"The “REcircle+” project ""Erasmus + for circular economy"" involved 111 students, of which 11 were additional, compared to the initial 100 foreseen, from the 4th and 5th year classes of 11 different schools in the province of Ascoli Piceno, partner of the initative, with study paths concerning the following sectors:• ""Materials & Energy"" - Technical and Professional Institutes with specialization in Chemistry, Materials, Biotechnologies and High Schools with specialization in Applied Sciences;• “Commerce & Communication” - Technical and Professional Institutes dedicated to Commercial Services and High Schools with a Linguistic specialization.The “REcircle +” project was founded with the intention to continue the promotion of competences in the frame of the circular economy, by insisting on the same route taken in the previous REcircle experience: a project which was approved last year and of which the present REcircle + represents the evolution. The goal was to train dynamic young people using increasingly high skills, adequate to the new labour market requirements since these sectors are characterized by higher employment rates at local, national and European level.Promoted by the Province of Ascoli Piceno, ""REcircle +"" included an experience of transactional internship to support an innovative training offer, with the aim of integrating the institutional study path with a 32 day international work experience. The choice of these strategic and driving sectors for sustainability and for the development of a circular model was in line with the study areas of origin of the learners. In this way a greater impact of the action on the local territory and an increased possibility to access to employment, both at local, national and European level was achieved. The mobility experience, which was held between June 2018 and April 2019, was carried out in companies operating in the circular economy in Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Spain and Portugal.Furthermore, taking in consideration the partial presence of minors within the beneficiaries, for 10 of the mobility flows realised, an accompanying person was granted (coming from the coordinating body and from the partner educational institutes) who stayed with the beneficiaries during the first 6/7 days in the foreign country.The realisation of the internships within the companies, who adopted circular and sustainable models, had a further goal to make the students more involved and more aware of their knowledge, of the professional world and of their operational competences, as well as to increase their confidence in employment prospects.The experience abroad was carefully prepared and preceded by a linguistic, cultural, pedagogical and sectoral improvement (OLS, health and safety in the workplace, technical seminars in the sector). In addition to the traineeship in the companies, the project provided the participation of students, during their stay abroad, with at least two cultural visits and two professional guidance meetings. The qualitative management of all planned activities, recognition, certification and validation of competences have been guaranteed by the application of ECVET tools.The results regarding the identified needs and objectives were:• development of communicative-linguistic and technical-professional skills in the participants with respect to the project sectors;• strengthening of technical and professional skills and subsequent completion of the professional curriculum through a certified, recognized and validated training pact;• acquisition of increasingly qualitative mobility experiences, to be transferred through the testimony of the beneficiaries themselves, in their local, cultural and professional realities.There were several elements that played an important role and reflect an innovative approach in the way of conceiving, describing and certifying learning. Among these we highlight:• the capitalization of the experience through the active participation of the beneficiaries in territorial orientation initiatives, meetings with companies and social partners;• active presence of the participants at the ECOMONDO fair of Rimini, 2018 edition;• the evaluation of learning outcomes realised in line with the ECVET system.Finally, the promotion of the knowledge of Europass and ECVET tools among potential employers, social partners and public bodies, made it possible to fully exploit the experience, laying stable foundations, at local level, for greater cooperation, internationalization and transparency of education systems and for an increased competitiveness of productive ones."

"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)."

The project implemented has involved 80 students from 6 higher institutes in the agricultural and touristic sector , members of the consortium located in the Bioregion of the Apuan AlpsParticipants were enrolled in the V class or graduated within the first 12 months of graduation.The notice to partecipate in the mobility was prepared in each institute;subsequently, were made in each institute the admission and / or assessment selections of the required minimum skills.The requests to partecipate that are submitted by the candidates were evaluated by a selection committee that verified the possession of the formal requirements.The selections in the various institutes have been structured as follows: foreign language test (test and interview), psychoattitudinal test and motivational interview.An additional score has been assigned with reference to the female gender, to those who have never participated in mobility and the factor of the economic condition.The Consortium, during the selection phase, has defined the destinations based on the skills of beneficiaries and availability. The project has foreseen a phase of preparation for mobility.With the collaboration of the whole Consortium,were organized information and training paths for mobility, consistent with the profiles of the recipients and the objectives set in the projectThe Consortium has proceeded to produce the necessary material and to schedule the following informative meetings.SEMINAR I: preparation for mobility. SEMINAR II: Self-training methods and instruments (OLS).SEMINAR III: preparation to the culture and characteristics of the foreign country. SEMINAR IV: project closure: verification of learning results.The presence at the seminars, the completion of the self-training courses and the required tests were the conditions to participate in mobility abroad.The project included preparation for mobility, materials for preparation, handbooks (instructions, reminders, short city guide, addresses and useful numbers of host family, company, etc.), air tickets, transfer from the airport to the host city to the accommodation (and return), accommodation, meals, local transport in the host city, insurance, organization, support and evaluation of the internship, certification of experience.The mobilities took place between July and October 2018. After the completion of the preparation phase, the mobilities were organized with the following breakdown: 39 Bourmouth (UK), 23 Valencia (ES), 4 Jerez de la Frontera (ES), 9 Berlin (D), 5 Cork (IE). The duration of the mobility was 21 days for each participantMobility. After the delivery of the tickets and the handbook, the participants left for 3 weeks of training in one of the following countries: United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Germany.The participant was supported on site by a partner who took care of the reception, matching, monitoring and evaluation. The Consortium carried out monitoring actions through contacts with the participants, the partner and the host organizations, via telephone, skype, whatsapps, social media.Objectives achieved: the aim of the mobility was to increase and complete the skills acquired by the students during the scholastic path, related to the enhancement and protection of the territory.For students enrolled in agricultural courses, the experience was useful to develop the following skills: - Apply monitoring and verification mechanisms to the proposed actions through the control of reference indicators.-Involve entrepreneur and company operators in sharing a production project knowing how to transfer the necessary skills with appropriate communication techniques -Managing the various production methods according to the bureaucratic and technical provisions in force. For students enrolled in touristic courses, the experience was useful to develop the following skills: -Programming the promotion of the plans through the various media choosing the most effective and efficient -Draw up proposal and programming documents aimed at the quality of the interventions -Structuring specific promotional and advertising activities (press releases, depliants, catalogs, posters, articles) according to the type of activity identified -Evaluate the economic aspects of the promotion initiatives, calculating the individual costs and negotiating the best prices with suppliers. Post Mobility: At the end of the mobility the participants delivered the administrative documentation and completed the final reports. Serindform and the reference Institute have issued the attendance certificate, the ECVET and the declaration of Learning.

The REcircle “Erasmus+ for circular economy” project was promoted by the province of Ascoli Piceno. It gave the possibility to carry out a transnational internship and it was addressed to 123 students attending the last and penultimate year of upper-secondary schools (around 16-18 years old) located in the province of Ascoli Piceno.The objective of the project was to respond to specific European, national and local needs (COM 868 e 614, POR Marche 2014-2020) about the development of professional competences corresponding to the market needs, and especially the application of circular economy principles in the sectors related to the courses of study of the involved students. The project was addressed to students coming from:•Technical and professional upper-secondary schools specialized in chemistry, materials and biotechnologies, and upper-secondary schools specialized in applied sciences. These students did an internship in the sector identified in the project as “Material&Energy”;•Technical and professional upper-secondary schools specialized in commercial services and high schools specialised in languages and commerce. These students did an internship in the sector identified in the project as “Commerce&Communication”.The aforementioned sectors are strategic and driving for sustainability and for the development of a circular model. Their choice was motivated by their potential in terms of employment at the local, national and European levels.The mobilities had a duration of 32 days (and 4 weeks of internship) and took place between July and November 2017 in private companies, organizations and bodies located in 9 European countries (Austria, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal). These internships allowed the beneficiaries to gain awareness of the obtained knowledge, to improve their ability to put into practice the knowledge acquired and their familiarity with the professional world, to increase their trust in their job perspectives and to enhance the employment opportunities of the beneficiaries’ educational curricula.The experience abroad, carefully prepared, was preceded by activities of linguistic, cultural, educational and sectoral improvement (OLS, health and security at work, and seminars focused on orientation and on the topic of the project).The achieved results were:•Development of linguistic-communicational and technical-professional competences;•Strengthening of technical-professional competences and the following CV improvement thanks to a certified, recognised and validated experience;•Implementation of better mobilities that could be transferred through direct witnessing to the local, cultural and professional contexts (families, social partners and companies);•Formative experience aimed at the youth employability and constant learning;•Enhancement of the synergic action between the project and other initiatives, in order to encourage the creation of a solid network and the implementation of future successful projects characterised by a better cooperation between schools, social partners and companies, through the usage of shared transparent tools. Finally, the National VET Consortium, used validation and competence recognition tools such as: Certificates managed by the host partners, educational credits managed by schools, tools/certificates promoted by the Erasmus+ programme (i.e. European Language Passport, Europass Mobility, and ECVET methodology).

The project “Let’s Develop Touristic Skills” originated from a thorough analysis of the socio-economic development needs of Rieti area intertwined with the learning and personal development needs of the students of two High School in Rieti, Istituto Scientifico “Carlo Jucci” and Istituto Magistrale Statale “Elena Principessa di Napoli”, and Liceo Scientifico dell’Istituto Omnicomprensivo di Amatrice. Tourism, which has always been considered one of the main drivers for relaunching regional economies, has been transformed in recent years, taking on new shapes linked to the enhancement of nature and culture, thus conveying the pedagogical value of respect and responsibility. The project has been implemented with a view to enhancing the opportunities of socio-economic development of Rieti area, while combating youth unemployment through the development of skills that have fostered the emergence of new professional figures. 30 students in 3rd and 4th year from the aforementioned 3 High Schools have been selected. They carried out a 6-weeks internship experience in leading Irish companies in the sector of tourism. Students carried out the internship in two flows of 15 students plus 1 accompanying person:-I flow - June/July 2018-II flow – May/June 2019The learning plan of each internship has been structured on the development of professional skills related to tourism. The activities were agreed with the host organisations on the basis of what was established in the Learning Agreement and following the Learning Units defined in the project:-Learning Unit for Natural Tourism - Ist. Omnicomprensivo di Amatrice-Learning Unit for Educational Tourism - Ist. Magistrale Rieti-Learning Unit for Cultural Tourism - Liceo Scientifico di RietiThe project has fostered the development of specific skills, in particular related to the digital world with a particular focus on the use of social media as tools for promotion and marketing, essential to promote the offer and attract costumers in tourism. Moreover, it has contributed to the development of basic skills such as linguistic skills, key transversal skills like learning ability, civic and social responsibility, awareness of the importance of cultural expressions and creativity and, in particular, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. Personal and intrapersonal skills have also been strengthened such as the ability to communicate effectively, team spirit, the ability to adapt to multicultural contexts, organisational and leadership skills, negotiation and problem-solving skills. Let’s develop touristic skills! has achieved the following objectives:- increasing students’ motivation to learning by promoting European mobility pathways;- development of skills that can be spent on tourism in the field of nature, culture and education; - improvement of linguistic and cultural skills, essential in the tourism sector;- initiating pathways of professionalisation for students, thus facilitating their integration into the labour market; - promoting international cooperation among various players working in the field of tourism by fostering mobility flows; - creating a network of knowledge and fostering the recognition of the skills acquired during extra-curricular paths. At local level, a positive impact has been found on the High Schools and, as a consequence, on local community, who has seen an enrichment of the educational offer provided to the students, consistent with the socio-economic context of that area. At the same time, with the results of the mobility project, schools responded to a specific need not covered by other interventions, thus raising awareness of specific issues in work labour. This project led to the establishment of a network of schools and companies able to collaborate, exchange good practices, compare results, methodologies and training needs of their users, both at national and European level.