The project VETEntre, targets two key challenges: (1) The need to improve the attractiveness and quality of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Europe and the competences of VET educators to engage their students in meaningful learning. (2) To promote entrepreneurship education across European education systems. The project will develop an innovative set of tools and resources to empower VET trainers and educators to nurture the entrepreneurial mindset of their learners. One of the fundamental premises of the project is that, for educators to teach entrepreneurship, the educators themselves first need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. The entrepreneurial mind-set is one of the competences included in the European framework for key competences. European VET systems face problems and challenges, such as poor skills acquisition, limited use of digital tools, skills mismatches, and the quality and relevance of education. High quality VET can be an attractive option for young people if it offers a clear route to the labour market.EU recognizes entrepreneurship as one of the main drivers of job creation and acceleration of economic activity. The Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan, published in 2013, identified entrepreneurial education as one of three areas for immediate intervention. Some European education systems have entrepreneurship education in their curricula (e.g. Estonia, Spain, Slovenia). The Entrepreneurship Competence Framework, also known as EntreComp, offers a tool to improve the entrepreneurial capacity of European citizens and organisations. Entrepreneurship and digitalization can boost the quality of VET, enhancing the employability and personal development of learners. The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) covers the skills and competencies teachers need to integrate technology in teaching and learning. The project combines EntreComp and DigCompEdu and focuses on developing entrepreneurial skills and competencies to empower VET educators and providers to create ecosystems of entrepreneurial learning through the creation of tailored entrepreneurship training programs.Research shows that one of the most important factors influencing the quality of education, is ongoing professional development of teachers and educators (OECD, 2005; UNESCO, 2017). Our project has a primary focus on offering quality and engaging professional development to VET educators, which will have a direct impact on the quality of education VET learners receiveOBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECTThe project objectives are fully aligned with the EU priorities and the needs documented above:•Build the entrepreneurial competences of VET educators•Support VET educators to design programs and activities promoting the entrepreneurship mindset of learners•Promote entrepreneurship education through the use of alternative pedagogical resources and digital tools•Enhance the employability and entrepreneurial skills of VET students and graduates The innovative aspects of the project are:1.It is the first project that integrates two European Frameworks for competencies, to improve the quality and image of VET. The project proposes to use the EntreComp framework in conjunction with the DigCompEdu to support VET educators to develop innovative engaging programs for young learners and build their entrepreneurship competencies. Fostering entrepreneurship in VET provides an innovative framework for improving the image and quality of VET.2.The project is using digital tools and a gamified approach to build the competences of VET educators in the areas of entrepreneurship.OUTPUTSIO1: Entrepreneurship Toolkit for VET – A toolkit with resources for integrating entrepreneurship in VET, and for supporting VET educators develop entrepreneurship competencies. This will be mapped to the national and European frameworks for VET and Entrepreneurship.IO2: eLearning space and VET entrepreneurship gamified environment – An online gamified learning space with a series of scenarios/missions will be designed, intended for VET professionals, trainers, mentors, VET organizations/institutions, in order to support them in teaching entrepreneurial skills.IO3: VET and Entrepreneurship curricula. Training modules and learning activities for infusing entrepreneurship in VET.IO4: Policy recommendations. A report will be prepared providing evidence based policy and practice recommendationsTARGET GROUPSThe VETEntre project is expected to reach directly and indirectly at least 2000 VET educators/trainers through the project’s outputs, implementation and dissemination activities (news on social media pages, e-learning space, newsletters, websites). Additionally, at least 2,000 VET students and graduates will be reached directly/indirectly through the project’s activities and implementation.