PROJECT BACKGROUND & INTENDED IMPACTS: The overarching goal of the project was in line with two priorities of the Europe 2020 strategy: SMART & INCLUSIVE GROWTH. The priorities should be supported by empowering young adults in the acquisition of web security, personal data protection/GDPR skills following the INDUSTRY 4.0 trends within the EU. With an awareness of and know-how in different legal/IT schema individuals develop greater problem-solving capabilities, can advocate their interests and gain a sense of self-efficacy. This enables them to better adapt to new conditions, make potential career shifts and be more open to mobility within the European Union. Furthermore, web security, personal data protection/GDPR training should strengthen their entrepreneurial spirit and civic engagement because they know about related laws/IT and the effectiveness of their actions. PROJECT AIMS B-SAFE is now providing the European educational landscape with an innovative non-academic web security, personal data protection/GDPR following the INDUSTRY 4.0 training which enables future participants to • use of the knowledge to expand access to basic and core knowledge • understand by which national and EU laws they are affected and which rights and duties they have • autonomously read and understand the learning texts focus on the web security and internet safe • know the basic rules of the responsible behaviour on the Internet This gain in qualifications and skills will have economic and social benefits: Simultaneously, it is enhancing training participants’ chances of employment by championing not only professional skills but also know-how for web security and Internet safety issues (e.g. data protection, INDUSTRY 4.0, risks on Internet, inappropriate content and behaviour on Internet etc.). • Greater work mobility on the European job market due to knowledge gain on online platform and job seekers’ realisation that there are support mechanisms for foreign employees in different EU states. • Positive impact on society because more citizens are knowledgeable in web security, personal data protection/GDPR following the INDUSTRY 4.0 issues and can estimate legal/IT consequences of political/economic decisions, thus making informed decisions as voters. TARGET GROUP • first, multipliers (teachers and those working in adult education) should have a chance to use the new interactive educational tool for law teaching • furthermore, this tool should give jobseekers knowledge about their rights in the EU work context For the implementation and dissemination of B-SAFE we identify the following stakeholders: • National Employment Service • national further education institutions as well as welfare institutions with labour and social policy objectives Those stakeholders have a clear mission vis-à-vis the final target group and know their demands as well as the economic demands across national boundaries. PROJECT PARTNERS • P1(CZ): bit cz training is highly experienced in compiling training materials, customized and pedagogical development of training and online programs as well as in project implementation. It was the responsible partner for the final online platform development. • P2(PT): EDIT VALUE has a broad network of relevant stakeholders and is essential for the dissemination of the project inputs and results. P2 was responsible for the legal aspects of Internet safety. • P3(UDIMA): Open Madrid University has provided academic support and essential inputs for the curriculum content as well as the learning materials. The researchers from the University were focused on the Current Status of web security and personal data protection. • P4 (AT): bit Schulungscenter is providing several training programs for youths and adults and is a training centre specialized in trainings and certifications. That´s the reason why it was focused on the Development of the specialized texts. METHODS & ACTIVITIES: An appropriate legal training and the training of multipliers should enable the capacity building of non-academic web security, personal data protection/GDPR skills following the INDUSTRY 4.0 education in European countries. In particular, competencies relevant to the increase of employment opportunities should be conveyed. Additionally, employment and social provisions in the EU member states should be promoted in order to point out the benefits and advantages of the EU for the individual scope of action. The acquisition of non-academic web security, personal data protection/GDPR knowledge was extended, standardized and validated through B-SAFE. All B-SAFE products were developed and tested in a pilot testing for quality assurance by 27 of adult educators and 82 young adults. The results are corresponding to European standards and are openly accessible on project websites. KEY OUTCOME & IMPACT: • B-SAFE Current Status of the web security and personal data protection • B-SAFE Legal aspects of Internet safety • B-SAFE Development of the specialized texts • B-SAFE knowledge platform

There is an evidence of skills shortage in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields across EU, that raises concerns and serious implications in the future concerning the recruitment difficulties that already are being felt over the recent years. The general perception in young students is that STEM related occupations are boring, hardworking and therefore unattractive for young people, with a persisting under-representation of women. The aim of the project “Boats4Schools: An Educational Challenge“ was to develop a ludic and educational methodology that can get young students attention to the importance of STEAM educational opportunities as a possible pathway for a future career. The methodology developed in the project was oriented as a youth challenge for young students (12-17 years old), that can be replicabled anywhere in the world. The methodology is based on a challenge where student´s (working in teams) will have to build a small Boat (miniature) under a set of rules like powered by a sustainable energy source or building the boat from a specific material, and, by doing that they will have to get in contact with several technologies like 3D design, Additive Manufacturing, Cloud Manufacturing, Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) tools, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools, High-performance computing (HPC), Math, Physics, Innovative thinking, creativity and so many other skills. At the same time that students are building their Boat and preparing the Boat for the Challenge they are learning relevant contents related to STEM+A (Art/Creativity), with the help of a tutor (teacher) that will guide them towards the creation of the best Boat that will compete in the Challenges (Regional School Challenges, National and International Challenges). Further to the STEM+A (meaning STEAM) related contents, each team of students will be asked to work other competencies like marketing their boats and get sponsors, working leadership and presentation in front of a jury, self-employment and entrepreneur techniques among other transversal skills. This empowerment as a team will be an important asset to promote social inclusion among youngsters. The methodology that the project created is based on an extracurricular activity following a contemporary educational approach - learn by doing - with the power to stimulate pupils attention and given them the opportunity to promote the self-learning , active participation and independent (self) development in educational fields that are not often easy to engage the students. During project lifetime, partners created the methodology, and supporting materials for Boats4Schools, working in tasks like: - Benchmarking with other similar initiatives, around the world and collect the best practices; - Defining the educational approach and resources in parallel with the objectives and rules for future Boats4Schools Challenges; - Promoted several trial contests (pilot approach) in Portugal, Spain and Italy; - The project results were disseminated at national and European level trying to spread the project methodology to be adopted in other schools and countries. With the Boat4Schools project, the partners intend to share a friendly way to engage young students to be more positive about STEAM career paths and encourage them to choose STEAM studies.

The theme of succession in family-based SMEs is an important and complex issue involving the companies themselves and all the business environment from suppliers to customers and other stakeholders. This issue becomes relevant in Europe, where more than 90% of the businesses are SMEs, mostly family-based.The transference of the company leadership from an actual leader to a successor is an unique moment in business lifetime to innovate and reinforce the sustainability of the business or, conversely, to fail, putting in risk many jobs, suppliers and clients.Annually, more than 700.000 companies in European Union cross succession processes. Studies outstand that approximately 1/3 of the entrepreneurs responsible for the leadership of family businesses will abandon their activity during next 10 years, involving directly more than 2,8 million of jobs, and only 50% of the family businesses reach the 2nd generation and only 20% reach the 3rd generation. These facts have a common root at European level: the lack of skills on the design and implementation of succession plans and on transgenerational entrepreneurship, from the part of the actual leaders and their potential successors.Project’s main goal is to design, develop and test learning tools and methodologies, on several themes relevant for the family business succession process, targeted to the actual leaders and their potential successors, key-people and other collaborators, in order to support family-based SMEs to face and cross the succession process in a successful way. The project outputs widely cover all the succession process - awareness raising toward the actual leaders that it’s time to prepare the succession, identification of the best moment to act, support on the identification and selection of the most adequate successor, preparation of succession plan, support on its implementation - are targeted to both intervenient, and consist in learning tools focused on the organization aspects and methodologies and guidelines for training/coaching. This way, the project also envisages the creation of capacity within support organizations to train and coach the involved parties.The project envisages to provide intervention on actual leaders and successors, key-people in SMEs and other collaborators, who lack skills for the sustainable succession in SME, as well as enable trainers and coaches to provide support to the mentioned target-groups. The outputs produced during the project are the following: - A scanning tool aiming to scan opportunities and needs to start succession process, to scan training needs and create awareness raising, constituted by an evidence based research on succession planning knowledge and transgenerational entrepreneurship skills & training needs in SMEs, a scanning training needs tools targeted to the actual leaders and successors with potential of awareness raising, and to identify opportunities for the start of the succession process.- Comprehensive training paths/curricula and a contents’ Portfolio on “How to Implement a Sustainable Succession in family-based SMEs” - B-learning on How to Implement a Sustainable Succession in family based-SMEs, which includes a manual for users, a Demo for dissemination and trial purposes and a Piloting Report- Trainers/coaches resources, consisting in a common methodology on coaching for Sustainable Succession in family based-SMEs, and a correspondent support tools for trainers and coaches, including a package for training the trainers/coaches.All these Outputs are available in 6 different languages of the partnership: English, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Spanish and Italian. The project impact will is already visible at the following levels:- Enhancement of knowledge on transgenerational entrepreneurship.- Enhancement of knowledge on challenges and facilitators factors of the business succession and how to control/monitor them.- Up-skilled actual leaders on defining a succession plan, choosing the successor(s) and preparing him/her/them, preparing the organizational environment, involving suppliers and clients.- Up-skilled successors and key-people namely by providing them with a special training to potentiate the process-Up-skill all collaborators involved mainly on soft skills- Enhancement of the Integration of ICT in learning and training for these target groups- Trainers and coaches prepared to support the definition and implementation of the succession strategy.- Improve the quality level and open and innovative training for VET learners in the field of transgenerational entrepreneurship and other related themes to be applicable in the SME succession and other related contexts. - A robust and motivated networking of good practices in family-based business succession.- Balance the role of the women in the process, respecting and potentiating the differences.

"<< Background >>Micro and small companies need to start an innovation journey that will enable them to empower their business and organizational structure to overcome the challenges of the digital economy. If it is true that many businesses have survived without making use of digitization, the pandemic has revealed the unpreparedness of many other business to deal with a reality they were unaware of: digitization, which led to the closure of thousands of businesses that were not prepared to find alternative ways to provide services to local economies through digital tools.But the challenges of the digital economy for micro and small companies are not only overcomed with digital tools, but rather, it is necessary to prepare their human resources to know how to deal with digital tools and take advantage of their full potential.The Small.Com project aims precisely to develop a program that begins by diagnosing the needs of micro and small companies in the face of the latest developments that the digital economy can provide them, and at the same time it aims to empower its human resources through an individualized training program, so that the implementation of digital tools in micro and small companies can be done in a sustainable way.The activation of the digital presence will allow them to capture new customers, both in the physical and digital worlds, access new markets and optimize the organization's processes and procedures. But the digitalization of business is not limited to the possibility of having an online presence. Moreover, micro and small companies still have many other gaps in terms of digitizing their businesses, whether using computer tools that allow, for example, to speed up customer service, but also with regard to bureaucratic aspects and documentation, in addition to digitalization of processes capable of streamlining and optimizing business development.While digital skills are shaping the future of humanity and are increasingly having an impact on societies, organizations and people, education and learning systems need to be rethought to respond to the needs arising from this context in a constant change promoted by technological advance that is constantly redefining economies. For this reason, this project aims to mobilize entrepreneurs, employees and employers to learn how to implement digitalization in their businesses, through the adoption and incorporation of technology in business models and dematerialization of processes with customers and suppliers.The Small.Com project will be fundamental to overcome the training difficulties that managers and employees of micro and small companies have, with tailored contents, worked to adjust to the specific needs of each trainee and business, helping them to deepen their knowledge, understand concepts, follow the latest trends and implement various aspects of digitalization in your business.<< Objectives >>The digital transformation in companies is no longer a question ""if it will happen"", but a question of ""when it will happen"", and the answer is clear: those who do not adapt will hardly be able to survive in the market.In fact, digital technologies bring enormous benefits to businesses, whether to improve process performance, increase business reach or ensure more rigorous decision-making based on factual data. However, digital transformation is not just about technology: this change also involves people, who makes the company's culture. Therefore, employees need to be part of this transformation, acting as key elements for the company's success in the Digital Era. On the other hand, digital transformation does not happen if there is not a sufficient digital literacy knowledge from those who have the power to decide and implement structural changes in organizations, giving an essential role to technology.It is therefore essential to unlock the role of human potential to influence the adoption of digital technologies, particularly in micro and small companies that are characterized by being more resistant to change and adapting to new scenarios.The Small.Com Project aims to play an active and fundamental role in unlocking the human potential for acceptance and willingness towards the digital transformation process of micro and small companies.It is commonly accepted that lifelong learning, particularly in the context of work, is a good practice that must be taken care of so that organizations keep employees up to date and with high performance. However, classical training in the classroom, where the trainer debits generic and theoretical information, has lost more and more “adepts”, precisely because the trainees do not see themselves in the way the training is delivered and feel that the process of learning is not effective. For this reason, Small.Com starts with the premise of making a diagnosis of needs and subsequently adapting the training content to the trainee and company needs. Further, the fact of being online allows the trainee to decide the moments that are most convenient for him to learn, not overburdening the life of each employee and allowing him to decide on how and when he wants to take the training actions.In parallel, by instructing HR on the topic of digital transformation in a practical way and by teaching how to implement it in the day-to-day life of organizations, the Small.Com project will provide the willingness of employees to take action and implement technologies that can quickly impact the business.In short, when implementing this project, the consortium intends to overcome two fundamental gaps. On the one hand, to overcome the absence of training content associated with business transformation in Micro and Small Enterprises, which fits the reality of each trainee and which is not generic and superficial. On the other hand, it is intended to create framework conditions through informed and well-trained employees so that, in a next phase, micro and small companies can start the journey towards the digital transition.<< Implementation >>In technical terms, the project is structured to achieve 5 main results:O1: Report on “Digital transformation: trends and needs of micro and small companies”O2: ""Small.com"" digital transformation maturity assessment modelO3: Small.Com training modules (free online intensive courses)O4: Small.com e-learning platformO5: Expansion of the Small.Com project to other regions and sectorsThese results imply the pursuit of activities and tasks that culminate in the achievement of those same results.Thus, in summary, for O1, activities include conducting questionnaires, collecting primary data and statistical analysis to understand the latest trends in “Digital Transformation” in companies and based on these results, perceive / identify the technical profiles and the skills needed for workers to be an active and educated part in the process of moving micro and small businesses towards digital transformation.In parallel, to achieve O2 results, it will be necessary to investigate and define a diagnostic model to assess the digital maturity of micro and small companies, where companies will be able to identify and compare the degree of digital transformation they are in and what future measures to implement.Output/Result 3 concerns the creation of Small.Com's training content, and the activities planned for this result include analysing all the information collected in O1 and O2, in particular in O1 and subsequently introducing new content that will be developed by the partners. based on their prior knowledge but also based on research on what the market trends are in terms of digital transformation.In order to reach the target audience with a structured training tool, O4 proposes to create an e-learning space where Small.Com will have its learning platform. This result implies the execution of programming and computer development activities as well as the structuring of the training contents that will later be available to the target audience.Finally, in order to achieve O5, it will be necessary to carry out communication and dissemination of results in a targeted manner to reach the main national stakeholders and potential international partners. These activities associated with O5, will be based on a global dissemination plan that is foreseen in the project related to the “management and dissemination” activities.The partnership has the knowledge and experience necessary to carry out all activities subordinate to the project, as well as benefits from having close daily contact with the target audience of this project, knowing their needs very well and being able to involve them in the results of the project.<< Results >>Not so long ago companies used faxes to transfer documentation and digital processes. The shift from an analogue to digital world has taken place at an accelerated rate and is now a reality that has enabled companies to become more competent and global. However, digital technologies have grown at a faster rate when compared to the updating of skills of human resources who, not being educated and trained, cannot implement digital transformation in companies. That is why this process of change in companies is a process that is happening slowly and is not limited to the adoption of new IT tools or operational changes. The digital transformation goes much further and requires new business models and trained and prepared employees from micro and small companies to help implement the change.While it is certain that the skills and knowledge of employees are essential for the digital transformation of SMEs, with the implementation of this project the aim is to achieve the following results with micro and small companies:• Develop digital training tools tailored to the trainees;• Increase the level of knowledge of employees of micro and small companies to become more prepared for the implementation of digital technologies in companies;• Promote digital transformation in companies and thereby ensure greater business competitiveness, whether through more efficient processes, cost reduction, increased productivity, among others;• Possibility of creating new business models associated with traditional companies, providing them with a greater capacity to respond to new market dynamics;• Promotion of the economic fabric and digital skills of employees, in particular small businesses that find it difficult to find training courses tailored to their needs.In short, the results of the project aim to fill a gap related to the lack of training content that can help adult workers to acquire skills in the Digital area applied to their businesses."

Who doesn’t dream of waking up on a Monday excited to go to work, knowing that we spend on average half our waking hours at work? Happy people are not only more grateful, develop a strong sense of purpose and form authentic, cooperative connections with others. They also have a positive impact on the organisation they work for. Happiness leads to a 12% spike in productivity, while unhappy workers proved 10% less productive: “Human happiness has large and positive causal effects on productivity (A. Oswald 2014). Positive emotions appear to invigorate human beings.” Studies also show that happier employees are more engaged, more motivated, innovative, give better customer service, play more effective roles in teams, make better leaders and enjoy higher retention rates. Managers and employees of micro businesses (< 50 employees) strongly identify with the organization they work for. As a result, their sense of happiness is highly dependent on what is happening at work. What does happiness mean? We selected a definition as presented by M. Seligman (2001): “Happiness is a cognitive evaluation that individual’s life is moving in the right direction, individual’s constant search for meaning and purpose in life, and frequent positive emotions.” We chose this definition because Seligman is a pioneer in the methodology of Positive Psychology. This branch of psychology complements the traditional focus on pathology with the study of human strengths and virtues and the factors that contribute to a full and meaningful life. Positive psychology can be used to increase happiness and wellbeing within the workforce and will therefore be at the forefront of all Happiness@Work project activities.The main aim of the project is to increase happiness and satisfaction in the workplace by bringing the positive psychology methodology into practice in micro businesses (MB), building a support system for both MB managers and employees. This will be realised by bringing M. Seligman’s 5 ingredients of wellbeing into practice and translate them into a context that micro business managers and their employees can relate to. The 5 ingredients of wellbeing are known as PERMA: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. These elements can help people reach a life of fulfilment, happiness and meaning.Partners, widely spread across the EU so as to increase the reach and impact of Happiness@Work, will develop an innovative dual training methodology combining online (Happiness@Work Online Learning Platform) and face-to-face (Happiness Circles™) learning that is fully job transcendent and can therefore be applied in any type of business sector. The programme will be tested over 2 pilots with micro business managers and employees being directly trained across the partnershipResults:- Happiness@Work Positive Psychology Framework (IO1): presenting similarities and differences in the approach and understanding of happiness in the workplace in each partner country and clarifying target groups’ specific needs within the realm of the 5 elements of Positive Psychology- Happiness@Work Self-Assessment Questionnaires (IO2): development of 2 fully-fletched self-assessment questionnaires that will analyse micro business Managers’ and Employees’ happiness in the workplace, based on Seligman’s 5 elements of Positive Psychology- Happiness Circles™ for Managers and Employees, including 2 piloting phases (IO3): unique personal development training, using blended action learning techniques to support managers and employees in increasing their own and other’s happiness at work (in the case of managers) through soft skills building and strengths-based coaching in order to increase their self-efficacy.- Happiness@Work Online Learning Platform (IO4): an innovative learning platform where participants will be presented with daily doses of short videos and/or texts, the content of which will be linked with their individualised learning path. Each partner country will finally organise 2 multiplier events to ensure wider members of the target groups are given opportunities to participate and feedback into the project and benefit from project results.Happiness@Work will hereby achieve threefold impact that will remain deeply embedded in the workplace atmosphere of participating MB and beyond:1. MB managers will have an increased awareness that happiness is not only an important topic for their employees, but also for themselves, and that their own happiness has an impact on the functioning and wellbeing of their employees2. MB managers will have an increased knowledge on how to utilise postive psychology techniques and how to bring them into practice to increase their own happiness, support their employees and integrate the Happiness@Work philosophy in their leadership3. MB employees will have an increased awareness that they have an impact on their own happiness and how they can improve this in their working and personal lives