The DigiVET Project aims to address the current challenges of the VET sector emerged from the transition to the digital era and the impact of COVID-19 in the provision of VET for both trainers and trainees. The pandemic outbreak accelerated the long-expected turn to digital technology in education and training, providing for a reliable solution during these turbulent times, while the VET sector has been disproportionally affected since its strong work-based component does not allow for much flexibility and reliance on digital tools. The need for innovative solutions is even more apparent to motivate learners to seek for quality VET opportunities and combat the increasing levels of early leaving. The unprecedented shift to digital tools and resources during the pandemic fed the development of the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) to reset education and training for the digital age, focusing on fostering the development of a high-performing digital education system, and enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation. The DigiVET Project aims to contribute to VET trainers’ professional development through improving their digital competences, in particular their capacity to develop digital learning resources to address contemporary needs of trainees. As clearly mentioned in the European Framework for the Digital Competences of Educators (DigCompEdu), professionals dedicated to teaching need to able to effectively use digital technology in various fields of teaching/training delivery. Taking into consideration the challenges faced by VET trainers in their efforts to adapt to the unfolding situation that requires high incorporation levels of digital technology in VET, the DigiVET Project aims to: - Develop VET trainers’ digital competences, in particular the development of digital learning resources for VET, - Build the capacity of VET trainers to adapt their delivery of VET in the digital era, through the incorporation of digital resources and tools, - Support the provision of flexible, high quality VET, adapted to correspond to the requirements of the digital era and the COVID-19 impact, - Develop an online VET Hub that will provide open access to digital learning resources in various VET sectors, - Motivate VET trainees to select quality VET opportunities that reflect their needs and interests, contributing to personal and professional development. To that end, the partnership will first of all, carry out a brief yet comprehensive research to identify in more detail the impact of COVID-19 on the provision of VET, involving at least 360 VET trainers who will respond to questionnaires, participate in face-to-face (or online) meetings and get in-person interviewed on their emerging needs. Based on the research’s findings, the DigiVET Training Programme hosted in the DigiVET e-learning platform will be developed to provide theoretical and practical skills and knowledge on the development of interactive, engaging digital learning resources according to the identified needs of trainees, aiming to keep them motivated in participating in VET, thus contributing to their personal and professional development. The DigiVET Hub, directly linked with the DigiVET e-learning platform and the Project’s website, will act as an open space providing free access to a variety of digital resources, courses, modules, etc. developed by VET trainers who will have completed the DigiVET Training Programme. VET learners and the public in general will have access to quality training opportunities in various fields, improving their personal and professional skills and knowledge, while at the same time having the VET sector adapting to the digital era. Once the Project’s results are pilot tested and finalised, they will be made freely available to the public in English and all partner languages. VET trainers will have the opportunity for professional upskilling through the attendance of the DigiVET Training Programme, hosted in the DigiVET e-learning platform. Once they complete the training, they be able to develop their own digital learning resources to use them in their every-day work on VET delivery, and if they wish, to upload it to the DigiVET Hub to be accessible for free. The Project foresees to equip VET trainers with all the necessary knowledge and skills to incorporate digital technologies in VET provision, thus increasing their adaptability to the digital era, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, VET trainees will have the opportunity to access a variety of VET modules and other digital resources that will be available for free in the DigiVET Hub. The variety of training opportunities offered will substantially contribute in getting trainees engaged with VET, contributing to their personal and professional development.

Waste heat recovery systems can offer significant energy savings and substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions. The waste heat recovery market is projected to exceed €45,0 billion by 2018, but for this projection to materialise and for the European manufacturing and user industry to benefit from these developments, technological improvements and innovations should take place aimed at improving the energy efficiency of heat recovery equipment and reducing installed costs. The overall aim of the project is to develop and demonstrate technologies and processes for efficient and cost effective heat recovery from industrial facilities in the temperature range 70°C to 1000°C and the optimum integration of these technologies with the existing energy system or for over the fence export of recovered heat and generated electricity if appropriate. To achieve this challenging aim, and ensure wide application of the technologies and approaches developed, the project brings together a very strong consortium comprising of RTD providers, technology providers and more importantly large and SME users who will provide demonstration sites for the technologies. The project will focus on two-phase innovative heat transfer technologies (heat pipes-HP) for the recovery of heat from medium and low temperature sources and the use of this heat for; a) within the same facility or export over the fence; b) for generation of electrical power; or a combination of (a) and (b) depending on the needs. For power generation the project will develop and demonstrate at industrial sites the Trilateral Flash System (TFC) for low temperature waste heat sources, 70°C to 200°C and the Supercritical Carbon Dioxide System (sCO2) for temperatures above 200°C. It is projected that these technologies used alone or in combination with the HP technologies will lead to energy and GHG emission savings well in excess of 15% and attractive economic performance with payback periods of less than 3,0 years.

Climate change and environmental degradation have been challenging Europe and the whole world. The EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 is a comprehensive, ambitious and long-term plan to preserve nature and reverse the ecosystem degradation. Grapevine (Vitis spp.) is one of the major fruit crops worldwide, and although viticulture is a leading sector of the EU agro-industrial economy, it is the cropping system with the highest use of agrochemicals and with a high risk of biodiversity loss. SHIELD4GRAPE (S4G) will adopt sustainable agroecological approaches addressed to improve the resilience of the viticultural system against pest diseases in a context of climate change. The S4G consortium brings together the best excellences in the sector; it is multi- and interdisciplinary, collaborative and well representative of different EU biogeographical regions. S4G will i) exploit grapevine biodiversity and identify new resilience traits; ii) implement breeding activities, including new breeding techniques and mutagenesis, iii) introduce safer and more sustainable strategies against pathogens. Demonstration fields will be set up in all the most important EU regions interested in viticulture to improve the efficacy of applied integrated pest management protocols in combination with the new resilient genotypes. S4G aims to support farmers and researchers, to provide advisory services and actors in value chains by establishing an interrelated community that will facilitate exchange of knowledge and of the best practices at different levels and socio-economic resilience. S4G impacts will add value to the wine heritage of the EU regions by reducing chemical treatments (at least by 50%), using strategies that are less hazardous to the environment and favouring beneficial organisms. S4G will contribute to safeguard the territory (particularly those areas with a high concentration of vineyards), human health, farmers, the population living in grape-growing areas and consumers

IPISA aims at enabling CETRI to recruit a specialist to join our team developing a smart sensor array of chemoresistive sensing elements for measurement of Volatile Organic Compounds and other hazardous gas. The sensor is innovative because its multi-material design and advanced data processing algorithms make it suitable for a number of applications and gases. The development work foreseen is on the synthesis, patterning (using inkjet printing and microfabrication techniques) and characterization of sensing elements to make the gas sensor exploitable with the highest efficiency. The IPISA proposal aims at exploiting an ultra-versatile sensing scheme based on the development of high-performance, low-cost, printed sensor array technology in order to fulfill the ever growing need for environmental monitoring. Α plethora of fields is expected to be benefited from such a technology in the near future, such as the industrial environment monitoring for labour safety and urban environment monitoring for the life quality monitoring. Moreover, the high societal impact of such a sensing scheme technology is reflected on current needs for enhanced safety monitoring in populated area, such as airports for the convenient detection of explosives, and fields where the knowledge of the exact environmental conditions is of paramount importance such as agriculture, livestock, pisciculture, etc. The specialist will also be working on the commercialization of the device and will formulate an holistic innovation strategy for market penetration of the sensor produced. For that purpose, a training program in innovation management and business management will be offered as part of the project (organised by the European Commission), as well as an internal training program in order to smoothly integrate the expert in CETRI's research team.