<< Background >>BACKGROUNDThe main challenge the project addresses is lower than possible level of European networking of Civil Society Organisations active in the lifelong learning, adult education sector. The idea of the EU NET is built on the outcomes, conclusions and the Exit Strategy of a 2 – year long Erasmus+ KA 2 project, 2018 – 2020, of five European organisations active in the field of adult education: “First-time international projects realisers support network” (1stTIPPM). The project was concluded in founding the FIRST Network in December 2020. The Mission of the FIRST Network (FN) is strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations and entities active in the adult education sector to operate in the international arena, enhancing innovativeness and the ability to adapt to changes in the modern world.Analysis preceding founding the FIRST Network disclosed lack of proper/affordable legal and formal solutions supporting networking accessible for the non-profit and/or not-for-profit CSOs. There seem to be a legal gap on the level of European legislation. The procedure of founding and registering European networks is just expensive and complicated. The European Cooperative Society form seems promising, but it is totally unsurveyed and unexplored.The EU NET also addresses the identified need for more practical examples, more case studies, material for further self-education in the field of European level cooperation and networking of the adult learning CSOs.<< Objectives >>THE AIM & OBJECTIVESThe main aim of the project is to support the European level networking of the Civil Society Organisations active in the lifelong learning sector.The specific goals are:1.Facilitating European level networking of adult learning Civil Society Organisations through increasing the accessibility of information and applicable knowledge, guidelines and recommendations concerning the European Cooperative Society as a form of EU level networking. 2.Facilitating European cooperation in the adult education sector by delivering practical and reusable resources for the practitioners for self-directed education in the field of European projects initiation, designing, developing and realising.3.Supporting the resilience of adult learning Civil Society Organisations and their capability to cope with the most current challenges for adult education: Digital transformation, inclusion and diversity in education, environmental awareness of the learners and educators, supporting active democratic activity of adult Europeans.4.Supporting the development and strengthening of the FIRST Network as a laboratory for developing and testing solutions for the capacity building to operate in the international arena, enhancing innovativeness of the lifelong learning sector and its ability to adapt to changes.<< Implementation >>PARTICIPANTS & TARGET GROUPSThe direct target group of the project include the members, workers, co-workers, volunteers and the adult learners of the non-vocational, adult education organisations, especially the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) including informal groups, Non-governmental organisations and other non-profit and notfor profit organisations.The indirect target group include wide range of education – related organisations, institutions and decision makers.The dissemination activities would reach, in total, at least 107.133 receivers.THE PARTNERSHIP CYCLEProject partners are five 3rd sector, civil society organisations, working in the field of lifelong learning, adult education from Poland, Italy, Hungary, Portugal and Iceland. All Partners are the members of the FIRST Network. Even though all the organisations involved are 3rd sector and working in the field of lifelong learning, they have various profiles and experience – which makes the Partnership composition somehow representative for the adult liberal education sector in Europe. What is more, the EU NET realization would be supported by several associated Partners.METHODOLOGY & ACTIVITIESThe design of the work programme is chronological, divided into 3 main phases. Project activities are divided into 20 Work Packages (WP), including transversal activities of management, evaluation and dissemination. There are 2 activities delivering Project Results, five Transnational Project Meetings, five Multiplier Events and three international Training Events planned.The Project Results include:PR1. Delivered Toolkit on European Project Management for the Civil Society Organisations active in the Lifelong Learning Sector, in two parts:Part 1: Project planning and designing,Part 2: Realising, monitoring & evaluating the project,including: Addenda with recommendations concerning the current challenges for lifelong learning: Inclusion and Diversity and Digital Transformation, developed after the idea camps/workshops/networking events – LTT 1 and LTT2.PR2. Delivered Recommendations for European Networking of the Civil Society Organizations active in the Lifelong Learning Sector, including an Addendum with recommendations concerning the current challenges for lifelong learning: Environmental awareness and Active democratic participation – developed after the idea camp/workshop/networking event – LTT 3.<< Results >>RESULTS & IMPACTThe results of the project will be tangible and intangible (material and immaterial). The direct tangible results will be reached during the work packages, while the intangible will be illustrated in the field of increased of knowledge, skills and awareness, change of attitudes etc. The indirect, third level of results are those long-term ones, clearly connected with the varied project impact.The direct intangible results will be seen both on individual and organizational levels, referring to change of attitudes and values related to international cooperation and networking, introducing innovations, professionalization of the adult education staff, and developing long-term development strategies of the 3rd sector adult learning organisations.SUSTAINABILITYProject results will be sustainable, among others, through:- Delivering applicable, reusable knowledge related to: European projects management, new ways of networking on the European level, new solutions for addressing the most current challenges in adult education. This knowledge would be useful also for the other sectors of education. What is more, the learning and self-directed learning materials will be possible to adapt and update in time, adjusting to the current needs of the sector.- Strengthening and amplifying the FIRST Network as a laboratory for designing and testing solutions enhancing innovativeness and resilience of the adult education sector.

"To tackle the common problem of marginalization in rural regions in Europe and to address the need of those societies for a highly skilled, competent and flexible workforce, guaranteeing social inclusion, sustainable use of regional resources and environmental protection, the CRISTAL project (Creative Regions for Innovation, Skills, Technology, Accessibility and Learning) represents a new and exciting approach towards VET with the means of innovative STEM ""learning-by-making"" methods, digital fabrication, innovation and entrepreneurship competence, sustainability in teaching and learning and business know-how. The aim of CRISTAL was to develop a dedicated, dynamic and interactive ""open source"" virtual classroom in the form of a Knowledge Center, a platform for innovative STEM curricula along with Open Educational Resources for preschool, primary, secondary, upper secondary and adult education followed by a ""module"" for teachers' training.The main objectives of the CRISTAL project are the following: - To increase students' competence through innovative and creative learning; - To increase students' technological literacy and break down barriers to learning STEM-subjects; - To provide new interdisciplinary VET educational offers and didactic methodologies in the fields of STEM and IEE; - To provide education which is pertinent to the needs of rural marginalized communities in order to foster their competitiveness, enhancing their entrepreneurial and technological skills; - To elevate the status of vocational training; - To contribute to the promotion of environmentally sustainable forms of development for local communities.The partnership consists of five partners. The coordinator, Innovation Center Iceland (ICI) is a leading R&D institution in Iceland. ICI encourages innovation and promotes the advancement of new ideas in Icelandic economy by providing support to entrepreneurs and businesses. The Innovation Center operates several Incubator Centers that offers support and facilities to start-up companies working on innovative business ideas. Their Innovation and entrepreneurship services offers extensive internet information services, workshops and courses for SMEs and the general public. ICI the pioneer in bringing Fab Labs to Iceland and education in digital fabrication. Husavik Academic Center (HAC), which is dedicated to promoting and facilitating lifelong learning, university studies and interdisciplinary researches, has established an ""Educluster"" in the municipality of Nordurthing in North-Iceland that serves as a pilot-community in the CRISTAL project.Teachers at all school levels were involved in the activities and testing process of the intellectual outputs, developed within the project. University of Akureyri, Iceland, which has built a reputation for academic excellence and good industrial relations, involved the Department of Education in the project. The partnership is then composed of two SMEs, which will lead the in-formal and non-formal approach to the project. The Swedish start-up Lindberg&Lindberg Engineering AB has a wide area of competence in the field of ICT development. The Italian eco-innovative farm Azienda Agricola ""DORA"" brings expertise to the project in form of sustainability, environmental education, rural development, R&D and renewable energy production. The main result of the project lies in the establishment of the CRISTAL Knowledge Center on www.cristal.is in four languages. All of the projects results have been uploaded to a toolbox on the website and a functional virtual classroom can be found. The impact of our project involves critical and creative thinking to give learners the ability to interpret and take part and impact their society; enhancing rural entrepreneurship and sustainable development of rural areas. It also involves increased access to digital fabrication methods in schools in the area and increased interest of the teaching environment in the pilot community. Teachers in the pilot community are more interested in IEE, more flexible in their way of teaching and are more innovative. The project has also impacted the university as they have requested a cooperation with ICI to give lectures on IEE in initial teachers education at the university to get their students interested and aware of the matter. Long term benefits may be a change of teachers mindset and already schools in the pilot community have invested in equipment to evolve IEE teaching and increase interest in STEM subjects. Long term benefits, hopefully, may also include students seeing opportunities in their community, both in living there and creating job opportunities for themselves leading to rural development. Long term benefit can also lead to teachers' professional development within communities as they use problem-based methods in teaching."

The degree of digitization is steadily increasing in our society. European countries have multiple mandatory digital solutions regarding public services. As existing services, such as banking and shopping, move increasingly online, the likelihood of excluding certain demographic groups, such as the elderly and those living in rural areas, increases exponentially. Populations in rural and remote areas have less access to services and activities and their situation may aggravate further when combined with poorer socio-economic conditions. This puts rural populations at a disadvantage compared to urban ones and can be particularly problematic for older people who may face a greater risk of social isolation, reduced mobility, lack of support and health care deficits as a result of the place in which they live. (UNECE Policy Brief on Ageing No. 18, March 2017) Thus, rural areas require alternative solutions to be able to equally benefit from the remote public services, as well as a need to develop pedagogical strategies to teach digital literacy skills to older adults, particularly those living in rural and remote areas. Digital competence is one of the eight key competences and refers to the confident and critical usage of the full range of digital technologies for information, communication and basic problem-solving in all aspects of life. This may sound simple to many of us but, according to the Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2015, 40% of the EU population has an insufficient level of digital competence, including 22% who do not use the Internet. In rural areas, digital skills and competences of citizens are a significant aspect for a community. The demographic characteristics of a region influence the distribution of digital skills within a region, as the different age groups have different access and possibilities to gain digital literacy.The project ‘Digital Comminities’ aims to ensure that local communities and rural areas equally get the chance to develop digital skills, try new tools and technologies as well as build communities around this. It will apply an inclusive approach to include the local population of rural areas, not only in training activities but also in developing the activities to be offered. The project addresses senior citizens in rural areas and members of local rural communities - community volunteers, adult (volunteer) trainers and tutors, social and community development workers, community activists, by following actions:- Development of tailored digital skills of seniors in community, and making them able to effectively access and use different public services, to identify and take advantage of the internet services, and thus to better adapt to digital-oriented changing world and to feel confident using online tools to manage and improve their health and life quality.- Development of virtual assistance tool for digital inclusion of seniors based on older people’s real-life scenarios for the need of services and where and how they can be accessed online. - Development of trainers’ skills in local community members to provide digital competence trainings and support to the elderly people in their communities.The project creates easily adaptable and transferable outputs - research study on online public services available in partner countries and the skills to access them, virtual assistance tools for digital inclusion of seniors, and handbook for community digital trainers with high potential of transferability to other countries and environments.The consortium consist of 6 partner organisations from Iceland, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Sweden and Spain, highly motivated in designing, testing and sustaining the project outputs, with complementary expertise and highly experienced in the project topics.A total of 75 targeted seniors/community members will benefit of the pilot activities; 32 community members will be identified and trained; 100 target groups representatives and stakeholders will be involved in research; 12 adult educators will be directly involved in the validation process of outcomes. Project results will directly reach at least 600 persons (citizens, adult educators, stakeholders) via project activities, multiplier events, creating a strong base for long term exploitation.The biggest impact is expected to be the strengthened networking and cohesion within the community. Networking, cooperation and linking people together in rural communities provide people with a sense of community spirit and local involvement, which in-turn enhances the longer-term prospects for rural areas to survive in times of economic austerity or population decline. Beside, the practical orientation of the methods and tools, the content uploaded within the website and available as Open Educational Resource, as well as the high flexibility and easy applicability of the approach, gives opportunity for use in different contexts and guarantees a long-lasting multiplication effect.

The context and or background to the DEAL Project is the deficit in entrepreneurship digital skills identified by the EU Commission, the associated unemployment statistics (See below) and the opportunity presented by digitalisation, especially in the area of developing self employment - entrepreneurship opportunities in particular for the older, rural female worker. DEAL supports especially vulnerable target groups who are preparing for the unavoidable impact of digitalisation. External global drivers of change such as rapidly changing technologies, globalisation, climate change and urbanisation will have significant impacts on enterprises nationally and at a European level.- 44% of EU Citizens do not have basic digital skills- of that 44%, some 42% are unemployed PROJECT OBJECTIVESThe target 150 participants will in the main be recruited from low income, older rural and females cohorts. The objectives of the project are to these recruits in a specially designed education and training programme which will provide them with the necessary knowledge, information and competence to have the necessary self-confidence to take advantage of digitalisation for the purpose of developing self-employment entrepreneurship opportunities. Dissemination and Valorisation of the project products and results are key objectives with a target of over 150,000 set. PROJECT ACTIVITIESThe activities of the DEAL project will include:1. Leading and Managing all aspects of the project including:a. Reporting and Financial Requirementsb. Communicationsc. Quality Assuranced. Risk Assessment and Remedial Actionse. Dissemination and Valorisation2. Developing a user-friendly Open Educational Resource Platform for the purpose of hosting our proposed Education and Training Programme and Associated Resources for the benefit of the Target Group3. Mapping Dynamics and Trends of the Silver Economy and Active Aging for the purpose of ensuring, through the production of a comparative Country Map, using a common methodology, of the existing and emerging dynamics and trends of the silver economy and active ageing, so as to ensure that the currency, relevance and practicality of the proposed education and training programme responds to the actual and not some perceived needs of the Target Group4. Training and Resources Toolkit for the purpose of imparting relevant Skills, Knowledge and Competence to the Target Group.5. Producing a DEAL Operational Manual and Position Paper to enable other Organisations and Users to understand, operationalise and benefit from the Projects outcomes and outputs into the foreseeable future.PROJECT METHODOLOGYThere will be a number of methodologies employed in the DEAL Project including:1. A democratic inclusive partnership style to Project Management2. An adult education pedagogic approach to programme management, design, development and delivery, which respects the knowledge and experience and actual circumstances of the learners and puts their needs at the centre3. A common methodology and framework for mapping purposes4. A technological methodology that places ease of navigation, information retrieval and accessibility to the fore having in mind at all stages the need to build digital and entrepreneurial self confidence in the learner5. A methodology committed to the free flow of information and resources on a continuous basis into the future so as to benefit people and organisations not originally involved with the Project.KEY PROJECT RESULTS AND IMPACT ENVISAGED· Successful delivery on time and as originally described· Full compliance with the Funding Agency’s requirements· A cohort of trained individuals, drawn from the target group who will have the knowledge, skills and competence, as well as the self confidence to develop self employment opportunities through entrepreneurship.· A relevant Education and Training Programme (in the area of Digital Entrepreneurship and Self Employment Opportunities) and associated Resources freely available to all· An Operational Manual and Position Paper making the results and outcomes of the project truly transparent and available for further exploitationFINALLY THE POTENTIAL LONGER TERM BENEFITS-A reduction in the number of EU Citizens who do not have digital skills- An increase in the number of EU Citizens self employed through their own efforts as a result of having benefited from the education and training programme originated by the DEAL Project- Specific groups such as women, rural dwellers and older people will yield particular benefits from DEAL as the project supports these cohorts to address the very specific challenges they face.

<< Background >>EUROFOUND records that in 2019 there were more than 9.3 Million NEETs in Europe which translates in a loss for EU economies that is estimated to be around EUR 142 Billion in benefits (i.e. foregone earnings), source: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/neetsCOVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the condition of socio-economic isolation/marginalisation of NEETs with serious and very concerning impacts for their well-being and mental health. A survey conducted by EUROFOUND (COVID-19 and NEETs: Is History Repeating Itslef?) confirmed that NEETs’ motivation, resilience and sense of initiative are at their lowest rate since the 2008’ crisis. The needs analysis conducted during proposal – and confirmed by EUROFOUND – highlighted the following concerning trends: 1. due to COVID-19, NEETs are struggling even more to find a place for themselves in society2. the isolation caused by COVID restrictions is posing serious threats for their mental health and well-being: depression, loneliness, very low-sense of initiative, very low-sense of self-efficacy and adaptability3. NEETs are very insecure about their financial future. In the aftermath of the pandemic. Compared to over 30 y/o, NEETs shown greater “anxiety” about the stability of their future professional career >NEEDS tackled by SPECIAL:1.CEDEFOP’ EUROPEAN SKILLS INDEX 2020: skills mismatch, activation and development of skills is still very fragmented among EU – with many countries represented in SPECIAL (ES, IT and RO) performing way below the EU average. If not addressed by large-scale initiatives moved by the common mission and vision shared by participants as in SPECIAL, such heterogeneity in results might lead to ever greater differences and gaps among members states and EU citizens2. The disrupting forces intervening in the markets are moving professional careers in becoming more diverse, morphing and trans-functional: soft skills and life competences (adaptability, resiliency, self-efficacy, flexibility, etc.) are instrumental to enable job-seekers in embracing a new normality in which non-linear careers are becoming increasingly common (OECD Employment Outlook ‘19; Going beyond technical skills, ILO ‘18)3. SPECIAL is extremely time relevant. In the words of EUROFOUND: “The impact of the pandemic on education is also damaging NEETs’ opportunities to accumulate human capital. The suspension of schooling is likely to hinder skills formation, while reinforcing inequalities between the most privileged and the most vulnerable”. SPECIAL is inclusive by design and works to reignite sense of initiative among NEETs to sustain them in (re)engaging in education, labour market and/or nurture their entrepreneurial spiritsTARGETS NEEDS•VET providers, their need is assuring attractiveness of education and training from NEETs’ perspective. Based on EURFOUND findings and Council Recommendation on VET, EU training and education systems needs to be better equipped to tackle, face and overcome the new related challenges emerging from societies•Public Authorities, their need is to be better informed on new priorities emerging from their socio-economic ecosystems. This means planning and implementing policies that are better consistent with the 3rd EU Commission priorities for ’19-’24 “an economy at the service of people”, sub priority of reference “Youth Employment Support - A bridge to work for the next generation”, with specific reference to the following proposition from the EU: “preparing EU policies on vocational education and training (VET) for the future”•NEETs, their needs consist in being able to access and rely on “catchy” and easy-to-absorb training content that help them in (re)gaining trust in themselves, sense of initiative, motivation in education and training so as to help them in reintegrating in society as job-seekers and/or aspiring entrepreneurs. To trigger such “renaissance” of motivation, SPECIAL training content will leverage on two EU frameworks that exploit<< Objectives >>SPECIAL aims to strengthen, reignite and nurture “life” and “soft” skills of EU NEETs so as to sustain them in (re)integrating in post-COVID societies and labour markets. Particular focus will be given to NEETs from non-urban areas, as indicated by data (EUROSTAT, EUROFOUND), exponentially disadvantage in accessing training and education SPECIAL gives priority to adapt VET practices (exercised by trainers, coacher, and staff) to the current and future needs of the economy and society. SPECIAL targets the design, provision and exploitation of innovative training content that embeds agile thinking as an umbrella framework for soft skill developmentSPECIAL design, develop and test training programmes that are flexible, demand-driven, tailored on targets’ needs and learners-centred. SPECIAL training exploits soft and transversal skills for career development/employability/self-empowerment of NEETs. The project is flexible by design: SEPCIAL is adaptable at trans-sectorial and transnational dimension to successfully manage the transition of learners form their condition of “economic” isolation to motivated job-seekers/aspiring entrepreneursTo do so, SPECIAL project aims to design, develop, test and validate a new training framework for VET operators that is instrumental to: 1. reignite NEETs’ sense on initiative 2. nurture NEETs’ perception of self-awareness and self-efficacy3. strengthen NEETs’ flexibility and adaptation to social and market labour dynamics4. empower NEETs’ social and life skills5. enhance NEETs’ employability opportunities and/or entrepreneurial spirits6. increase NEETs’ proficiency in critical and creative thinking for self-employability/job hunting/development of business ideasThe SPECIAL training will stem from two of the most robust and reliable EU frameworks in the domain of education and training: EntreComp and LifeCompSPECIAL takes stock of available best practices and case studies to (re)engage NEETs in education and training so as to sustain them in unleashing their potential for employability/job-hunting/development of entrepreneurial spirts. Emerging needs and potential areas of intervention will be counter-assessed and benchmarked with the 15 EntreComp competences and the 9 “Life Competences” of LifeComp and exploit them so as to track development programmes that are consistent with: -NEETs needs -official EU frameworks for education and training. The training material will respond to the needs of all identified targets Consistently with the Council Recommendation on VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience (2020/C 417/01), SPECIAL will: >designing a training model that is designed to be readapted/adaptable to labour market, sectoral or individual up- or reskilling needs>offering training and education resources that are learner-centred, access to face-to-face and digital or blended learning in flexible and modular pathways>tackling the opportunity for skills development and enhance EU citizens employment prospect and participation in society – consistently with “Towards European Education Area ‘25”>providing VET students high quality and innovative training tailored on skills for work, personal development that help them to get or create new jobs<< Implementation >>1. partners will first establish the digital identity of the project and formal “online storage” of all PRs, relevant news and updates. The SPECIAL OER Platform stands also as its most strategic means for online engagement and visibility. Users will be able to access the content for FREE – no log in credentials will be ever required. The content will be also available in compliance with the “open access to research and data” recommendation of the programme guide (page 14)2. In conjunction with the launch of PR1, partners will kickstart the mapping and research activities on relevant needs, challenges and threats preventing NEETs from entering in the labour market or in further training paths. A common methodology for the assessment will be developed and shared among partners by IHF so as to assure comparability of findings and common operative guidelines. To strengthen the sample of results, each partner will conduct the assessment in reference to their national context. IHF, as EU think thank and centre specialised in research on EU policies and practices, will focus on the EU/int. level3. Partners will benchmark them with the education areas of the EntreComp and LifeComp. This matching activity will help partners to identify training and educations areas that are most suitable for targets’ specific necessities and that are consistent with the 15 EntreComp competences and the 9 areas of the LifeComp. The final deliverable from this task consists in a multidimensional matrix in which for each specific need there is a consistent LifeComp’s area and EntreComp’s competenceThis cross assessment will represent the specific framework of reference for the training development. The matrix settles up the key intervention areas on which partners should focus and the key expected learning outcomes4. in consideration of the aforementioned matrix, partners will start to develop the training material. The training content will be organised in training module (macro-topics). Each training module (max. 20000 characters each) will be divided in further sub-didactic units so as to facilitate learning from targets and the organisation of the training programme for tutors/coachesBased on finding emerged during the preassessment before proposal, the proposed outline of the training is as follows:2 modules on ICT 2 on business management and entrepreneurship 2 on digital entrepreneurship2 on soft skills2 on life skillsThe exact topic of each training module will be confirmed after completion of PR2 so as to assure pedagogical accuracy and consistency with targets’ actual needsAn internal peer-review evaluation is also foreseen. Each partner will review of another partner’s content so as to assure for reliability and homogeneity of the content5. Upon positive feedbacks from all partners, the consortium will enter into the validation phase w/120 targets + 15 practitioners (cumulative number). PR3 leader will develop a Validation Plan that will provide guidance on how to structure the teaching activities, which tools to be used to collect feedback and comments from users. The performance standard is settled at least 70% of positive feedbacks. PR3 will conclude with the finetuning of the training material based on targets’ feedbacks6. Partners will develop the official digital legacy of SPECIAL, instrumental to sustain opportunities for its further replicability beyond the partnership and the EU co-financing cycle. PR4 considers both the domain of (a) practice and (b) policy: (a)operational guidelines. It will enable other EU stakeholders to leverage on SPECIAL’ experience, replicate the “project formula” and trigger consistent impacts at EU level(b) Policy recommendations. Inputs to “evidence-based” policy making in the field of NEETs, socio-economic inclusion, equal opportunities. It is the policy guideline that informs policy makers and relevant stakeholders on new opportunities for NEETs engagement in labour/training market<< Results >>Partners identified the following outcomes for targets during and at project completion:• INCREASED SENSE OF SELF-INITIATIVE for LEARNING TO LEARN developmentTargets will be better empowered to:>identify (business opportunities) for value-generation>brainstorm creative ideas>develop a long-term vision>valuing and reasoning on business ideas• INCREASED SENSE OF SELF-EFFICACY (mobilizing, organizing and matching resources) for the SOCIAL AREA of development>identify and assess the operational context>nurture their business and financial literacy>remain motivated and focused>increase their resiliency and flexibility>mobile others• INCREASED SENSE OF SELF-RELIABILITY for the PERSONAL AREA of development>overcoming challenges with self-made solutions>planning and managing: setting priorities>coping with risk and uncertainty>coordinating tasks and roles>learning-by-doingPRs are designed based on a “staged methodological approach”, meaning that each PR is instrumental for the implementation of the following:PR1) the SPECIAL OER platform represents the main mean for project’s visibility and exploitation at international level. It stands as the “online identity” of the project and online community of practice dedicated to soft skill and self-empowerment for employability, upskilling, education and training. PR1 responds to the needs of:>make available for VET practitioners a set for tool and resources to better tackle the needs of their cohorts and build on online community of practice for the NEETs empowerment>make available for policy stakeholders a set of tool and resource to better informed them on social and economic challenges soaring form the EUPR2) desk assessment on NEETs’ needs and benchmark with the EntreComp and LifeComp so as to take-stock of:>quali/quantitative trends pertaining to the phenomenon of NEETs>best practices and case scenario that might be readapted to SPECIAL operational settings>drivers, inhibitors and challenges faced by VET practitioners in engaging and retaining NEETs students>linkages of preliminary findings with the 15 EntreComp competences and 9 LifeComp areas so as to tackle to most suitable and “EU consistent” training areas for social skills, self-awareness and self-efficacy, communication, creativity and critical thinkingDeliverables will be 5 country reports, 1 int./EU report, 1 cross-assessment matrix with EntreComp/LifeComp, 1 executive summary in multilanguage versionPR3) based on PR2 findings, partners will consolidate and upload on the Platform a set of training materials that are expected to nurture NEETs’ interests in development of personal and social skills. Training material will be: >EQF compliant (form lvl 3 to 5)>organised in Training Modules further sub-dived in Training Units so as to facilitate its ease of use and the planning of training programmes from coaches and consultants (the exact number of Module and Units will be agreed based on PR2 findings). What will follow is a validation phase w/120 NEETs + 15 VET providers (engaged by IHF and EPIC). Based on targets’ satisfaction feedback, after completion of the piloting, the training material will be revised accordinglyPR4) is conceived as the digital legacy of the project. 2 deliverables are foreseen:1.IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES for VET coaches. This document will set the stage for clear guidelines aimed to valorise the adoption of the SPECIAL training resources, materials and tools beyond the partnership. The document will give detailed instructions on operational and managerial features, including the delivery mechanisms and other operational aspects of the training to replicate SPECIAL-like initiative, sustain the uptake and exploitation of the project by other VET organisations2. POLICY RECCOMENDATIONS. The paper puts forward ideas and inputs to relevant public stakeholders, to advance the policy discussion with focus on the linkages between the world of VET and employabiability