EMPOWERED by NEIA brings together a team of stakeholders from 7 EU countries (2 Regional Innovation/Development Agencies and 5 Business Support Organizations - incubators and accelerators) with he ambition to engage in a process of peer mutual learning and cooperation and support Clean Tech for Sustainable Development. Based on an in-depth analysis of strengths, weaknesses, challenges and gaps in the ecosystems they represent, the EMPOWERED by NEIA team members strive to bring together the members of the innovation ecosystems they represent as active stakeholders in bottom-up policy-making activities tailored to their needs. Through an Entrepreneurial Discovery process, we aim to stimulate a participative process that will allow to identify the best innovation opportunities in each ecosystem and align them with the ones of the peers. The results of the Entrepreneurial Discovery run locally by each partner will represent the foundation of Action Plans, elaborated according to the European Entrepreneurial Region approach, to strengthen the collaboration between the Regional European Innovation Ecosystems. These plans will be back up with collaboration and project ideas for which public and private funding will be sought. Through the involvement of the EMPOWERED by NEIA consortium partners in landmark initiatives such as the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA), the Vanguard Initiative or the activities of the European Entrepreneurial Region initiative, we will connect with external peers to expand the learning and cooperation process, disseminate our activities and increase their impacts.

Futurepreneurs has become an international entrepreneurship development programme focusing on business sustainability and raising a new generation of conscious and responsible entrepreneurs. The initiative motivates young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, to engage into generating sustainable and impactful business ideas, teamwork and learning opportunities along with successful business mentors. The programme was developed in cooperation with company Pure Birds (the Netherlands), Baltic Environmental Forum (Lithuania), and Lower Silesian Regional Development Agency (Poland) in the frames of Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships for Youth project “Futurepreneurs”. In spring of 2017 the programme was piloted in Lithuania, and in 2018 was held in both Lithuania and Poland. Over 900 young people expressed their desire to become entrepreneurs of the future. Futurepreneurs has also contributed to promoting women's entrepreneurship, with more than half of the young people interested in starting a sustainable business being women. The success of the Futurepreneurs initiative has been driven by intensive work with stakeholders - science and education institutions, businesses, youth organizations, media. Within 3 months, the teams took part in 5 thematic workshops. According to established criteria, the teams were awarded in the categories of clean-tech, fin-tech, ICT, security and defence, best sustainable idea and best prototype. Futurepreneurs attracted European Business Angels and Luxembourg Business Angel networks. Besides the developed methodology, Futurepreneurs also offers a list of sustainability problems and online training materials available on www.futurepreneurs.eu, Facebook and Youtube channels. Futurepreneurs initiated by Sunrise Valley Science and Technology Park brought the participants and like-minded people into a community, sharing good practices and continuing teamwork. The participants noted that Futurepreneurs encouraged them to take initiative and allowed to believe that not only the most intelligent or wealthiest can create start-ups - the success comes to those who have a goal and work purposefully. 90% of the respondents would recommend their friends and colleagues to take part in Futurepreneurs. Futurepreneurs started off as Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships for Youth project and continues under coordination of Sunrise Valley Science and Technology Park.

The objective of the project is to contribute to and enhance the innovation potential and innovation management skills within the SMEs in the West Poland area. The project will follow a developed methodology to help the regional businesses to increase their innovation capacity and to innovate profitably. The project will be implemented via 2 specific schemes: 1) Service ‘Key account management for SME Instrument beneficiaries’. This service will be aimed at SMEs which will be successful in applying for the SME Instrument Programme under the Horizon 2020 (Phase I or Phase II). Upon the receipt of the information (potential beneficiary’s contact details) from the EC/EASME, the project partner will contact the potential beneficiary in order to explain the service and convince the SME to use the potential it offers. 2) Service: ‘Enhancing the innovation management capacity of SME’s’. This service will be aimed at promising SMEs capable of growth and successful internationalisation that have real potential for innovation via proper development of their products, processes, services or business model but who lack the right skills, knowledge and experience to manage the innovation activities. The aim of this scheme is to first of all support those SMEs in order to make them unlock their potential for better management of the processes linked to innovation. The project will be implemented as a testing phase from January 2015 until December 2016.

"The aim of the project was to increase the degree of matching of provided vocational education and training systems to the needs of the labor market and to reduce skills shortages and skills mismatches within the new, dynamically developing sector of the sharing economy.The goal was achieved by developing an e-learning tool (webinar) for service providers and goods in the sharing economy sector, to enable them to improve their knowledge and improve their skills and competences.The partnership included the following organizations:• LOWER SILESIAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY S.A. as the Partnership Leader (POLAND) - business environment institution• EEO Group S.A. (GREECE) - business environment institution• ENJOY ITALY DI ALESSANDRO GARIANO (ITALY) - - business environment institution• INOVA + / INOVAMAIS - SERVICOS DE CONSULTADORIA EM INOVACAO TECNOLOGICA S.A. (PORTUGAL) - business environment institution• AKMI Anonymous Educational Organization. (GREECE) - an educational institution• CENTRUM FUR INNOVATION UND TECHNOLOGIE GMBH (GERMANY) - business environment institution• IDP SAS DI GIANCARLO COSTANTINO (ITALIAN DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS) (ITALY) - business environment institutionAs part of the project, four intellectual results were developed:1. Report on the penetration of the economy of sharing economyThe aim of the task was to diagnose the situation regarding the sharing economy in the countries covered by the project (Greece, Germany, Poland, Portugal and Italy) in relation to the tourism sector and land transport (automotive). At the same time, the study addressed the situation in the United Kingdom and the United States of America as a case study of the most-developed sector of the sharing economy.2. Identification of Occupational Standards for practitioners of the sharing economy. Comprehensive analysis of the skills and knowledge profileDue to the fact that the project's intention is to develop a framework of knowledge and skills that should be owned by the supplier of goods and services operating in the sector of sharing economy and which knowledge and skills such suppliers have to demonstrate to users of these services (eg driver of a tourist vehicle, rented place of accommodation, translator - guide, etc.) the identification of professional standards for practitioners of the sharing economy was carried out; comprehensive analysis of the skills and knowledge profile. For the purposes of this identification, quantitative and qualitative research has been carried out for services and for different partner countries.3. Training module for practitioners of the sharing economyThe next task carried out in the project was to develop a training program for practitioners of the sharing economy. The assumption of the training program was to overcome the gaps in competence, knowledge and skills of the suppliers of commodity sharing market goods and services that were identified at stages 1 and 2.4. Webinar on the economics of sharing as an e-learning tool adaptable from the platforms of sharing economyAs the final result of the project, a webinar was developed - a training program for suppliers of goods and services in the share economy sector as an e-learning tool covering 5 modules and 17 training topics.There was a close relationship between the individual results of intellectual results, that is, each successive result was created as a consequence of the previous one.Four Multiplier events were organized:April 3-4, 2017 in Milan, ItalySeptember 27-28, 2017 in Berlin, GermanyOctober 24, 2017 in Brussels, BelgiumOctober 24, 2017 in Athens, Greece.During the indicated events, the individual results of intellectual results were disseminated.The project was also disseminated during the so-called The central presentation held in Athens on November 8, 2016.Four Transnational partner meetings were organized:5-6 November 2015 in Szczawno-Zdrój in Poland as the inaugural meeting of the project7-8 November 2016 in Athens, Greece, in conjunction with the Central Presentation indicated above3-4 April 2017 in Milan, Italy, in conjunction with the above-mentioned multiplier event27-28 September 2017 in Berlin, Germany, in conjunction with the above-mentioned multiplier eventOne short-term training was organized for employees of partner organizations, which took place in Athens, Greece, on 24-28 July 2017.The project website www.sharingskills.eu has been created. The site is available in English.In the section ""DOCUMENTS"", all the intellectual results developed within the project are available, including access to the webinar platform at: http://webinar.sharingskills.eu/The project also had created social profiles on Facebook and Google Plus."

The objective of the project is to contribute to and enhance the innovation potential and innovation management skills within SMEs in the West Poland area. The project will follow a developed methodology to help the regional businesses to increase their innovation capacity and to innovate profitably. The project will be implemented via 2 specific schemes: 1) Service ‘Key account management for SME Instrument beneficiaries’. This service will be aimed at SMEs which will be successful in applying for the SME Instrument Programme under the Horizon 2020 (Phase I and / or Phase II). Upon the receipt of the information (potential beneficiary’s contact details) from the EC/ EASME, the project partner will contact the potential beneficiary in order to explain the service and convince the SME to apply for the coaching scheme. 2) Service: ‘Enhancing the innovation management capacity of SME’s’. This service will be aimed at promising SMEs capable of growth and successful internationalisation that have real potential for innovation via proper development of their products, processes, services or business model but who lack the right skills, knowledge and experience to manage the innovation activities. The aim of this scheme is to first of all support those SMEs in order to make them unlock their potential for better management of the processes linked to innovation.