<< Objectives >>Outcome 1: Implementation of the ECO-SCORE learning objects and activities in the school curriculum of 10 public/private schools across the EU.Outcome 2: Six (6) NGOs or other relevant organisations implementing engaging green activities using ECO-SCORE results.Outcome 3: Twenty (20) engaging learning objects building on top of ECO-SCORE results created in a 3-year timeframe across the partner countries.Outcome 4: Policy recommendations taken by at least 2 policy makers in each country<< Implementation >>-Activity 1: Study and recording of current behaviour and profile of schools regarding CO2 emissions and air quality overall.-Activity 2: Production of 5 interactive and engaging learning objects and activities to facilitate the green skills' acquisition by school youth and relevant stakeholders.-Activity 3: ECO-SCORE Implementation and Sustainability Handbook and Policy Recommendations. -Activity 4-6: Meetings in partner countries in parallel with focus groups, stakeholders' workshops, etc.<< Results >>-A study of the eco-awareness and gas foodprint of schools.-A Learning Module book, printable in pdf and also served online through a widely adopted eLearning Platform-Assessment interactive quizzes-Game design workshops and scenarios-A package of small guides for the implementation of the ECO-SCORE material-A set of structured policy recommendations.

"<< Objectives >>The project aims to provide a dedicated training for micro-SMEs that prepares them for participation in an ever more innovative business environment, while embracing the advances of a sustainable business model.Our project is novel, in that it is tailored to the needs of micro-SME entrepreneurs and embraces 21st century training and learning practices, using mobile and online learning applications. Instead of focusing on ""academic"" theories, our training will be practical, example/case driven<< Implementation >>MicroSMEs entrepreneurs gain confidence and skills to:1. Articulate importance of sustainability in business, and drive social responsibility across your organisation’s value chain2. Investigate potential of technology, design, and innovation to enable or limit sustainable business practices3. Explore role of marketing and communication - both internal and external - in sustainability strategy4. Define and explore opportunities for value creation through stakeholder and partner collaboratio<< Results >>Our project will provide:- a handy training handbook that covers how (would be) entrepreneurs can become sustainable innovative business owners/managers, based on the experience from older entrepreneurs (silver knowledge) as well as peers who did succeed in their business endeavours- video footage that captures silver knowledge from BG/EL, offered via free online/mobile learning applications- blended awareness training workshops in Bulgaria and Greece where the results will be demonstrated"

Urban agriculture (UA) represents a growing movement toward transforming vacant lots, backyards, and even rooftops into productive green spaces. As such the urban agriculture has the potential to offer a wealth of benefits. Like any urban green space, urban farms and gardens can help improve air quality, moderate temperatures, and reduce storm water runoff. For many inner-city residents, urban farms and gardens may also be the only places where they can regularly experience nature. The majority of people today live in urban environments, and it is estimated that future population growth will be concentrated in urban areas of less developed countries. Urban agriculture has been drawing a lot of attention recently for several reasons: the majority of the world population has shifted from living in rural to urban areas; the environmental impact of agriculture is a matter of rising concern; and food insecurity, especially the accessibility of food, remains a major challenge. UA has often been proposed as a solution to some of these issues, for example by producing food in places where population density is highest, reducing transportation costs, connecting people directly to food systems, and using urban areas efficiently. However, to date, no study has examined how much food could actually be produced in urban areas on a global scale. Overall, the space required is regrettably the highest where UA is most needed, i.e., in countries like Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey where a considerable percentage of the population has poor income. We also show that smaller urban clusters (i.e., <100 km2 each) together represent about two-thirds of the global urban extent; thus UA discourse and policies should not focus on large cities exclusively, but should also target smaller urban areas that offer the greatest potential in terms of physical space. Our project developed a training curriculum, training videos, training course for adults (aged 18+), who are interested to explore ecological urban agriculture either to produce their own food, to sell the product to small outdoor markers, or as part of their activities during their spare time/hobby. The training materials are provided via e-learning portal and two mobile applications for Android and iOS mobile devices. The following indicators were achieved: INDICATOR 1: Knowledge and good practice widely spread among adult educators on national and EU level INDICATOR 2: Spread of innovative approaches from country to country and their integration into common practice INDICATOR 3: Participants as learning communities became aware and exploited the project deliverables • Number of involved representatives of the adult educators - 1295 • Number of visitors - 5450 visitors • Number of educational institutions which are using the project resources - 32 institutions in total for the project. • Number of involved representatives of policy makers and systematic level gatekeepers - 87 on national levels + 12 on EU level. • Increased percentage of the increased number of stakeholders who have been attracted to use the app resources by the end of the piloting phase influenced by the results of their adult peers who have participated. INDICATOR 4: Active participation (including time availability) of project stakeholders and gatekeepers At the end of the project realisation, we may conclude on the reached impact:Those trained by the project are able to achieve better realisation on the market, where we expect an increase of the employment rate on local and regional levels in the next months. The project results were tested with illiterate, low qualified and low skilled people as well as NEETs. We helped them to acquire new knowledge, skills and competences as well as to have better chances for realisation in the labour market and to achieve better inclusion in the society. We covered the learning gap in terms of lack of provision of Adult education training materials in the field of ecological and urban agriculture. We supported the stabilisation of the eco-farming sector by increasing the number of potential newly established micro SMEs in this sector in Bulgaria. We achieved further strengthening of the capacity building of our organisation, which led to further extension of our staff’ competences, communication and team working abilities to cooperate with other colleagues on an EU level. The ECO-AGRI curriculum supported the National plan for the development of the agricultural sector in Bulgaria. This output improved the Adult training opportunities for existing adult educators, which received up-to date training materials provided via blended learning facilitation (platform and two mobile application – for Android and for iOS mobile devices). Overall the post impact after the realized training is definitely leading to an improved quality of the production of urban agriculture, which will support better health conditions of the entire society.

"<< Background >>Eco-innovation refers to the development of products and adoption of processes contributing to sustainable development and significantly decreasing any negative environmental impact. This applies to any organisation and includes technological, social and institutional innovation. The importance of sustainable development and innovation is higher in small and medium-sized entreprises (SMEs), which cannot afford spending resources into traditional and unproductive processes. However, entrepreneurship is a key driver of economy and social prosperity in Europe and we cannot afford entrepreneurs losing their motivation and competing capacity in today's fast-moving economy. We need to make sure we equip entrepreneurs with strong foundations on the right set of skills and competencies and help them pursue innovative and sustainable means of working. This directly links to the adoption of innovative practices, taking advantage of all the tools offered in today's digital era. Sustainability cannot be separated from a sustainable environment and this is a cycle which entrepreneurs need to appreciate and invest in eco-innovation, achieving a global impact on EU objectives related to the environment and climate change.The ECO-VIBES team understands the positioning of the selected sectoral and horizontal priorities in the context of a more general EU framework on climate change & energy efficiency, with the goals revised into higher values for the 2030 targets. In addition, the objectives of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training, among others, have set the goal to make lifelong learning a reality and enhance creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship at all levels of education and training. At EU policy level, it is emphasised that ""...Europe is facing societal challenges at both short and long term: job creation and economic recovery must continue; social cohesion and inclusion must be enhanced; climate change and sustainability need to be tackled [...]. To do all that, Europe needs to address its citizens' expectations and concerns, including helping them make the most of the opportunities offered by the digital era and succeed in the global knowledge based economy. [...] Today, too many Europeans have only a low level of basic and some digital skills [...]. This will also underpin Europe's competitiveness and global economic sustainability if not addressed at its core.<< Objectives >>The ECO-VIBES project focuses in the Balkan Mediterranean area, where the percentage of and the importance of SMEs in the local/national economies is very high. These SMEs face strong challenges, especially in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship and environmental protection. Currently, investment in innovative or ""green"" products or services is very small. Furthermore, the recent economic crisis and the currently active COVID-19 pandemic increased unemployment and created the biggest brain-drain in the region in modern times, depriving SMEs and Higher Education Institutes from young and well educated personnel. Various initiatives have promoted eco-entrepreneurship, management and innovation, but have overlooked the required digital skills needed to implement eco-management and innovation. Many business owners lack confidence in basic digital skills while they are convinced that a lack of these skills amongst their staff is holding them back. These digital skills are crucial among existing SMEs. It is very important to revert the situation and aspire young eco-innovative SME owners and entrepreneurs, especially when entering in the ""green"" and/or ""blue"" economy, giving them competencies to create new added-value jobs, improving the area's competitiveness, ameliorating the brain-drain phenomenon, and contributing to the area's sustainable development.Digital entrepreneurship is broadly defined as creating new ventures and transforming existing businesses by developing novel digital technologies and/or novel usage of such technologies. Being digitally skilled is essential for SMEs who want their businesses to stay relevant and ahead of the competition. We aim at training the eco-entrepreneurs, who are and will be the new SME founders, in the digital skills listed in the following sections of the application, which will make the difference in turning their entrepreneurship into innovative.The ECO-VIBES project targets directly the following groups:- Existing and aspiring eco-entrepreneurs and startup owners- Young company (SME) owners- Entrepreneurial and SME networksMoreover, the project targets indirectly the following:-Students in Economy and Business departments of Universities/Colleges- Providers of education/training material for digital skills and business innovation- Policy makers in environmental sustainability of businessesBeyond the targeted groups, the project will benefit the diversified client base of the targeted entrepreneurs and the society as a whole.<< Implementation >>The ECO-VIBES project plans to produce 4 tangible project results:-PR1: ECVET compliant ECO-VIBES Course Curriculum-PR2: ECO-VIBES e-Course Modules-PR3: ECO-VIBES Digital Simulation Environment to facilitate the Training/Learning, Assessment and Reflection Experience-PR4: ECO-VIBES Case-based Adoption Handbook for a sustainable Training/Learning ImplementationEach result will be produced through a set of well defined tasks that will implement the methodology through a sequence of steps and intermediate tools. Moreover, Project Management and Implementation (PMI) activities will be undertaken, as discussed in the respective section of the application, towards high quality and on time delivery of all outputs.In its two years of operation, the project will effectively execute the planned tasks and deliver the outputs. The horizontal coordination, dissemination, monitoring, communication and other PMI activities, will facilitate the whole process, making sure the project objectives are met. The partners will commit to the Grant Agreement through mandate letters and bilateral agreements with the coordinating organisation, thus establishing the required framework for the co-ownership of the project and its outputs. The technical activities will be monitored, also ensuring correct financial monitoring for the optimal use of EU tax-payers money. The objective is to produce the results within budget and timeplan. The communication and cooperation will be facilitated by the project transnational meetings (online and face to face). The coordinator, together with the organisers of the meetings, will ensure the effective cooperation of people from different countries and cultural backgrounds, to working jointly in the production of outputs; the results need to be applicable across EU member states.The intermediate results will be reviewed internally and by stakeholders throughout their production lifetime. The quality will be safeguarded due to the planned evaluation activities, as well as the risk management and mitigation planning. The dissemination activities will ensure that the project objectives and expected outcomes are widely and effectively communicated to all types of project stakeholders; addressing each one through appropriate channels and messages. The exploitation and sustainability activities will ensure engagement of stakeholders and uptake of project results beyond its duration, safeguarding the return on the EU investment. The communication with the funding Agency and the necessary financial and activity reporting processes, will be undertaken in full compliance with the Erasmus+ rules, to maintain trust and good work and financial relations in the partnership.The production of each result will be achieved through a series of well planned tasks: The work will start with PR1, the ECVET-compliant Curriculum. The already defined structure of the curriculum (see PR1 description) will be subject to revisions and refinements at the beginning of the project. Then, the e-Course content will be produced as PR2 with quality as a priority. The content will consist of textual as well as audiovisual learning objects for increased engage-ability. In the case of learning objects taken from third projects, effort will be made for the sources to be legitimate and trusted. All material will be translated and localised in all partner languages, beyond the EN that is the working language of the project. This will help maximise engagement and sustainability. PR3 will create the interactive simulation environment, aiming to attract learners and engage them in the training/learning experience, as well as facilitate assessment and reflection. The material will be translated and hosted on a browser-based Web/Mobile Platform. Finally, a set of case-based guideline books (Handbooks) will be produced in PR4, thus completing the list of results required to achieve the adoption of the material along the dimensions HAVE, KNOW, WANT.<< Results >>We summarise below the results of the ECO-VIBES project:PR1: ECVET compliant ECO-VIBES Course Curriculum. An early structure of the training content is:-Module 0: Pre-assessment of trainees' digital skills-Module 1: Impact of digital skills on eco-innovative business models-Module 2: Where do digital skills matter for eco-optimised business models (supply side, internal usage, customer side with trends of green movement, policy layer covering environmental legislation and GDPR aspects)-Module 3: What digital tools to use and for what purpose (sustainability footprint, goals, initiatives and progress, digital sustainable supply chains, etc.), Integrated sales and invoicing systems via online paperless sales platform - OSS free software to support e-commerce, use of cloud services for storage and sharing, communication, collecting and analysing data, digital marketing via various channels, including social media channels, GDPR compliant operation.-Module 4: Self assessment (how ready are you with your digital skills?)-Module 5: Advance digital skills and tools in 21st technology era (coding, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and tools with these topics)PR2: ECO-VIBES e-Course Modules: complete indicative content for each of the Curriculum Modules. Each Module will comprise at least 2 Units (the average number of Units in such Curricula is 3), where the topic will be addressed substantially, giving emphasis to the practical aspects and the direct applicability of the background theory. The content of each Module will comprise textual and/or audio-vidual information, as to be deemed necessary for the spherical coverage of the topic and the attractiveness and engage-ability of the content. PR3 - ECO-VIBES Digital Simulation Environment to facilitate the Training/Learning, Assessment and Reflection Experience: A digital simulation environment that will host 3 pre-designed scenarios to promote the acquisition of ECO-VIBES knowledge, skills and competences, as well as implement an engaging assessment experience and a ground for reflection and improvement. The digital simulation environment will be developed as a full-featured Web application with a mobile-first design, based on a Platform offered by EUROCY developed on the Django Python stack.PR4 - ECO-VIBES Case-based Adoption Handbook for a sustainable Training/Learning Implementation: a package of resources that, together, will ensure that each ECO-VIBES stakeholder knows exactly what the project provides as results and how they can use them and benefit from them by using them as a spherical training/learning experience or individually.The software results are based on widely used Open Source Software licensing schemes, which makes it convenient for the scope of our project.During the project duration, the project results will be applied in Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus, in cooperation with the local stakeholders and beneficiaries. All outputs will be available in all partner languages, to maximise the exploitability and sustainability potential.Further to the above tangible outputs, one big event will be organised, which will plant the seeds for a multiplying exploitation effect."

This project will provide training scheme and will create an awareness among schools from Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey about the risks caused by emergency situations and environmental disasters. A dedicated training material will be provided to school principals and teachers which will further extend their qualification to react in such situations. Students/children are one of the most vulnerable target groups, especially children with disadvantages (people with disabilities) and for those from underprivileged backgrounds (refugees, roma, immigrants, socio-economic problems, etc). Activities will include the running of a training course, a school project competition, activities conducted by experts from the fire brigades, hospitals, scientists, etc. The participation of the parents, families, school staff and the local communities will also be promoted. At the end of the project the children would not only have gained a better understanding about preventing and reacting in case of a emergency, but will have also improved their social and civic skills. They will feel more confident and responsible towards the society that they live in. By participating in this project, the school establishments will open themselves to new teaching and learning actors and to the local community. They will provide the students a nice, fun and welcoming environment.As such, the project objectives are, among others:- Improve the skills of students/young children, their teachers and their families in:o Recognize risk situationso Transform a risk situation into a safe situationo Identify sources of dangero How to act, evacuate and leave in a fast mannero Provide good advice in case of accidents - Provide opportunities for schools to open up to their local community, its local organisations (NGOs, fire brigades, hospitals, public authorities, police forces, etc) - Bring those external stakeholders to the school establishments so that they also contribute to bringing up the future generation of responsible Europeans. - Empower young children so that they feel more confident and responsible towards the society where they live. - Facilitate the integration of students from communities at risk of exclusion by providing them with the skills and tools that they need to live in a secured environment. - Make the school environment more attractive and avoid early school drop outs. - Promote school visits from one partner country to another and though confronting the students with a different language and cultural environment. - Create an informal network of schools that will exchange experiences, teaching and learning methods and good practices that will continue to exist once the EU funding is over. - Indirectly, students will also receive employment and career advice from the experts that will participate in the SOS Fire! Week (doctors, nurses, policemen, fire brigades, counselors, consultants, social workers, etc)Target groups: - Students from primary and secondary schools - School staff: teachers, head teachers, administrative staff, pedagogues, etc.- Parents and families- Local communities: local authorities, fire brigades, hospitals, social workers, NGOs working with deprived communities, etc- European community Project Duration: 24 months. The calendar of activities takes into account the school academic year. Expected outputs:IO1: SOS SCHOOL Training programme for teachers, children and school personnelIO2: A mobile and online wizard training application for emergency response training in various situations (incl. videos), and a self-assessment stress test (level of preparedness)Partnership:P1: Leading educational directorate from Greece (project coordinator)P2: Voluntary unit 112 - a municipality founded NGO who is responsible to support in cases of environmental disastersP3: Ecology driven SME who is developing ICT-based solutions towards ecology training realisationP4: Ecology consultancy body providing local non-formal courses P5: The biggest educational directorate from Istanbul, Turkey