"“S.E.A.S. - Study, Employment, Activities for SKills "" was born from the will of the proposing Institute, the"" Leonardo da Vinci ""Technical, Economic and Technological Institute of Milazzo and of the other members of the Consortium to address common needs for European improvement and development through the creation of initiatives aiming at professional qualification and employment for young graduates from Sicily.The project partnership was made up of a set of actors sharing a common vision and similar needs, considered as relevant for the development and the achieve the project objectives. The training team was composed on the one hand by schools with a common Curricula Offer: I.T.E.T. ""E. Fermi"", IIS ""E. Ferrari"", ITET ""G. Tomasi di Lampedusa"", IIS ""S. Pugliatti"" and the Professional Training Organization Fmts Experience Srl and, on the other hand, by exponents of the local economic and professional industry such as the Pro Loco Messina Sud, the Aeolian Messina Taormina Tourist Guides Association, Radio Street and the Aegee network, all interested in creating a greater connection with the world professional training as a prerequisite for their presence on the territory, generating opportunities for exchange with European realities.Transnational traineeships were considered as the most appropriate tools to respond to the challenges faced by the main actors involved in the process of interconnecting School and Work in the current local and socio-economic context. This process is, in fact, an increasingly central aspect in determining the future structure of the VET system and its ability to anticipate trends and respond effectively to rapidly changing markets.""S.E.A.S."" was developed over 36 months, from 03/09/2018 to 02/09/2021; and saw the participation of 87 recent graduates who carried out ErasmusPro professional internships (4 months) in 4 destination countries - France, Belgium, United Kingdom and Malta- in ""Blue Economy"" sector, specifically tourism and gastronomy, trade and logistics, the main areas in which the training offer of the Consortium's educational institutions is articulated.At the end of the project activities, it is possible to state that the general and specific objectives underlying the proposal have been largely achieved, as ""S.E.A.S."" has:- promoted the link between the VET sector and the labor market, facilitating the transition of 87 recent graduates from school to the workplace in the ""Blue Economy"" sector;- favored greater employability of young participants through the acquisition of soft and language skills, thanks to the creation of placements within a real business context and with European added value;- enabled the creation of a great synergy among the actors belonging to the Consortium (educational institutions, training bodies and representative bodies of the labor market) to improve professional training at regional / national level and promote the qualification of personnel and the mutual transferability of professional qualifications in the wide field of European action;- contributed to the modernization of traditional teaching and professional integration methods adopted by partner schools, which have had the opportunity to go deeper into the functioning of European funding mechanisms and cooperate with a national and international network.In addition to the employment data that see about 20% of the participants employed following the Erasmus experience, it is possible to summarize the main results achieved thanks to the following indicators:- more than 70% of the participants were satisfied with the support received during the mobility on behalf of the sending and receiving institutions;- 88.5% of beneficiaries declared that they were satisfied with the Erasmus + experience lived in its entirety;- 83% of participants said they have acquired technical-professional skills in the reference sector;- 85% of learners stated that they have acquired excellent skills in intercultural dialogue and understanding;- 79% of participants now have a more positive attitude towards their future and towards new career opportunities."

"The project “S.E.E.D.S. - Strengthening knowlEdge and compEtences to Develop new Skills ""(2018-1-IT01-KA102-006370) was developed by UNCI Agroalimentare with the help of the national Consortium and its varied foreign partnership. Agri-food and Tourism, Trade and Marketing, represented the reference sectors of the project and its VET actions. The project actions were aimed at 111 young graduates from school curricula related to the sectors above mentioned: Agriculture, Agri-food and Agro-industry; Administration, Finance and Marketing, Tourism, Food and Wine Services, and Hotel Hospitality. The mobility experiences promoted were long-term (4 months - ErasmusPro). In total, 52 male and 59 female candidates, aged between 19 and 22, were selected, coming from different Italian regions: Campania, Veneto, Tuscany, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Liguria, Sicily, Molise and Marche. The training activities developed under the form of an internship in host companies chosen on the VET learners’ specific features (aptitude, as well as professional needs).The objectives and impacts achieved by “S.E.E.D.S.” were the following:- consolidation of an organized and defined VET cooperation made up of the right social actors (VET schools, public authorities, trade associations) capable of supporting young people in their accessing the labor market.- implementation of 111 mobility experiences in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Malta, and Spain, for the enhancement of technical-scientific skills relating to the professional sectors of reference (100% of internships, in fact, were perfectly in line with the profile of the selected participants).- growth in the employability level of the young graduates who took part in the mobility (15% of beneficiaries entered the labor market following their Erasmus internship by securing a job position either in their host companies or new businesses belonging to the same professional sectors).- enrichment of linguistic and managerial skills for the Consortium members and all the representatives engaged in the project design and implementation; improvement of the language skills of direct participants through the OLS platform (more than 95% of learners declared an improved language knowledge in a second European language).- acquisition of more in-depth knowledge about the European funding mechanisms (many consortium schools, during the months of management of ""S.E.E.D.S."", participated in the Erasmus+ Program for the promotion of initiatives related to Key Action 1 - Mobility for school staff; UNCI Agroalimentare itself has obtained the Accreditation to the new Erasmus 2020-2027 Program under the Key Action 1 to continue supporting the mobility of VET Learners.- greater integration of the operating systems of different organizations related to VET with the aim of increasing the quality of training courses and feeding pedagogical research activities (the foreign receiving organizations were able to better investigate the management dynamics underlying the Learning Outcomes monitoring, evaluation and recognition mechanisms; on the other hand, the companies hosting the internships gave its internal teams a crucial contribution towards their internationalization)."

Vitimalta, a producer organisation established in Malta since 2006, is implementing this project for the benefit of the national viticultural scene. Especially as the over 300 members of Vitimalta represent 90% of all Maltese and Gozitan wine production. For this project, Vitimalta will be collaborating with a private company titled Vivai Mannone, established in Sicilly since the 1970s, this company is renowned for its quality of vine material and for its use of the latest methods and the most advanced technologies in the field of viticulture. The project entails sending 10 viticulturists who are active in Vitimalta's VET Training Department for a 5 day job shadowing experience. 5 participants will go to Italy in July 2015 during the harvesting period and another 5 participants will go in March 2016 during the grafting period. The methodology for this job shadowing experience is one which focuses on a hands-on and learning by doing approach experience. The need to implement the project arose because of the: 1) Lack of educational background of farmers in Malta (these also include viticulturists) This is due to the fact that the educational backgrounds of farmers in Malta, the majority being 78.9% of the farming population have gained their knowledge on the subject via practical experience. In fact, only 3.8% of the total workforce declared to have undergone 'basic' training or 'full agricultural' training whilst the remaining did not declare their educational background (Agricultural Census 2001). This contrasts sharply with the 17.5% of EU 15 farmers with basic and full education attained. It was only in 1993 with the setting up of the Institute of Agriculture by the University of Malta, and recently with the establishments of the agri-business institute by the Malta College of Science and Technology, that agriculture ventured into the tertiary education level. This is also the case with the over 300 viticulture members with Vitimalta, most of whom have obtained practical experience throughout the years but lack an educational background. This is one of the main objectives of the project, so that thanks to this project the trainers from the VET department will be able to offer a more structured CPD programme for our members. 2) Lack of qualified teaching personnelThe lack of educational background in the farming sector leads to lack of qualified teaching personnel. For this reason another objective of this project is to further train and provide opportunities for the trainers at Vitimalta VET Department. Thanks to this job shadowing opportunity, these trainers will enhance their skills on viticulture and will be able to improve the training they offer to Vitimalta members. 3) Viticulture does not attract the younger generation Another need for this project is to be able to provide training on viticulture to the younger generation. The more people working in the VET Department of Vitimalta the easier it will be to organise training and information sessions on the subject of viticulture. The objective of Vitimalta is that participants of the job shadowing experience will be able to disseminate information to MCAST agri-business students.4) Lack of cooperation with other organisations Another need is to promote cooperation with other foreign organisations. Normally viticulturists tend to work on their own and are not exposed to modern practices and/or are not kept updated with new innovations of systems in the field. For this reason this project seeks to continue to bridge the gap with other European organisations. 5) Limited training courses on viticulture Although Vitimalta is already offering training courses on viticulture we have embarked on this project as there is the need to implement more structured and tailor-made courses that would combine a theoretical and a practical approach. The objective is that following this job shadowing opportunity, the 10 participants from Vitimalta in collaboration with the partner organisation will develop a long-term training programme for the members of Vitimalta, targeting especially grafting techniques.The project will seek to equip the 10 participants from Vitimalta with more skills to be able to improve the training offer for Vitimalta members and also to be able to provide a more structured training model for Vitimalta. As a long-term result Vitimalta aims at strengthening relations with European organisations so as to develop a European project which lead to a an accreditation of viticulture courses for the Vocational Education and Training Sector across the European Union.