"Background:The apprenticeship and work based learning at European and national level is recognized as a very good factor of integration into the labor market. However, in France there is a decline in recruitment of apprentices, while countries such as Romania and Portugal with a very strong SMEs face the challenge to grow and involve more businesses in their apprenticeship system, while Finland has a very strong systme. The relationship with businesses is organized by learning on doing by training centers for apprentices. This relationship between training center for apprentices and SMEs is today done empirically and is not supported by a training system or tools that allow a professionalization of the staff of apprenticeship training centre.Objectives:1 - Increase the number of SMEs involved in the learning offer.allow businesses to self-assess their ability to hire apprentices;• improve expertise to SMEs and support in the implementation of learning;• support SMEs in hiring apprentices;• improve the skills of apprenticeship training centers and intermediary organizations on supporting SMEs.2. Preventing the dropout of tutors from SMEs:• improve the support of tutors in difficult situations;• prevent conflict;Participants:AGEFA SMEs: association under the CGPME employers' organization of SMEs in France, apprentice training centerSEDU: main center for training and learning of Finland associated with the regional authorityAERLIS: Main business association that covers the whole region of Lisbon (Portugal)CENTRUL NATIONAL DEZVOLTARE A PROFESIONAL INVATAMANTULUI IF TEHNIC: authority under the Romanian Ministry of Education, specialized in initial vocational education and apprenticeshipImanovation: independent Portuguese expert with a European reference expertise in ECVET and many projects with business associationsTen trainers professionals and support organizations will be mobilized by partner country, a total of 40 trainers, counselors in CFAa dozen potential employers of apprentices SMEs in difficulty or with tutors will experimenters country, a total of 40 companies;One hundred participants (representatives of national, regional, local authorities, training centers, business organizations, associations ...) will be involved in the final conference to ensure dissemination.Activity and methodology:Activity 1: management and strategic coordinationActivity 2: ""Diagnostic Tools, formative evaluation capacity of SMEs and mediation of tutors in difficulties"" : identification of best practices, defining a set of key indicators: governance action modalities educational, skills required by SMEs with a project recruitment of apprentices, organizational prerequisites, design of formative tools firstly for SMEs and also for trainers of the CFA and for intermediate agencies, these tools will integrate recommendations on learning outcome;Activity 3: ""European Platform SME relationship/Apprenticeship"" with work on the technical and functional specifications, content aggregation; this platform is multilingual;Activity 4: ""experimental tools and training for trainers CFA"" is based on an experiment with CFA and SMEs with self-assessment of trainers of CFA and tutors and SMEs;Activity 5: ""recommendation guide "" draws a qualitative analysis of the results of the experiment, and the evaluations of the different tools in order to develop a guide that allows ownership by the largest numberActivity 6: ""Dissemination-communication"" is based on a strategy and communications plan, publishing and distribution of newsletters, transnational conference; monitoring, reporting and analysis of the impact of dissemination actions.Main output indicators:rate of development of apprenticeship contracts, number of CFA and involved business, platform attendanceExpected results:1) European platform of business relationship / learning2) A tool box ""diagnostic and formative"" learning projects to provide the best support companies and training centers in their relation to companies3) A recommendation guide on experimentation to ensure transferability;Impacts:professionalization of the relationship with SMEs by teams of apprenticeship training center, the enhancement of the link and relationship between SMEs / apprenticeship training centerPotential benefits:securization and improving the quality of apprenticeshipto enhance the image of apprenticeshipreduce the rate of unemployement of young people"

The Textile, Clothing, Leather, and Footwear (TCLF) industries in Europe with an annual turnover of €195 billion in 2019, employs 2 million workers in 220.600 companies, 99% SMEs concentrated in Italy, Romania, Poland, Portugal, Germany and Spain, more precisely in a few regions. TCLF has now to tackle with the challenges presented by the new digital era at a higher level, within a framework of transition to a greener, circular economy increasing the resilience of the organizations involved. The new METASKILLS4TCLF proposal, allying 30 partners, is robust and ambitious, responding to all objectives of the Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills (implementing the “Blueprint”), crosses the PACT4SKILLS TCLF pillars, and, with the compromise of consolidating and updating part of the former Skills4Smart TCLF Industries 2030 project outcomes, namely skills strategy, curricula and contents, results in a stronger and a wider scope cooperation, anticipating and responding to new skills gaps with innovative educational multilevel resources and delivering methodologies, involving new actors in the educational scene of TCLF across Europe, raising attractiveness and inclusion, preventing that “no talent is wasted”, together with a strong dissemination campaign and sustainability plan.The new outcomes will be:-Strong skills partnership with relevant stakeholders-Skills Intelligence for Forecasting and Monitoring TCLF Emerging Skills Needs-New modular training curricula/training modules “Inside Fashion” (both for initial education & training and upskilling-reskilling of the workforce), all tested in due piloting opportunities-Innovative modular contents, VR training and learning tools and update the ones developed in the former blueprint -A European Virtual Reality Campus-A train the trainers and teacher package to strengthening skills supply to demand -An awareness raising campaign on attractiveness and inclusion in the TCLF industries and correspondent tools.

The FIT2COMFORT overall objective is to create, pilot and certify a new occupation and qualification profile on “Expert in Comfort & Healthy footwear manufacturing” and the correspondent flexible innovative training combining ICT based contents and work base learning, to respond to the identified skills/competences gap, improving the knowledge in this field, allowing SME and large enterprises to embrace the opportunity of growth offered by this segment of differentiation and strengthen the positioning of the footwear companies. FIT2COMFORT reached all its objectives with important impacts for the further developments in the frame of the overall goal mentioned above. The implemented activities and correspondente achieved objectives are the following:i)the evidence based research on training needs and training opportunities on the field of Comfort and Healthy Footwear with important inputs for the further stages. In addition, an evidence based research toward consumers on the field of Comfort was also put in place at European level with a range of almost 700 responses. This additional research had a double purpose of surveying the relevance of Comfort in footwear among the consumers and to obtain data to reinforce the need of dealing with comfort and healthy and domaining related matters near the footwear companies.ii)a STEM based Profile on Expert in Comfort & Healthy Footwear manufacturing, level 5 EQF with a set of 16 professional competences, 7 personal competences and 4 social competences;iii)a STEM training programme, with 10 units of learning outcomes defined and conceived in terms of Learning Outcomes, bridging the ECVET principals, capable of covering all training/competences needs pointed by the evidence-based research, and responding to the identified skills’ gapiv)A wide portfolio of contents mainly consituted by 123 content-wise presentation (covering 139 lessons)with voice over and transformed in videos responsive enough to be able to be used in any platform, mobile, table, PC, 10 units of learning outcomes concepts, correspondent assessments, glosarries, bibliography, practical activities, additional videos and didatic material”;v)A b-learning platform which makes possible the implementation of combined innovative and motivating trainin. Accessible on https://www.fit2comfort.eu/course/ vi)A Manual for trainers and coaches to be able to implement and deliver in the most effective way all the contents produced by the project, as well as a pilot training of trainer’s mobility activity and the protfolio of presentations, which involved 18 trainers from 8 of the partners.vii)A piloting report describing the experience of the piloting delivering of the b-learning course and strong feed-back from the participantsviii)Prototypes of shoes incorporating all features of comfort and health proposed by the b-learning course, proving the added value and differentiating level of the final products. This has allied a wide set of concepts coming from the piloting in all countries.ix)A strong corporative communication, based on an impacting image and logo, responsive project website, social media (facebook), multilingual communication tools, events at ountry level and european level;x)A continue presence/participation in events related to footwear.xi)A set of diligencies initiated for the certification / acreditation of the new profile, training curriculum ans contents, to be incorporatied in the national catalogues qualification catalogues of the countries involved.x) a sustainable agreement among all partners for the future continuation of the project results and partnership/alliance.xi) Qulity Assurance Plan and a constant consultation of the target groups including stakeholdeers, ntegrating the conclusion with an evaluation Plan, produced 3 different reports on evaluation.

"“Skills4Smart TCLF 2030” constitutes the first step into a new dynamic sustainable community of diverse private/public actors committed to support skills development and employment opportunities across EU in the Textile, Clothing, Leather, Footwear and Leather Goods sector, which are indispensable to innovate and produce high-added value products.The consortium will build an evidence-based industry-led ""TCLF Skills Strategy"", and during the first four years, partners will work to [a] identify concrete actions, priority activities, and well-defined tools/outputs to anticipate and match skills’ supply with demand; [b] improve skills intelligence and information mechanisms by creating networks and partnerships; [c] update/enhance the attractiveness of the sector to engage newcomers, families, companies, and policy makers at regional, national and EU levels, and [d] identify funding opportunities and engage regions and other stakeholders to ensure the long-term sustainability of outcomes and further implementation of the strategy.Activities will create tools for skills anticipation and new curricula/qualifications by [a] sharing/integrating existing VET and skills knowledge/best practices to provide a pool of tools, research, innovative learning methods suited to new generations; [b] designing 8 new transnational VET profiles and respective curricula and training programmes focused on digitalisation, sustainability and KETs to better suit companies’ needs and global opportunities. Such profiles and programmes, in line with EQF/ECVET, will be piloted and validated by national VET recognition bodies. An EU Fashion Virtual Campus will be the operational and living hub, sharing project’ outcomes, and other useful education/ employment data in a second phase, to attract and orientate newcomers, strengthen VET, research, and industry partnerships, and nurture all TCLF stakeholders throughout EU to consolidate/enhance TCLF skills excellence for the creation of jobs."