Europe is facing major economic challenges that require an ambitious economic policy for the 21st century. The EU has set out its vision for Europe's social market economy in the Europe 2020 strategy, which aims at confronting our structural weaknesses through progress in three mutually reinforcing priorities : • smart growth, based on knowledge and innovation, • sustainable growth, promoting a more resource efficient, greener and competitive economy, • inclusive growth, fostering a high employment economy delivering economic, social and territorial cohesion. MANUNET III, as a continuation of MANUNET II, is aligned with the European priorities and pretends to create a smart sustainable growth in the European manufacturing sector by coordinating the research and innovation efforts in the field of advanced manufacturing with a special focus in the key areas of new production processes, adaptive manufacturing systems and technologies for the factory of the future. The project will also reinforce the territorial cohesion through an extended collaboration network. The consortium pretends to respond to the actual economic crisis by promoting the transnational research, innovation and entrepreneurship in the industrial sector, especially in the SMEs, which are the backbone of Europe's economy. Through this strategic and integrated approach to innovation in advanced manufacturing, MANUNET III pretends to maximise European, national and regional research and innovation potential.

Forest ecosystems cover 42 % of the European Union’s total land area and strong efforts have been made to facilitate an increase of multiple forest ecosystem services to form robust forest stands. However, all ecosystems recently have been hit by rapidly changing climatic conditions, e.g. long lasting droughts, heavy rain events, frequent and intensive storms, pests and forest fires. To address this within future silviculture management concepts, forest operations and wood supply, all stakeholders along the Forest Wood Value Chain will need to form a common idea of future forest management, while none of them can increase its benefit without harming another one. Therefore, four Case Studies Regions will be established, following Europe’s biogeographical regions, to study climate-resilient silvicultural management practices and new methods of seeding and planting by the application of an own engineered topsoil cover based on wood fibres. Corresponding forest operations and concepts of actions in case of disturbances will be developed under selected sustainability criteria. Stakeholders will be activated in the participative process of socio-economic studies. The information will be consolidated in Dynamic Value Chain Model to assess the impact of the Forest-Wood Value Chain on regional development quantified by a set of economic, environmental and social indicators. The newly developed Multi-Criteria Decision Support System visualises decision-making by comparing Sustainable Forest Management, synergies and trade-offs of Forest Ecosystems, reliable wood supply, and stakeholder interests through FWVC indicators of social, economic, and environmental dimensions, by applying methods of Goal Programming. The easy-to-use software application will be available for Forest-Wood Value Chain stakeholders globally. All ONEforest results will be implemented in new Model Forests, being part of the International Model Forest Network for regional adapted forest management concept.

The VECTOR project aimed at defining a high skilled professional profile and the related curriculum of Destination Manager valid for the tourism sector. The specific objectives of the project were:a) to explore the skills needs in tourism and exchange good practices, knowledge and experience among partners;b) to design an EQF based set of educational standards for destination managers based on project findings, on current European VET developments (with a strong focus on labour market needs;c) to develop an innovative and joined training curriculum related to the Destination Manager profile using the ECVET approach and EQAVET principles to be included in an online course (e-learning platform);d) to organize a pilot phase in Spain and Italy involving 24 trainees to test some of the most crucial and innovative modules included in the DM training curriculum. e) to validate the Destination Manager profile and related training curriculum.The project started its activities by developing an in-depth skills survey, addressing almost 500 stakeholders from all around Europe, in order to gather all the information related to the labour market needs and to analyze the skills and competences that were suitable for the Destination Manager profile. The following step has been the development of a survey, at the European level, related to the existing curriculums in the tourism sector (belonging to the 5th and 6th EQF level) in order to develop a synoptic reading of them as well as to identify evidence of mismatch between market needs and students performance.The DM profile has been designed as a standard: In this Standard, a competence is defined and assessed as a process. Each competence is conceived as the sum of different processes. In this way it was easier to link the profile with the DM curriculum structured, following the ECVET methodology, as a series of unit of learning outcomes. The competences are:1) To analyse the market and the touristic trend, getting the features of the touristic demand and offer.2) To organise the resources (natural/historical/cultural/economical) of the destination, also by achieving the engagement of the local stakeholders.3) To coordinate actors and stakeholders, by creating a network, identifying common goals and negotiating the different needs of the parties involved.4) To promote the territory. The DM takes promotional actions in order to enhance the touristic offer according to the demand of the various customers, increasing their motivation towards the attractiveness of the territory.5) To manage and solve problems, by monitoring profits and expenses, assuring the quality of the service provided and managing time and costs.After the definition of the profile it was possible to structure the related DM curriculum and the learning contents. The curriculum was object of a pilot-testing process, carried-on involving 24 students from all around Europe. that helped the consortium to test effectively the training course not only from the contents point of view, but also analysing the most suitable supply modalities of the course aimed at increasing the possibility for workers to join the DM course.The dissemination of the results has been done at the national and international level, designing 2 work packages dedicated on such topic. The consortium put particular attention in involving key stakeholders at regional/national level during the dissemination events, signing Memorandum of Understanding with such key players during three international conference on Destination Management held in the 3 partners’ countries. These agreements are an evidence of the work developed to assure a future to the project outputs beyond the project lifespan. Furthermore, at the international level, the consortium capitalized the project joining international conferences/events organized by its associated partners as well as cooperating fruitfully with other 3 Erasmus+ project focued on tourism.

ContextForest fires are a complex problem in Europe, especially in Southern countries. Fire can seriously impact the environment, rural development and economy. Forest degradation is considered a key to the spreading of human diseases, as COVID-19. Although wildfire research and substantial technical advances have been made in recent years, we have not been able to provide quality training in Forest Fire Management (FFM). This requires inputs from related disciplines and stakeholders, continual updating and hands-on experience. Introducing innovative approaches in the FFM training will contribute to overcoming the shortage of skilled workers and will boost employment in fire-prone regions with high unemployment rates. Objectives The overall aim of FacingFIRE is to encourage social engagement among students to improve the capacities in FFM training and gender-balanced employability. FacingFIRE introduces the Service-Learning (S-L) approach to develop training projects in areas impacted by wildfires. The scope of which will be further enhanced by the use of innovative online learning tools and international collaboration. Employability skills, with special emphasis on women, will be boosted by hands-on practices and direct contact with employers. To transfer the project benefits to society, multiple interactions between educators, researchers, forest companies/ NGOs and decision-makers are planned. The project will promote employment among recent graduates. Emphasizing the role of women in forest management will also be an important statement in the project. All this will be done in the context of the current health crisis (COVID).Number and profile of participantsThe consortium comprises 9 partners from the most fire-prone regions in Europe: Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. The 5 academic partners (4 HEIs and 1 VET center) have recognized expertise in FFM and teaching innovation. The 4 professional partners (1 Forest Association, 1 Research center and 2 Decision-makers) and associates will play a key role in identifying the main training needs and enhancing the impact of the outcomes. The coordinator (USC) has vast experience in managing S-L projects and other environmentally-related educational projects.Description of activitiesIn order to reinforce FFM training capacities, the project will provide training activities for staff (academic and practitioners) and students. The training will include a) S-L management, b) innovative online learning (ePortfolio) and audio-visuals tools (SPOCs) and c) joint events between academia and stakeholders to exchange good training practices.To enhance this strategy, two types of blended mobility are planned for students. Practical experience and employment skills will be provided via international S-L projects combined with solid online and personalised training. Certain outputs will have strong multiplier effects on academic and professional sectors: a) use of S-L to address specific problems and reinforce employability skills, b) publication of the first guide to implementing S-L in fire-prone areas and c) launch of the first FFM training network to reinforce training capacities. Specific actions are designed to buffer the indirect consequences of COVID-19 on forest fires and employment.MethodsThe project will be divided into three phases:1. Staff training and production of materials for interactive activities with learners using innovative virtual tools.2. Development of pilot S-L projects, in which trainees will participate in international hands-on practices and use the online learning tools.3. Dissemination/multiplier events aiming to a) exchange good practices in S-L management, b) promote flexible and blended training involving both educators and stakeholders and c) launch of the first network in FFM training network. Results and envisaged impactsAt the individual level, the envisaged impacts include access to innovative training strategies, improvement of language and digital skills and increased employability. At the organizational level, the associations/policy-makers/research centers will benefit from access to state-of-the-art methods and a greater supply of skilled workers. The HEI and VET structures (teaching innovation, employment, gender equality) will be also reinforced by new procedures and skilled workers. The outcomes will benefit decision-makers and practitioners facing one of the most serious cross-border environmental and social challenges in Europe.SustainabilityThe network on FFM training network will open multiple possibilities for future cooperation. The outcomes will be maintained after the project as a result of the institution`s structures and procedures reinforcement (e.g. S-L recognition, gender equality). FacingFIRE is based on different EU policies (“Green Employment Initiative”, “EU strategy on Biodiversity “EU Youth Strategy”) and on the “Strategic framework for European cooperation in Education and Training.