The aim of the CERASOL program is to develop ceramic agglomerated powders adapted to the cold gas dynamic spraying process "cold spray" to preserve the nature and composition of the sprayed materials. The cold spray can be used in the coating and surface modification technologies but also is entering the additive manufacturing route. Its application to obtain dense for dense ceramic deposits in the sold-state requires an better understanding of deformation and adhesion mechanisms during impact and layer construction. The developments in CERASOL are based on the "design" of agglomerated ceramic powders with controlled porosity for which the degree of agglomeration as well as the size of grains and crystallites can be varied and studied on ceramics of varying hardness and toughness with potential use for various applications.

"European agriculture experienced huge changes in last decades. Adaptations to institutional and marketing changes, influenced by EU common agricultural policy, but also by societal wishes like food safety, animal welfare and the environment, require the ability to apply entrepreneurial skills as a key factor for survival. However, strategic thinking is rarely present in the farming sector. Agricultural producers focus on operational decisions taken “by the day” and often do not see the need for a long term vision for their firm. Especially the situation in less favoured regions, often in remote areas with relative small farms, is complex. To build a future in these areas asks for entrepreneurial competencies.The main purpose of the ISM+ project was to spread the idea of strategic thinking in agriculture and introduce innovative tools to support farm advisors and farmers in entrepreneurship and the strategic management process. The target groups of the project were farmers and vocational agricultural students on one hand and agricultural teachers, extension workers and advisors on the other hand.The project is based on the unique method and tool - Interactive Strategic Management (ISM), which was developed in the Netherlands and introduced in (transferred to) other European Countries like Poland, Slovenia, Lithuania and Austria. The method was used in trainings to instruct farmers, advisors and students how to prepare a successful farm strategy. The detailed aims of this ISM+ project were to:•improve entrepreneurial competencies of farmers, advisors, teachers, and agricultural students;•assess the local agricultural framework conditions by a context analysis in order to adapt the ISM method and understand the outcomes of the training process;•extend the ISM method to farmers and students in a variety of agricultural sectors (dairy, beef, pig, crop production);•make the training applicable to a larger language area in Europe (English, German, Polish, Lithuanian and Slovenian languages);•make the ISM method more applicable to market oriented development paths by adding the marketing module;•add a business planning module for economic assessment of farmer choices;•introduce the concept of networking to stimulate social entrepreneurship.The project consortium consisted of organizations in the fields of research, education, economics, know-how transfer and agro-business. Participation of the agricultural universities (Wageningen, Ljubljana and Warsaw) and the Economic Institute in Vilnius, on the one hand, and professional farmer associations (like in Klagenfurt) and extension services in all countries, on the other hand, assured smooth cooperation, innovative knowledge transfer and interaction between science and practice, which contributed to the achievement of the project objectives. The project results form a wide education platform for rural entrepreneurship: •Report from the Context analysis - about the differences in strategic choices of both farmers and stakeholders in different regions of Europe (resulted in two scientific articles and 2 articles in progress to be submitted).•IFMA publication with description of ISM+ tool and other tools all around the world.•Website ""Entrepreneurship with Vision"", devoted to Interactive Strategic Management for farming – serving as a platform for the project results and materials available to the wide public http://ism.sggw.pl/ •ISM+ tool with complete training materials (ISM+ handbook ""Entrepreneurship with Vision"", and other materials ) – is dedicated for trainings of farmers, rural entrepreneurs and advisors to work with farm strategy development. •Business planning module – it is an excel tool which helps to analyse the current farm economic situation and simulate future economic consequences for different strategy choices of farmers; •Marketing module – material for training in the area of the marketing strategy of the farm;•Guidelines for Networking methodology – serves as a guideline for trainers and extension workers in supporting networks in the agricultural sector and in implementing the networking concept in ISM trainings;•ISM training module guidelines for agricultural students – serves as curriculum for ISM sessions adjusted to agricultural students;•Book “Tools for improving entrepreneurship and communication for small scale farms” – helps to get insight into the ISM method and modules, including some examples from farms in the participating countries.The project supports the VET system in each of the participating countries and other countries, like Sweden, with the new method of training and training materials, and is also applicable at the level of agricultural professional schools. Farmers and advisors found the ISM method very interesting and innovative. The project has been stimulating and inspiring for all persons involved. We hope that our results will be useful for a wide range of beneficiaries."

Public procurement represents a decisive purchaser of food in Europe. Public authorities and local communities responsible for canteens and cafeterias in hospitals, schools etc. have into their hands a powerful opportunity to orientate food systems towards more sustainability, from the producer to the consumer. Throughout Europe, innovative strategies are emerging at local and national scales in favour of a more sustainable public food procurement. A shift from “low cost” procurement schemes to environmentally and socially performant approaches is necessary, and for that shift to happen, numerous experiences have highlighted that support and training for staff members and representatives in local authorities is crucial. Indeed, it’s a challenge for local players to develop the capacities to organize a “re-connexion” with food supply chains (especially local agriculture), to acquire new management methods of costs in food facilities and to design new procedures and tenders, among others. The aim of the project “Empowering Public Food Procurement” was to contribute to the empowerment of local players in the catering sector, by:•putting together practical knowledge of trainers on how to build sustainable food procurement at local scale in different European countries;•pooling concrete examples of good practices and innovative approaches in Europe, that can be mobilized in training activities for local actors;•proposing concrete recommendations for representatives / chefs / managers of municipalities’ catering, and for trainers who support them;•laying the foundation of European common leading principles to perform more sustainable food procurement in the catering sector. The project brought together eight organizations in seven countries: France, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, Turkey and the Netherlands. The partner organizations all have competence in different areas of vocational education and training. They combine a broad spectrum of knowledge and practical know-how: consultancy and training skills for chefs, managers and municipalities’ representatives, expertise on sustainable food supply chains, experiences on designing transnational learning tools. The geographical scope of the partners permitted to juxtapose contrasted national situations towards public procurement and food supply chains, for rich and valuable exchanges of practices. The partners have shared summaries on the situation of training activities and initiatives supporting sustainability in food procurement, and have investigated case studies providing good practice examples in local communities in each project country. Two collective training sessions allowed the group to share their own field-based experiences and to gather country information and examples, enabling to sketch a European view of sustainability in food procurement support and training initiatives. Thanks to the partnership, the lessons learnt from the project have been and will be widely disseminated to a diversity of target groups: chefs, managers and responsible representatives at local level; national and European professional and institutional networks, in the sustainable food sector, the catering sector, national and European associations / initiatives run by local authorities. In a nutshell, the project has led to enhance trainers’ skills and expertise to support local communities, to provide orientations and practical recommendations for actors on-the-ground in the catering and agrofood sectors, and to raise awareness among decision makers for a switch to a more environmentally and socially performant food procurement in Europe.

"The Partnership “Preparing for the Future” developed ethical principles for organic business and employee contexts to a comprehensive European “Code of Good Organic Retailing Practice” for the trade sector. This Code described eight criteria that determine Good Organic Retailing practices: Social Aspects, Involvement in the Organic Sector, Product Quality, Sustainability in the Shop, Sustainable Relationships, Transparency, Open Communication, and Quality Management.In order to integrate the Code’s principles in the formal training of managers and personnel in the organic retail sector, but also for a transfer and promotion to the non-organic retail sector, the e-learning course and platform “Ecoretail” has been developed. Target groups of the Code concept and the e-learning training and platform were manager and staffs in organic shops and supermarket chains, institutions of adult education, trainers and teachers, representatives and stakeholders in organic retail sector, and decision-makers in public administration. The partnership consisted of nine partners from seven countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Turkey. It included organic retail associations, educational institutes and universities, marketing and consulting organizations.The first result of the project presented the ""heart"" of the identified themes for a “Code of Good Organic Retail Practice”, the criteria for the eight principles of the Code in business and staff contexts, provided in all partner languages and English. The second result is based on this concept: a Curriculum with Learning Outcomes for training on the ""Code"". The third result was a print version (PDF) of learning materials and course content for training of manager and staff in organic retail on the ""Code of Good Organic Retailing Practice"" in English language. The fourth result was the English pilot e-learning course “Ecoretail” for training on the ""Code of Good Organic Retailing Practice“.The fifth result consisting of seven national versions of the e-learning course “Ecoretail” in all partner countries and languages. “Preparing for the future” provides with this results an innovative certification standard and a regarding learning offer for the integration of ethical and sustainable principles in the daily practice of organic and conventional retail."

CIRCULAR FoodPack aims to facilitate the circular use of plastic packaging addressing the most sensitive product category: Food packaging. This sector contains 87% of all European flexible plastic-plastic multilayer composites (MLC) due to the high requirements for food preservation and safety. However, these MLC laminates cannot be recycled by state of the art processes and thus counteract the circular use of food packaging. Recycled polymers from far less demanding mono-film waste fractions underperform and cannot be used in food packaging, mostly due to the presence of intentionally and not intentionally added substances. We will demonstrate the project results by production of high-quality recycled PE at TRL 5-6, using Sensor-Based-Specification or Tracer-Based-Sorting (TBS, SBS), deinking and thermally assisted deodorization as well as solvent-based or mechanical recycling processes. Innovative designs of recyclable and food-safe mono-material laminates will enable the re-use in high-value film applications, with upcoming food packaging marking with deinkable tracers. This allows a future circular economy of food packaging, if TBS guarantees a sorting of food grade materials. Product characterization, food contact compliance testing, LCA, LCC and business modelling will support and guide process development, upscale and design new packaging. The approach addresses the scope of the call exactly, since innovative sorting and recycling solutions are applied to novel designs being developed. That enables the re-use in the same high-value product sector by removing undesirable substances from secondary raw materials. Addressing the annual 2 Mio tonnes of European MLC food packaging, which currently hamper the recycling of 17.8 Mio tonnes of food packaging waste, the expected impact on flexible packaging and food sector is substantial. An interdisciplinary team of 4 RTOs and 10 industrial partners (5 SMEs) will finally implement the new circular economy approach.