Recognised as the driving force behind sustainable economic growth and job creation, innovation remains at the forefront of development plans. However, Eastern European countries, notably Poland, Hungary and Croatia, lag behind their EU peers in almost all aspects of innovation. Moreover, while the majority of European/national innovation programmes focus on increasing R&D spending and technology absorption, the World Bank points out that, “This will be a long and difficult process because technological innovation does not yet seem to be a part of Poland’s economic DNA.” (Toward an Innovative Poland 2015). More generally, a hi-tech, high investment innovation approach is risky given the financial constraints faced by small businesses today, high levels of market saturation and the low consumer spending in the age of austerity. Frugal innovation, in contrast, is a low tech, cost effective approach which employs design thinking and problem solving skills to generate innovative and value-maximizing products and services. Frugal innovation can enable businesses across Poland and Europe to grow in spite of current economic conditions, by better meeting the demands of local price-sensitive consumers, solving unmet needs and opening up exports to global base-of-the-pyramid markets. OUR OBJECTIVES Our overall goal was to introduce the frugal innovation education to our enterprise-oriented VET institutions and universities and by extension, our economies. In order to do so, we have produced the following: i. Created 4 FRUGAL INNOVATION REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP PLANS (IO1), convening actors from across the public, private and education sectors. ii. Develop 2 CLASSROOM CURRICULUMS, TEACHERS’ PACKS AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS (IO2) to introduce effective Frugal Innovation teaching in classroom settings in the VET and HE sector iii. Develop 1 OPEN ONLINE TRAINING COURSE WITH SELF ASSESSMENT (IO3) to widen access to frugal innovation for existing entrepreneurs and SME owners; iv. Rigorously test and improve the resources with the target groups, then disseminate to maximize the uptake of the resources. The project involved participants at all stages, from design to execution to evaluation, specifically: - 50+ enterprise focussed VET & HE institutions and wider stakeholders participated in the REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP PLANS - 6+ SMEs or other organizations have their CASE STUDIES developed for use in the course materials - 24 teaching staff from VET institutions and HEIs have participated in the USER TESTING - 60 HE students, VET students and existing entrepreneurs/SMEs have participated in USER TESTING Altogether in the user testing there was 138 participants. - 226 VET institutions, HE institutions and wider stakeholders have participated in MULTIPLIER EVENTS Using a careful theory of change analysis, our tangible outputs have been designed to serve as catalysts and tools to enable broader and deeper outcomes which are both: a) knowledge outcomes (changes) b) behaviour outcomes (changes). These are more “intangible” in nature, but since they are crucial to the ability of the project to achieve its final goal, have also been monitored closely and measured throughout the project. The following tangible results have been produced by the project: a) 1 Project Management Handbook b) 4 Frugal Innovation Partnership Plans c) 2 Classroom course Curriculums, Teachers’ Packs and Assessment Guides d) 1 Open Online Training Course. e) 1 User Experience Test and Feedback Report f) 1 Integrated Dissemination Strategy h)1 Impact Evaluation Strategy i) 1 Dissemination Record and Report j) 1 Internal evaluation report k) 1 sustainability trategy l) 4 newsletters in all partner languagesm) 4 promotional videos in all partner languages n) 1 Impact Evaluation and Quality Monitoring report The tangible results will led to the following outcomes and impacts: - HE AND VET INSTITUTIONS AND WIDER STAKEHOLDERS acquired working knowledge of frugal innovation and will demonstrate greater commitment to support it - TEACHING STAFF in HE and enterprise focussed VET institutions in 4 regions expanded their knowledge and skills, being able to integrate frugal innovation into their teaching services. - HE STUDENTS, ENTREPRENEURS AND SMEs have developed Frugal Innovation mind-set and skills for application in their professional lives to help them create new services and/or address new markets and grow their businesses. - WIDER STAKEHOLDERS AND POLICY MAKERS gained greater awareness, & knowledge of frugal innovation as a new and important aspect of innovation education. In addition, the impact of the project has been felt at local and regional level through the strengthening of innovation teaching and the ability of thousands of entrepreneurs to engage in low-tech, practical innovation on the ground. .

<< Background >>The digital transformation is profoundly affecting the ways in which people contribute to societies, live and work, including in terms of the number and types of jobs available. While worries of widespread technological unemployment may be overstated, the impact of digital transformation on the nature of work and the skills required is very real and already upon us.The need for quality career guidance for adults is not new, but its importance has been underscored by the pandemic. Career guidance is a fundamental policy level to help adults successfully navigate a constantly evolving labor market through advice and information on job and training opportunities. There is a lack of understanding of the importance of training in today’s labor market, or difficulties in identifying suitable training opportunities.To succeed in the digital world of work, people need sound cognitive skills including digital skills, social and emotional skills, job-specific skills and importantly the ability and motivation to cope with change and keep learning, both in and out of the workplace. Life-long learning opportunities need to be promoted, particularly for low-skilled workers and ones that are just taking steps to enter the labor market with no previous experience how does it work in real, and barriers to training need to be addressed. Career guidance is most effective when it is tailored to an adult’s particular needs and when it empowers them to take informed action. For adults who are in need of retraining but are unaware of their options, conducting a thorough assessment of their skills is a necessary starting point in designing individualized career and re-training pathways. In face of demographic change, forthcoming digitalization and individualization, economic crisis, global competition and skills shortage many organizations around Europe are coming under increasing pressure to find and keep talented employees at all levels of skills who bring the right qualification, competence and motivation. The needs we plan to address with this project, taking into consideration all mentioned above are: - Addressing digital transformation through development- Creating up-skilling pathways, improving accessibility and increasing take-up of adult education- Improving the availability of high-quality learning opportunities for adults.The FAST TRACK project has the ambitious goal of becoming a Europe online one-stop-shop addressing the needs of career guidance practitioner,s different work providers and users:- Gen Y generation or Millennials are currently between 25 and 40 years old, they are young adults, already finished their studies but due the global career crises, most of them are still unemployed or are working the jobs that are not their qualifications. The project will help them to improve their skills and find suitable careers in a dynamically changing world. - Career guidance practitioners and other intermediary bodies offering career support to individuals will receive ready-to-use training tools and resources, as well as access to the multi-functional platform through which they can present their services, achievements and good practices and get in contact with people that need support in developing their career management skills- Relevant stakeholders, such as policy makers, experts, employers and educational institutions will benefit from the long-term outcomes of the projects: enhanced access to services, better understanding of the career management skills in the society, improved provision and uptake of CMS training, and better match between training and labor market demands.but also: - increase adult participation in learning- increase competences of adult educators and staff for motivating the participation and supporting persistence of adults in learning- increase the use of open online tools for implementing blended learning and increasing the flexibility of training programmes, supporting self-directed learning.<< Objectives >>Taking the above into consideration, the project aims at providing career guidance practitioners and tutors with the tools needed to implement Career Management Skills, utilizing at the same time certain features of modern ICT. It also seeks to improve the quality of the learning and guidance process by developing their key skills and experimenting with new technologies.Main objectives of this project are:- Identify and develop teaching and learning approaches, methods and resources that effectively support the development of CMS as transversal key competencies- Develop assessment and evaluation practices improving the quality of learning on Career Management Skills- Identify and develop the incorporation of the European dimension in CMS teaching and learning- Providing the professional community of career guidance practitioners with the tools to implement CMS via the application of new technologiesTeachers, educators, career practitioners and also beneficiaries of the project, will get specialized training in order to be able to actively participate and support adults in their career guidance process, using the interactive digital platform as a vehicle to expand and upgrade career guidance to higher levels of efficacy and usefulness.Partners will for sure address multi-sectoral (or cross-sectoral) challenges in order to improve the quality of support to certain target groups or sectors; develop an integrated approach to different learning obstacles; Increase effectiveness and efficiency in the use of partners’ resources and make the best use of activities in the region.Partners will produce a range of project results addressing the real need of target groups of the project:- Prepare GEN Y for new job opportunities - digital transformation will lead to jobs being lost,and others being created. As labor markets transform, it is imperative to promote successful and fair transitions from declining to expanding work opportunities.- Empower GEN Y with a mix of skills to succeed in a digital world. To succeed in the digital world, people need sound cognitive skills including digital skills, social and emotional skills, job-specific skills and importantly the ability and motivation to cope with change and keep learning- Get ready for a massive training challenge - Life-long learning opportunities need to be promoted, particularly for non- experienced young adults entering the labor market and barriers to training need to be addressed. This will be achieved through strengthening career guidance, assessing individual skill gaps, enhancing opportunities for distance learning, simplifying skills validation systems and increasing and targeting financial incentives and funding of life-long learning initiatives.- Improve the future readiness of adult learning systems. Adult learning systems need to be significantly scaled up and reach adults most at risk of being left behind by the digital transformation. - Training that is line with labor market needs is essential to ensure that learners see returns in terms of employment opportunities to their participation. - Develop digital tools to assist in re-and up-skilling. Digital tools can help tailor, accelerate and inject far more flexibility in the process, with the aim to give individuals more ownership over what, how, when and where they learn. As a lack of time and the location of training are often cited as a major barrier by non-participants, digital tools have a significant role to play in increasing training participation.- Develop new standards to recognize the skills acquired through lifelong learning.<< Implementation >>All project partners are experienced and have needed experts among their staff members to implement project activities and to achieve the project objectives and all planned results:-Set up MOOC for developing career management set of skills consisting of:Online CMS training modules for total of 12 career management skills which will be made of short online lessons, interactive resources for each of 12 CMS (practical cases and exert tips, online short exercises etc.). On the MOOC there will be also the self assessment developed which will lead learners to the right oriented training modules, final evaluation and tests for each training modules with the possibility of certification at the end. All of this is planned to be produced and developed as part of the first project result to be tested internally among project partners and with associated partners before the piloting and implementation with GEN Y – 15 participants in each partner country, 105 in total .-Develop career manual as short face to face course on transversal skills, as part of Introduction to career management. Focus will be on motivating GEN Y generation to find their own path in the fast - changing labor market and to encourage them to successfully navigate their life and careers through the online environment. It will be used also during the piloting in each partner country.-to deliver the piloting program in an appropriate way and to provide career guidance practitioners and teachers with useful tools to implement CMS, with a coherent and consistent use of modern ICT, the new training model will be developed for face-to-face and online delivery. The training model will be delivered during the C1 activity where 2 adult educators/professionals from each partner country will be trained to deliver the piloting program of PR1 and PR2 to the GEN Y. All developed materials and resources will be free for further re-use, even when the project is over and will be translated in every partner language.<< Results >>The project is expected to enhance career guidance, counseling and coaching, but also as related forms of support for employers and their employees.Regarding all mentioned above, the major results of the project are comprising of:-MOVE UP – MOOC for developing CMS of adults – online CMS training modules with evaluation phases developed and certification at the end of the training.-IN THE FAST LANE – introduction to Career Management to adults – manual for face-to-face course on transversal skills-LEAD THE WAY – training model for educators and career guidance practitioners for face to face and online delivery of the planned pilot program.The planned training/teaching/learning activity will train the educators and career guidance practitioners with the needed knowledge to conduct the workshop and enhance their skills to deliver the needed training together with using a digital supportive resources and training modules to GEN Y target group of participants. In addition to these project results, the multiplier events are planned to be organized in each partner country and the continuous, associated dissemination through different online channels.The combination of “learning” and “doing” as foreseen will promote critical thinking and motivation strategies of the learners is vital for future viability. This in turn will have impacts on career opportunities of young adults from different educational and social backgrounds.Facing the pandemic issues that reflected very much also on the education and the new digital era that we all were force to take on and adapt to, all the education package will be available as open source online, usage of the online elements that will raise digital literacy for trainers and learners. It will emphasize that in the digital era online experiences are an important source of education.The project partners also expects that cooperation and communication with all the associated partners will foster enforced networks among all, which will not only assure sustainability of this project’s outcomes but also enable other cooperative projects. Based on the project outcomes, the most fruitful resources developed will be retained, categorized and shared with individuals and in the private sector during the 28 months of the project implementation but also, even when the project officially end.

The main goal of INNO2MARE is to strengthen the capacity for excellence of Western Slovenian and Adriatic Croatian innovation ecosystems through a set of jointly designed and implemented actions that will support the digital and green transitions of the maritime and connected industries. Based on an in-depth mapping of the ecosystems and needs & gaps analysis, the consortium will formulate a long-term R&I strategy aligned with regional, national and EU strategies, as a visionary framework, and a joint action & investment plan, with concrete steps for building coordinated, resilient, attractive and sustainable maritime innovation ecosystems. To support the joint strategy and provide a model for the future collaborative R&I of the ecosystems’ actors, the project will implement three R&I pilot projects that address some of the key challenges related to maritime education and training, security & safety in marine traffic as well as energy conversion and management systems’ efficiency. These pilots will be the basis for further development, scale-up and translation of the generated research results into innovative business opportunities through the coordinated mobilisation of public and private funding. The consortium will also implement innovative programmes that will support the engagement of citizens in the innovation processes, knowledge transfer for mutual learning, entrepreneurship & smart skills training and attraction of best talents, involving more than 1.000 participants across the Quadruple Helix. In all the project activities, the two ecosystems will strongly benefit from the sharing of best practices of the Flemish ecosystem, one of the most developed maritime innovation ecosystems globally. The project will contribute to reducing the innovation divide in Europe by systematically connecting the innovation actors within and between the ecosystems and creating synergies in R&I investments’ planning and execution, thus developing a true innovation culture.