The bakery product sector in Europe and internationally, is highly competitive. The bakery industry, in close alliance with the supermarket chains, offers a variety of products at low prices, steadily gaining ground against small bakeries. A similar picture appears in the Greek market, where the “traditional” bakeries hold an ever smaller market share, with a fall in turnover, reduced profitability and a consequent rise in unemployment.In this context, the small business members of the Ag. Grigorios Bakers’ Association in the Euboia prefecture need to “innovate” in order to satisfy the tastes of modern consumers, which include such items as high quality health food products. To achieve this “turnabout”, which is in direct line with the global trend towards Clean Label and Organic Products, this action plan is being proposed. The plan involves the training of 16 people belonging to the staff of the member companies of the Association (bakers and bakery managers, employees), providing them with necessary knowledge and developing their skills in the field of organic bakery products (raw materials, preparation methods, distribution, certification, relevant legislation). The training will last 11 days and will take place in one session in autumn 2016. The host country chosen is Germany, which boasts a highly developed market for organic pastry products within a comprehensive legislative framework. Training activities include study visits to bakery chains that manufacture organic bread and organic dough products, to organic product certification bodies, to equivalent professional bakers’ associations, to the Ministry of the German State, as well as to bodies that regulate organic pastry products, which are entitled to display the related mark. Contact, interaction, evaluation of information, and exchanges of views among experienced bakers, equivalent professional unions, and competent bodies at the European level are expected to contribute to the formation of a new business model able to operate effectively and competitively in favour of baker-members of the Association, and for the bakery industry in general.Key Objectives of the project are:- The acquisition of new knowledge, improving the existing skills of staff, recognition and certification of applications across Europe;- The acquisition of knowledge (technological equipment, new methods and trends);- The development of cooperation at a European level between social partners, suppliers, and business organisations in a European environment;- Alignment with the global trend towards organic bread, integration and dissemination of good practices in daily work and in the operation of small-business bakeries,- A gradual increase by 10-15% in the turnover of bakery businesses that will adopt the acquired knowledge, higher profitability, and a consequent increase in jobs within the next three years;- Linking European training policy and the labour market, increasing competitiveness and employment, local and national;- Strengthening the internationalisation of the mission of the Association and the internationalisation of its activities, to strengthen the European orientation and modernisation of its operations so as to meet the modern needs of its members.Key Results expected from the project are:- The integration of improved abilities and skills of trainees in the workplace;- The exploitation of comparative competitive advantages offered by the diversification of the product offered, at the individual and sector level (knowledge of preparation, certification and marketing of organic bakeries);- The integration of all learning outcomes and an increase in the participants’ ability to trigger changes towards their personal development and their contribution to the modernisation of their working environment;- Satisfying the demands of the modern consumer, who cares about both safe consumption and environmental protection, desiring organic pastry products made with organic raw materials (no chemical fertilisers);- Achieving growth in turnover, profitability and employment in member businesses of the Association;- Acquiring the ability for the Association to prepare its members to enter into partnerships at a European level and more generally to undertake the modernisation of its operations.The positive influence resulting from the dissemination of the results of this action plan to numerous target groups is expected to be operational leverage and feedback for future similar plans at Local, Regional, National and European level.

Since 2006, significant progress has been made with regard to European vocational training mobility programmes in Burgundy, not only in terms of public but also in terms of number of beneficiaries.Thanks to local and regional authorities, educational centers, employment agencies, stakeholders in vocational education and training, and of course the European Union, a great number of people have benefited from a work and professional based experience in Europe. This includes students, apprentices, high school students, trainees in vocational education and training, jobseekers, employees, and educational and training staff.The mobility concerns however a number still restricted of beneficiaries , while the dynamic of professional integration by mobility experiences is an increasing request from candidates in search of development and of an improvement of their professional skills, but also from the employers who look for qualified workers with skills acquired and recognized internationally , which means a lot in terms of added value for the companies. With the financial support from the Burgundy Region and the Erasmus + programme, we would like to enrich the professional training offer for learners from Burgundy ,as we are sure that professional internships in European companies is the good way to contribute to the objectives of the trainees and the educational, social and economic world. The MAFOPE project follows the APRECA dynamic since 2011 and continued in 2013, through the Leonardo programme that allowed more than 180 trainees to get a professional experience in Europe , 77 % of them having found a job in a period of 3 and 6 months after their internships.MAFOPE will allow 100 trainees between 18 and 30 years old of the vocational training, to enrich their professional background with skills acquired during their professional mobility in Europe in 6 prioritary activitty sector in Burgundy: food processing industry, international business and marketing, chemistry and biology, tourism and hotel business, corporate services (Human resources, finance, accounting and administration), social and health care.The trainees will get from August 2015, a 3 weeks (60 hours) language course followed by a 13 week professional internship in a European company, the programme ending in May 2017. It will help the professional integration of the trainees when they come back to Burgundy with these different objectives:• Extension and improvement of professional and languages skills• Application and improvement of their professional, personal and language capacities compared to others candidates who could not have this European experience.• Hiring employers from Burgundy of competent workers who can participate in the development of their company.• Implication of the different regional structures for training and employment, in a mobility European way, which leads on good results in professional insertion in the Burgundy region.MAFOPE is looking for the involvement of the greater number of vocational education trainees in the European mobility process. With the financial support of the Burgundy region and ERASMUS+, APRECA will coordinate the programme, offering the trainees an operational organization and a pedagogical follow up , allowing the best profit of their stay in Europe. The regional actors of the professional integration and of the employment will closely be associated to the programme at the beginning, during and at the end of the stay, for the selection of candidates, the intercultural preparation, the evaluation and the help to find a job at the end of their internship.Our European partners (Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece) are recognized in the transnational mobility process. They are all professionals of training, education and employment policies in their respective country..Their objectives are the same as APRECA. They will assure, in association with their companies network, the logistic and the operational management of the programme.The evaluation of the programme, its valorisation and the dissemination of the results will be made by APRECA, the Burgundy Region and all the regional actors of vocational training and employment, the role of every partner being clearly defined in its own area of competences.

Initiated in 2016 as a continuation of the ERASMUS + MAFOPE program (2015-2017), the MAFOPE 2 project has enabled 45 trainees in vocational training to spend a mobility period in European companies with an average duration of 16 weeks in the following countries : United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain.The main objective of the program was to facilitate, through a professional internship in European companies , the trainees' professional integration in companies at the end of their stay in EuropeThe internships took place in the following business sectors :*international trade,*marketing,*sale,*human ressources,*finance,*accounting,*administration,*science and laboratory techniques,*tourism,*hotel and catering,*IT *events organization and communication*logistics and transports*quality procedures*bakery*hairdressingThis professional experience has given the beneficiaries the opportunity:* to get new profesionnal skills and abilities, put them into practice and perfect them throughout their stay* to improve the language of the host country through a total linguistic and cultural immersion, both in their company and their host family* to develop their personal skills in response to the various situations encountered during their internship: decision-making, increasing their autonomy, taking a step back, open-mindedness, new cultural references and tolerance towards other people from different cultures and backgrounds.In the short and medium term, these various achievements are aimed at the hiring by potential employers of a competent and qualified workforce, capable of participating in the development of the company. The professional insertion of the beneficiaries in companies after their internship abroad will be formally measured by the realization of a survey at 3 and 6 months after their stay in Europe In collaboration with Pôle Emploi, APRECA has coordinated the program by offering the beneficiaries an operational organization and an educational follow-up to make the most of their stay in Europe. Pôle Emploi was closely associated with the process, before, during and after the internships, in particular for the selection of candidates, their intercultural preparation, the evaluation of their experience abroad, the dissemination of results and the process of assisting them to find a sustainable employment after their Erasmus+ experience abroad. Our partners in the UK, Ireland and Spain, in collaboration with their networks of companies and host families, have provided logistical organization, operational management and the follow-up of trainees, all along their stay in the host countries. Acknowledged skateholders of transnational mobility and professionals of vocational training, education and employment in their respective countries, their objectives were common with those of APRECA, and allowed us to reach and respect the qualitative criteria of our project. We also carry on working with these partners in the framework of other mobility programs that we manage or coordinate.The program has been completed very recently (end of May 2018), and its evaluation, its recognition and the dissemination of its esults are currently carried out by APRECA and Pôle Emploi, knowing that this process can only be definitively finalized within 3 to 6 months, with regard to the results of the integration surveys that will be conducted by APRECA and Pôle Emploi. However, the beneficiaries' feedback during the final review meetings and interviews organized by APRECA and Pôle Emploi are all very positive, whether in terms of professional experience or personal experience linked to a significant period of expatriation. By following the logic of involving as many people as possible in a European mobility process, we believe that the MAFOPE 2 project has contributed, at its level, to reinforce the dynamics of professional mobility in Europe and that it will lead, for trainees, to tangible results for a sustainable integration in the world of work.

"This proposal entitled: ""Energy upgrading and maintenance of buildings"" refers to the education of students of 1st EPAL Lavrion to the specialties of Engineering, Electrology and Building projects. The program involves in principle theoretical training of scientific staff of the host organization, as well as scheduled visits to companies for internships and cultural visits. The training program was designed according to the characteristics and needs of the participants in order to obtain the specialized knowledge required in relation to the energy upgrading of buildings, so that in conjunction with the received practical skills and attitudes required by their specialty, to become competitive and be able to pursue and achieve their integration into the labor market. In the proposed project we expect to achieve multiplier effects and benefits, both to the participants and for the abroad actors involved. This gives added value to the proposal, contributing to the development of the European dimension in vocational training and vocational guidance and dissemination of the importance of mobility programs and transfer of European culture in the sending country. The training needs of students who are covered by the plan and which are directly related and relevant to the needs of the labor market focus on the upgrading of building facilities with the aim of improving the overall energy efficiency of buildings. The plan is expected to involve 20 students per stream, who for a period of two (2) weeks will go to Germany and Spain, February 2015 and October 2014 respectively. With the approval of the proposed project , our organization intends to organize a series of activities that will involve the preparation phase (publicity , collection requests to participate , a structured interview , selection of beneficiaries , seminar linguistic and cultural preparation , training guides, training materials , preparation of beneficiaries , organization and procedural travel and subsistence ) , the implementation phase ( going abroad , theoretical training, internships ) and phase after the end of training ( assessment , dissemination of results , administrative documents to the National Unit of the Erasmus +). By the end of the project, the trainees are expected to gain valuable experience and important skills and identified in the following results: * Checks and measurements for capturing energy demands * Techno-economic feasibility studies and energy consumption targets * Support in finding suitable financing * Installation of upgrade program * Provision of maintenance services * Monitoring and drafting energy reports. After the end of the main implementation activities of the mobility, for the proposed project, the expected impact for the participants will be to gain knowledge and skills for the subject they were trained, strengthening self-esteem, active participation in society and development of critical thinking, personal development and strengthening European citizenship. The project has an impact on partner organizations where participants carry information about the needs of local labor markets and the opportunity for networking and further exchange of experiences in similar bodies. Finally, the impact on the target groups is detected in the incentives created in the wider local community to participate in lifelong learning activities and exploiting opportunities to participate in educational activities to enhance knowledge and skills with participants and ensure professional experiences and personal development. The proposed mobility will generate significant long-term benefits both at the individual level and in the general developmental level, contributing to the added value of local and regional development, by investing in human capital, proven demand for energy upgrade of buildings due to the successful training of the participants and the elimination of disparities by promoting equal opportunities for men and women."

Several actual and former interns of the participant organizations manifested different problems related to the effectiveness and the real impact of their traineeship/internship. At the same time policy-makers, responsible to shape youth policies, need more informations about the extent and the dimension of these problems. MEET seeks to create a link between them in order to discuss about these issues and find potential solutions to improve interns' conditions. Thanks to the large number of interns hosted and placed by the partner organizations, the consortium developed the following steps, so as to make possible the dialogue between the young people and Policy Makers within the framework of the Structured Dialogue:- Preparation Activities (online debate). With the changing of the partner, Ecepaa's platform, thanks to the coordination of CISPoC, has been the platform where young people discussed instances and the problems, developed proposals and ranked them. Here, the agenda of the meeting has been set up in order to drive the discussion with policy makers. The webPortal had the capability to allow them to vote the best recommendation so as the selection will be automatically done by them. The applicant provided to upload several documents, policies, programmes and other material in order to facilitate the discussion and to raise their awareness about the EU policies in the field of education and training.At least 100 interns participated in this project during the online debate and at 31 out of them joined the policy makers in Brussels.- Implementation Activities (transnational meeting, open discussion, working groups): after the selection of the candidates, the partner organized the travel and the meeting in Brussels that lasted three days. Young people have had the opportunity to discuss among them about how to deal the debate with policy-makers, to meet them and ask their questions. Finally, they have been supported by the participant organizations to develop and draft some recommendations and policy papers to deliver to the policy makers.- Follow-up & Evaluation Activities (online debate): After the meeting the applicant submitted a questionnaire in order to evaluate the level of satisfaction of the participants, meanwhile, young people continued to discuss and to disseminate the results of the transnational meeting to the other users. A final evaluation have been provided and presented to the participant organizations during the final online meeting.All the activities have been led by young people in order to increase their responsibility and their direct involvement to a democratic participation activity. The result has been young people awareness rising of youth policies implemented at EU level. On the other side, the policy-makers involved have been able to better understand some of the challenges faced by the interns. Both the interns and the participant organizations will work together in he future to better developing concrete provisions for the European Label for Quality Internship. Young people have increased their engagement in democratic life, they have developed their multicultural approach, their English language and their ICT skills through the use of the platform.The Ecepaa's platform can be used also in the future for other issues making the project idea sustainable for the long-period.MEET has contributed to improve the link between education and the labour market providing useful guidelines and recommendations made by the interns with the aim to improve the effectiveness of training activities in the future.The project has represented a starting point for a future larger project in this field and its outcome may become an important relevant source for the coming development of EU Youth Strategy.