"“Illiteracy, defined as the total inability to read and write, has now been almost completely eradicated in EU, the phenomenon of functional illiteracy is becoming Increasingly serious.” EU Parliament’s report on illiteracy & social exclusion-2002. Functional illiteracy is reading, writing and calculation skills that are inadequate ""to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level”. Functional illiteracy is contrasted with illiteracy in the strict sense, meaning the inability to read or write simple sentences in any language. According to a recent study from OECD, it is concerning about 80 Mio people from 15 to 65 in EU. Amongst the measures recommended to reduce functional illiteracy, the implementation of innovative trainings remains one of the best options. ICT based trainings are a suitable solution and also will participate to reduce the digital gap. The MIMR project has developed a distance learning training in order to improve basic and transversal skills for functional illiterate persons. The main objectives were:- Developing basic & transversal skills - Promoting innovative practices in education using distance learning toolsThis training includes 5 modules: Reading and writing, Mathematics, Digital skills, Entrepreneurship, English languageOur special project focus was on the music thematic for the following reasons:- Most of the functional illiterate persons have experienced academic failure. This project has created a different learning environment from what they have experienced before in order to motivate them. - Developing the same thematic during the whole training allowed to create a link among all the modules.- Finally, the music thematic has allowed to enable the trainers’ creativity and gave them the opportunity to create funnier pedagogical materials.The project partners are 4 training companies from France, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia with long working experiences with different target groups like unemployed persons. In our work, we are facing more and more functional illiteracy. This project has enabled us to develop and integrate innovative training materials will help our students to improve their basic skills and to get access to vocational training and/or employment. The project activities and methodology has been divided in 4 steps: 1 Preparation- Creation of the detailed training program including pedagogical objectives and sub-modules and evaluation process.- Selection and adaptation of the appropriate distance learning tools. 2 Creation- Creation of the pedagogical materials.All the partners took part to two full days training on how to create distance learning materials with the selected learning tools.The creation process was divided in 5 steps: creation of the scripts, the visuals, the quizzes, the audio recording and the publishing of the document and uploading to the project learning management system (LSM). 3 Implementation- Testing phase of the training on learners, tutors and trainersAll partner organisations have implemented the testing phase in their own organisations or in cooperation with different training institutions or vocational schools. Prior to that, we developed appropriate questionnaires to assess the quality and impact of the trainings and the Learning Management System.- Evaluation of the testing phase4 Availability- Creation of the online project guide for other organisations to use or duplicate this training.This guide is available from the website project and it has the following content:-Partnership-Presentation of the project-Distance learning tools-Pedagogical materials-EvaluationThe tangible results of the project:- An innovative and attractive pedagogical approach in order to improve basic and transversal skills of functional illiterate persons- A distance learning tool with all the pedagogical materials- A comprehensive online project guide including the full project methodology in order to be able to duplicate this project in another country and in another language, and also including all the evaluation reports of the national testing phases.The impacts of the project on our target group:- The increase of their interest for doing a training on basic and transversal skills - The significant improvement of their basic and transversal skills- Thanks to this, we consider that their access to vocational training and/or their employability have been facilitated. The impacts of the project on relevant stakeholders:- An interest in using or duplicating this training method and tools by other training organizations and schools.- An interest by job offices and financing organizations in communicating about this training method and developing trainings for jobseekers and employees on basic and transversal skills.The partners also noted an improvement in their skills in the creation of innovative teaching resources and the use of distance learning tools."

We are now fully living in a digital world and all the economic sectors, from agriculture to education, are impacted with the digitalisation of their tools and practices. For most of the VET actors, digital learning are two words generating enthusiasm and scepticism amongst them depending their digital skills and experiences but two words they cannot run away because they are now a central part of their everyday work. All their stakeholders are asking for more digital learning: -Learners and not only millennials and generation Z are more and more confident to use online tutorials and digital tools for learning. They are quite often asking for it as they don’t understand why they should go into a classroom to learn some general notions that can be easily taught online. Travels are also getting more and more complicated for them for many reasons: costs, availability, pollution…-Training financing organisations want to increase the number of learners and at the same time their quality with individualisation. Digital learning make it possible to reach those objectives.-Schools management want to be competitive and offering the same digital services as their competitors.So, trainers and teachers are meeting many new consultants and new IT companies specialized into developing software, apps, learning management systems, serious games, virtual reality tools…to help them implementing digital learning. And most of them are confused with all those possibilities and tools and don’t basically understand how to integrate them in their everyday job and own pedagogy. The vocational education and training (VET) sector needs to be modernized and digital learning is a key player of the VET modernisation process. But digital learning is implying digital skills and according to EC, almost half of Europeans (45%) don’t have basic digital skills (using a mailbox, editing tools or installing new devices). The Commission has addressed digital skills and training as part of the EU Skills Agenda alongside the modernisation of VET.The 2019 European Semester: country-specific recommendations is also tackling those 2 issues:-“…A large number of Member States are therefore recommended to strengthen and modernise their education and training systems…”-“…Digitalisation is a key lever of productivity, competitiveness and growth. Traditional sectors and small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly lagging behind in their digital transformation…”Teachers and trainers are not spared by lack of digital skills and as the cornerstone of VET modernisation success, it is important to implement useful and realistic solutions to help them developing and increasing their own digital learning skills and knowledge. The INTROduction to digital learning project (INTRO) objective is to create digital trainings for teachers and trainers: Learning how to teach with digital learning.The INTRO project training is based on 3 specific modules:1 – Sharing skills & knowledge on innovative and digital learning2 – How to teach with digital learning3 – How to learn with digital learning The INTRO training will be spread using a Facebook Group as a Learning Management System (LMS). The INTRO project digital contents will be tested with about 400 trainers and teachers all over EU. Expected impacts are:- Teachers and trainers’ self-confidence with digital learning- Modernising their training contents - Increasing their skills & knowledge with digital tools

In a European context of reducing the use of conventional pesticides (“Pesticide Package”), biocontrol (use of natural products for the management of pests and diseases) is a very promising alternative.The market for biocontrol products is indeed growing and several dozen new products are expected on the European market within 5 years.However, despite the rapid development of agricultural practices, the specific actors (farmers, training organizations, students in the agricultural sector, etc.) are not necessarily trained in this issue. There are currently few training courses on biocontrol and these are for the most part incomplete and do not cover all the important aspects of biocontrol (regulation, marketed products, implementation of the global strategy, etc.). In addition, these training courses are not accessible to all actors in the agricultural sector (rural areas) and are not intended to train trainers.This is why the objective of the BET project was to develop a new distance learning course on biocontrol for a large audience of trainers (training organizations, Universities, technical schools and high schools, Chambers of Agriculture, Technical institutes, etc.) in different European countries, affected by the same regulations. Secondly, this project indirectly targeted learners linked to agricultural education (students, farmers, agricultural technicians, etc.), to improve their knowledge of biocontrol.To achieve this goal, several activities were carried out-Study :The first step of the BET project was to conduct an international study with a large audience of trainers (training organizations, Universities, Schools, Chambers of Agriculture, Technical institutes, etc.) and learners (students, farmers, professionals, etc. ).The objective was to define the training needs of the target groups in the field of biocontrol to develop the training program.The study was conducted through the distribution of electronic questionnaires to all target audiences in all participating countries. The list of stakeholders' contacts was established via the networks of the project partners, but also following certain BtoB meetings during conferences.300 participants were expected. 445 participants finally responded to the survey (67% learners and 33% trainers). 80% of them showed an interest in the project testing phase.- Training development:Thanks to the results of the study, we developed the training program on biocontrol.4 training courses have been created (General concepts / Research and development / Integrated Pest Management / Regulations).Each training course available in 4 languages ​​(EN, FR, SP, IT) contains around ten videos, podcats, PDFs and self-assessment quizzes. The content is implemented on an LMS platform created as part of the BET project (https://mygreentrainingbox.com/). To complete this digital content, webinars were produced and subsequently broadcast in the form of a mini web-series on biocontrol posted on youtube in spring 2020.- Testing phase :More than 1000 participants have registered on the BET training platform since the testing phase launching.109 participants provided feedback to improve the platform and digital content (= testing phase 1).211 participants (mainly students and agricultural technicians) also took part in a more in-depth testing phase (=testing phase 2) with an assessment of the level before and after the follow-up of the training. This testing phase, coupled with the testing phase 1 questionnaire, highlighted the educational quality of the training created and the diversity of the potential target audience.

"Given the prolongation of life expectancy and retirement age and the aging population, a group of citizens over 50 is becoming very important in several aspects of the EU national economy. However, the education, training and lifelong learning system as such is not very flexible, and this causes the exclusion of this group of citizens in terms of employment. In fact, people over the age of 50 suffer from high unemployment rates and are usually discriminated when it comes to training provision. The training institutions did not adapt their offer and methodology to this target group. The seniors were educated in the education system where digital skills, communication skills and many others either did not exist or other priorities were set in their teaching. It is therefore desirable to identify the missing skills of the 50+ people and provide them with training that meets current needs and expectations in order to ensure that this workforce is maintained or reintegrated into the labour market.The aim of the SILVER project was to promote new and innovative methods of education that will contribute to improving skills that affect the employability of people over 50 years of age. The project also aimed to open a debate between relevant stakeholders to identify the barriers that this population group has to face. It was also important to emphasize the importance of lifelong learning, the silver economy and age management in the current EU demographic situation.Partners from four countries - TREXIMA Bratislava (Slovakia), LENO Consulting (France), Endurance (the Netherlands), Human Profess (Hungary) and the Cooperation for a Better Future Veľký Meder (Slovakia) - were involved in the project.The main objectives of the project were:-Identifying the missing basic transversal skills of seniors and discrepancies between what seniors have and what is expected of them in the labour market-Improving the skills of citizens over the age of 50 through the creation of an innovative educational tool.To meet the objectives, the project partners implemented activities that can be summarized in the following 4 stages:1. Preparation - In preparation, the partnership carried out discussion forums and a questionnaire survey, identifying the main areas of skills that seniors feel that they need to improve and, on the other hand, employers express what skills they expect from older workers. The results of these surveys as well as a summary of initiatives and policies and the situation of the elderly in the labour market are available in one of the project outputs entitled ""Situation of seniors in labour market in selected countries and EU"". Outputs from the first phase of the project served as a basis for the creation of outputs in the second phase of the project.2. Creating a training program - based on the results of questionnaires and discussion forums, the project partners have built a training program structure - defined 7 main topics that form the basis of the training program. Each topic contains several areas deepening the knowledge of the topic in the form of short videos, additional documents, quizzes, respectively exercises. The training program consists of the following topics: generation gap, networking, job strategy, personal development, professional development, lifelong learning, entrepreneurial skills.3. Implementation of the training program - creation of an electronic platform through which the training program is implemented. Once registered, the platform is accessible to both the general and professional public at www.moodle.silver-skill.eu. As part of the implementation of the training program, its testing and pilot training sessions were also carried out in each of the partner countries. Feedback to the platform was positive from all participating countries, where more than 90% of users (106 users) rated the platform as useful, deepening skills and knowledge of the topic, and visually and user-friendly.4. Availability - creation of a project guide that summarizes individual outputs and gives guidance on how to use the results even after the project is completed.The target groups of the project were mainly citizens over 50 years of age, regardless of their situation on the labour market (unemployed / job), also employers, education providers such as counseling centers, non-profit organizations and the like. These target groups can also benefit from the results of the project in the long term through the use of open educational resources available on the e-learning platform, which can be used in different environments and through different media."

In the European context of reducing the use of pesticides (“Pesticide Package”), biostimulants which are substance(s) and/or microorganism(s) that stimulate the nutrition process of plants, are very promising alternative. Successful and cost-effective biostimulant solutions have been developed and marketed in recent decades. However, the lack of harmonization concerning the definition of concepts, vocabulary, functionalities or methods of product evaluation has so far led to some confusion. In addition, to optimize their use and ensure their effectiveness, it is essential to properly position these products within the cultural system (methods and period of application, possible association or not with other products such as biocontrol products, ...)Recently, a new regulatory framework has been put in place to better define and frame the use of Biostimulant products. However, it is necessary to accompanied it by information and training of the main stakeholders: industrials, farmers, technical institute, …In this context, the Biostimulant Academy project aims to develop and implement a comprehensive digital training on biostimulants in order to make them known through training for different targets (distributors, prescribers, users, etc.) and to massively disseminate validated scientific skills and knowledge. A large audience of trainers (VET actors: agricultural schools, universities, apprentices’ schools, training organization …) and trainees (learners, professionals, other agricultural stakeholder such as Technical Institute, Chamber of Agriculture, …) related to agricultural field in different European countries are targeted by this project. The distance learning tools will be developed in collaboration between complementary partners who benefit from strong knowledge and important network in the field of biostimulant (Universities, Research labs and Industrials), or important skills for distance learning development.A complete methodology will be carried out in order to produce and disseminate a complete training, corresponding to the expectations of the different target groups:First, a comprehensive international study among all the project target groups and stakeholders, targeting at least 500 participants will be carried out in order to collect and analyse their training needs on Biostimulants. After the elaboration of the pedagogical program, the experts will work on the development of pedagogical content and support (LMS videos, pdf, podcast, self-assessment content, …), available in 5 languages (EN, FR, IT, SP and NL). The training will be hosted and update on the my green training box platform created as part of previous collaborative projects (ERASMUS+, DIVA) between some of the partners of the Biostimulant Academy project. Finally, a testing phase will be conducted with at least 500 participants in Europe in order to revised and optimize the Biostimulant’s digital training thanks to questionnaires for pedagogical content evaluation and assessment of biostimulants knowledge evolution in several groups of learners and trainees.The expected impact of Biostimulant Academy project are the fostering of biostimulant use amongst the agriculture industry, the increase of biostimulants’ stakeholder skills and knowledge, and the promotion of natural product meeting with EU regulations and Common Agricultural Policy objectives to support sustainable agriculture.Moreover, this distance tool can, in the medium term, reach many people across Europe. The project can indeed be duplicated in other countries through the development of a complete project guide.