This Horizon Europe grant is to be understood within a wider context on EUSST, where other grants are being executed simultaneously with the common objective of improving the EU autonomy on Space Surveillance and Tracking. In particular, this TOP focuses on: - Study and assess several technical solutions for the development of a future European capability of SBSS. - Explore the use of small satellite solutions to reduce CAPEX and OPEX - To develop in the mid-term the European capacity to operate independently SBSS. - To reduce the dependence on critical SBSS technologies and capabilities from outside Europe, The is the first activity related to SBSS within EUSST.

"To arrive at our collective European goal which is that every young person should have a practical entrepreneurial experience before they leave school, the consortium will test what the scenario looks like at 50% penetration among students between 15 and 20 years old. The consortium will come up with a suggestion for how practical entrepreneurship education experiences could flow from primary to upper secondary in a 'progression model'.Considering the positive indications from studies and the widespread application of mini-companies today, the consortium will use this method as its test-bed. All the ministerial consortium members have a specific focus on entrepreneurship education in their national strategies. Eastern Norway Research Institute specializes in impact research and policy evaluation while the Foundation for Entrepreneurship-Young Enterprise in Denmark and Strossmayer University Croatia are both knowledge centres on entrepreneurial learning which conduct research as well as activity. JA-YE Europe and the national NGO participants are expert practitioners in delivery and brokering partnerships with the community outside schools.Entrepreneurship education was given top billing in the Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan released in January 2013: ""Investing in entrepreneurship education is one of the highest return investments Europe can make...Whether or not they go on to found businesses or social enterprises, young people who benefit from entrepreneurial learning develop business knowledge and essential skills and attitudes including creativity, initiative, tenacity, teamwork, understanding of risk and a sense of responsibility.""The more practical the entrepreneurial experience at school, the more successful it is in meeting these objectives. Mini- companies are cited as highly effective practical entrepreneurial experiences for schools. The highest levels of mini-company penetration (20%) are in the Nordic countries. Thanks to research conducted in Sweden, Norway and Denmark there are many positive indications on the successful achievement of learning outcomes, increased student engagement, self-efficacy, the intent to start a business and longer-term outcomes such as enhanced employability, better earnings, higher start-up rates.The evaluation and research will use multiple methodologies (interviews, surveys, analysis of existing policies/approaches, focus groups, comparative control group methods). The consortium is seeking knowledge about implementation models, hindrances and drivers, criteria and conditions for effective policy and monitoring, transferability, and data regarding multiple outcomes of practical entrepreneurial experiences at school.Several success factors will be examined: the existence of specific national strategies, the nature of content and method, approach to teacher training, quality of partnerships with external actors, extra-curricular activity and visibility for the young participants."

Digital competence is one of eight Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, and is integral for European countries to be fit for the digital age. Latvia has not previously participated in the ICILS, and now by the means of ICILS we will have assessment of the capacities of young people to use information and communication technology by measuring grade eight pupils’ performance in computer and information literacy. The survey is the only source of cross-national data on digital competences relying on direct measurements. ICILS 2023 will permit the EU to establish an indicator to monitor progress in a field central to the future of Europe. In addition to providing cross-national data at a European level, the study provides information for monitoring progress toward the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Skills in Metal and Electro Industry – skillME project was a three-year international Erasmus+ project involving vocational education and training (VET) providers, national regulatory bodies and sectoral organisations from the four EU member states Slovenia, Croatia, Latvia, and Slovakia, which aimed at filling skill gaps and advancing VET in the metal and electro industries (ME) as two important sectors driving the European manufacturing industry, both in terms of employment as well as value added. Both sectors are facing great challenges due to shortage of skilled labour, which is a result of several factors, the most prominent among which are the out-of-date and/or inflexible VET systems, rapid development of technology and production processes, lack of resources for continuous training of employees by companies, and a decline of interest among young people for metal and electro job profiles. The skillME project aimed to address all of these issues. Its main objectives were to identify the most pressing skill gaps among students and workers of the electro and metal industry’s advanced manufacturing sector that are common to all project participating countries and are perceived as acute also in other EU member states, to develop curricula in accordance with EQAVET, EQF and ECVET principles to fill the identified skill gaps, to test the developed trainings on pilot groups of students and workers, and to create a platform for sharing good practices and information among VET stakeholders.On the basis of a wide desk research, interviews with stakeholders, focus groups with industry representatives and discussions with experts, the four most pressing skill gaps in the metal and electro industry were identified in the fields of CAD/CAM, Machine vision, Composite materials, and Reading technical documentation. Training materials in English were developed for these fields, consisting of curricula (learning units and outcomes), assessment papers and learning materials, with separate materials for the field of Reading technical documentation for the metal and electro industries. They were localized into four national participating languages and pilot tested on students and workers in all four participating countries. The curricula were created in line with the ECVET principles and assessed with the EQAVET indicators to assure quality and adoptability across Europe, focusing on learning outcomes.The pilot trainings showed that the created materials are highly useful and practical and contain the most up-to-date knowledge lacking in both industries. The developed trainings will make an impact on VET providers of initial and continuous training who will enhance their trainings/classes portfolio, on school trainees and workers who will receive updated knowledge for skills which are missing in electro and metal industry, on companies who will have more skilled workforce, especially those who are lacking training resources, and on the rest of industry and public who will recognize the added value of such cooperation in curricula design and delivery. All materials are free to use, provided a reference is made to the skillME project and Erasmus+ Programme financing.The activities set out in the project will continue within the Alliance for the Advancement of VET in the Metal and Electro Industry, which is an international platform intended for all stakeholders of the metal and electro industries as well as other industries that wish to enhance the VET for improving the employability of students and workers using the innovative approach of developing trainings based on industry needs, strengthening the collaboration of VET providers, regulatory bodies and industry representative, increasing the competitiveness of EU member state manufacturing industries and improving the cooperation among EU member states through international collaboration and sharing of good practices. Join us! www.gzs.si/skill-me/vsebina/Alliance

<< Background >>TTT4WBL project continued the Baltic co-operation in Vocational Education and Training (VET) and work-based learning (WBL) with a focus on professional development of WBL tutors from VET schools and enterprises. As WBL is a comparatively new form of VET in all three Baltic countries lack of motivated and competent WBL tutors was identified as one of the main problems to ensure high quality WBL.<< Objectives >>The project objective was to collect and analyse evidence for implementation of innovative measures and facilitate their transferability by testing a professional development model: Joint (tandem) training of WBL tutors from VET schools and from enterprises. The tandem training concept rests on assumption that WBL tutors are key persons for ensuring quality of WBL and VET. The main target groups were WBL tutors, lead trainers, VET and company managers, VET students.<< Implementation >>The joint (tandem) training workshops for more than 800 WBL tutors accompanied with the research data collection process was implemented in three field trials in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The content of training programmes and pedagogical approaches were adjusted after each phase based on research evidence, the lead trainers’ self-reflection and peer learning process. The findings of the research were transformed into recommendations for the Baltic VET policy makers.<< Results >>The main project outcome is a new model of Baltic cooperation in WBL implying similar policy approaches for the training of WBL tutors to ensure quality of WBL, promote mobility and mutual learning. This was informed by research results reflected in the Experimentation report “Does the Tandem Approach Work?” An important practical result is the approval of Baltic WBL Tutors Competence profile, methodological material for Joint Training Approach, Lead trainers’ teams and trained WBL tutors.