During the past decades VET schools and providers in Bulgaria and Turkey experienced difficulties in provision of dedicated proper internship programmes for VET students who have completed Business and Entrepreneurship courses with regards to agriculture and eco-farming fields, especially for those that would like to initiate a start-up of a new enterprise. In the rapidly changing labour market, youngsters are faced with the lack of practical skills and support that could help them to bridge successfully from the education system to the actual business. Internship programs, as a type of work-based learning, have been recognized as an effective method for alleviating youth unemployment and equipping young people with relevant skills. However, major barriers for that is the time availability of the mentors at companies as well as the lack of tangible assessment standard which can measure and proof the effectiveness and impact of such internship programme. Furthermore, the VET students experienced geographic obstacles to visit the premises of the employers which in agricultural/eco-farming sectors are mainly at the rural area. Especially this is highly problematic for students with poor income and/or disability. In Bulgaria and in Turkey majority of VET staff and students as well as mentors are hesitant to recognize the value or learning benefit of such internships. Due to the lack of familiarity with that type of experience usually the time spent to complete internships are often not eligible for educational and school credits/value.In order to address these concerns and educate both employers and educators about a modern form of internships, this project will set up a model for the blended virtual internships by drawing up a structure that can work in a feasible and simple manner. This was the main motivation of the project consortium: to produce a programme for conducting blended virtual internships in the field of business and entrepreneurship, where a guidance material, assessment standard and virtual mobile internship application (software) will cover this gap and ensure via sustainable cooperation synergies the implementation and long-term exploitation/sustainability and usage. Our target groups will be:• VET learners in agriculture and eco-farming sectors• VET trainers & educators• VET schools/centers who are providing further training• SMEs/ Employers active as mentors/tutors in internship programmes• Policy makersAims and objectives:• to increase the entrepreneurial skills of young agriculture and farming students by provision of dedicated blended virtual internship programme• to deliver tangible and sustainable outcomes in establishing a guidance material for educators for its conducting, assessment standard of its efficiency and mobile solution for conducting the virtual part of the blended model, which will ensure better transparency, comparability and recognition of the acquired knowledge, skills and competence of young VET students• to further strengthen overall the quality, relevance and attractiveness of the VET provision• to implement blended virtual internships as part of the work-based learning, addressing ECVET learning outcomes and proper recognition and validation of the learning achievements• to cover skills mismatch and shortages as well as the need for higher level skills at sectoral level in the agriculture sector.Intellectual outputs:IO1: Guide for conducting blended virtual internships for acquisition and validation of entrepreneurial and business skills in agriculture and eco-farming sectorsIO2: Assessment standard for validation and recognition of the acquired knowledge, skills and competences related to business and entrepreneurship during blended virtual internships in agriculture and eco-farming sectorsIO3: Mobile application for conducting blended virtual internships towards business and entrepreneurshipPartnership:P1: Leading agriculture university with a VET center from BulgariaP2: SME from Bulgaria implementing further work-based ECVET based trainings and internships in the field of entrepreneurshipP3: Inclusion institute, who is responsible for further VET training of educators in the field of entrepreneurshipP4: SME who is conducting blended internships with an expertise in validation and impact assessment of the implementation of virtual internshipsEnvisaged impact will be:• Further validation of knowledge, skills and competences of young VET learners in the agriculture and eco-farming sectors.• Covering the learning gap in terms of lack of provision of proper and effective VET internships and training materials for their conducting.• Provision of targeted training materials (guide for conducting, assessment standard, mobile internship application) that supports the National plans for further development of VET sector in Bulgaria and Turkey.

The people with disabilities (PwD) are the most disadvantaged group with regards to employment. Up to 2011 (the latest official date available) in Bulgaria their number (aged 18-29) is about 227 000 and more than 60% of them are unemployed. In Turkey they are 273,915 and only 15% are in employment compared with the national average of over 80%. In Austria they are around 850,000 and only 19% are employed and in Spain they are 3,847,900 and only 11% of them have permanent job.This project was built in line with the one of the key areas of both European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and Europe 2020 to allow full accessibility to the labour market for people with disabilities. In many European countries and beyond (Turkey), the access to the labour market is still not given because of the lack of suitable and powerful implemented support concepts who may ensure a smooth preparation and follow-up.The impact of the Supported employment (SE) approach (a method of working with disabled people and other disadvantaged groups to access and maintain paid employment in the open labour market) is very beneficial to the PwD and during its implementation phase it gives clear quality improvement of the accessibility to the labour market for those targets.The COACH@WORK project continued the inclusion and implementation of the Supported employment approach in Austria and Spain, but also in new countries such as Bulgaria and Turkey where this was done for the first time by developing EQAVET system for recognition, validation and accreditation of their knowledge, skills and competencies, dedicated VET programme together with (self-) assessment procedures and tools. It involved 4 partners from Bulgaria, one from Austria, one from Spain and one from Turkey. This COACH@WORK VET programme related to the new job profile of Supported employment specialist was accredited by the national body (NAVET) which happened for the first time in Europe in that field. In Spain and Turkey the accreditation procedure also applied and the outcomes are expected from the relevant authorities. In Austria it is provided on a regional level by the biggest SE provider. This training programme was followed by piloting implementation phase where a memorandum of understanding for the further exploitation of the ECVET based project outputs was concluded.The long term impact of the project increased the employment rates of PwD who were inactive in the labour market and have low or no work experience. This led to greater independence and financial security, allowing them to become fully active members of society in general and ultimately to an improved economy. On the other hand, SE consultants who successfully completed the pilot course and were validated by the dual verification tool (IO2) now have the ability to increase their opportunities for sustainable employment by providing this very innovative expertise on National and EU levels.The developed VET training programme is consisting of predefined learning outcomes which are connected with the dedicated unique ECVET training programme for SE providers and consisting of the following modules:1. Module 1 - Disability Awareness2. Module 2 - Acquisition of key and transversal competences3. Module 3 - Practical methods in the coaching process4. Module 4 - Mainstreaming and Digital Technologies as Support to the Education, Employment and Well-Being of People with Disabilities5. Module 5 - Supported employment basics - the five steps process6. Module 6 - Attitudes and approaches towards people with disabilities7. Module 7 - Pre-employment agenda8. Module 8 - Career guidance - labour market methods9. Module 9 - Implementation and NetworkingThe project successfully achieved all its objectives: introduction of appropriate EQAVET system for recognition, validation and accreditation of the knowledge, skills and competencies of the Supported Employment (SE) providers. It allows a more efficient and effective monitoring of the recruitment of SE consultants and providers. The project has demonstrated the capacity to adjust the type of IOs according to the needs of the target groups. The project demonstrates a real impact on target groups, beneficiaries and gatekeepers.The impact of the project was observed directly – related to the main results of the project, as well as indirectly – related to the dissemination and exploitation of the concepts and methodologies developed and implemented through the project. The main impact of the project can be measured as a real support for establishment of a clear legal framework for the national inclusion of the Supported Employment around the partner countries (BG & TR). The project has reached the expected impact in number of courses implemented and number of people taught.All project results are available via: www.supportemployment.eu

<< Objectives >>The project aims to provide adequate training to- school staff and especially teachers in primary/secondary education on how to accommodate STICORDI teaching approaches for children with disabilities; and on how to specifically accommodate for children with dyslexia;- parents on how to specifically accommodate for children with dyslexia when studying at home (doing homework) or following online education.We also aim to lobby policy makers by targeting ministries of education.<< Implementation >>As project we will:- develop/pilot STICORDI measures adapted from best practices in Belgium and transfer them to Bulgaria and Turkey through customisation and adaptation to the local realities;- develop/pilot training manuals for school staff/teachers from primary/secondary education how to apply STICORDI measures, and how to address students with dyslexia;- develop/pilot training manuals for parents how to overcome current barriers/challenges with children with dyslexia studying from home.<< Results >>White papers towards policy makers to strengthen inclusive education and provide adequate training to school staff in primary and secondary education;A dedicated manual with STICORDI measures for schools in EN, BG, TR;A dyslexia manual for school teachers in primary and secondary education in EN, BG, TR;A dyslexia manual for parents of children with dyslexia in EN, BG, TR.All the above will be supported by an online and mobile (iOS, Android) multilingual training platform.

Many young people in EU are experiencing a dangerous mix of high unemployment, increased inactivity and precarious work, as well as persistently high working poverty. More than 4.5 million young people (aged 15-24 years) are unemployed today in EU Member States. High youth unemployment co-exists sometimes with increased difficulties in filling vacancies due to mismatch of skills.The situation at present regarding youth unemployment in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Turkey is worse than the average level in the EU which evidences labour market mismatches, due to inadequate skills and wage conditions. At the opposite pole is the situation in Belgium as project partner country where most of the youth employment and entrepreneurial indicators are much better.Our project aims to introduce youth to social cooperative entrepreneurship. Through the distinctive focus on values, cooperatives have proven themselves a resilient and viable business model that can prosper even during difficult times. Furthermore, the cooperative entrepreneurship model enables young people to create and manage sustainable enterprises. As such our suggested approach will offer youth a way out towards entrepreneurship and employment, while embracing social values, thus contributing also to society. Through the project, young people will explore the benefits of pursuing a social cooperative enterprise, to foster youth cooperative entrepreneurship with a social dimension, encouraging equally the cooperative movement to engage with youth. It also aims to bring together a group of cooperative experts, policy and decision makers, and youth organisation representatives in order to idenity how the cooperative entrepreneurship model can support youth.The project target groups are youth workers and leaders, youth organisation & student bodies members, student leaders, student bodies and youth entrepreneurs (e.g. JCI).The number of participants will be 250 young people during workshops on cooperative entrepreneurship, 60 young people in blended mobilities to exchange practices and visits to cooperatives, 200 people in workshops and meetings with entrepreneurs, cooperative experts, policy makers and youth organisation representatives.The project will provide the following activities:- Creation of a short “step by step” guide how to establish social cooperative entrepreneurship;- Information sessions on social cooperative entrepreneurship;- Blended mobilities to exchange practices on how social cooperatives are operating;- Workshops with entrepreneurial experts on how to stimulate the youth towards social cooperatives;- Popularising transborder social cooperative model among youth communities.The impact of the project:- Raised number of young people willing to be self-employed and establish or join social cooperatives;- Valuable transfer of best social cooperative practices and examples attractive to young people;- Increase of youth leaders and workers with knowledge on the social cooperative business model to encourage the youth in the transition from school to work;- Increase of young entrepreneurs as promoters of the cooperative idea among the youth;- Creation of sustainable partnership between youth organisations and social cooperatives to involve more young people into the idea of social cooperative entrepreneurship;- Networking of young people interested in cooperative work;- Long term cooperation between local community, cooperatives and youth organisation to raise youth employment and social inclusion. The introduction of the social cooperative entrepreneurship is relevant and usable across the EU and will have an immediate impact on the millions of members of youth organisations in Europe, whether they have difficulties to launch their career future in the labour market or they want to achieve more success in their current occupation. In addition, the project aims at impacting various regional/national umbrella organisations to spread the potential of the cooperative entrepreneurship among their members. The project is in support of the recommendations as was stressed in the Council conclusions on promoting youth entrepreneurship to foster social inclusion of young people (20 May 2014). In this context special attention is paid to the concept of ‘social entrepreneurship’, which is embedded in the real economy, close to people and to local communities (EU Youth Report 2015, p.42).Nine experienced partners from 5 countries (Turkey, Belgium, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia) participate, with backgrounds in youth, policy making, education, training, cooperatives, inclusion and social economy/entrepreneurship.

SMEs and their entrepreneurs are the key generators of employment and income as well as drivers of innovation andgrowth. In the OECD area, they employ more than half of the labour force in the private sector. In the European Union, they account for over 99 % of all companies. Furthermore, 91 % of these companies are micro-SMEs with less than 10 workers. About three quarters of SMEs are active in the five key sectors: wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, construction, business services and accommodation and food services. In 2014 the EU28 SME value added grew by 3.3% and employment by 1.2%, compared to a 2013 value added growth of 1.6% and employment decline of 0.5%. According to the Annual Report on European SMEs 2014/2015, SMEs accounted in 2014 for 99.8% of all companies in the non-financial business sector in the EU28. For every km2 of land surface, the EU has an average of 5 SMEs. Moreover, in 2014 SMEs employed almost 90 million people - 67% of total employment, and generated 58% of thesector’s value added. Obviously, SMEs, and in particular micro-SMEs are the beating heart of the European economy. Yet, a large number of these micro-SMEs fails when a new generation takes over. The saying that “the first generation founds the company, the 2nd generation expands the company, and the 3rd generation squanders the company” is unfortunately often true. Exactly to avoid such failure, this guide aims to provide handy and to the point insight to assist you as a successor in taking over an existing business from your parents/family. At the same time, this guide also wants to addresses some of the other difficulties micro-SMEs face in Europe, such as the lack of management skills and business knowledge. Every entrepreneur need to have basic notion of overall management, specifically those managerial aspects that are so typical to a micro-SME, and that will require your devoted attention. Furthermore,the transfer of the company management from the previous generation requires to pay attention to very specific aspects of the previous management styles and approaches and the one you plan to install.The InToGeneration project focused especially on how to efficiently plan and organise the business transfer to a successor. The project outputs provides Adult training course which assist the successors in taking over an existing business from their parents, using a mobile learning application, combined with an innovative modular training material approach.Young successors and old generation business owners in Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Germany and Spain were provided with opportunity to experience innovative training which turned out to be flexible and effective method for acquiring new skills for the contemporary market situation. Local business networks were pleased to experience training platform which will be widely used by their members - micro SMEs from different economic sectors which need to receive specific knowledge on transition management. Policy makers in Bulgaria were able to reconsider and refine their strategies for business development and growth of micro SMEs and their expansion onto new markets. The impact that partners have achieved was on all levels. In particular on regional level partners established contacts with a Regional agency for the promotion of small and medium size enterprises. On national level, they have established contacts with National agency for development of micro SMEs, Ministry of Economy and other institutions and third partners’ organizations. On EU level, the partners established contacts with international youth and young entrepreneurs’ organizations such as JCI.Following outcomes has been delivered:IO1: Comparative Analysis on current gaps in terms of transition of the business from old to new generation including specific aspects for curriculum development, implementation and training methodology.IO2: A curriculum, course content (12 training units) and training material that meets the needs of micro-SMEs and that follows a case study approach through which successors can learn via handy examples and easy to learning concepts.IO3: A mobile and online self assessment service, which is portable, handy and addresses the main concerns of a successful business transfer. An Android based learning environment, both mobile and online, where micro-SMEs exchanged best practices (http://into-generation.eu/e-learning) and Into-Generation app at Google play.IO4: Pilot report findings - a summary of the results from all partners countries which provided guidelines for future exploitation of project results. IO5: Quality strategy and final internal quality management report IO6: Dissemination strategyIO7: Exploitation planThe consortium includes: - Turkiye Cumhuriyeti Gazi Universitesi Teknoloji Fakultesi (TR), - BERLINK ETN GmbH (DE), - INTERPROJECTS (BG)- K POULOPOULOS E.P.E. (GR)- SINDICAT TREBALLADORS ENSENYAMENT P.V. (ES)- Ankara Ticaret Odasi (TR)