Nowadays, low level of digital competence, can leave a person at a disadvantage, not just on the labour market, but also in society at large. As such, there is a clear link between enhancing digital competence and efforts to create more inclusive and cohesive societies. Accordingly, both the adult educators and the job seekers (including the members of disadvantaged groups) need to develop their digital skills. A fundamental skill for any individual to perform well at the workplace and better integrate in the social and economic life of his/her community is also Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Self-awareness, self-management, motivation, empathy and social skills are now recognised as the factor behind personal and professional success. Another skill that, at the moment, is not taught on a large scale concerns effective application of economic principles, which reveals itself in taking the right economic decisions, and being able to maximize everyone’s resources to achieve the personal goals.The aim of JIMINY project is to increase the techniques of emotional Intelligence, digital awareness and entrepreneurship lifestyle among the disadvantaged groups members (low qualified persons, unemployed, adults at poverty risk, etc.) and adult educators from Romania, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Poland. The project will help to solve the problems of limited possibilities for employment for low skilled adults, their low motivation to learn, and the lack of basic and specific competencies of adult educatorspractitioners.These will be accomplished by development of the following results:IO1- JIMINY Self-help Handbook – “Journey to Increase your techniques of eMotional Intelligence, digital awareNess and entrepreneurship lifestyle”. The Handbook will specifically address the development of different techniques for improving theemotional intelligence, digital awareness and entrepreneurship lifestyleIO2- JIMINY Personal Trainer. This will be an artificial intelligence-driven personal trainer capable of acting as an end-to-end solution securing and supporting the whole learning and upskilling processes. JIMINY Personal Trainer will be able to diagnose individual needs and provide a customized learning path as an instant remedy.The target groups of JIMINY Project and beneficiaries of its results will be members of disadvantaged groups (low qualified persons, unemployed, adults at poverty risk, etc.) and adult educators. The project partners that will assure the effective implementation and quality results are:1. Asociatia de Dezvoltare Economico-Sociala –ADES. (Romania) – project coordinator. It will provide its expertise on effective labour market.2. CWEP (Poland)- has constructed solutions for the disadvantaged groups in previous EU projects and will bring its ICT experienceinto the project.3. SYMPLEXIS (Greece) – will provide its expertise on social inclusion and promotion of lifelong learning.4. Mindshift Talent Advisory (Portugal) – has experience in carrying out job placements and networking.5. Innohub (Spain) – will share its experience from carrying out entrepreneur-related initiatives and closely cooperating with startups, as well as approaching low-skilled adults.6. CCS DIGITAL EDUCATION (Ireland) – will share its techniques for the development of interactive tools. 7. LABC (Italy) - will provide its expertise social inclusion and promotion of lifelong learning among adults.

<< Objectives >>The project aims to create a reference model for VET trainers for adequate and specific entrepreneurial and e-skills training for freelancers.Although the number of freelancers is constantly growing in Europe and worldwide, neither the policies to support and protect the category nor the training opportunities to improve their quality in terms of entrepreneurial skills are adequate. The project aims to fill this gap by building a model freelance incubator.<< Implementation >>The idea is to create a virtual incubator to guide aspiring freelancers through:1. high-level entrepreneurial training2. digital literacy 3. targeted consulting4. mentoring and accountability services5. a network of qualified professionals at discounted prices to drive and develop the business (accountants, lawyers, digital experts, photographers, branding experts, web designers, growth hackers etc.)6. networking opportunities with other freelancers to initiate collaborations<< Results >>The project aims to carry out- a nationwide and European-wide survey of freelance services- a methodology for VET trainers for coaching freelancers- a platform acting as a virtual incubator for freelance business and aspiring freelancers.The expected outcome is the wide dissemination of the VET methodology, the significant improvement of e-skills and, eventually, the financial sustainability of freelance businesses.

Entrepreneurship is the process of starting a business but can also mean an active attitude towards work, society, politics, and all the other fields of a citizen life. Developing entrepreneurship means therefore working on people active participation in their life and strengthen their ability to start new business, improve their working life, being a proactive citizen and consequently cope with the socio-economic challenges that Europe is facing nowadays. Entrepreneurship is a complex competence made of different skills such as: analysis skill, planning, problem solving, leadership, creative thinking etc. According to the Global Challenge Insight Report, the vital skills required for future jobs are the 5 skills: complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management and coordination with others. Those are directly connected with entrepreneurship (ASTD), but in partner countries they are at low level. The project’s aim is to develop relevant and high-quality skills and to support disadvantaged young adults (especially low-skilled NEETs in age 20-24) in acquiring entrepreneurial competences to build entrepreneurial mind-set with special focus on developing skills needed for the future entrepreneurs that will be inevitable for tomorrow’s jobs but are not considered crucial for the jobs today. This aim will be achieved through: - deepen research of detailed characteristics of training needs of young adults and skills needed for the future in area of entrepreneurship (complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management and coordination with others)- creation of a simulation game that allow to work innovatively on those 5 skills, in order to foster people’s participation in the labour market and make them play an active role in society and achieve personal fulfilment- creation of didactic handbook for using the game - wide dissemination and exploitationPrimary target group: young disadvantaged adults, especially NEETs in age 20 - 24Secondary target group: adult educators/facilitators including career advisors working in the non-formal education settingsThe new method that we propose is the use of a game that can reproduce virtual, plausible or hypothetical situations in which the players can use and improve their skills. The scenarios the game will be the result of a phase of research conducted by experts in the field of psychology, counselling, vocational guidance, coaching, etc.First of all the partners will conduct a deep study. The research will contain guidelines on how it is possible to exercise the 5 skills and which situation (in real or virtual life) offer the opportunity to foster their acquisition. Secondly, these guidelines will be put into practice creating a list of scenarios for the game. Besides the EKS game, the consortium will realize EKS handbook supporting teaching/learning process with the use of the game. The game and the handbook will be piloted within the target groups (NEETs and adult educators) in order to collect feedback and realize the definitive versions. The EKS game will be a very attractive way to involve young adults, especially NEETS to a training pathway and encourage them to never give up their learning throughout their life development. The expected impact of the project concerns partners’ organizations, their staff and learners, young adults, especially NEETs in age 20-24, their educators and stakeholders in the sector of adult education (adult education providers, job centres). The project is likely to have a sustainable impact within and beyond the project lifetime on young adults, who learn in informal education settings, especially low-skilled NEETs in age 20-24, educators of NEETs but also other disadvantaged learners, as well as stakeholders that operate in the field of adult education (adult education providers, NGOs, job centres, associations of trainers and job counsellors, etc.) Having the innovative didactic tool that is designed especially for young people they will be able to attract more learners and provide more effective educational services. It is expected that over 1000 people (NEETs, adult educators, external experts and stakeholders) will take direct part of the EKS project's activities.

All organisations that agreed to take part in 3DP TEACHER project, recognize the meaning and significance of the impact that 3D printing may have on many aspects of our lives and work in near future. 3DP market is developing fast, with its applications found in more and more different areas like architecture, medicine, and industry. Increasing number of businesses are interested in making use of its potential, hence it is reasonable to assume that also the number of jobs in this sector will be on the rise. The Industry 4.0, and particularly technology of 3D printing (3DP) is entering schools curricula all over the world, and its potential is becoming widely recognized. Many teachers consider this innovation in the sector welcome and necessary, but they very often lack proper technical and methodological knowledge to embrace this new technology. In order to change this situation, the aim of the project is to improve the digital competences of teachers in relation to implementing of 3D printing in education. This aim will be achieved through:- developing 3DP Teachers' Guidebook (covering case studies, lesson plans with 3DP, recommendations on possible implementation)- developing 3D modelling course for Teachers- developing of online environment for teachers interested in applying 3DP solutions - initiating the network of 3DP teacher expertsProject’s objective is also to facilitate cooperation between schools, policy makers in the field of educations and business sector. This cooperation is crucial from the point of view of future implementation of 3DP. Target groups: - teachers from secondary schools interested in innovations and development of their digital skills in teaching- students interested in new technologies and pursuing career in rapidly developing technology market- school managers/directors, officials responsible for education.To encourage teachers’ involvement and contribution, AEMRN, GD and SP interested in 3D printing became partners in this project. To ensure the effective transfer of technology and proper management of tasks and activities the schools will cooperate with business partners. As a result, an effective and mutually supportive partnership was established.The activities planned within 3DP TEACHER project lead to the formation of two intellectual outputs: “3DP Teachers’ Guidebook” and “Innovative Teachers Environment (ITE)”. The first one is to show teachers possibilities of 3DP implementation, examples of good practices, recommendations on methodology, hardware and software tips, as well as safety issues. The second will serve the creation of international teachers’ experts’ community, sharing their experiences and ideas on how to enhance the teaching process with 3D printing and create relevant 3D models. Their active involvement in the community will contribute to the creation of database of 3D models to use on lessons, lesson plans involving the 3D printing, methodological and technical aspects of using 3D printing for educational purposes.The expected impact is that the 3DP TEACHER project will significantly and in sustainable way influence participants, participating organisations, target groups and other relevant stakeholders. The desired impact is that teachers will improve their digital competences in relation to implementing of 3D printing and also that decision makers and teachers will understand and incorporate 3D printing in the process of teaching young people and that in effect, prepare them for the needs of labour market. The impact will be significant at all levels but especially on local and regional levels in which partners have access to schools and decision makers.

Studies show that there is an urgent need for qualified personnel in Europe: As shown, for ex. in the 2 cited studies ‘How mobile is tech talent?’ by Centre for European Policy Studies, 2016 and McKinsey study, 2012 called World at Work the need for young talented people entering the labour market is very high. This study reached conclusion: employers in Europe and N. America will require 16 to 18 million more college-educated workers in 2020 than are going to be available. McKinsey consulting coined the term ‘War for Talent’ to describe this phenomenon. In many EU countries, this is a particular problem for SMEs looking to hire and keep personnel, as SMEs cannot compete with corporations when it comes to salaries and other incentives. SMEs may not be able to fill 1 in 10 roles they need, much less fill them with top talent.At the same time, Europe experiences unprecedented high levels of migration, many of whom are well qualified. In Eurostat report ‘Migrant integration’ from 2017 the result was concluded concerning migrants in Europe: the EU-born population recorded the highest share of graduates (36.7 %). This proportion was 4 pp higher than for the native-born population and 5 pp higher than for non-EU-born population. These statistics reflect potential benefits of migration of EU Citizens where more extensive recruitment of young people with migrant backgrounds or young refugees could help SMEs in finding appropriate employees. Especially that motivation to gain access to the labour market among them remains exceptionally high: e.g. 93,3% of the population in Germany with a migrant background retain that a fix workplace is an important factor for integration in the accepting country.In contrast with these facts however, 7 out of 10 (71%) of DE companies with trainee programmes don’t employ trainees with migration background. This figure is higher for SMEs with less than 50 employees. Those over 50 show higher rates of willingness to employ trainees with migrant backgr. but still 46%. (SVR-FB_Diskriminierung-am-Ausbildungsmarkt, p. 31). This situation indicates a strong tendency by SME towards risk avoidance: The risk is that financial consequences for SME of the trainee breaking off the apprenticeship ahead of time. Research indicates that due to the nature and size, SME give trainees and new employees more responsible tasks relatively early. This requires the trainee to fit in the company’s structure easily and smoothly (SVR-FB, p. 30). In order to avoid these potential negative consequences, decision-makers in SMEs are guided by the unconscious human preference for people like themselves based on the unconscious psychological assumption ‘people who are like each other, like each other’, which seems generally true and in so doing demonstrate an unconscious bias to trainees and employees who are from their own culture. Consequently, for the sake of financial security and social integration in the staff, when it comes to choosing the right trainees and employees, these unconscious decisions, however, lead to the exclusion of many talents only because of the cultural background.Existence of unconscious bias is the fact, there is a need to recognise it and to cope with it. The project’s main aim is to develop competences of SMEs managers and recruitment staff in understanding, recognising, reflecting on and managing the unconscious bias and validating those competences in order to enable SMEs to recruit suitable personnel. The main objective will be achieved through developing the vocational education tool - CUB@work system.Target groups:- Management and recruitment staff of SME- VET trainers and public officials responsible for VET policyIt is expected that the impact of the project will be significant at all levels. Local, regional and national levels will be impacted by the dissemination activities performed by partners in their regions and countries. The project is likely to have a sustainable impact within and beyond its lifetime, especially on the target group, management and recruitment staff of SMEs. The participation in the project activities will increase their vocational skills needed in the recruitment and in the workplace. They will become not only aware of unconscious bias but also will know how to recognise it and how to manage it. In effect small and medium-sized companies will be better able to recruit suitable coworkers, also from the migrant population. It is expected that over 1000 people will participate directly in the project activities and over 20 000 will learn about its results via different digital channels. The project will also have impact on all those institutions and organizations that operate in the field of VET education. As unconscious bias is becoming more and more important due to high immigration recently, the CUB@work system should be found useful by many actors across Europe.