LOWINFOOD supports the reduction of food loss and waste in European Union by demonstrating innovative solutions following a multi-actor approach that involves actors along the entire value chains. The main objective of the project is to co-design, together with actors of the food chain, low-waste value chains by supporting the demonstration of a portfolio of innovations in the fruits & vegetables, bakery products and fish value chains, as well as in a-home and out-of-home consumption. Proposed solutions are already tested as prototype in lab or in relevant environment but are waiting to be validated and demonstrated to TRL 7/8. The impact of the innovations will be evaluated by providing evidence of (i) their efficacy in reducing food loss and waste in different food value chains, (ii) improving the socio-economic performance of these value chains, and (iii) reducing the environmental impact of the value chains concerned. LOWINFOOD comprises seven interrelated work packages, among which four deal with the demonstration and market replication of the innovations addressed by the project (WP2-5), one to be started before the demonstration of innovations, and seeking to implement a multi-actor approach to support the evaluation of the innovations and including the identification of the methodology, the definition of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the actual evaluation (WP1), one to communication, dissemination and market replication (WP6) and one for project coordination management (WP7). The LOWINFOOD consortium includes universities, research institutes, start-ups, foundations, associations and companies working in the food sector with expertise in all relevant scientific and technical areas covered by the project: innovation, demonstration, knowledge transfer, dissemination, policy advice and marketing strategy.

SUMMARY:The aim of the project is the creation of a Europe-wide comparable training as a further education for professionals working in the field of career coaching for people with disabilities by developing a standardized EQF-qualification for a “job coach for persons with disabilities”.Sub-goals are:a) evaluation of the varying experiences and levels of development in the work of job coaches of the participating countries, in order to develop a qualification profile in the form of a competency matrix valid for al;b) standardization and recognition of comparable skills of job coaches of the participating countries;c) the design of a qualification concept adapted to the EQF European in the form of units of learning outcomes and their tailored adaptation to the various national qualification frameworks;d) the creation of transparency through comparability of the competence profile in the participating countries and transfer of experience gained into a common European competence profile;e) improvement of the mobility of job coaches within the labor market;f) supplementing the training concept for job coaches by a new module, which so far does not exist in any of the countries involved. This module will deal with the different types of disability based on a guidance document developed by participating universities;g) development of a European Certificate for the job coaches on the basis of EQF.Participating countries and institutions are:a) Germany (Grone- Training Centers NRW gGMBH, Fachhochschule Münster, Applicant: Grone schools);b) The Netherlands with the organizations Coordan and the Professional Association of Job Coaches;c) Poland (Wsparcie Społeczne Ja-Ty- My, Association EKON);;d) France (les genets d'or)e) Northern Ireland (University of Belfast).All partners have facilities for working with people with disabilities at the university, health, social and professional level at disposition.It is one of the five core objectives headline targets of the Europe 2020 strategy to raise the employment rate of the population aged 20-64 from the current 69% to at least 75 % by 2020. The agenda is also in conjunction with the educational objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy: one of the strategic objectives is the promotion of justice and diversity in particular by implementing inclusive education concepts.One of the instruments for increasing the proportion of disabled people in the labor market is the work of job coaches. In the participating countries the job coaches are faced with the following situation:a) their training/further education is nowhere acknowledged or accepted as such within Europe;b) there is no mutual definition of the conditions for eligibility (formal qualifications);c) there are no European standards for the content of their further education / training for this professional group;d) there are no guidelines on how people with specific disabilities can be integrated particularly in the labor market.The innovative nature of this project arises from the topic and the target group. The development of a qualification for the further education and training of job coaches at European level (Poland, Netherlands, France, Germany, Northern Ireland) in regard to people with disabilities is new, corresponds to a particular degree to the UN Disability Convention and supports inclusion in all participating countries.A project for the development of a standardized (EQF) European qualification concept for the training of job coaches for people with disabilities represents a great opportunity for everyone involved. Thus, the project addresses the following target groups.:Direct target group:Professionals or aspiring job coaches for people with disabilities (social workers, occupational therapists, employment agencies).Indirect target groups:a) Persons with disabilities;b) educational institutions with their teachers and lecturers;c) social funding organizations;d) employers;e) associations that work with the disabled;f) political decision makers.The aspired integrated European concept, that will be adapted to national QR, will create standards and transparency for the activities of “job coaches for people with disabilities”, make possible comparability and recognition of acquired skills and improve the labor market mobility of these professionals.

The Boundary Spanners Development Programme aims to break down the engagement barriers between the universities and their regional/ national/ international business stakeholders by enabling the boundary spanning skills of the higher education faculty, staff, and leadership. We believe that people are the most crucial factor in the transferring of knowledge and innovation across institutions, mobilising resources, triggering organisational change, and making an economic and societal impact in their regions. Ultimately, we aim to create “champions” and bridge the skills and knowledge gap by: i. identifying boundary spanning skills and practices of the HEIs and Businesses in their collaboration with each other ii. profiling and analysing 45 boundary spanners in HEIs and businesses in the partner regions and across Europe, while presenting 10+ of those in concise infographic formatiii. developing and pilot testing the Boundary Spanners Workshop Series with 60+ HEI staff in 4, and 45+ SME representatives in 3 partner regionsiv. facilitating 16+ (2 pairs from each HEI region) HEI and Business staff to benefit from University-Industry Staff Exchange Schemev. preparing and disseminating the Boundary Spanners Learning and Experience Collection, including 20+ (4x5) Personal Application Project (PAP) cases development and implementation reports, as well as 4 (4x1) PAP good practice videosvi. organising 8 regional events, policy workshop and Cascading Training to 200+ HEI and business representatives, enhancing exploitationvii. developing the models for boundary spanners community building, self-assessment and certification for the sustainability of the project results.The purpose of the Boundary Spanners Development Programme is to empower university faculty and leadership in enhancing the contribution of the HEIs in the regional economic and social development. The programme will be based on the University-Business Cooperation Ecosystem.

The project responds to the concerns expressed by stakeholders on the shortcomings in the labour market orientation of Higher Education (HE), focusing on the balance between practical and theoretical learning in HE and to mismatches between the skills sets of graduates and the skills they require during their early careers. EU countries have experienced a substantial increase in graduate unemployment and a decrease of quality of their employment. European students and graduates report continuously that they are worried about their careers. At the same time employers and employers’ organisations report they are having increasing difficulties in finding graduates with matching skills.In this Knowledge Alliance, Integrating Entrepreneurship and Work Experience into Higher Education (WEXHE), enterprises, associations and HEIs have come together to identify and analyse current provision of work experience in HEIs in 7 different EU countries, generating 75 case studies of work-based learning (WBL) involving all four types of disciplinary sectors (hard-pure, e.g. natural sciences; soft-pure, e.g. humanities and social sciences; hard-applied, e.g. medicine and soft-applied, e.g. social work) covering work placements, traineeships and entrepreneurships. Working with practitioners, it has created 9 comprehensive Packages of WBL, together with guidance on management, quality assurance, learning outcomes, funding and accreditation, as well as 3 Summary Reports covering the identified three modes of WBL: work placements, traineeships and entrepreneurship. These cover and support the 4 sectors and allow for tailoring to national contexts. The project aims to:• increase capacity of HE staff and enterprises to provide high quality work experience and entrepreneurship• identify what kind of WBL leads to high quality jobs• support the accreditation of WBL through ECTS and effective Quality Assurance• ensure that skills needs of employers are understood

More recently western economies have recognized the need to transition to become ‘regenerative economies’ or a ‘regenerative green economy'. According to the European Green Deal there is an extensive need to boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy and stop climate change, reverse biodiversity loss and cut pollution. For decades, universities have been stimulating economic growth through industrially relevant research, technology commercialization, high-tech spin-offs, and developing talent. However, recent EU studies showed that universities only work to a limited extent on greening and regenerative green economy with only 24% of HEIs work on inclusion of greening knowledge valorisation into the university’s policies. Recognizing this need the overall aim for the project is to (1) clarify, design and trial the type of role that HEIs can have in transitioning society from an extractive to a regenerative green economy; (2) to equip and empower change-makers with the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes on sustainability and the regenerative green economy; and (3) to think globally to impact local environments through the development of solutions with truly regenerative business models. The project aims to address the recognized need of Europe to transition to more sustainable activities, through the higher education sector playing a leading role in both developing the necessary talent and providing a platform for the development of university-business-government networks and research-driven solutions for complex societal issues. It will be achieved through establishing State of the Art on Regenerative Economy which will be used for delivery of the Training Program and Toolkit, Innovation Challenge, and Mentorship Program, and International Competition. Each of the work packages results will be transformed into the Policy Recommendations that will be disseminated through Policy Impact Event throughout Europe.