The sustainability of the European health care sector is challenged by 6 mega trends and as a consequence, the health care sector has for several years been undergoing major changes becoming increasingly digitalized, streamlined and focused on more staff and patient involvement and patient responsibility, in order to gain maximum quality in care, patient safety, efficiency, and at the same time stay economically sustainable.EUVECA is designed to support the needed innovation and development of the health care sector, by ensuring the provision of future oriented skills within the sector. This will be done through the creation of Regional Vocational Excellence Hubs in 7 European regions, which collaborate within a European Platform for Vocational Excellence in Health Care. The objective is to ensure coordination, adaption, innovation and upward convergence within regional health education eco systems, as well as promoting European (blended) mobility and inter regional learning and collaboration among health care professionals and students from the participating regions. EUVECA will show that by including a strategic and coordinated focus on VET in the work and collaboration within the regional health eco-systems, VET can contribute in a substantial way to move innovation forward within the European health care sector and ensure the sustainability of the sector on both a European and regional level. EUVECA will be implemented by a multi-disciplinary consortium of professionals, academics, local and regional health authorities, regional development agencies and social partners. Within 8 work packages, the partners and their regional stakeholders will co-create a governance model, as well as concrete education and training activities for the 7 regional hubs and the European platform will be developed, tested, fine-tuned and made sustainable for uptake of regional partnerships beyond the partnership.

RES URBIS aims at making it possible to convert several types of urban bio-waste into valuable bio-based products, in an integrated single biowaste biorefinery and by using one main technology chain. This goal will be pursued through: - collection and analysis of data on urban bio-waste production and present management systems in four territorial clusters that have been selected in different countries and have different characteristics. - well-targeted experimental activity to solve a number of open technical issues (both process- and product-related), by using the appropriate combination of innovative and catalogue-proven technologies. - market analysis whitin several economic scenarios and business models for full exploitation of bio-based products (including a path forward to fill regulatory gaps). Urban bio-waste include the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (from households, restaurants, caterers and retail premises), excess sludge from urban wastewater treatment, garden and parks waste, selected waste from food-processing (if better recycling options in the food chain are not available), other selected waste streams, i.e. baby nappies. Bio-based products include polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and related PHA-based bioplastics as well as ancillary productions: biosolvents (to be used in PHA extraction) and fibers (to be used for PHA biocomposites). Territorial and economic analyses will be done either considering the ex-novo implementation of the biowaste biorefinery or its integration into existing wastewater treatment or anaerobic digestion plants, with reference to clusters and for different production size. The economic analysis will be based on a portfolio of PHA-based bioplastics, which will be produced at pilot scale and tested for applications: - Biodegradable commodity film - Packaging interlayer film - Speciality durables (such as electronics) - Premium slow C-release material for ground water remediation

The data show that rural areas in Europe are undergoing demographic change, the greatest impact of which is depopulation and a population ageing. This demographic change represents a challenge and the urgency of implementing policies based on an approach of practical measures that incorporate the fight against unwanted depopulation as a principle to be considered in the different plans and lines of action of governments. It is important to point out how the fact of having a low population in rural areas is currently an element that prevents the vital development of its citizens producing an inequality of opportunities and access to public services, especially on education and health, with respect to urban areas. In this way, the pooling between different European rural areas affected by depopulation can serve to contrast diagnoses, responses and promote a learning network that inspires shared, innovative and contextualized actions on the territory. In this sense, the REDERA+ project seeks to generate a learning network focused on improving access to an effectiveness of vocational education and training (VET) in sparsely populated rural areas in order to strengthen social inclusion and ensuring economic sufficiency (economic sustainability), social sustainability, and environmental sustainability and contributing to the fixation of the population in these areas by means of solid VET rural systems. To this end, a STRATEGIC ASSOCIATION has been established with 7 partners from different European regions in 5 countries (Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany and Slovenia). These partners have been analysing the problems of rural territories for some time and developing measures. Sharing the problems, contrasting diagnoses and EXCHANGE OF GOOD PRACTICES that are developed in different contexts will allow the main objective of the project to be achieved: TO GENERATE A KNOWLEDGE THAT WILL SERVE SO THAT THINLY POPULATED RURAL AREAS CAN DESIGN A MODEL AND QUALITY OFFER OF SPECIFIC VET TO THEIR NEEDS. This knowledge will be generated from short joint training events (STE) that will be organized by each partner in their region. The STE will allow direct contact with good practices in the contexts in which they are carried out and interaction with experts and testimonies may provide participants with learning and skills to contribute decisively to the phase of knowledge to generate a possible model and supply of VET appropriate to depopulated rural areas. The main topics of the STE will revolve around the two secondary objectives of the project: 1) to provide tools to stakeholders in rural territories to INCREASE THE CAPACITY TO OFFER TRAINING SERVICES to inhabitants based on mobilizing adequate professional skills to carry out their vital project in these areas and not be forced to leave. 2) to provide tools to rural territories so that they can MAKE MAPS OF THE COMPETENCIES NECESSARY FOR THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND PROCEED MODELS TO ACQUISIT these skills to the residents and they should not go outside to acquire them. At the end of the STE, a final PEER REVIEW report will be drawn up containing a description of the good practices identified, the analyses and evaluations carried out by each participating partner and their successful guidelines in relation to their sustainability and transferability in relation to the objectives pursued.It should be noted that the generation of knowledge proposed by the project will be carried out from a multidisciplinary and multiactor approach provided by a selection of partners that has taken into account their different typologies and expertise: a) Public administrations with experience in the planning, design and implementation of specific training public policies for rural areas: Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (lead partner), Agenzia Pieminte Lavoro (Italy) and the Provincia Autónoma di Trento (Italy). b) Training centres with experience in the identification of professional competences, generation of training offer and in models for the implementation of this offer in rural areas: ABU (Germany) and Osnova Šola Lovrenc na Pohorju (Slovenia). c) Organisations with experience in the design and management of a tailored VET’s offer to territory and in the detection of professional skills needs: Tirantes (the Netherlands) and Notus (Spain).At the end of the project, its results are expected to be included in two non-intellectual products: 1) Report of Best Practices analysed and 2) Policy Recommendations Report. These products will be disseminated through various communication actions at local (local associations) and European level (final conference) and their availability and free access will be guaranteed on the project website.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Reduction 2015-2030 points out that global evidence indicates that in all countries the exposure of people and assets to disasters has increased faster than attempts to decrease vulnerability. The Framework underlines an all-society engagement, which addresses the most vulnerable groups, whilst accounting for contextual and cultural differences. It also calls for a more explicit focus on people, their health and livelihoods, and the local level, since individuals and local communities possess their own capabilities, networks, methods, tools and means to absorb impacts and bounce back. Thus, the ‘capital’ that is available at the root-level deserves to be recognised and incorporated in the policies and strategies for disaster risk reduction and enhancing of resilience. To improve the overall resilience of people, communities and thereby the whole society, the BuildERS project focuses on the most vulnerable individuals, groups and communities. Strengthening the social capital, risk awareness and preparedness of the most vulnerable segments of the societies and communities will increase understanding on what societal resilience comprises. BuildERS will develop knowledge and insights that will device recommendations for policies, plans, strategies, and competencies for building partnerships, networks and trust for progressively fortifying the social capital and resilience against future threats, be they natural or man-induced. The special focus on communities and in particular on the most vulnerable groups answers to the so-far unfulfilled needs of these communities.BuildERS uses several research methods such as i) Stakeholder engagement with co-design and co-creation processes, ii) Field surveying and questionnaires, iii) Comparative research, iv) Multiple case analysis.

The European Union (EU) has set itself ambitious climate change targets. The scale of investment needed to meet the energy savings targets alone is estimated at €180 billion p.a., three quarters of which is accounted for by energy efficiency in buildings. In light of the link between buildings and mortgages, the EU-funded Energy Efficient Mortgages Initiative (EEMI)[1] sought to bridge some of this gap by way of the energy efficient mortgage (EEM) product and framework. However, experience gained indicates the development of the EEM market goes far beyond designing the product and requires the integration of a complex web of stakeholders. The Energy Efficient Mortgage Market Implementation Plan (EeMMIP) will build on efforts to develop EEM by delivering an integrated market and a blueprint for established and emerging markets around the globe. The Project will conduct an analysis of the current market systems relevant to the development of an EEM market and establish demonstrators to support the demonstration of the end-to-end customer journey and EEM life-cycle. It will establish market-based governance and an EEM Label to support recognition of and confidence in EEM and facilitate access to quality information for market participants. It will deliver guidance for the inclusion of energy efficiency in credit risk assessments for lending institutions and supervisors and policy recommendations for the prudential framework in line with the principle of risk sensitivity and promote a well-functioning banking market. Finally, it will support global take-up of EEM through the Label and institutional cooperation. EeMMIP responds to the objectives of the EU in the areas of sustainable finance and climate change, all against the background of Capital Markets Union, and aims to influence the entire value chain, from consumer to bond investor, stimulating mentality change and securing energy efficiency in market attitudes and best practices both in Europe and globally.