Facing the ageing population challenges of the 21st-century, & the dependency or need of support from people who have chronic diseases, mental disorders, or other incapacitated illness, the provision of care is becoming one of the most important occupations. However, estimates suggest that as much as 80% of care across the EU is provided by informal carers which are at least twice as many as the formal carers. In the project partners’ countries, the statistics show a spread of informal care prevalence: 30% of the total population in Belgium are informal caregivers or personal assistants, 20% in Poland, 16% in Spain, 15% in Slovenia & 13% in Portugal (EQLS, 2016). Despite the challenges/needs that this occupation may have, initiatives to increase the training opportunities for carers remain extremely fragmented in the EU. Moreover, it is well known the need for the formal recognition of the provision of care as a paid profession, through the validation of an occupational profile.Recognizing these needs, the main objective of the GivingCare is to empower formal & informal personal caregivers & personal assistants, & other health professionals, by developing technical, soft & digital skills, responding to the gap in the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) provision, through the design & implementation of an innovative Continuous Education Programme (CEP) & respective materials/resources, based on independent modules. The consortium will offer a Guide for Personal Caregivers & Personal Assistants & health professionals supporting the professional development of the target groups & their daily activities (e.g. Good Practices for Caring; How to take care of who cares; & a selection of storytelling videos based on real cases with visual examples of care practices. Besides, the project will also develop & promote a professional occupational profile for personal caregivers & personal assistants fostering their social & professional recognition, giving them the support & tools they need to take care of themselves & others. Direct TG: formal & informal personal caregivers & personal assistants, health professionals in general, associations/NGOs/business that provides care services & supports carers, HEIs in the health sector, & also decision-makers, including employment services & national ministries responsible for the recognition of professional occupations.Indirect TG: adult education providers & individuals in need of care & their families.GivingCare outputs & methodology are designed to promote a holistic approach & to promote impact in the specific target groups.A CEP will be co-design between the consortium & representatives of the TGs (40 participants) to provide the necessary knowledge & skills for those who work as informal & formal personal caregivers & personal assistants or as health professionals, aiming to empower & enhance their performance & also to enabling them to better cope with the burden of providing care. Within this programme, a Toolkit for students & a set of educative resources for teachers will be developed, as well as distance-learning materials available online, adapted from the modules addressed in the CEP, for those who cannot attend in the face-to-face classes have equal access to learn & participate in this innovative programme.To empower individuals who provide care, a Guide addressing formal & informal personal caregivers & personal assistants & health professionals will be produced, designed based on best practices in the caregiving field, testimonies of those who provide care, & their needs and challenges, difficulties & concerns, helping them put also take care of themselves. Inside this Guide, a set of storytelling videos will be also produced, based on caregivers & personal assistants’ testimonials (12 participants) Complementing the project approach, partners will design and validate an occupational profile for Personal Caregiver & Personal Assistant aiming to promote the recognition of this profession, designed in co-creation journeys with representatives of the TGs (48 participants).The project strives to reach, both at face-to-face & at distance, 672 participants including students, professors & caregivers & personal assistants & other health professionals in the testing phase of the educational programme and materials.As an added value, Multiplier Events will be implemented, reaching all the beneficiaries & end-users of the project results, & also policymakers such as ministries & employment services, aiming to present the project key results and to discuss & validate an occupational profile for Personal Caregivers & Personal Assistants to promote the recognition of this occupation, reaching a total of 160 participants.

ouRoute proposes a new methodology adapted from the citizen science education concept to a citizen cultural heritage approach where students, schools and other members of local communities are challenged to (re)discover their territories and heritage. Based on a constructivist approach, the project will put disadvanteged students from Portugal, Spain and Italy at the centre to develop, test and implement their own strategies to collect, treat and present information on their local heritage, as well as to learn about the other countries culture, by the hand of national students. The underlying aim of these activities is to promote the discovery and strengthening of common European values of such as freedom, democracy, peace, diversity and respect towards other cultures. This path will be accomplished through a set of activities and results organised at local and international level, such as the creation of an international route of old & new arts and crafts based on desk research, face-to-face interviews and good practices of other European routes associated to the project, as well as the development of several resources for students and teachers to learn more and to possibility the interaction with the local community. ouRoute aims to promote empowerment of students, fostering the sense of ownership and responsibility for their heritage. Student mobilities will also promote this empowerment, as hosting students will act as “cultural ambassadors” and make guided tours to explain and show their territory. The project will have significant impact at immediate level, providing new tools, strategies and materials to explore and promote cultural heritage at local and European level as a vehicle to discover and strengthen common European values. At a more systemic and context level, it will help peripheric disadvantaged regions exploring new ways of valorisation and economic development through heritage.

The AEERO project was led by the University of Wolverhampton and delivered over a three-year period (2016 – 2019) by a transnational consortium of 7 partner organisations from 3 EU member states (UK, Italy and Portugal). These partner organisations included VET developers and providers engaged with industry, commerce and learners to provide training, mentoring and other consultancy services; media specialists and a dedicated technical development partner specialising in interactive and innovative multimedia techniques and technologies. The objective of the AEERO project was to create an innovative, online learning resource that could be used in teaching vocational skills to employees across the EU aerospace sector and its supply chain.The Aerospace sector was a focus due to its importance as a vital high tech and highly skilled industry with huge growth potential and as well as identified skills gaps. These skills gaps included shortages in advanced technology and manufacturing skills as well as shortcomings in advanced manufacturing and lean supply chain management.Based on the project’s research and needs analysis of training requirements for aerospace employers and employees, an app-based training tool focused on Process Mapping; a key Business Improvement Technique that can increase efficiency in any business by identifying waste and non-value-added activity in any individual process; was developed.The AEERO PMAPP App is freely available for download at the Google Play Store. It’s complemented by detailed supporting documents which guide users through the app as well as providing more information on the concept of Business Improvement Techniques, Process Mapping and its importance in Lean Management as well as its role in quality assurance.The project has been widely disseminated to, and tested by, key stakeholders.