BACKGROUND & CHALLENGESWork-Based Learning (WBL) is well established in the HORECA sector, as most employers offer apprenticeship programs in partnership with VET providers. This is necessary, as related occupations require further to knowledge and practical skills, a first-hand experience across business functions and future work duties. Nevertheless, the HORECA industry still notes a gap between the skills and knowledge learned by apprentices through WBL and those needed by the workplace, particularly to what regards environmental and sustainability skills. One of the key reasons, is the fast-paced emergence of relevant new market niches technological changes, new legislation/regulations, and last but not least, evolving customer expectations. EC study in 2016 reports the major skills gaps in HORECA education and training, underlining that the “greening” of the industry has led to considerable changes in the tasks and competences required by employees. HOTREC (December 2016) has published a pledge to improve the quality of apprenticeship schemes by promoting new skills development to tackle the new tourist demand. The EU Skills Panorama (2016) includes hospitality managers among the occupations needing skills upgradingOBJECTIVES ENVIRECA aimed to align work-based learning with workplace requirements as regards environmentally sustainable practices. Project objectives were: •Develop a comprehensive and up-to-date WBL curriculum and new training content on environmentally sustainable work practices to be embedded in HORECA VET provision•Introduce training delivery methods to enable HORECA apprentices to apply the acquired knowledge and skills in real life workplace situations via training scenario•Enhance VET-business cooperation and facilitate the integration of environmental components into HORECA WBL curricula and national/EU certification schemes.PARTNERSHIP The partnership comprised 5 partners with complementary skills and long experience on delivering innovative methods on environmental and sustainability skills. FLA brought its expertise and capacity in the environmental field and guaranteed the upgrading of HORECA WBL schemes. DU brought its experience in designing curricula tailored to market needs. EXELIA brought its long experience in delivering innovative learning methodologies and pedagogies. HRC brought its experience in designing work-based training in the HORECA sector and access to HORECA companies. CSHM brought its specialization on job specific training curricula and apprenticeships in HORECA industry.ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN •Map skill needs on environmentally sustainable work practices and update occupational requirements for HORECA employees •Design of a WBL curriculum and Open Educational Resources for training HORECA apprentices in environmental technologies and sustainable work practices•Delivery of a simulation game with practical scenarios on HORECA key business functions to foster new skills development •Organization of a pilot session to validate ENVIRECA units of learning outcomes and training material•Design of an Environmental Certificate Supplement for the integration of green components into HORECA certification schemes•Creation and distribution of a position paper to promote the incorporation of green skills requirements into occupational standards (to reach 75 stakeholders)•Organization of national information days in partnership countries to promote project results and strengthen collaborations between VET providers and HORECA employersMAIN RESULTS AND IMPACT ACHIEVED•Evidence-based learning outcomes on sustainable HORECA work practices•A 6 weeks WBL curriculum, referenced to EQF level 4, available in 6 EU languages•50 hours of versatile studying materials, offered in the form of open educational resources, in 6 EU languages•A board game with 5 scenarios that simulate “real-life” working situations.•A certificate template for learners receiving training on environmentally sustainable HORECA work practices•A set of policy recommendations on how improve the supply and quality of work-based learning in the HORECA industryIt is estimated that ENVIRECA has benefitted: •300-450 VET providers•500-600 HORECA employers •5500-7000 HORECA employees and apprentices•50-75 sectoral representatives and regulatory entities•1000-1500 other individualsLONG TERM BENEFITS•Improved HORECA networks’ knowledge and capacity for learner centered approaches.•Increased HORECA employers’ capacity to provide environmental and sustainability skills to employees •Increased knowledge of learners, trainers, mentors on how to apply theoretical knowledge in practice by developing handbooks and case studies.•Extended networks and synergies among stakeholders, HORECA, environmental institutions and authorities by producing the framework for integration of sustainability skills.•Strengthened links between informal and formal education pathways

This network brings together an exceptionally strong team of world-leading experts from a wide set of beneficiaries and partners in order to achieve breakthroughs in understanding how the transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) can be realised in a successful way in the European context, both within existing organisations and industries as well as through innovative and sustainable business models. The proposed approach is inherently multi-disciplinary, drawing upon research that will advance significantly the state-of-the-art in terms of the current understanding of the applicability of the CE paradigm from Economic, Environmental and Social points of view, providing policy insights and implications for practice. The consortium of 10 beneficiaries (including 7 academic and 3 non-academic groups) will design and deliver world class multidisciplinary training to 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs), offering them an extended and valuable program of international exchanges and secondments through the wide network of partner organisations involved in the proposal. The network builds on the success of previous projects in which beneficiaries have successfully delivered high impact research and knowledge exchange. ReTraCE is specifically designed to train a cohort of new thought leaders capable of driving the transition towards a more sustainable mode of production and consumption in Europe in the next decades, who will directly facilitate the implementation of the recently adopted ambitious Circular Economy strategy of the European Commission, which is closely linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indeed, it is envisaged that ESRs will be employable not only by research institutions, but also by public sector bodies and within a wide range of manufacturing and service industries which will require new professional profiles for realising the transition towards the CE.

Traditional valorisation approaches focus on linear processes: from academia to society. In order to bring valorisation to a higher level, all relevant actors need to cooperate in an equal setting: co-creation. Co-creation transcends boundaries, but it does not happen naturally. Therefore, the ACCOMPLISSH consortium, consisting of 14 universities from 12 countries (representing all the sub disciplines in SSH), will actively involve the other partners from the so called Quadruple Helix (industry, governments and societal partners) within the project. The project has chosen an Open Innovation approach. The ACCOMPLISSH project (Accelerate co-creation by setting up a multi-actor platform for impact from Social Sciences and Humanities) will create a platform for dialogue where not only universities are involved. The dialogue platform is organised in such a way that academia, industry, governments and societal partners equally contribute in identifying barriers and enablers of co-creation. The results from both practice and the theory of co-creation form the basis of the valorisation concept and will be tested in the project in a quadruple helix setting. This concept will be tested and developed in such a way that it is transferable, scalable and customized for academia, industry, governments and societal partners in the whole of Europe. The impact profile of SSH research could be far stronger and more visible than it currently is. There are significant barriers to the valorisation of SSH research which still need to be understood in detail. In order to push the envelope within universities, we acknowledge that next to SSH researchers, the research support officers are key players in valorisation of SSH research. The project will identify all barriers and enablers of co-creation in order to develop an innovative valorisation concept, which will foster knowledge exchange within the quadruple helix and strengthens the position of SSH research.