The rich history and heritage of Europe make of culture an invaluable asset for Europe, which together with the talent and qualification of people in 28 countries across Europe makes that art and culture are call to be one of the engines in the economic and business growth of Europe. Training the people who will be moving forward this sector on the necessary entrepreneurial competences to effectively make culture and art a source of economic growth is a priority for Europe, even more taking into account the accredited lack of entrepreneurial competences and abilities of professionals in the artistic and cultural sector who possess abilities which are seen as opposite to those required by a business person. The ArtEnprise project has been conceived to advance in this EU priority and support artists and cultural operators in developing entrepreneurial skills. The project has analysed in depth the competences, abilities and areas of entrepreneurial expertise that artist and cultural operators should have to successfully perform as entrepreneurs. Such analysis has entailed quantitative and qualitative research involving both experts and the final target group, and an exhaustive desk research of similar previous initiatives in every one of the 28 EU countries, and has resulted in the development of a “Framework of Entrepreneurial competences for artist and cultural operators” in which these competences are structured into 3 main levels of experience. This is a valuable tool for artists and cultural operators to measure, assess and become aware of their current entrepreneurial competency levels. Conversely, trainers, educators and experts in entrepreneurship education and coaching can use it to develop tailor-made curricula and learning activities to improve artists and cultural operator’s entrepreneurial spirit. The project has advanced more in the goal of supporting artist, cultural organisations and professionals to develop and improve their entrepreneurial skills and has developed a specific methodology based on the concept of Enterprise Circles to support artists and cultural operators across Europe to start up and develop their business from their artistic and cultural practice. The ArtEnprise methodology is explained in the Enterprise Circles Facilitator Manual, a document addressed to those trainers, employment and entrepreneurship counsellors who want to organise group training and coaching activities to help the artist and cultural operators they work with to acquire the necessary entrepreneurial competences. The ArtEnprise methodology is complemented with a social learning platform https://training.artenprise.eu/en/ which is accessible both by trainers and by artist and cultural operators as “learners” looking to directly improve their entrepreneurial skills. The platform offers free access to training modules specifically designed for artists on the topics which has been identified as key when it comes to start a business in the cultural and artistic sector. Users can also access a European online community where the can meet other artist from different EU countries, exchange views and knowledge, collaborate with and create synergies. With all the different tools developed, the ArtEnprise project has made a valuable contribution to the development of entrepreneurial competences in the arts and cultural sector, which is expected to have a multiplier effect after the end of the project thanks to the extensive network of stakeholders in the field or cultural industries and entrepreneurship which has been established during the project which has served as a catalyst for many other initiatives and projects to be developed by the project partners in the near future contributing to fulfilling the training needs of this sector.

This project main objective is to consolidate an international and inter-sectorial network of comparative and collaborative research and training on the identification, analysis and dissemination of good practices in the field of social work and human mobility in the European countries involved in the project, including universities, local town halls and third sector organizations. The reception and socioeconomic inclusion of migrants and refugees are key issues for contemporary Europe, particularly in the Euro-Mediterranean region, where the magnitude of new arrivals arouse great human rights concern. Social work professionals are in the front line of this challenge, playing a key role in local government responses and professional practices for the reception and inclusion of newcomers. Experienced qualitative methodological approach used in migration studies and related to social work will be utilized mainly. The participants of this project will exchange skills and knowledge which will allow them to progress towards key advances in the identification, transfer and promotion of good practices on local government and social work interventions with migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and other groups in conditions of vulnerability as a result of human mobility (non-accompanied children and youth, the elderly, victims of human trafficking, the disabled, transnational families, victims of ethnic, religious and sexual orientation discrimination, etc). The methodological approach will combine secondments of senior and junior researchers and social work professionals, the implementation of comparative research, training workshops and activities to disseminate knowledge and promote good social work practice, such as international conferences, the elaboration of guidelines and the production of publications in national and international journals, including special issues focused on the good social work practices identified during the project

HYPERION aims to introduce a research framework for downscaling the created climate and atmospheric composition as well as associated risk maps down to the 1x1 km (historic area) scale, and specific damage functions for Cultural Heritage (CH) materials. Applying atmospheric modelling for specific Climate Change (CC) scenarios at such refined spatial and time scales allows for an accurate quantitative and qualitative impact assessment of the estimated micro-climatic and atmospheric stressors. HYPERION will perform combined hygrothermal and structural/geotechnical analysis of the CH sites (indoor climate, HVAC, related strains and stresses, etc.) and damage assessment under normal and changed conditions, based on the climatic zone, the micro-climate conditions, the petrographic and textural features of building materials, historic data for the structures, the effect of previous restoration processes and the environmental/physical characteristics of the surrounding environment. The data coming from the integrated monitoring system will be coupled with simulated data (under our holistic resilience assessment platform-HRAP) and will be further analysed through our data management system, while supporting communities’ participation and public awareness. The data from the monitoring system will feed the DSS so as to provide proper adaptation and mitigation strategies, and support sustainable reconstruction plans for the CH damages. The produced vulnerability map will be used by the local authorities to assess the threats of CC (and other natural hazards), visualize the built heritage and cultural landscape under future climate scenarios, model the effects of different adaptation strategies, and ultimately prioritize any rehabilitation actions to best allocate funds in both pre- and post-event environments. The project outcomes will be demonstrated to four European historic areas in Norway, Spain, Italy and Greece (representing different climatic zones).

Pathogens are a determining factor in emergency response due to their life-threatening nature, both for the public as well as for the safety of first responders. In many cases, pathogen contaminations are difficult to detect, and require specialized technologies, tools and procedures to handle them. Pathogens can easily spread via water, and may cause contaminations of large areas far from their origin. Waterborne pathogen contamination events can occur anywhere, and may be caused by various natural events or they can be the result of human activity, either accidental or malicious. During these emergencies, first responders may need to operate within a certain pre-defined incident area, and are likely to be exposed to contaminated water originating from various sources, such as surface water, wastewater or drinking water. This can pose a significant risk of illness, disease or even death, through skin contact, ingestion or inhalation. The overall objective of the PathoCERT project is to strengthen the coordination capability of the first responders in handling waterborne pathogen contamination events. This will increase the first responders’ capabilities, allowing the rapid and accurate detection of pathogens, improving their situational awareness, and improving their ability to control and mitigate emergency situations involving waterborne pathogens. To achieve this objective, the project will research and demonstrate Pathogen Contamination Emergency Response Technologies (PathoCERT), a collection of novel, cost-effective and easy-to-use technologies, tools and guidelines, which will be field-validated by the first responders.

POCITYF supports the Lighthouse cities of Evora (PT) and Alkmaar (NL) and their Fellow cities Granada (ES), Bari (ΙΤ), Celje (SI), Ujpest (HU), Ioannina (GR) and Hvidovre (DK) to address their urgent need to deliver positive energy blocks and districts in their cities, towards rendering their mixed urban environment (also including the case of cultural protected buildings) into cheaper, better accessible, healthier and more reliable. By demonstrating in overall 10 integrated solutions (ISs), comprising 73 individual innovative elements (technologies, tools, methods), rooted under existing City Information Platforms (CIPs), POCITYF quantifies their value, and connects interests of many different stakeholders in innovative business models, allowing for upscale and replication of those solutions in a form of a validated roadmap for sustainable cities across Europe and world-wide. To achieve this, POCITYF works along 4 Energy Transition Tracks (ETTs), encompassing the ISs according to the role each one serves for. ETT#1 focuses on the examination and application of ISs transforming existing and new building stock into Energy Positive, while ETT#2 focuses on the application of a) grid flexibility strategies and b) storage systems, supported by DSM platforms for optimizing energy flows to maximize self-consumption and reduce grid stress. ETT#3 with its merit of innovation offers the integration of e-Mobility to as well promote the decarbonisation of the mobility sector. The 3 ETTs under the coordination of ETT#4, which links existing CIPs with innovative apps and other instruments, offers inclusive and holistic services for interdisciplinary citizen engagement and co-creation of them with the city stakeholders and industry, towards the development of each city’s own bold city-vision up to 2050. Through POCITYF the two LHs will achieve a local RES penetration of 16.2 GWh/y, energy savings of 2.32 GWh/y and an emission reduction of 9,743 tons CO2eq/y within their districts.