The business networks involved in the present partnership from Bulgaria, Finland, Portugal and Spain, represent mainly SMEs, with a clear prominence of the very small, so-called microenterprises, which have less than ten workers, and autonomous entrepreneurship. These micro businesses have strong growth & innovation potential as they often populate the regional RIS3 of the partner areas. The innovation agencies need to improve their performance, development and resilience. According to Daniel Calleja, the General Director of Enterprise & Industry from the European Commission, the needs of the entrepreneurs should be more efficiently fulfilled to support them to grow, be stronger & more resilient to crisis and external circumstances. Indeed, the main objective of this new proposal is to support SMEs to growth at global level, in an innovative and sustainable manner, offering practical solutions designed specifically in direct collaboration with them and with the Innovation support agencies participating. The relevance of the project In- Business Growth to the Call INNOSUP5 & the associated work program is perfectly adequate, as its objective aims to revise the actual program and methodologies used in term of entrepreneurial growth between the Innovation support agencies involved directly or indirectly to the project, to update and actualize these programs to be more demand driven and ensure the satisfaction of the beneficiaries with the support provided, and to promote permanent mutual policy learning and exchange of good practices. The objectives will be achieved using the 'twinning+' methodology based on peer learning among innovation agencies which include peer reviews at national & international level, the establishment of a guide of good practices & methodology and the comparison and transfer of practices to third parties. The quality management of the whole process will be a key element. The final result will be the delivering of the "Design Options paper".

Europe is experiencing a rising wave of unemployment. As a result, a greater emphasis is being placed on the development of VET to meet industry needs, so learners can access and gain qualifications in their chosen vocations that are trusted and recognised both within their own and other EU countries, thereby supporting labour mobility. The European VET system must be capable of providing learners the knowledge and skills needed to become productive and valued members of the European workforce within their chosen sector. Implicit within this challenge is the need for effective employer involvement in the design and development of VET. This will ensure that VET is “fit for purpose”, future proof and addresses the technical, green and digital skills relevant to employers, as defined by each industry sector through its representatives. The project “Employer Engagement in Design and Development of VET (ED2-VET)” therefore set out to investigate the factors that determine the extent and impact of employer involvement in VET design and identify good practices for sharing. The project resulted in tangible outputs that have been disseminated to support relevant organisations and individuals, leading to improvements to employer-led VET development within the EU. Project outputs comprise an evaluative report on employer involvement in VET design and development, including the influence of nationality, the nature of each sector and company type and size. Any issues to be resolved, as well as benefits and successes, have furthermore been identified, analysed and presented. An online portfolio of good practices has also been published, which includes 18 case studies, based on questionnaires and interviews with stakeholders. This portfolio was designed to present transferable models of good practice and includes tips for employer involvement in the design and development of sector-relevant VET programmes. The project, completed by the partners UK NARIC (ECCTIS Ltd), Pisces Learning Innovations, the Bulgarian Development Agency and DIMITRA, focused on the target groups of employers, and VET qualification / programme designers. In order to adequately provide a comprehensive set of results and address the complexity of the VET systems and the issues surrounding the possible contexts for employer involvements in VET development, the project followed a methodological approach incorporating staged data collection and analysis, developed from both primary and secondary sources, preceded by an initial research phase enabling the opportunity to frame the questions, definitions and other background information necessary for clear and consistent results. Interviews with stakeholders, supplemented by short-term joint staff training in each partner country, ensured the best results were achieved. The approach enabled the elaboration of in-depth case studies for the online portfolio, highlighting tips for replicating these examples of good practice in other contexts. Final multiplier events ensured the project outcomes were shared with relevant bodies, including VET qualification designers, employers, employer associations and sector bodies, and policy-makers. Expected impacts, both short- and long-term, include improved engagement by employers in the process of designing and developing sector-relevant VET programmes in cooperation with qualification awarding bodies, ministries of education, and other educational sector organisations; improved understanding by all parties of the challenges to engaging with employers, and the possibilities for fostering improved cooperation and engagement; improved policy and regulation with regard to employer involvement in the qualification and programme development process; the development of new VET programmes which have been developed with employer and industry support and involvement. Ultimately, these improvements may lead to a reduction in skills mismatches, greater satisfaction among employers regarding the skills which VET learners have upon programme completion, and greater mobility for VET learners in Europe.

In order to improve the current insufficient participation of adults in learning in partner countries and across Europe, we need to provide high-quality education opportunities and identify main barriers that hinder participation and persistence of adults in learning. The aim of the project is to address problems and difficulties and respond to the needs of adult education providers and adult learners. The project aim is to contribute to:- increasing adult participation in learning- adult learners' demands for quality education provision that offers necessary support and takes into account learner needs- adult education providers' needs for teachers and staff equipped with necessary competences, strategies, and tools for motivating and engaging adult learners as well as maintaining their persistence in learningThe partners are proposing to develop the following intellectual outputs in order to accomplish the set project aims.IO1 How to Motivate and Engage Adult Learners: A Training Programme for Adult Education Staff and Teachers A training programme aimed at increasing motivation competences of teachers and staff in adult education. IO2 Open Source Online Platform for Adult Education Staff and Teachers An online platform featuring activities and tools in English and partner languages aimed at supporting adult education staff and teachers participating in the training programme. IO3 Information Guide for Policy MakersGuidelines for policy makers responsible for adult education regarding the deployment of professional staff and educators about the importance of their motivation and on how to develop a vision about the importance of adult education in relation to their responsibility for quality assurance and role in the labour market.The project plans to increase the target groups' quality of interaction with adult learners due to increased communication, and motivation competences, better cooperation, and communication through ICT tools. Thanks to the online platform, the target groups will also improve their access and use of online collections of digital training material and they will need less time to select motivation messages and instruments.The piloting of the IO1 will be based on practical and interactive training approach and tools in order to ensure that the target group will have the opportunity to apply marketing tools and methods contextualized in their role. The desired result is to have more competent and professional AE staff that can progress beyond their traditional approach to and culture of education.The project will also have positive results for the participating organisations since project partners will improve their in-person and digital training approaches, strengthen their cooperation with the relevant AE institutions in their regions and countries as well as relevant stakeholders in other countries, contributing to their internationalisation.

The “ENTrepreneurship Experience and Rising PRofessionals In Sustainable Europe” (ENTERPRISE) project aims at implementing collaboration among school staff (teachers, educators, project managers) and professionals in the field of sustainable work start-up at European level in promoting intensive dissemination of newly produced teaching strategies and innovative ideas in the field of entrepreneurial education and sustainability. The four countries involved – Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Norway – show different trends in the EU employment rate of the population aged 20 to 64 (data from 2002 to 2017), as recently published by Eurostat. Italy’s data are well below the EU averages. This is why two participants to this project come from Italy: I.I.S.S. Pio La Torre is coordinating this project with the experienced partner CEIPES supporting the development of IOs and the national dissemination. Data from Portugal and Bulgaria show fluctuating trends, recently in line with the EU average. Norway’s data settle well above the EU average. However, a look at the youth data (population aged 15 to 24) shows an alarming decline for all countries. The high level of diversity of education systems, different promotion of local/regional/national employability and caring of sustainable future in entrepreneurial instruction and work-based learning strategies at secondary school, makes this choice an excellent selection of countries participating the project. Moreover, the variety of languages implies a great influence of achieved results and larger access by European students and teachers. Today, students need to be goal-oriented, creative, and able to solve problems and come up with innovations, in order to be future responsible European citizens and workers. This project will foster in young students the development of specific know-how, linguistic and socio-relational skills necessary for searching or creating job opportunities in a rapidly evolving sustainable Europe. Within this project, professional development will take place through sharing good practices and experiences among teachers, students and experts in the field of entrepreneurship and sustainability at European level. Secondary aims of this project are to develop critical thinking, communication, financial literacy, and very important collaboration skills supporting entrepreneurial education and sustainability. The project will engage a total number of 24 teachers/educators and 48 students in a short-time mobility program (transnational learning, teaching or training activities):1) Short-term joint staff training events (Professional development in entrepreneurial education and sustainability) involving school staff (teachers, educators, administrative personnel). Each school will participate with 4 people and each association with 2, for a 3 day-long mobility. The course will be held in Trondheim in July 2020.2) Short-term exchanges of groups of pupils (Training students on entrepreneurship and sustainability for a duration of 5 days - travel excluded): 8 students with 2 accompanying teachers (10 people) for each school should participate in this exchange program in the three schools:a) Thora Storm videregående Skole, Trondheim, Norway (10 participants from Portugal + 10 participants from Italy), in September2020.b) Recursos Futuros, Lisbon, Portugal (10 participants from Italy + 10 participants from Norway), in October 2020.c) IISS Pio La Torre, Palermo, Italy (10 participants from Portugal + 10 participants from Norway), in November 2020.The project will develop the following intellectual outputs:- IO1: Collection of open educational resources in the field of sustainability and youth entrepreneurship.- IO2: Development of learning paths for teachers and students training in sustainability and entrepreneurial education.- IO3: Pilot study on student learning in entrepreneurship and sustainability.- IO4: E-learning platform in the field of entrepreneurial education and sustainability.The short-time mobility program and the development of IOs will mutually support each other. In particular, the first two IOs will support the activities to be carried out during the short-time mobility program. The experience collected by the teachers will be fundamental into the definition and achievement of the IO3 and for finalizing the IO4. The project will support transnational meetings and one multiplier event for each partner.Long term benefits: The project will extend the training to all interested people from other countries by means of an e-learning platform (IO4) on the topics outlined above freely available on the internet. Our objectives involve events and activities that will continue after the project, such as those events organized in conjunction with NGOs and local industries. Moreover, we would like to continue using the products and results of the project as a basis for future activities and as learning materials for students of other courses.

Nowadays, we live in a technological world, although most people don´t understand how use these technologies, mainly adult people with low level of education, due to its fast development and implementation in our lives, and the knowledge that they can achieve usually is incomplete or deficient. We can observe this in Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which is a composite index that summarises relevant indicators on Europe’s digital performance and tracks the evolution of EU member states in digital competitiveness, where an item is the level of basic digital skills in adult people, and DESI shows that in many countries, this level is low. In the way of solving this problem, Europe establishes the Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, due to the fact that lifelong learning has become a necessity for all citizens. We need to develop our skills and competencies throughout our lives, not only for our personal fulfilment and our ability to actively engage with the society in which we live, but for our ability to be successful in a constantly changing world of work. In the Key Competences we find the Digital Competence, which involves the confidence and the critical use of Information Society Technology (IST) for work, leisure and communication. It is underpinned by basic skills in information and communication technologies (ICT): the use of computers to retrieve, assess, store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and participate in collaborative networks via the Internet. In addition, we develop other key competences, as the communication in the mother tongue, and the Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, both related to digital skills. In conclusion, the overall objective of this project is that the person will be able to use technological resources in order to solve the real problems in an efficient way, as well as to evaluate and select new sources of information, with a critical attitude, respect for the truth and safety. For this purpose, we will develop three intellectual outputs: - Intellectual Output 1: EDSA: Evaluation of the digital skills for adult with low level of education. - Intellectual Output 2: ITP: Implementation of training pills. - Intellectual Output 3: DDT: Development of a Digital Toolkit. In the Intellectual Output 3 we will develop a mobile app when all the products will be included. We will develop a mobile app because research shows that the number of mobile users today is greater than the number of desktop users. Furthermore, almost everyone is using mobile apps in their life. During the development of the project we will collect 370 direct participants’ trough training activities, multiplier events and some testing phases. These participants will be trainers and the unemployed people with low level of education.