<< Background >>The Food & Drink industry is the EU largest manufacturing sector in terms of turnover, value added and employment. Despite of market turmoils also due to Covid-19, it remains stable and dominates the EU external trade. Higher Education and training activities in the food sectors are growing in the EU largely dominated by conventional study programmes and teaching methodologies that in general do not allow the achievement of competences and skills needed by the current and future job market.<< Objectives >>The ASKFOOD main aim was to create a permanent knowledge sharing alliance between businesses, business associated organisations and Universities in the food and food-related sectors. Establishing such an alliance, the ASKFOOD consortium: (1) created the necessary frame for collaboration, (2) converted innovative concepts into new tools to be provided within this frame(3)tested and applied innovative training methodologies(4)ensured sustainability by establishing a permanent alliance<< Implementation >>The project has:-implemented a series of virtual tools to early discovery and anticipate trends and related emerging skills-implemented an interactive platform and dynamic networking for multisector knowledge sharing and co-creation-improve training models, by launching disruptive, learner-led and cross-industry training schemes, i.e. Reverse incubator -set up common tools and organizational frame that will guarantee the sustainability of the network: the permanent Observatory.<< Results >>•Cross-industry knowledge platforms (Knowledge and Training Hub and Clusters) •Open Innovation framework to modernize education/training (ASKFOOD DBTE)•Interactive repository of emerging skills and professional profiles in the food sector in a forward-looking perspective (Interactive Atlas) so to forecast future skill needs (Forecast Aggregator) •Acceleration and growth hacking solutions (Reversed Incubator, ASKFOOD Garage Labs)•Permanent ASKFOOD Observatory

The “Glocal Ecosystems and Expanded Knowledge for skills and capabilities in the food sector” (GEEK4Food) proposal will develop a working, cross-sectorial framework to support the food system transition towards sustainable and green solutions by the development of disruptive tools able boost a fluid upskilling and reskilling of the current workforce of the next generation of future professionals. This will be achieved by:(1) Design and setting of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based tool able to determine and forecast current and future green skills and capability needs for the food sector to timely support the development of both higher education (HE) and training design and better match the job market needs (GEEK4Food tool). (2) Design and exploit forward-looking planning in training design and implementation of HE and cross-sectoral trainings for graduates and food professionals to enhance green skills. (3) Mainstreaming innovative teaching practices and providing paths to entrepreneurial education oriented on green skills and associated technological scale-up of existing solutions via the integration of the knowledge triangle.(4) Setting an interactive learner-centric virtual platform for green skill mapping to merge learners' needs with training offers and agri-food job opportunities (3P-GEEK4Food Hub).(5) Boosting consolidating evidence- and impact-based solutions of the GEEK4Food project to embed multi-level and multi-actor policy actions that can support skill-fluidity for the green transition of the food sector.The innovation potential of GEEK4Food is based on the switch to AI-supported and impact-driven patterns to favour innovative green training and educational models at the academia, corporate and people-to-people levels. GEEK4Food will also provide tools for policy makers to promote adherence to green transition and the whole institution approaches to sustainably twin change after the EU Green Deal.