Europe is gradually becoming a more innovative continent. Innovation has been placed in the centre of Europe 2020 strategy for its key role in business expansion, employment creation and economic growth. Innovation Union Scoreboard (2015) states that EU innovation growth has been increasing at an average annual rate of 1.0% between 2007 and 2014. Still, the growth has not been equally strong across all innovation dimensions and indicators. While Europe has been getting stronger in Innovation Enablers and Firm Activities, a notable decline in EU SMEs’ Innovation Outputs has occurred. The share of SMEs with product/process innovations has shrunk by 1.7% and that of the marketing/organizational innovations by 3.3%. Sales of innovative products have declined by 0.8%. The discrepancy between innovation inputs (enablers and firm activities) and innovation outputs proves that Europe still has to tap into its innovative potential and is yet to poise itself better to be able to fully cash in on its innovative products and services.Commercialization of innovation is becoming an urgent problem. The most recent Innobarometer survey (2015) confirms EU SMEs experience difficulties in bringing innovative products or services to market. It also states that SMEs face more constrains to commercialization of their innovations than bigger companies. Lack of marketing expertise has been a problem in commercializing innovations for 39% of SMEs, compared to 23% of bigger enterprises.Among SMEs, young firms (0-5 years old) have the highest potential for innovation, growth and jobs creation (DynEmp, OECD). At the same time, they represent the most vulnerable group due to:1. low survival rate – in a majority of EU Member States only 40% to 60% of firms born in 2008 survived until 2012 (Annual Report on European SMEs 2014/2015);2. shortage of skills related to planning and managing innovation process and bringing innovative ideas to market (same as above).The data analysis reveals a need for training which will provide young SMEs with fail-safe methods of introducing innovative products/services to market and gaining commercial success.The INN-COMMERCE project addresses this challenge setting up the aim: to foster commercialization of young SMEs' innovation by improving their knowledge and skills in promoting and marketing innovative products or services through gamified training, specifically tailored to their needs. Specific objectives include:- Developing curriculum and e-learning content addressing the challenges young SMEs face in commercialization of innovative products/services;- Providing young SMEs with an open educational resource complete with learning materials on the innovation process with special focus on commercialization of innovation; - Delivering clear guidelines for young SMEs and C-VET institutions on using the developed materials and resources in their practice; - Collecting SMEs’ best practices in applying marketing strategies for successful commercialization of innovative products and services.The project employs life-cycle methodology, which implies a sequence of activities for planning, executing and disseminating the project results.In the lifetime of the project, the following intellectual outputs will be developed:O1. Course curriculum and learning content including a) presentations supplemented with voice memos and b) game-like exercisesO2. Gamification strategy and interactive/ gamified content implemented on the e-learning platformO3. Guidelines for SMEs and VET providers explaining the nature of INN-COMMERCE trainingO4. Collection of best practices in applying marketing strategies for successful commercialization of innovative products and services.Gamification approach to learning design will help to make INN-COMMERCE training a productive and fun experience. Interactive content will be developed in a way allowing for flexible self-paced learning. The partners will provide detailed instructions for engaging with all learning materials, including video-presentations, quizzes and interactive game-like exercises.The INN-COMMERCE project is targeted at EU SMEs which are 0-5 years old and C-VET providers. At least 445 representatives of the target group will be directly involved in the project activities and events (prototype workshops, national small-scale conferences and the project final conference). In addition, the project will reach more than 100 000 indirect beneficiaries through broad dissemination activities.By achieving its objectives, the INN-COMMERCE project will contribute to strengthening the innovation performance of EU SMEs, thus supporting economic growth and employment creation in Europe.

BackgroundMobility is part of the flexibility considered important for the European labour force. Learning mobility, that is transnational mobility for the purpose of acquiring new skills, is one of the fundamental ways through which individuals, particularly young people, can strengthen their future employability as well as their personal development (European Commission 2009).The success of the placements abroad depends a lot on the extent to which the trainee gets in contact with the lifestyle, mindset and habits of the hosting country. In this process that is both personal and intercultural for trainees, the role of hosting organisations is central. SMEs represent the trainee’s “practical handbook” in the world of work and also for the country’s identity and environment (economic, social and cultural). Inadequate preparation of the hosting organization may result in entrenched negative stereotypes and a higher dose of ethnocentricism. The InterMobil project will seek to address the neglected topic of intercultural training of mobility hosting organization (especially SMEs). Project aim and objectivesThe overall aim of the InterMobil project is to create a more favourable environment for youth exchanges and mobility programmes in the field of VET and Labour Market placements.The project stipulates several specific objectives in order to achieve its overall aim:~ To develop an efficient intercultural training in view of the challenges youth mobility faces from the practice, training, research and employer’s perspectives;~ To remove the obstacles to successful youth mobility due to intercultural differences and misunderstanding;~ To strengthen the position of intercultural competences in EU youth mobilities programmes as tool to maximize the benefits of the mobility;~ To contribute to the increase of EU mobilities through raising the awareness and promoting the benefits for the hosting companiesTarget groupsThe target groups that the project addresses represent the various actors involved in the implementation of EU mobilities. On the one hand there are SMEs and similar organizations hosting mobilities, intermediaries facilitating EU mobilities and EU mobilities sending organizations. In other words the three sides of the process will be approached, their viewpoints considered and their observations and recommendations will be embedded in the learning materials. The aim is that each of these three types of actors is satisfied with the final products and sees value in adopting the materials for building intercultural competence. Knowing that all involved possess the necessary intercultural competence will bring more trust in their partnership and will facilitate cooperation. All these actors will be involved at different stages of InterMobil implementation – in the research phase, focus groups discussions, prototype workshops and small-scale events organized by the partners. Thus all of them will be given a voice and a chance to contribute to the development of the products. Expected outcomesThe project will result in three intellectual outputs:~ Learning content on intercultural competence – partners will apply a culture general approach, which is not focusing on specific cultures but on developing intercultural competences, which can be used in any environment. The learning content will cover topics such as: Cultural theories, Culture shock, Intercultural communication – language, Conflict management and de-escalation, Intercultural communication – paralanguage, Specifics of intercultural counselling, Practical student needs – the exchange student world, Host country culture and other.~ Handbook for SMEs – this product will be a short focused methodological document which will guide SMEs how to use the materials. It will present at a glance look on the learning materials and will also function as a teaser to read the full content.~ InterMobil project website – it will comprise all developed learning materials, the Handbook for SMEs, useful links to other projects or sites with similar content, the literature review carried out in the first months of the project will be also uploaded for further reference. The access to the materials on the website will be free of charge and registration won’t be required.

<< Background >>The teaching profession is intellectually and emotionally a highly demanding job. Teachers are exposed to a variety of stress factors, such as excessive workload, negative work-life balance, unsupportive school leadership, and challenging student behaviour (Richardson et al, 2013). Stressful working environment affects teachers’ motivation, self-efficacy and job commitment, which in turn can result in higher staff turnover and lower gains in student achievement. There is a growing recognition that for teaching and learning to be effective, teachers should have high levels of wellbeing (OECD, 2018). The latest research, however, proves that teachers’ wellbeing is an issue of concern. In the UK, more than 75% of educational professionals, including those in the VET sector, experience work-related behavioural, psychological or physical symptoms. 57% of teachers and 63% of senior leaders have considered leaving the profession within the past two years (Teacher Wellbeing Index 2018). The numbers are not much different for other European countries. For example, the Bulgarian Ministry of Education has been registering the highest rate of teachers leaving the profession in the last two years (2018). If unaddressed, the issue of poor wellbeing in schools would leave the educational systems in the EU without qualified and motivated staff, so needed for the development of the younger generation in the age of rising global competition. When national VET systems are struggling to recruit new teachers and retain their existing staff, VET teachers’ wellbeing has been an unfairly neglected topic (CEDEFOP, 2004, 2016; Boldrini & Sappa, 2017). In addition to the stress factors common to all levels of education, VET teachers face specific adversities, which have negative effect on their wellbeing. These include: undervalued image of the VET sector; unattractive career pathways for teachers; poor vocational motivation of students; ongoing changes in national VET systems due to harmonization processes at EU level; continuous changes in VET content due to rapid development of science & technology. The analysis of existing teacher wellbeing support schemes in partner countries, however, shows a lack of professional development opportunities for teachers to build the skills they need to deal effectively with the challenges of their working environment.<< Objectives >>VET-WELL project has addressed the teachers wellbeing challenge by planning to develop a comprehensive wellbeing support programme for VET staff, which is based on the rationale that: Teacher wellbeing is a complex construct with multiple dimensions: cognitive (self-efficacy), psychological (emotional regulation), social (collaboration and collegiality), and physical (working conditions); Improving teachers’ wellbeing requires strengthening of the skills and abilities to manage their own wellbeing (e.g. self-awareness, empathy, interpersonal relationship, stress management, conflict resolution) and to tackle their work effectively (e.g. efficacy in classroom management, instruction and student engagement); The culture and environment of a VET school have a profound influence on teachers’ wellbeing. The need for the project implementation was to support wellbeing programme for VET teachers that should be part of a whole school approach to wellbeing promotion, involving positive leadership practice, stress-free and inclusive environment, students’ wellbeing, and proactive engagement with families and the community.<< Implementation >>A summary of the implemented activities:O1-Framework for Teachers’ Wellbeing in VETPLANNING:O1/A1 Methodology and action plan - completed and proof documents enclosed to final reportDEVELOPMENTO1/A2.1 Research into VET teachers’ wellbeingCOMPLETED: literature review, skills sets, etc., surveys, focus groups reports - completed and proof documents enclosed to final reportO1/A2.2 Framework development - completed and proof documents enclosed to final reportO2-Professional Development Programme implemented O2 activities were:PLANNING:O2/A1 Syllabus, methodology and templates (M6)-Development of O2 methodology – completed and proof documents enclosed to final report-Syllabus – completed and proof document enclosed to final reportDEVELOPMENTO2/A2.1 Development of modules (M7-M11)-Modules’ content (incl. case studies and exercises) – completed 3 out of 7 and proof document enclosed to final reportO2/A2.2 Development of workshop scenarios (M8-M12)-Workshop scenarios - completed 3 out of 7 and proof document enclosed to final report<< Results >>The following outputs and results our project have been produced:O1 Framework for Teachers’ Wellbeing in VETO1.R1 Research methodology incl. questionnaire for survey,guidelines for focus group interviewsO1.R2 Research report summarizing survey results and focus groups resultsO2 Professional development programmeO2.R1 Syllabus O2.R2 Modules (learning content, incl. case studies and exercises) – completed 3 out of 7O2.R3 Practical workshop scenarios completed 3 out of 7A1 Project Management and ImplementationA1.R1 Partnership agreementsA1.R2 Project management plan, project finance and work planA1.R3 Interim and final technical and financial reportsA2 Project Quality ManagementA2.R1 Quality management planA2.R2 Internal evaluation reports:-Report 1 Evaluation of the project implementation processA3 DisseminationA3.R1 Dissemination and exploitation strategy prepared by EuroPAA3.R2 D&E reports: prepared by EuroPA based on partners’ inputs;A3.R3 VET-WELL website: developed by EuroPA M1-M4 and maintained for 5yrsA3.R4 visual identity (logo, templates, design of promotional materials, etc.): developed by EuroPAA3.R5 promotional materials, prepared by all partners for all activities involving project stakeholders.