We are facing very important and long-term changes that go further than the crisis we are undergoing and that have impact in all economic and social changes. These geo-political, economic and social changes are forcing our companies to change their “ways of doing”, to make things better or differently, transforming their value proposals, their international presence and their organisation and management model. They make us innovate permanently in the products and services we offer and question the validity of the business models permanently. We need more and better investment and innovation to back our competitiveness and strengthen economic recovery. Innovation and creativity have to be increased in all levels of Education and Training (ET2020).In this context, the EU has decided to establish for 2020 the objective of achieving a 75% employment rate for woman and men aged between 20 and 64 (Europe Strategy 2020). It is basic to have qualified workers with professional profiles adapted to the new labour market demands and needs in order to reach this objective. The education and training systems should offer the suitable mixture of qualifications and competences to achieve a quick and suitable transition to employment. Talent and innovation are key factors in the equation as a guarantee of employability and competitiveness. In this complex and uncertain context, we use the concept of open innovation as an ally. “In a world that is featured by the disseminated knowledge, we can create more value by integrating external talent and knowledge. When all the talents do not work for the company, it is advisable to find them, get in contact with them and take profit of their capacities” (Henry Chesbrough U:C. Berkeley).Although actual VET Systems are changing the way of doing and starting to collaborate with the business world, it is true than nowadays VET System, in general, are based on a traditional way of doing where the VET student has a passive role and are placed far from the real business world. Our challenge is to address the VET Innovation Systems to generate new opportunities and favour employment creation. Therefore, we need to anticipate the industry/company needs, identify proactively the opportunities to generate new products or productive processes, which improve the competitiveness in the companies and the young people’s employability. We are planning to use all the possibilities and opportunities of the vocational training network, its closeness to companies (particularly the SMEs), to act as a booster for innovation in them, mobilizing the VET young people’s talent. We are willing to use the OPEN INNOVATION MODEL to develop applied innovation projects with companies mobilizing the VET young people’s capacities and talent and strengthening the connection VET–Company (Work Based Learning).Open Innovation is a new innovation strategy under which companies go beyond the internal limits of their organisations and where cooperation with external professionals has a main role. Open Innovation Models combine internal knowledge with external knowledge to develop new and innovative projects and products. Using Open innovation Models, on the one hand, the innovation process is accelerated and the associated costs and risks are reduced and, on the other hand, new possibilities for commercial exploitation of knowledge are opened.The objective of SPACE 4 COCREATE - OPEN AND INNOVATIVE SPACES FOR COLLABORATIVE WORKING BETWEEN VET PROVIDERS AND BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS project is to create an open model, methodology and tools based on the innovation models, addressed to the VET centre professionals (teachers, mentors, guiders…) to develop innovation projects with companies through young VET teams, stimulating VET young innovation and supporting synergies between education and business world.The main outputs will be:1) SPACE 4 COCREATE MODEL (Open Innovation Model) to develop applied innovation projects with companies and young VET teams. It will define the better way to collaborate between VET Systems and Employment, how to improve synergies between Education, Research and Innovation fields.2) SPACE 4 COCREATE TOOL BOX: methodologies, tools and resources to favour the conceptualisation, design, implementation and validation of applied innovation projects addressed to VET Centres, involving both parts: VET and Business Sector.

Fostering Rural Resilience through Creativity and Arts-driven Entrepreneurship (RURAL CANVAS) is a project that aims to bring the two worlds of arts and creative industries on one hand, and rural areas in Europe on the other, to boost employability and entrepreneurial skillset of artists and creative workers, foster interdisciplinarity and facilitate rural resilience as a result. The onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the future of artists, creators and cultural workers in an unprecedented manner. Social distancing and other precautionary measures have hampered the job prospects of this group, creating postponements and cancellations of performances, exhibitions, events and other modes of securing livelihood and having a sense of purpose that one gains through their work. Arts, culture and creative industry is the third largest employer in the EU, following behind construction and food sectors (European Commission, 2016). Therefore, the closure of various venues, institutions and companies and pushing professionals from this industry out of jobs has sent a major shockwave to the economy and has threatened significantly EU’s further growth. As another area has been hit massively by COVID-19, namely rural areas, the project will aim to have artists and creative workers conceive of creative solutions for these areas.However, for that to happen, it is essential that artists and creative workers first upskill themselves in entrepreneurial skills and 21CS. It is widely known that a large proportion of artists lack entrepreneurial skills and mindset (Artenprise, 2018). Collision between artistic skills and creativity on one hand, and entrepreneurial, hands-on knowledge together with the right attitude has a great potential for generative innovative solutions and business models. Given that rural areas suffer in particular from the lack of innovation and have been hit immensely by COVID-19, artists and creative workers will be equipped with entrepreneurial hard skills as well as entrepreneurship-focused 21st century soft skills and use this knowledge to conceive of solutions to the challenges faced by the rural areas.In this manner, artists and creative workers will be ignited with new skills to complement their primary profession, which in turn would foster their employability skills; they would make valuable contribution to the rural development and rural community coping mechanisms; they would garner more garner a bigger sense of meaning and purpose. The project will heavily rely on project-based and problem-based learning to upskill the artists and creative workers and will be highly collaborative, as one of the key outcomes of the project would involve teams of artists and creative workers to create implementable projects in the rural areas. The processes of upskilling artists and equipping them to create projects will be driven actively by Rurart Alliances, a group of relevant and competent stakeholders set up at the beginning of the project. In addition, each team will be assigned a mentor either from Rurart Alliances or consortium partner network, who will guide the team in their project creation. The overarching objective of RURAL CANVAS are following:-Equipping artists and creative workers with entrepreneurial and 21st century skills to complement their primary profession-Contributing to resilience and innovative solutions to rural challenges through co-creation, mentorship and project-based initiatives driven by artistic and creative approaches of artists and creative workers-Forging synergies between arts and creative sector representatives, rural stakeholders, entrepreneurship actors and local authorities-Enhancing employability and mental toughness of artists and creative workers-Inspiring novel approaches in using art and creativity as a vehicle to tackling societal challengesThe project will attain the objectives above via 4 IOs:(IO1) Rurart Alliance Blueprint and Skills Prioritisation Map(IO2) RURAL CANVAS Toolkit IO3) RURAL eCANVAS and Mentorship Compass(IO4) RURAL CANVAS AcademyDue to interdisciplinarity and complexity of the project, different institutions are brought together: research-intensive university, university of applied sciences, vocational training centre, international innovation organisation and international quality assurance body focusing on engagement and entrepreneurship. Coming from different regions of Europe they will bring different expertise, perspectives and realities to make this a truly European undertaking.

<< Background >>The fight against climate change can start on our plate. Depending on our choices, we can reduce the environmental impact of mass agriculture, industrial fisheries and cattle breeding, known to be some of the most polluting industries and leading to a very serious problem: food waste. Just focusing on industrial fisheries, as an example, millions of people in food-deficit countries could have avoided malnutrition if fisheries were not overexploited and local resources unfairly allocated. We are currently wasting protein that would be enough for an additional 72 million people a year, because fisheries are not being managed for the long term. The European Commission shares the same concerns that drive this consortium, and it aims to cut food waste by half by proposing legally binding targets across the EU by 2023. Within the scope of food sustainability, FAO has presented five main axes to develop the theme: 1. Improve resource use efficiency; 2. Take direct action to conserve, protect and enhance natural resources; 3. Protect rural livelihoods and improve equity and social well-being; 4. improve the resilience of people, communities and ecosystems, especially to climate change and market volatility; 5. promote good governance for improved sustainability of natural and human systems. The environment is not the only beneficiary in need of a more sustainable diet. Humans are on the same end: in 2017, one out of five deaths in the EU were attributable to unhealthy diets. A healthy, plant-based diet reduces the risk of life-threatening diseases and the environmental impact of our food system. A growing no. of people have noticed this and have embarked on a journey towards a healthier, environmental-friendly lifestyle – this translates to a demand for organic produce, less animal protein, zero-waste cooking and greener restaurants.The VET-ECOoking project parts from these needs and is committed to improving the environment through sustainable cooking. It will bridge a gap existent in the VET courses in the Cooking field, by developing a training module about sustainable cooking directed at VET trainees. This project will, then, address four main needs: the environmental need to reduce food waste; the human need to have a healthier diet; the labour-market need for qualified professionals in the area of sustainable cooking; and the VET need to innovate and update its Cooking curricula to fit the most recent standards.<< Objectives >>This project aims at developing a training module about sustainable cooking to be included in the national curricula for Cooking VET courses. The rationale behind VET-ECOoking is that all cooking professionals will be better equipped and prepared to deal with issues such as the impact of mass production on both humans and the planet, as enhancers of the gastronomic experience. Currently, EU member-states are lacking efficient VET offers concerning the provision of sustainable cooking skills. It is therefore important to upgrade the qualifications and abilities of future cooking professionals, so that these professionals can deliver their service in appropriate ways, respecting not only the diversity of customers’ needs but also specific requirements related to different cuisines and necessary adaptations. With suitable training, such as the one that VET-ECOoking will offer, future cooking professionals, currently attending VET education, can serve everyone delicious, sustainable food, regardless of the client’s lifestyle. To summarize, our goals are:-To create a training module on “Sustainable Cooking” for VET students in the field of cooking;-Develop hard and soft skills of VET students to prepare sustainable, high-quality gastronomy and raise awareness for the importance of fighting climate change;-Better prepare the VET students to address the challenges at the workplace, with a focus on the greener dietary options;-Increase the notoriety of VET in the field of cooking;-Use cooking as a departure point to raise awareness for the sustainable development goals (namely no.s 2, 3, 6 and 12).<< Implementation >>The following activities are going to be implemented to reach the project’s objectives:- Benchmarking of existing curricula on sustainable cooking and other relevant related content in 4 countries;- 100 Interviews to experts in VET Training, Environmental Sustainability and Gastronomy Industry;- 4 Roundtables with 12 experts in VET Training, Environmental Sustainability and Gastronomy Industry;- 20 Good Practices on Sustainable Cooking;- Production of 4 national and 1 global report on “State of the Art and Good Practices concerning Sustainable Cooking”;- Definition of the Curricula for VET Cooking Courses on “Sustainable Cooking”;- Creation of a VET module on Sustainable Cooking to be integrated into VET courses of Gastronomy;- Elaboration of a training platform with the contents and the resources of the module;- 12 Evaluation and Validation Meetings with 36 experts in VET Training, Environmental Sustainability and Gastronomy Industry;- Platform’s functionality and usability tests with at least 40 interested persons;- Pilot test with 8 trainers and 80 trainees;- Online show-cooking activity with trainers and trainees from all the countries;- 7 Multiplier Events and 1 Final Conference (total: 170 participants);- Creation of a Final Publication: “Promoting Sustainable Cooking to fight for a better World”.<< Results >>Main results:- 4 National and 1 Global report: “State of the Art and Good Practices concerning Sustainable Cooking” (available in 4 languages);- 1 VET module on Sustainable Cooking to be integrated into VET courses of Gastronomy (available in 4 languages);- 1 Training platform with the contents and the resources of the module (available in 4 languages);- 1 Final publication: “Promoting Sustainable Cooking to fight for a better World” (available in 4 languages).Operational results:- Project Management Handbook;- Interim and Final Reports;- Quality Management Plan;- Quality Reports;- Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation Plan;- Dissemination reports.Transversal results:- Development of professional and soft skills of VET trainees for their better integration in the labour market;- Dissemination of good practices in the field of sustainable cooking;- Awareness-raising for the problem of food waste and overconsumption of resources;- Increasing the attractiveness of VET courses in gastronomy due to its update and innovative methods;- Bridging the gap between the needs of the labour market and the VET offer;- Fighting climate change through simple changes in food habits.

Teaching basic skills to low skilled adults is probably one of the most difficult educational assignments in the field of adult education. Addressing the needs of the long-term unemployed; migrants; refugees; asylum seekers; and indigenous ethnic minorities like Roma demands considerable skill and dedication. And yet, anecdotally at least, educators working with these most marginalised groups tend to have fewer opportunity for CPD training and least well resourced. At the heart of the OutsideIN project is the belief that in-service training to support the continuous professional development of adult educators is essential if they are to develop new and innovative approaches to attract marginalised adults back to lifelong learning and education. The OutsideIN project consortium, lead by Meath Partnership and comprising Acrosslimits, RightChallenge, Siglo22 and Eurotraining, has developed, piloted and implemented a new in-service training programme complete with a training handbook to support the continuous professional development of adult educators working with the most marginalised adult learners. An educator's toolbox complete with a full suite of 16 digital mini-format resources in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Greek, addressing key competence areas is also available to these front-line adult education staff to support their work. All resources, including the training manual and resource toolbox, are available in all partner languages on an online learning environment at https://outsidein-project.eu. These resources will continue to be available until 2024 to all interested parties without restriction in keeping with the open access requirements of the ERASMUS+ programme. In 2019, the project partners hosted a series of major community learning festivals in their local areas with the specific task of engaging marginalised adults to interact and experiment with the digital tools created and provide access opportunities to re-engage with lifelong learning. The final conference which was held in Ireland on 18th September 2019 presented the resources developed by the consortium and engaged 104 marginalised learners and adult educators. 17 front-line adult educators from across the partner countries attended the Transnational Training Activity in Malta in April 2019. This event supported the realisation of a cascading model of training with a further 58 front-line adult educators completing the first iteration of the in-service training in Ireland, Spain, Malta, Greece and Portugal during 2019 with the support of those, that participated in the transnational training event. The local regions where partners work have benefited from the increased social inclusion achieved and the new opportunities to engage with the projects' target groups. The potential savings to service providers may well be significant for every marginalised person who has engaged with the OutsideIn project and may ultimately be reintegrated into lifelong learning. OutsideIN has developed, piloted and presented a best practice example and has demonstrated that even the most hard to reach target groups can be encouraged to get involved and participate in learning if the opportunities to engaged are well conceived and appropriately communicated. Increased participation rates of marginalised adults in education and training will have considerable effects on the social inclusion objectives of Member States and the realisation of a fairer and more equitable society for all in Europe.

<< Background >>The Cultural and Creative Sector (CCS) have been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those sub-sectors most dependent on the presence of public, due to suspended live cultural events, which put more than 7 million jobs at risk in the EU (Morellato et al., 2020). The pandemic accelerated the digitalisation process, transforming the cultural experience (OECD, 2020), but many smaller CCS actors are not properly skilled to benefit from the new opportunities (IDEA Consult et al., 2021). The CCS is essential for socio-economic recovery, as it can encourage people’s wellbeing and resilience and promote a shared sense of European identity (Wahba et al., 2020; EC, 2020). To enable the CCS to continue to fulfill its primary function and support its recovery and resilience, CCS actors need to be urgently equipped with digital skills and capacity to harness digital opportunities. The European VET systems play a central role in preparing people and businesses to undertake the digital transition, and thus need to be modernised in order to close the existing skill gap. Yet, in many EU countries, VET programmes are still unprepared to reflect the current challenges (CEDEFOP, 2020). The pandemic hindered the delivery of VET programmes, revealing scarce ability to use digital tools, motivate learners, ensure the continuity of learning and equal opportunities for all, which increased the risk of drop-out (ILO, 2020). This is alarming as education and training are the true enablers of innovation, contributing to the workforce upskilling, and increasing employability. Unprecedented technological progress brings new business opportunities, creates new jobs, reforms the way we work and, importantly, determinates what, when and how people need to learn (Morellato et al., 2020). Digitalisation is not the only factor of change: demographic, environmental, political and economic challenges require greater emphasis on VET, enabling it to reconcile sustained productivity and adequate distribution of the benefits of growth (CEDEFOP, 2020). To ensure the central role of European VET systems to prepare people and business to the digital transition and overcome the existing skill gap, VET providers need to be agile, resilient and ready to react to skill demand changes. To face these challenges, RestART will address the following target groups:- CCS actors needing to improve their digital and transversal vocational skills: Members of the creative, cultural and artistic organisations, small creative businesses, grassroot cultural organisations, individual creators, artists and freelancers especially from the sub-sector of the performing arts and heritage, including people from disadvantaged groups.- CCS-oriented VET providers: Public and private VET providers offering training related to cultural and creative disciplines, that are not confident and sufficiently skilled in using digital technologies in training and wish to acquire the necessary competences to adapt to the new trends.<< Objectives >>RestART’s main objective is to support the digital transition and resilience of CCS actors by enhancing the ability of VET providers in creative disciplines to adapt their training offer to current and future needs of labour market, economy and society. Thus, the project will pursue the following specific objectives:- to create a transferable ECVET-based framework to support VET providers in designing innovative and flexible training offers for the CCS, leading to the achievement of transferable learning outcomes;- to strengthen key digital and transversal skills of CCS VET learners, helping them to create, manage, promote their products, and successfully participate in the changing markets and societies;- to equip CCS-oriented VET providers with tools and guidance on how to use digital technologies in training, competence assessment and validation, empowering them to support CCS actors’ resilience;- to facilitate the ability of CCS-oriented VET providers to respond to the challenges of the 21st century, becoming more open, inclusive, environmentally-conscious and able to provide training offers meeting the real needs of the labour market;- to upscale the RestART approaches, encouraging policymakers and other stakeholders to support the transformation of European CCS-oriented VET towards digitalisation, inclusivity, and sustainability.<< Implementation >>All project activities work towards increased innovation and digitalisation of CCS-oriented VET and the creation of a flexible upskilling opportunity for CCS learners, by involving them in the following activities in 6 EU countries: - Organisation of co-creative meetings, enabling an exchange between VET providers and learners from the CCS and in-depth transnational need analysis of their training priorities and desired learning outcomes, to create a flexible digital-based training framework, based on ECVET principles (R1).- MOOC-ART piloting with CCS-oriented VET learners and providers (R2): attending the course, CCS actors will strengthen their digital skills and key competences to increase their opportunities for active participation in the changing markets and societies; participating as observers, VET providers will learn about a cutting-edge open course to include in their training offer; by providing individual support to CCS learners lacking appropriate digital skills and/or means, the inclusion of VET learners with disadvantaged background and from vulnerable groups will be increased; piloting the MOOC, project partners will test its efficacy and eventually adapt it accordingly.- Interviews with representatives of national good practices in CCS-oriented VET to collect deeper insights on the selected practices in RestART-kit (R3), a comprehensive toolkit offering guidance on how to upscale the training offer for the CCS. - Organisation of National Validation meetings and the International Validation Forum with CCS-oriented VET providers to discuss the effectiveness of RestART-kit and foster European exchange and mutual enrichment between CCS-oriented VET providers (R3).- Conducting video interviews with members from the CCS and CCS-oriented VET, to analyse their experience within the project (R4).- Roundtable discussions with local/regional/national stakeholders in VET and the CCS, to identify innovative strategies for upscaling RestART approach and contribute to innovation of CCS-oriented VET through tailored, country-specific policy recommendations (R4). - Designing video recommendations for policymakers, highlighting specific and common challenges and needs across the EU, thus calling for their support to contribute to the innovation of CCS-oriented VET and finalising the RestART digital gallery (R4). - Multiplier events (E1-6) reaching out to a wide audience of VET providers and trainers, CCS actors, and key stakeholders and policymakers, fostering the exploitation and sustainability of the project results.<< Results >>The innovation of the CCS and CCS-oriented VET will be enhanced through the following tangible results developed within RestART:- A flexible, ECVET-based framework (R1), supporting CCS-oriented VET providers in designing training offers targeted to CCS actors leading to the achievement of transferable learning outcomes. - The MOOC-ART (R2) based on the R1 framework, equipping CCS actors with a cutting-edge, custom-tailored learning opportunity to strengthen their skills and competences to adapt their work and products to new digital formats of culture and art creation, distribution, consumption, as well as business models, while applying socially and environmentally responsible strategies, according to the 21st century demand. - The RestART-kit (R3), supporting VET providers’ ability to incorporate responses and mitigation measures in their training offer, in line with the digital transformation and with current and future societal and environmental challenges. - The RestART Digital Gallery for upscaling VET in the CCS (R4), encouraging policymakers and key stakeholders to take action for increased innovation of CCS-oriented VET in the EU. Thus, the following outcomes are expected:- Newly-created flexible ECVET-based framework supporting CCS-oriented VET providers in designing training offers targeted to CCS actors leading to the achievement of transferable learning outcomes.- Strengthened digital as well as transversal skills of CCS actors, enabling them to adapt to the progressing digitalisation, and transforming societies and markets, and enhanced business opportunities and competitiveness of the CCS actors involved.- Increased preparedness of CCS-oriented VET providers to use digital technologies and means in training management and delivery, competence assessment and validation, allowing them to improve their training offer tailored to CCS learners and enhance their human capital and resilience.- Enhanced CCS-oriented VET providers’ ability to respond to the challenges of the 21st century, as well as accelerated modernisation and transition towards more inclusive and greener future, and improved ability to swiftly revise VET training offer according to the changing skill demand.- Increased motivation of policymakers and key stakeholders in VET and the CCS to support the overall innovation of CCS-oriented VET in the EU towards digitalisation, inclusivity, and sustainability, confirming and reinforcing VET’s key role in European societies and economies.