More than 20 million European jobs are already linked to the environment in some way and as the EU gears up for a greener future that figure is only going to increase. The EU is committed to growing the economy while protecting the earth and its precious resources. Among the priorities laid down in Europe 2020, the EU’s new economic strategy, stress the need for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. That means building a competitive, low-carbon, resource-efficient economy and safeguarding the environment by preventing degradation, biodiversity loss and the unsustainable use of resources. It is important to stress that green jobs are not just hi-tech jobs for the educated elite. For sure Europe needs scientists, researchers and engineers to develop cutting-edge technologies that will save energy and resources. However, the work is also carried out by people with intermediate level training: Vocational Education and Training, VET. It is essential therefore that these workers get the training they need to exploit the latest green technologies and applications.But according to the Communication from the Commission (COM (2010) 682 final), “An Agenda for new skills and jobs: A European contribution towards full employment”, the problem is not the lack of training, but the need of matching skills supply with labour market needs.In the Commission Staff Working Document (SWD) 2012 92 final, “Exploiting the employment potential of green growth” it is appointed that special attention has to be paid to SMEs and their needs. Often, SMEs are not aware of training schemes offered by private and public training providers and/ or are skeptical about such programs, however, are open to in-house informal training (e.g. tutorship, mentorship, apprenticeship, work-based learning, etc) as a preferential way of recruiting skilled workers.To reach this objective of bridging the gap between green education and green work, it seems more efficient working in a partnership way in order to cooperate, innovate and share good practices. And according to the programme’s guide, as regards vocational education and training, priority will be given to projects developing partnerships between education and employment. That is why we have chosen organizations linked to education (FEUZ in Spain), as training providers (INOVA+ and EEO Group in Portugal and Greece), and organizations linked to employment, as chambers of commerce and industry (COCI Zaragoza and IHK-Projekt in Spain and Germany).The work plan was structured into 8 WPs:WP.1. Management and coordinationWP.2. State of the artWP.3. Mapping green labour market needsWP.4. Mapping green skills WP.5. Strategic benchmarkingWP.6. Bridging the gap between green market labour needs and green skills supply WP.7. Quality control and monitoringWP.8. Communication, valorization and project transfer First step of the implementation phase was the definition of the state of art of policies and measures implemented by the States involved in the project towards the development of the green economy to design the conceptual framework of the same one.The second step wias to identify and gather the current green market labour needs of the companies located in the regions involved in the project. 15 green occupations from the recycling & waste management, transportation & logistics, vehicle manufacturing and agro food industry, wiere selected and their skill profile identified. The third step was to identify and gather the main courses and trainings related to green skills that are being run in each region involved in the project. Afterwards, partners exchanged experiences and identified and gather the best practices to bridge the gap between existing green skills (WP4) and green labour market needs (WP3). These practices were related to traditional training schemes or other more “informal” schemes as e-training, in-house training, a work experience, a work placement, a work-based learning, etc. And the final step was the definition and description of 15 roadmaps, which match the specific company green need with the specific green skill supply.Partnership believes that this project has certainly cotribubuted to promote mutual learning among partners and key stakeholders and enhanced transferability of the most effective strategies to match the green market labour needs with the green skills supply, as well as to support the growth of the green economy by means of adequate and effective training policies and strategies ensuring their continuous adaptation to the changing requirements of SMEs anticipating skills mismatches.

"CONTEXTThe Cedefop European Skills and Jobs Survey (ESJS) indicates that a fifth of EU adult employees (including young adults) have lower skills than needed when starting their jobs, indicative of skill gaps at recruitment. Based on results of this survey, young adults preparing to enter the workforce are significantly lacking in transversal skills or soft skills - such as teamwork, decision-making, and communication - that will help them become effective employees.OBJECTIVESSEE FIRST will develop methods and tools to foster employability through upskilling the soft skills of young individuals (i.e. communication, creative thinking, work ethic, teamwork, decision making, creative thinking, work ethic, time management, critical thinking, conflict resolution). PARTICIPANTSThree training organisations with focus on young adults, two companies active in ICT-enabled E&T and knowledge dissemination and an EU wide network focused on digital learning. ACTIVITIES- Address three main educational fields which are of particular importance to the countries of the partnership (health, socio-economic, sciences)- Identify the key soft skills per sector by directly interacting with companies from the targeted sectors and capturing their views - Classify soft skills in terms of impact on employability of entry level applicants - Design questionnaires capable of revealing the true knowledge gap - Determine the current level of knowledge of the target group in relation to each skill (""AS-IS"" situation)- Group the different levels of the knowledge gap determined - Elaborate personalised strategies to progress from the current to the desired situation.- Break down the elaborated strategies to distinct goals to be attained- Develop bit sized units to support the attainment of each goal by the learners seeking to materialise their strategy.- Design a skills achievement and recognition framework.- Conceptualise the different types of interactions between the Genie and learners- Map the identified knowledge gaps to personalized enhancement strategies for the Genie to classify the user to one of the categories of learners based on its profiling outcome- Develop the Genie iteratively, in 3 iterations: First iteration will serve as an internal test release of the Genie in English. Based on the outcome, the 2nd iteration will be a the pilot release in all languages. Following the execution of the pilot exercises, the third release will be the final project release covering key findings from the pilots - Organise pilot activities in the form of hands on exercises during which participants will have the opportunity to develop their own strategies guided by the Skills Genie- Set up the SEE FIRST Academy virtual space to support the growth of the SEE FIRST network of adopters and practitioners- Promote the Academy and the projects outcomes through dedicated multiplier eventsMETHODOLOGYAn iterative methodology: three versions of the Skills Genie tool are produced, one in each iteration. After each iteration the results are tested/validated and based on the conclusions the next iteration is planned. The iterative methodology applied is also facilitating the sustainability of the outputs through the incorporation of sustainability requirements at the design phase of the project outputs. RESULTS- Transversal competencies framework comprising gap evaluation methods and tools and a skills and achievements recognition framework- Transversal (soft skills) enhancement strategies and actions- Skills Genie online tool- SEE FIRST Academy virtual space with supporting infrastructure TARGET GROUP- Recent High School graduates,- Recent or undergraduates of post-secondary education, or HE- Vulnerable young individuals (i.e. unemployed, disadvantaged, migrants)- Recent young employees, who want to upskill their soft skills within existing professional context, in order to be competitive for an upgrade ora new job offer.- Trainers and teachers who may find useful to incorporate the methodological and technology tools of the project into already established curricula; - Employers, Training Centers (VET), Career guidance counselors, Recruiters, HR departmentsLONG TERM BENEFITS- Better employment opportunities in their fields of interest for young adults as first time job seekers- Increased productivity for European SMEs through faster on-boarding of new employees and quicker and more efficient contribution to the production process- Improved professional capacity of youth trainers to help their audience enter the job market [A minimum of 5 youth organisations and 20 youth workers/trainers per partner country will be involved in project activities from the start of the project]- Enhanced understanding of the importance of transversal skills at the work place"

Reduction of the level and mitigation of the effects of youth unemployment have a central role within the objectives of the European Union. According to the latest data of the EUROSTAT (2018) the ratio of the NEET people, with the only exception of Hungary, is higher in the partner countries than the European average. Generally, NEET people are characterized by a low level of education, living in poverty and unfavorable behavioral patterns – primarily the lack of the necessary motivation - due to the intergenerational transmission of poverty.They are especially at risk of all forms of online bullying. Members of socially excluded, under-educated groups are more vulnerable than their better-off counterparts. Furthermore, online bullying is often accompanied by offline aggression and abuse. NEET people, because of the lack of other types of regular activities spend more time in cyberspace and more frequently become the victims of bullying, trafficking or sexual exploitation.The main objective of the project is to prevent and to reduce the prevalence of bullying among NEET people by developing the toolbox of adult educators, trainers, social workers, and other service providers to make them able to identify the phenomenon, to support the actors of bullying, to re-shape the behavioral patterns of bullies and to activate the passive witnesses. The nature of this social problem explains the need for international cooperation as the misuse of digital technologies and social media hit people globally.Five from six participants of the partnership are members of the DLearn network, which is a collector of practices and ideas, gathering diverse organizations in Europe to reflect, think and trigger new initiatives, toward the enhancement of digital learning. The experience of the DLearn network in planning and implementing EU funded projects will provide firm bases for the project.Budapest Organization of Konszenzus Foundation, as the main applicant implements projects especially in the areas of social protection, labor market, and info-communication, in order to support the integration of disadvantaged groups into society. FEUZ, Spain, aims to find collaborative, innovative solutions for the needs of entrepreneurs, public and private enterprises and institutions, liberal professionals, students and society in general.Step by Step Parent’s Association, Croatia works on the promotion of parenting and the rights of the child.AKNOW, Greece, is a technical implementation company providing highly skilled ICT services. National Child Protection League, Hungary, working with pupils, students and teachers has great experience in the Safer Internet program. NEET people for a longer or shorter period of time are unconnected with the educational system and generally with the world of formal organizations. Programs supporting them are often inadequate because of their methods, alienating locations and sometimes the attitudes of the trainers. Therefore, innovative adult education methods, based on the permanent virtual presence and tailored to the needs of this special group of young people have to be applied to prevent and to mitigate the effects of online and offline abuse.Adult educators, trainers, social workers and other representatives of the helping professions are the direct and NEET people are the indirect target group of the project. The first IO of the project will focus on systematic screening of the background information. Several studies were published on bullying but mainly from a psychological- and child protection perspective and far less knowledge were accumulated on the socio-economic factors which can be crucial considering NEET people.A digital manual will also be prepared for the direct target group including information, on bullying, an protecting victims of it, different social media platforms, digital competencies, innovative teaching methods, etc. A learning and training platform (LME) will be constructed partly for educational purposes, partly to give place for different interactions between the actors. Here the educators will be able to share their problems and the best practices; young people can ask for help during the learning process or in case of experiencing abuse. And last an online game will be developed using all the new ICT potential, especially the playful, interactive, participatory features, to sensitize the the target groups for the harms of bullying, to combat exclusionary attitudes and to decrease prejudice. The envisaged primary impact of the project will be the decrease of the aggressive attitudes and abusive actions, the development of the digital competencies of the target groups, strengthening the motivation, the social competencies and the learning-to-learn skills of NEET people through an effective and pleasurable learning process, in order to contribute to their employability and to increase the chances to improve their quality of life.

NEET people (young people Neither in Employment nor in Education and Training) are among the most vulnerable groups, contributing to the high percentage of young unemployed people, especially at ages between 18–30 years old.The NEETs population is heterogeneous and includes people with secondary higher education (49%), secondary lower education (40%) and tertiary education (11%).On the other hand, there is a shortage of qualified personnel meeting the needs of businesses due to lack of expertise in the field of transversal and, especially, digital skills, because most of the growin-ups decide not to continue their level of education after graduation from High School, which leads to serious lagging behind with skills and competences. The costs for society are dramatic: “discouraged” people are at high risk of poverty and social marginalization. The impossibility to become fully independent is frustrating and leads to increased anxiety, depression and other mental diseases.Nevertheless, many of the young people use their smartphones to access social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, not paying enough attention to other important digital skills, such as how to protect their personal data and how to communicate via e-mail or social media using formal language appropriate for a workplace and, even, they do not know how to be visible in the labour market.The GENERAL OBJECTIVE of the GOdIGITAL project is to improve employability of NEET people from 18 to 30 years old.SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES are:-To tackle the main digital skills gaps in order to be visible in the labour market -To promote innovative pedagogies and methods for teaching, learning and assessing to increase the uptake of the skills where shortages exist -To foster NEET people's self-awareness in terms of digital skills to be competitive in the labour market- To improve career guidance.-To reinforce the digital professionalization of the work force, career advisers and trainers.The TARGET GROUPS of the project are mainly:- NEETs (young people Neither in Employment nor in Education and Training) at ages between 18–30 years old, with no specific qualifications, mainly. - Adult Trainers and teachers - VET trainers and teachers- Schools teachers at early leaving school level.- Career guidance practitioners at all levels (early leavers, VET and adult education providers, public services....)The CONSORTIUM consists of 7 partners, from 7 countries (ES, IT, BG, BE, UK, CY, EL), all of them members of the European Network Dlearn (European Digital Learning Network), partner of the project, as well. A variety of institutions with different expertise, which gives the consortium a multidisciplinary and complementary character: a Fundation connected to the University and the Chamber of Commerce, a Chamber of Commerce, Trainers in the VET and Adult sector and career counsellors, a technology company and a European Association with great experience in digital skills jobs and personalized learning and innovation in teaching and training.Different ACTIVITIES have been carried out in order to produce: 1 - An OER tool to assess, train and validate digital skills in order to be visible in the labour market: The Digital tools for work ACCELERATORO1/A1 Digital tools and skills DiagnosisO1/A2 Establishment of categories of learners based on their knowledge gapsO1/A3 Development of The Digital tools for work ACCELERATORO1/A4 Goals and objectives recognition framework.- Open badges systemO1/A5 Internal testingO1/A6 Piloting with target groups 2 - OER Training materials through personalised paths:O2/A1 Structure and contents of the training materials productionO2/A2 Elaboration of the raw material of the learning modules/toolsO2/A3 Production of a first draft of the training materialsO2/A4 Design the learning resources and tools that will be implemented in The Digital tools for work ACCELERATORThe RESULTS of the project will contribute to: - Increase opportunities of NEET people to enter the labour market through their improvement of the most demanded digital skills through a personalised learning path.- Reduce the digital gap and provide companies with better skilled professionals.- Provide trainers and employment counsellors with training tools and materials on digital skills related to employability.- Foster the EU cooperation and the EU value in a way that wouldn't be attained by activities carried out in a single countryIn a whole, better expectations to get a job and better professionals to be hired for the local, national and EU companies which will lead to an improvement of the competitiveness through the EU cooperation from an inclusive, digital and sustainable perspective.

<< Background >>According to the Council Recommendation on a European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships (2018/C 153/01) one of the criteria for working and learning conditions is that of Pedagogical support i.e. “In-company trainers should be designated and tasked to cooperate closely with vocational education and training institutions and teachers to provide guidance to apprentices and to ensure mutual and regular feedback. Teachers, trainers and mentors, especially in micro, small and medium-sized companies, should be supported to update their skills, knowledge and competences in order to train apprentices according to the latest teaching and training methods and labour market needs”. The primary goal of the i-Coach partnership is to create a new occupational profile i.e. the i-Coach Expert: a role which has been either missing or neglected by businesses, educational institutions and national policy makers.Companies often lack the experience of running an internship program, as there is a lack of definitive reference as to who should take the responsibility for creating such a program, what competences they should have or what is the proper understanding of the mentor of his/her role. Equally important is the question of return of investment i.e. how can they enable their companies to benefit from WBL and individual apprentices or successfully integrate the latter in their working environment. While larger companies can afford to invest in training for their staff to bring up quality internships, smaller businesses can’t as they would rather invest in more urgent needs. Thus, the long-term effect of having a dedicated internship program, headed by a dedicated staff, is not being harvested in full capacity.The problems addressed by the project are common to all countries, and that is why their social and cultural background, as well as experience in the field, will create conditions for enhancing and adapting the processes of quality WBL. The i-Coach project aims to tackle the above mentioned issues through the transference of innovative knowledge, tools and practices based on WBL knowledge, collaboration between the relevant stakeholders and exploitation of ICT Tools in these fields. The project aims to introduce the role of the i-Coach Expert, by developing an innovative toolbox, which will equip potential end users with the necessary knowledge required to create & manage an internship program or support employees in their transition to a new role within their organization. The application of ECVET principles into the development of the profile and by developing LOs at EQF Level 4 will allow the project to outreach the TGs.<< Objectives >>OBJECTIVES1) Create a new occupational profile i.e. the i-Coach Expert to support businesses in providing quality internship opportunities2) Provide an innovative approach to upgrading the TGs’ mindset and skills about internship/apprenticeship implementation managementPromote WBL by ensuring pedagogical support for working and learning conditionsSPECIFIC OBJECTIVES1) Equip potential end users with the necessary knowledge, skills and competences of those who are looking to create/manage an internship program2) Increase awareness of the use and the benefits of WBL3) Design a dedicated training methodology and training course to facilitate the uptake of the i-Coach Expert occupational profile;The project also aims to:1. Promote WBL by involving all relevant stakeholders (PR1, PR3) 2. Develop products that are tailored to the identified TG needs (PR1) 3. Make the products of the project sustainable and usable for a large number of stakeholders (PR2, PR3)<< Implementation >>PR1: Design of the i-Coach Expert Skill Set ProfileProject Result 1 (PR1) represents the foundation on which the other 2 PRs will be laid upon - via a mapping process, the partnership will investigate and explore all relevant factors which will lead to the successful creation of the i-Coach Expert’s Profile i.e. what characteristics, knowledge, skills and competences should the i-Coach Expert possess.PR1/A1: Needs Analysis FrameworkThis first activity of the project aims to determine the skills and competences necessary to create the i-Coach Expert’s profile and help define the training contents, the methodology, the way of delivery and the evaluation methods.PR1/A1.1 WBL Knowledge Gap FrameworkThe partnership will investigate what are the obstacles related to national legislations which hinder (or accelerate) WBL practices. PR1/A1.2: i-Coach End Users Focus GroupsThe partnership will organise a series of Focus groups with the main objective to receive first hand feedback in terms of WBL needs, which cannot be received by other conventional researching methods and engage relevant stakeholders from the very beginning of the project.PR1/A2: Elaboration of National Reports Each partner will develop a national report depicting the current situation in terms of WBL.PR1/A3: Elaboration of the i-Coach skills set reportThis first milestone of the project, will contain all the necessary information regarding the set of skills, knowledge and competences required for the creation of the i-Coach Expert Profile.PR2: Development of the i-Coach Training ToolboxPR2 aims to elaborate the i-Coach Training Toolbox leading to the ECVET profile of the “i-Coach Expert”. PR2/A1: Development of the i-Coach Training MethodologyBased on PR1 results, partners will develop the i-Coach Training Methodology i.e. the backbone of the training content and will define the way it will be delivered to end users.PR2/A2: Development of the i-Coach Training CourseBased on the elaborated methodology, partners will work on the development of the specific training content.PR2/A3: Translation of the i-Coach Training ToolboxOnce the contents and materials have been developed and proof-read in the English version, they will be translated in all partner’s languages.PR2/A4: Development of a Training PlatformThe e-learning training platform will support the training, function as a knowledge dissemination platform and facilitate the active collaboration between learners and trainers.PR3: The i-Coach Collaboration ModelPR3 represents the final outcome of the project and its main goal is to (1) test the quality and functionality of the i-Coach training course; (2) test its impact on the end users; (3) and thus, provide insights for the i-Coach Collaboration Model. PR3/A1: Test of the i-Coach Training ToolboxEach partner will invite at least 15 representatives of the project TGs with a special focus on SMEs, giving a total of at least 105 participants.PR3/A2: Piloting phase assessment & Fine-tuningThis activity is dedicated to improve the training content and the functionality of the e-learning platform, based оn the collected feedback.PR3/A3: The i-Coach Collaboration Model ReportThe i-Coach Collaboration Model Report will serve to demonstrate how the strategic use of the i-Coach methodology and WBL approach has the potential to give competitive advantage to businesses.C1 Train the Trainer The event will give partners the opportunity to assess the project outputs through mutual learning and testing process.Multiplier events During the last 2 months of the project lifetime, the partnership, will run a series of multiplier events in the form of a conference. The main objective of the event is to generate awareness among TGs and relevant stakeholders about the project outcomes, the i-Coach Training Toolbox and the Collaboration Model Report and ensure and support the use of the project deliverables by a critical mass of adopters.<< Results >>In order to avoid repetition with other sections, here we would like to present only the key outputs and their respective performance indicators:PR1: Design of the i-Coach Expert Skill Set Profile- 28 case studies in the area of WBL and internship implementation (PR1/A1.1)- 6 national reports exploring the national legislation in the area of WBL & internship implementation (PR1/A1.1)- At least 7 focus groups engaging >70 relevant stakeholders on the issues addressed by the project (PR1/A1.2)- 7 focus groups reports (PR1/A1.2)- 1 i-Coach Skill Set report describing the skills, knowledge and competences necessary for the creation of the i-Coach Expert Profile (PR1/A3)- 6 translated Executive Summaries of the i-Coach Skill Set Report (PR1/A1)PR2: Development of the i-Coach Training Toolbox- 1 i-Coach training methodology (PR2/A1)- A set of training modules designed according to PR1 findings (PR2/A2)- 1 e-learning platform to facilitate the online training of the end users (PR2/A4)PR3: The i-Coach Collaboration Model- At least 105 individuals engaged in the Pilot test phase (PR3/A1)- 14 people interviewed with the aim to obtain more in-depth feedback related to the quality of the project results (PR3/A1)- 7 National reports related to the pilot training assessment (PR3/A2)- 1 i-Coach Collaboration Model Report (translated into all of the 6 partners’ languages) (PR3/A3)C1: Short-term joint staff training events- 1 Train the Trainers Workshop;- 14 staff members (2 from each partner) trained in each of the developed modules from PR2;Multiplier Events- 6 national multiplier events (BG, CY, SP, BE and RO);- A total of at least 200 participants in the national multiplier events;Dissemination- At least 70 persons attending the end user focus groups (PR1/A1.2)- At least 105 individuals and professionals attending the pilot training (PR3/A1)- At least 200 participants attending the final multiplier events- At least 5000 stakeholders reached at the end of the project through publications, newsletters, press releases, meetings and events, organized or attended by the partners;- At least 250 followers on the Facebook project page;- At least 5000 unique users accessing the project web page;- A set of dissemination materials ensuring visibility of the project e.g. 1 project brochure, 4 Newsletters, 1 project website, 1 Social media page, at least 2 press releases.More information is provided in the “Project Results” and “Impact” sections.