SmarTrain joins VET providers and Research and Technology Organisations from the Woodworking and Furniture Manufacturing Industries to challenge and broaden the horizons of European VET systems. The project will detect the core changes required to include new SKCs (Skills, Knowledge and Competencies) in the official curricula of VET, aligned with the current and future demands of the wood&furniture sector. Hitherto it addresses a major TRAINING GAP between VET curricula and companies’ real needs for transformation. Acknowledging that 40% of workers does not have sufficient digital skills (Eurostat 2015), SmarTrain fosters the EVOLUTION OF ENTERPRISES TOWARDS THE INDUSTRY 4.0, exploiting previous initiatives aimed to facilitate this undeniable new industrial revolution for both companies and their future workers. The main objective is the acquisition of SKCs about CIRCULAR ECONOMY, ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING and INTELLIGENT FURNITURE, which require new (soft) skills in this digital era: digital literacy, curiosity and imagination, critical analysis of information, entrepreneurship, collaboration in networks, agility and adaptability, critical thinking and problem solving. SmarTrain is a collaboration of RTOs, an European umbrella organisation (AIDIMME, COSMOB, INNOVAWOOD) and 3 VET centres (CIPFP Catarroja, ENAIP Lombardia, WOODWIZE), paired by countries. SmarTrain composes a network fostering VERTICAL (between sectoral and VET centres), HORIZONTAL (between centers of the same typology) and MULTIDISCIPLINARY links for exchange and collaboration, all of them forming a CIRCULAR CONSORTIUM in touch with the labour market and the educational sector.The initiative includes the development of three IOs:• IO1: Innovative open training material on Circular Economy and Digitisation (AdditiveManufacturing, Intelligent Furniture) including e-Learning, ready-to-use for VET-learners in the wood&furniture sector.• IO2: Cross-cultural course for VET students & teachers consisting of 3 cooperative VET school projects (Project Based Learning and Co-creational Learning).• IO3: Open Education Handbook and Best Practices for VET stakeholders: from VET students to hiring companies.Both students and accompanying teachers will acquire fundamental SKCs and new soft skills, and will participate in National MEs to expose their final pieces of furniture as prime showcases for INNOVATION MANAGEMENT incorporated into current VET systems. SmartTrain promotes fellowship, collaboration, support and synergy, and above all, Smart Attitudes.Therefore, the initiative will give much room for the INCLUSION of participants ‘with different skills’. All our students are going to join forces and talents. In every student there are for sure hidden aptitudes, expertise and genius to be offered to the rest of the group.We aim at the participation of some 30% of students with lesser chances, students that are particularly, facing difficulties and obstacles to participate in international projects. They will participate in the same activities as the rest of students, coming from other VET Centres. All of them will perfectly complement each other, fitting as the pieces of a puzzle in order to make the most of this project: development of a piece of furniture from scratch, applying innovative elements of CIRCULAR ECONOMY and DIGITISATION. In total, max.10 students + 3 teachers coming from the wood and furniture VET institutions will be trained within the SmarTrain framework.The METHODOLOGY carried out will be as follows:•TRANSFER of knowledge from RTOs to VET centres.•COOPERATIVE APPROACH, which will aim to organise activities into academic and social learning experiences, leading to structuring positive interdependence. Students will work in groups to produce a furniture collectively toward academic goals.•Active and INDUCTIVE learning methods, such as PROJECT BASED LEARNING, paired with the ever-growing technology access available in the facilities of the European VET centres will ensure a deeper comprehension and understanding of new technologies. •Gathering of feedback from the VET stakeholders in this experience. After all, in the European labour market, a gradual upward movement of the increasingly specific and high-profile competencies is occurring. Companies are demanding professionals to deal with digital transformation. However, people looking for jobs rarely meet the ever-demanding requirements of industry 4.0. The ability to work as a team according to the methods of collaboration of less hierarchical and structured working environments, MORE TECHNOLOGICAL and DYNAMIC becomes fundamental. What must be clear, however, is that the 4th Industrial Revolution is about people, not machines. SmarTrain bets on the provision of this skilled workforce in the wood and furniture sector and the development of the competencies demanded by the companies, thanks to the establishment of a circular network of SKCs provision and reception.

The youth unemployment rate is considerably high especially in the case of Spain, but too in Slovenia, where the options to start an apprenticeship or to gain work experience are difficult. In Germany the youth unemployment rate is rather low, but the transition from school to work needs to be improved. New learning approaches are needed, in which the students receive a tailored made entrepreneurial education in order to boost their creativity and confidence as well as raise their chances to get a job or to consider self-employment as an option for the future. At the same time, techniques to create fast-growing businesses are needed in such an accelerated society like ours in order to avoid failure and to succeed in a shorter period of time. The objective of this project was the creation of regional Innovation Hubs as part of the schools' structure, where the students run these themselves supported by their teachers. The target of these regional Innovation Hubs is the students' acquisition of entrepreneurial competences by solving current social problems happening in their regions and in the regions of the project partners in Europe. They also act as mentors for other groups and organizations in their regions, solving social and general problems. Besides, they are able to guide individuals or groups willing to start new startup businesses, but lack the knowledge and methodology needed. Six institutions from three European countries (Germany, Slovenia and Spain) were part of the project consortium. Each partner country was represented by one vocational school and one institution from the private or public sector acting as a promotor. Four outputs were developed throughout the project, in which several activities were planned: a social entrepreneurship training, a validation training, a manual for creation and management of regional innovation hubs and a social entrepreneur badge distinction for students' competences recognition were originated. For all these products, conception, implementation and optimization were carried out. Three cross-border teaching and learning activities took place in order to promote students' and teachers' exchange and learning. Additionally, three multiplier events in all partner countries were organized to assure a wide dissemination of the initiative and its products. Each of the project partners were responsible for several more of the outputs developed within the project. The product development was controlled by the project management and by a Lean Startup Feedback Loop based process. Parts of the outputs were regularly tested and adapted, what supported the continuous quality of product development. A summative evaluation for project impact analysis was carried out at the end of the project. As a result, regional Innovation Hubs were created and established as a part of the schools' structure in the partner countries. Here students are able to manage them and develop entrepreneurial and social competencies as well as raise their employability while doing so. The process of creating and establishing these regional Innovation Hubs was recorded as best practices in a manual. All products are available on the ECAS results website after the project completion. Thus, ensuring information about the project idea and encouraging other European schools to join this cross-border community projects initiative. The project generated impact in three ways: - Create: by designing products that develop students' entrepreneurial and social competencies in an innovative teaching environment. - Boost: by establishing regional Innovation Hubs targeted with the development of innovative solutions to current social problems in other European countries and in their own regions. - Inspire: by disseminating the project results and encouraging others to be social entrepreneurs and to start their own businesses as an option. Additionally, bringing Europe together by solving foreign social problems in an intercultural approach.

The C95-Challenge project introduces new training methodologies for long distance drivers in Europe, involved in initial and continuous training according to the EU Directive 2003/59. If on one hand the directive introduces 35 hours of obligatory training every 5 years and allows for an updating of workers competences in the sector and enhances safety on the road, on the other hand, the training methodologies are obsolete and do not adapt easily to professional drivers working conditions.It is very difficult, as confirmed by the drivers needs analysis profile carried out at the beginning of the project, to involve drivers in a systematic training in class due to the nature and workload hours of the profession. Considering this, the partners of C95-Challenge, based on the contents of Directive 2003/59, have developed a common training methodology for all partner countries with the use of mobile devices and, through a high level of interactivity; it is adapted to the needs of the users and enhances the users motivation in participating in the training.Seven partners, from Italy, Poland, Austria, Spain and Switzerland have contributed to reach the objectives of the C95-Challenge project. The partnership is a mix of organisations expert in the transport sector (associations, consultancy companies), in vocational training (continuous training, adult training) and in the use of new technologies for training.The main target group of the project is professional drivers who are obliged to participate in professional qualification courses with C, C1, C+E, and C1+E driving licences. The C95-Challenge project is also addressed to trainers who work in the driving sector, considering their key role in implementing new training methodologies during continuous training courses.The research on profile and needs of drivers (Output 1 “Driver Profile and needs) has been followed by the analysis of the state of the art of mobile learning (Output 2 – Collection of mobile technologies and games), which has identified most adapt technologies and tools for this type of training. The document allows trainers to understand the potentialities of mobile learning and acquire the necessary competences to apply, with self made training material, the C95-Challenge training path. A common training path (Output 3 “C95 Challenge training path”) has been defined, with five modules related to specific themes: Eco Drive, Technical Features of Vehicles and Developments in the Driving Sector, Tie down of goods, Social Law, Health and Business Environment of Driving. For each module the partners have defined learning outcomes which have been described in terms of knowledge, skills and competences. The main activity of the project, together with the definition of the common training path, has been the creation of the training material. The partners have decided to create training material covering one or more learning outcome for each module. The result is the creation of interactive slides and hypervideos in which mobile apps, online games, quizzes and extra resources are embedded in order to allow the user to be autonomous in learning through a motivating and personalized training path.All material has been evaluated and tested for continuous improvement by 150 users, drivers and trainers, in the driving sector. This intense evaluation activity was planned in three phases (pre-pilot for drivers, fine tuning with trainers and fine tuning with drivers). After each testing phase all results have been analysed and the material has been improved accordingly.The partners have created an online environment https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8416068 for stakeholders and professional drivers who can exchange ideas and good practices for training in the future. The results of the evaluation process are contained in the “Evaluation and Transferability Guide” (Output 6). The document has been written to support trainers, training organisations and all potential stakeholders to implement the C95 Challenge methodology by understanding strengths and weaknesses of the methodology itself. All C95 Challenge outputs and material are available on the project website: www.c95-challenge.eu

The objectives of MEYE project (Mathematics in Early Years Education) are the following:Improve the training that professionals in Early Years Education have about the area of ​​mathematics and its didacticsDevelop innovative products to successfully address the teaching / learning of mathematics in Early Years Education and that are available for the educational communityEncourage cooperation and joint work of different agents involved in Early Years Education: VET an HEI, nursery schools, universities and teacher training centersThe project is addressed to three groups:A. Students of VET on Early Years Education with the purpose of improving their professional qualification to approach the treatment of the mathematics in their future jons. B. Early Years Education children. MEYE will generate a methodology to introduce mathematics through playful and meaningful activities innursery schools.C. Staff that currently works in nursery schools (practitioners and teachers) that will have a tool to improve the quality of their educational work and update their working skills.The intellectual results of the project will be as follows1. MEYE CURRICULUMAn analysis and proposals for improvement in the field of mathematics will be made on the curricula of Early Childhood Education and VET on Early Yeras Education in Slovenia, Portugal and Spain2. MEYE TRAINING.A training program on mathematics and its didactic will be designed for professionals of Early Years Education and for teachers / students of VET on Early Years Education with the purpose of acquiring the basic notions about mathematics and its didactics .3. MEYE GUIDE Methodological guide to address mathematics in Early Years Education.This product will be the result of pilot tests carried out with children in the countries participating in the project.The guide will have two parts, a first section that will be general for all countries and a second section with specific indications according to the context and the educational reality of each country. In addition, it will be divided by stages (from 0 to 3 years and from 3 to 6 years) and then by ages within each stage. In addition to the globalized approach and the insertion of mathematics in the daily routine, the guide will add proposals for specific activities to reinforce the mathematical contents and it will clasify the proposals into mathematical contents and ages.Entities from 5 European countries will participate:Spain: CIPFP FAITANAR, CONSELLERIA DE EDUCACIÓN, INNOVACIÓN, CULTURA Y DEPORTE (CEFIRE CTEM) and UNIVERSITAT DE VALÈNCIASlovenia: GIMNASIJA CELJE-CENTERUnited Kingdom: HIGH HOUSE NURSERYPortugal: AGRUPAMENTO DE ESCOLAS MARCELINO MESQUITA DO CARTAXOPoland: UNIVERSITY OF WARSAWTo achieve the objectives of the project, various learning, teaching and training activities will be carried out among the professionals of the participating entities and the students of VET Early Years Education . As part of these activities, pilot tests and workshops will be carried out with pupils of nursery schools in order to verify the effectiveness of the methods that have been designed.In order to disseminate the intellectual results generated in the project, 6 multiplier events have been planned in 4 countries, aimed at professionals in early childhood education, VET teachers Early Childhood Education and educational authorities.

In the last years, according to European regulations and recommendations, in each European country the corresponding National Qualifications System has been different, not always having enjoyed the same result in the country, because the methodologies used and developed have not been the same during the System inception.One of the most important job profiles in the wood working activity is the profile of (a skilled worker in wood who puts doors, stairs etc. into buildings) or CARPENTER (a craftsman in wood, who holds the art of making things from wood), but the skills defined for this job profile are different depending of the country.The aim of EUROJOINER is to define a European Qualification for this job profile, considering the skills and the activities for this job profile in each country participating in the project.This project complements other European projects, such as:- WOOD WORKERS ABROAD “New methodologies and tools to promote the recognition of qualifications for the mobility of workers - wood and furniture sector”(http://www.europeansharedtreasure.eu/detail.php?id_project_base=2012-1-PT1-LEO04-12339),- WoodPort “Recognition of competences in vocational education and training in formal, non-formal, informal context in wood and furniture sector”( http://www.adam-europe.eu/prj/4431/project_4431_en.pdf) , and- DEWEBAS “Competence tool for the European wood- and furniture industry”( http://www.adam-europe.eu/prj/5449/project_5449_fr.pdf),whose aim was to compare some qualifications in the job profile of cabinet maker, joiner and finisher in order to elaborate a recognition system and to establish a database of the wood and furniture sector.The EUROJOINER project is also complementary to the project Bolster Up “Transparency for Upholstering and Cabinet Making Qualifications and Quality in the European Furniture Industry”( http://www.adam-europe.eu/prj/9919/project_9919_en.pdf). It aimed at creating a sectorial dialogue in the wood and furniture industry. The project compared National Qualifications for upholsterers and cabinet makers, developed two common European job profiles for these jobs and established a framework for Europe-wide recognition. Within EUROJOINER, partners will standardize the skills for a EUROPEAN JOINER to elaborate a job profile capable to develop an activity or job in each partner country in the upcoming years.The consortium is related to the wood industry, and it involves, VET Centres related to the wood and furniture sector, a Technology Centre of R&D with experience in the development of wood and furniture Spanish qualifications, and a Consortium with a lot of projects focusing on vocational training and education:• AIDIMA, www.aidima.es, the Technology Institute for Furniture, Wood, Packaging and related Industries from Spain.• CFPIMM, www.cfpimm.pt , the Vocational Training Centre of Wood and Furniture Industries from Portugal.• AMLEDO &CO, www.amledo.com/en, specialized in projects focusing on education and labor market issues from Sweden. • CIPFP Catarroja, www.fpcatarroja.com , a VETCentre in the wood and furniture industry from Spain.• KAISERY OSB Metem, www.osbmetem.meb.k12.tr, VET centre from Turkey.• Opleidings Centrum Hout -Centre de Formation Bois, www.och-cfb.be, vocational training from Holland• HMC college, www.hmcollege.nl, for wood, furniture and interiors from BelgiumTo elaborate this qualification, partners will elaborate a mapping to compile the knowledge and activities related to this job profile in each country, will analyze and propose a new common qualification for all partners countries. In relation to current workers and future workers with the skills defined in the project, they will benefit from more mobility and possibilities to work in other countries.Once defined the skills, partners will elaborate an e-learning material related with them. Another tangible result of this project will be a self-evaluation system, to assess workers whether they have the competencies defined in the project or not, with the sole aim to work as a EUROPEAN JOINER. The impact envisaged is multiple. With the project results we will standardize one or the more important job profile in the wood working sector, these results will be important for the VET centres to adapt their curricula to this European job profile.The current and future workers with these skills will be able to work in different countries as a joiners or carpenters.