students through Maker education, with the real needs of the changing Industry.- MakeMyFuture Modules: the different maker-based educational modules will be designed with the scope of nurturing VET students with advanced digital manufacturing competences. The modules will be elaborated according to the profiles identified and the different technologies actually used by Fablabs, matching them with the company’s needs and VET curricula. - MakeMyFuture MOOC consists of an open web-based training course for VET teachers and trainers for implementing maker-based educational modules with VET students. This will also promote VET teachers and trainers' capability of developing and implementing learning paths, in synergy with local companies, focusing on advanced digital competences. It will improve, in combination with the LTTA, the teachers’ proficiency in using maker-based technologies and integrating them into their lessons. - LTTA for VET teachers will focus on developing advanced digital competences in line with the requests of Industry 4.0 implementing Maker Education

AccessCoVE aims to structure excellence in Vocational Education and Training in the field of Accessibility. Twenty-five partners from four different countries (Greece, Sweden, Spain, and Italy) joined their forces to establish a European multi-level innovative and constantly growing Centre of Vocational Excellence - the AccessCoVE - in the field of accessibility for individuals with disabilities (i.e. individuals with impairments and elders). Through the development of the most up-to-date, valid and worth trusting source for accessibility issues, AccessCoVE will constitute a key contributor to policy making regarding inclusion in society and accessible digitalisation. In essence, accessibility will be approached holistically starting from researching the end-users’ requirements and continuing to the research of stakeholders’ needs and priorities concerning accessibility issues. The data collected will form the VET programmes and curricula that will lead to the training frame and the certification of two new specialties - the Accessibility Certifier and the Accessibility Consultant. Additionally, AccessCoVE’s activities target the up-skilling and reskilling of specific groups, as well as of students in secondary and tertiary education. AccessCoVE focus thoroughly on excellence which arises from a) innovative VET programmes with respective teaching and learning activities and tools, b) new specialties that will open new job opportunities while covering the needs that already put pressure on the business sector, c) constant horizontal and vertical cooperation between the VET providers, companies, chambers, federations, HEIs, and regional authorities form the very first moment of the project, d) radical dissemination activities that feed e) a robust sustainability multi-faceted system, which in combination with f) meticulously designed long-term governance and funding plans, will gradually transform AccessCoVE into a transnational platform of CoVE.

H2Excellence aims to establish a platform of centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs) in the field of fuel cells and green hydrogen technologies that will forge a collaborative educational, training and development program designed to close the existing industry skills gaps. The CoVEs will bring together all key stakeholders such as universities, VET schools, industrial partners, and governmental bodies, forming strong links at European, national, and regional level. It is envisaged that different local clusters will be set up across countries with strong potential in the industry (e.g., PT, ES, FR, FI, PL, and IT), with foreseen extension across Europe and a joint focus on different aspects of the hydrogen value chain, from production to applications and cross-cutting issues. H2Excellence will create world-class reference points for training in green hydrogen technologies for both initial training of young people, engineers as well as for up-skilling and res-killing of adults, through flexible and timely offer of training for the skills needs of companies in the green hydrogen sector. The VET clusters will undertake activities such as developing transnational, joint curricula, and lifelong trainings; interaction with universities to understand the current state-of-the-art technologies; exchange of VET teachers, students, and staff; partnerships between companies and professionals; regional ecosystems mapping and integration within the national/regional economic and innovation ecosystems. H2Excellence brings together 24 partners from 8 different Erasmus+ EU countries (+ 1 international partner). Fully in line with the EU Green Deal goals and energy transition targets, the project intends to create the infrastructure necessary to embed vocational excellence in the European hydrogen sector, as well as to contribute to transforming the sector towards quality employment and career-long opportunities.