The SUSTAINET project (Empowering Local Governance for Sustainable Economic Growth through a Network of Green Business Innovation Hubs) is part of the Erasmus+ (KA220-VET) program. It aims to establish Green Business Innovation Centres (GBICs) to promote sustainable development at the local level.

Project Objectives:
– Support municipalities in transitioning to sustainable development and the circular economy.
– Provide businesses with programs to develop green strategies.
– Upgrade vocational education and training (VET) and higher education with new green skills.
– Develop tools and resources for local stakeholders to adopt sustainable practices.

Activities:
The project consists of five work packages (WPs):
1. Project Management
2. Developing a Sustainable Development Methodology for GBICs
3. Creating Tools and Resources for GBICs
4. Upgrading VET and Higher Education Training for Green Skills
5. Communication, Dissemination, and Sustainability

Expected Outcomes:
– A model for sustainable development for municipalities.
– Development of self-assessment tools for local authorities.
– Support programs for businesses to adopt green economy strategies.
– Educational programs to enhance green skills.
– Establishment of a transnational network of GBICs.

Team Members:
Lydia Papadaki   Voula Samara  Mary Psilou

Το άρθρο Erasmus+ SUSTAINET: Empowering Local Governance for Sustainable Economic Growth through a network of Green Business Innovation Hubs εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

Objectives:

1. Green Skills Training – Equip 80 included youth with the necessary skills for the circular economy.
2. Green Skills Manual – Develop a manual to support continuous learning and long-term use.
3. Online Learning Platform – Create a platform for accessible, self-paced learning.
4. Job Positioning and Internships – Facilitate internships or job placements for 8 participants.
5. Dissemination – Promote project results to engage stakeholders and ensure sustainability.

Το άρθρο Erasmus+ SUS-FUT: Sustainable Future: Equipping Included Individuals with Green Skills for the Circular Economy εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The project “Fast Forward: Engage, connect and empower youth for a Sustainable Green Future” is focused on two European Youth Goals: quality learning and sustainable green Europe. It aims at implementing a creative strategy in terms of capacity building for the new generation actually facing the problems of tomorrow related to environmental degradation, climate change, and sustainability issues. The target group of the project is youth trainers/workers, organizations, young activists in Albania, local/national authorities, and citizens of Albania and Europe. The project will focus in bringing the EU practices and translating them into tangible tools for youth in Western Balkan in order to fast forward the green transition. The core of the project, capacity building, will be achieved through a critical number of activities, such as ToT, Youth exchanges, toolkits, and manuals. These activities will spill over throughout non-formal learning providers benefitting staff, youth, and key stakeholders in the process. Overall, with this project Build Green Group will promote and improve capacity building for youth in important areas such as climate change awareness, environment digitalization, environmental justice, innovation & research, contribution to SDGs, and creation of fruitful partnerships. The topic addressed and activities designed to make the project have a local, national, and EU impact, specifically in bringing EU practices to WB.

Το άρθρο Erasmus+ Fast Forward: Engage, connect and empower youth for a Sustainable Green Future εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

Lead by Prof. Phoebe Koundouri and developed in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Unit of ATHENA Research Centre, under AE4RIA, PwC Greece, and with the contribution of EIT Digital, the report is a guide to a new green digital skills and jobs classification that will inform the educational, industry, and policymaking worlds to better understand and navigate the new labour market.

Access the full report: “Twin Skills for the Twin Transition: Defining Green Digital Skills and Jobs”

Το άρθρο AE4RIA & Huawei Report: “Twin Skills for the Twin Transition: Defining Green Digital Skills and Jobs” εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The MariTech Talent will develop a twin transition INTRApreneurship skills development programme, bringing maritime industry professionals and innovative enterprises with concrete digital solutions together in a two-way learning experience. The programme will provide: – Necessary twin skills for the maritime workforce – Support to deep tech solutions providers developing key technologies for unlocking the twin transition in the maritime industry Thе MariTech Talent programme will apply a challenge-based INTRApreneurship model which will nurture learning by working on the most pressing needs identified by the ports and maritime companies themselves. Teams consisting of current workers and deep tech startups, scaleups and SMEs will work together to apply concrete solutions, undergoing the necessary training on the way. On the one hand the programme will secure the required skill set for the maritime workforce related to the green and digital transition. They will acquire operational knowledge in key digital domains enablers of the twin transition in the maritime industry such as machine learning and data analysis for predictive maintenance, energy management systems, system integration, automation, remote operation, cybersecurity and e-navigation through direct collaboration with deep tech solution providers. On the other, it will provide valuable insights and feedback on the relevance and effectiveness of the applied digital solutions. As a final result, maritime companies and ports will gain in-depth insights into the benefits digital solutions can bring to their operations, while at the same time their employees will become skilled and confident in their use.

Partnership:
Athena – Research & Innovation Information Technologies, ATHENA RC – GREECE

Principal Investigator
Prof. Koundouri

Team Members:
Panagiota Koltsida   Lydia Papadaki    Eleni Toli 

Το άρθρο HORIZON EU | MariTech Talent εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The EXCEED – EXCELLENCE IN GREEN AND DIGITAL MANUFACTURING project aims at establishing a European COVE network of 6 centres in 5 countries, Italy, Spain, Finland, Czech Republic, and Greece to support innovation and sustainable competitiveness of the Advanced Manufacturing (AM) sector. As one of the pillars of the European economy, AM has been strongly impacted by the twin transitions, generating disruptive changes, beside the urgency to foster industry decarbonization. To face those changes and new challenges, citizens, present and future workforce needs new competencies, for life and work. VET providers can play a crucial role preparing the workforce and the society of the future, no one left behind, increasing their responsiveness, operating in strong connection with policy levels. EXCEED assumes the synergic and mutual benefitting application of digital and green, according to the so-called “digital eco-innovation” paradigm and the transition to the circular digital economy as powerful leverages to accelerate innovation in AM.

Involving a public-private platform of overall 39 partners, 18 full and 21 associates, EXCEED will work as an alive integrated skills ecosystem, promoting, 1) upskilling and reskilling of low-skilled adults and workers at risk of marginalization through a joint internationalized, flexible and individualized Life Long Learning training offer; 2) strengthening the HIGHER VET (EQF 4 and 5) through design of new curricula and updating of existing ones; 3) adopting joint strategies for Talent Management by the establishment of an International Talent Factory, aware of the fact that talented and skilled individuals have a key role to play in countries’ future prosperity; 4) upskilling and empowerment VET professionals as key profiles translating innovation in education contexts. In 4 years, partners expect to involve at least n. 600 learners and an overall number of 26.000 beneficiaries through an extensive multichannel communication strategy.

Project website

Team Membres:
Dr. Ebun Akinsete     Aggelika Mexia     Monika Mavragani     Irini Rikgopoulou

Το άρθρο ERASMUS+: EXCEED – Excellence in Green and Digital Manufacturing εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The construction sector, a major employer in Europe, has a significant environmental, societal, and economic impact and is identified as a priority for the twin transition and achievement of a resource-efficient and competitive economy. The sector faces major challenges in attracting young and skilled workers as well as in re-skilling and upskilling of the active workforce. Knowledge gaps and evolving market needs towards transitional skills and competencies emerge all over Europe while the VET systems in the different MSs are slow in the introduction of these skills into their offerings. Additionally, the competence recognition frameworks remain segmented in the MSs with no mutual standard for certification of transitional skills.

The Academy for Transitional Skills in the Built Environment (BuildSkills Academy) financed under the Erasmus+ program, and co-financed by the European Union, will respond to these needs and will support the skills ecosystems to drive the twin transition by developing a transnational cooperation platform of CoVEs, aiming to foster VET excellence for the construction sector.

By uniting 17 educational, industrial, and exploitation partners from 7 EU countries (BG, CY, GR, IT, LT, DE, FR), 2 associated countries (Serbia and Norway) and 1 country not associated to the program (Bosnia and Herzegovina) the BuildSkills Academy will design and roll-out:

• BuildEnrichedSkills methodology and a procedure for adaptation of learning provision which will serve for VET centers in Europe to adapt their offerings more quickly and to prepare workers for the digital and green transition in occupations of high demand.
• Certification framework for recognition of these skills and competences – a world-class reference for improvement and certification of VET provision

These outcomes will be transferred to 6 pilots covering 300 trainees and exploited to reach out to 100 VET providers, 1000 companies and 20 high-level organizations in the construction skills ecosystem realizing 100 VET-industry cooperations for vocational excellence.

Project website

The project Academy for Transitional Skills in the Build Environment is co-funded by the European Union, ERASMUS+ Programme under Grant Agreement number 101104419.

Το άρθρο ERASMUS+ | BuildSkills Academy: Academy for Transitional Skills in the Build Environment εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

CATALYST: European VET Excellence Centre for Leading Sustainable Systems and Business Transformation

Vocational Education and Training (VET) is key when it comes to a long-term and systemic shift of European economies toward more sustainability and resilience. New skills are also needed to leverage opportunities stemming from the sustainable digital transition. The CATALYST project “European VET Excellence Centre for Leading Sustainable Systems and Business Transformation” is designed with a strong vision and motivation to contribute to the realization of the European Green Deal and the new Industrial and SME Strategies.

The main goal is the establishment of a united CATALYST Centre of Vocational Excellence in 5 countries to give support, create an educational offer to tackle personal and organizational development and embrace transformation in SMEs, enabling and inspiring them to re-think and re-design their business models, co-creating and sharing between educational and business organizations.

The project fosters innovation and applied knowledge in approaches of learning and tailor-made VET program via the “Enable component”, as well as the support of SMEs to create sustainable businesses via the “Inspire component”.

The main project outputs are:

1. 5 CoVEs and CATALYST Network anchored the European VET eco-system;
2. 70 VET courses for up-skilling professionals and students (Enable component);
3. Co-create and disseminate applied knowledge inspiring business-education partnerships involving students, professionals, and SMEs (Inspire component)’
4. Create CATALYST Platform which will unite all CoVEs on the European level;
5. Implement VET training, pilot-project with SMEs, and applied joint research projects in selected sectors according to the national S3;
6. Raise awareness of the potential CATALYST CoVEs have and increase the demand and attractiveness of VET.

Activities are focused on learning opportunities, applied joint research projects, innovative training methodologies and tools, and support for SMEs on relevant topics, where more than 5000 beneficiaries (professionals, students, and SMEs) can benefit.

The desired impact of the project is for the established CoVEs to be ‘catalysts’ on national, regional, and European levels, ‘enable’ change, and ‘inspire’ and transformation of individuals and SMEs toward more sustainable systems and societies.

The project partners are coming from 5 European countries, representing Central, South-eastern, and South-western Europe, and additionally, the strength that come with the P16 – SDSN, which is a European network, with over 360 member organizations across Europe. Also, added value and great geographical composition is enhanced with 41 associated partners, who besides the 5 core countries, come from 11 additional countries: Finland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Slovenia, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UK, Albania, Serbia, Spain, and Cyprus.

Project website

Funding Body: Erasmus+ Programme (ERASMUS)

Duration: Start date: 1 June 2022 – End date: 30 May 2026

Το άρθρο Erasmus + | CATALYST: European VET Excellence Centre for Leading Sustainable Systems and Business Transformation εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.

The primary goal of Cooperation Partnerships is to allow organizations to increase the quality and relevance of their activities, to develop and reinforce their networks of partners, to increase their capacity to operate jointly at transnational level, boosting internationalization of their activities and through exchanging or developing new practices and methods as well as sharing and confronting ideas. They aim to support the development, transfer and/or implementation of innovative practices as well as the implementation of joint initiatives promoting cooperation, peer learning and exchanges of experience at European level. Results should be re-usable, transferable, up-scalable and, if possible, have a strong transdisciplinary dimension. Selected projects will be expected to share the results of their activities at local, regional, national level and transnational level.

COOPERATION PARTNERSHIPS AIM AT:

• Increasing quality in the work, activities and practices of organisations and institutions involved, opening up to new actors, not naturally included within one sector;
• Building capacity of organisations to work transnationally and across sectors;
• Addressing common needs and priorities in the fields of education, training, youth and sport;
• Enabling transformation and change (at individual, organisational or sectoral level), leading to improvements and new approaches, in proportion to the context of each organisation.

Rationale of the project:

Sustainability is becoming a crucial cross-cutting issue for facing the urgent challenges of the climate change as well as for transition to a real and full green economy. OECD Work on SMEs, entrepreneurship and innovation and other recent papers (i.e. https://www.nber.org/papers/w27321) have shown that there will be a need for new types of skills to match new types of jobs, as industry is transformed into a low-carbon economy. “Green jobs” are expected to grow: even in the most negative scenario, more than 80% of jobs by 2020 are expected to require medium and high levels,necessary, on the other hand, to adjust to the green transformation of the economy. Green skills include specific skills to modify products, services, or operations due to climate change adjustments, requirements or regulations. A very peculiar skills and capability set is required for project management for the sustainability of the productive processes and circular economy”. Briefly, to concretely support the transition to circularity, all key actors at ecosystem level should be engaged.

TICHE project:

• Promotes initiatives to support cooperation and knowledge-sharing between VET institutions and providers on “green skills”, to make training offers adaptable and flexible according to people’s needs and economic transformations.
• Promotes the innovation of VET systems, considering VET as a responsive supply chain for strengthening employability of people, offering upskilling and reskilling opportunities, strongly connected to the emerging skills needs and the evolution of the international labour market.
• Supports the internationalization of VET providers.
• Foresees the creation of a European Academy on circular economy, by adopting a  learner-centred approach to training to maximize the achievement of learning outcomes, and by fostering the adoption of systematic approaches to skills foresight/anticipation, to update VET programmes, curricula and guidelines in a timely and effective manner, fighting the skills mismatching phenomenon.

Partnership: Athens University of Economics and Business – Research Center, AUEB-RC – GREECE

ReSEES/ AUEB is leading WP4 – Piloting The International Circular Vet Academy (M16-M28).

 Duration: 1/11/2021 to 30/04/2024

Το άρθρο ERASMUS+ | TICHE Academy: Training Innovation for Circularity and Holistic economies εμφανίστηκε πρώτα στο Ae4ria.