Spatially, generationally and socio-economically persistent unemployment and poverty is often due to a lack of reach to marginalised areas and communities. Sociology of education suggests that formal education tends to reproduce social and income inequality. Disadvantaged people and communities have fewer opportunities to access further education, decent employment and to ascend socially. Research on the other hand shows that engagement and informal learning is a powerful weapon in developing the employability and enterprise capacities of people and in particular of people facing difficulties, such as economic and social obstacles and learning difficulties (EC Youth programme - Expert group report 2014 “Developing the creative and innovative potential of young people through non-formal learning in ways that are relevant to employability”).PASSIONPRENEURS project aims to tackle unemployment and social exclusion of disadvantaged groups with social entrepreneurship through interests, talents and passions of marginalised adults. Social entrepreneurship combines the ideas of business creation, economic development, collaboration of people for common concerns and social challenges.. The objectives of PASSIONPRENEURS are: 1. To build social entrepreneurship capacity within communities in marginalised local areas 2. To enable adults to lead change and impact on their communities3. To create resources and support for start-up social enterprises The project targets: - Occupational counsellors, coaches, employment organisations, business support organisations, trainers of VET and adult education centres.- Adults (25-50 years old) from marginalised areas and communities, migrants and unemployed having talents and passions, people who need engagement and motivation.- Local communities, through the peer coaching effect.The project will achieve its objectives by:1. Developing a guide for informal education addressed to counsellors, coaches from employment centres, business support organisations, coaches and trainers of VET and adult education centres. The guide will be organised in three chapters. The first chapter will support the identification of interests, talents and passions of adults. The second will provide all the necessary information, guidance and tools to implement the Training Programme. The third chapter will give guidance on peer-coaching.2. Developing a training programme for adults, with practical activities and tools, so that they will develop social entrepreneurship qualities, experiences, attributes and skills, they will learn entrepreneurial English and will be able to formulate their business ideas. 3. Developing on-line learning resources, such as webinars, videos with the option for an expandable on-line learning community that will serve as a meeting place for adult communities.The partnership involves 7 partners from 7 EU countries, bridging Northern (Germany, Lithuania, Sweden,) and Southern (Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus) Europe, with distinct but complementary for the project implementation profiles. In the 24 months of its duration, the project will develop numerous activities, produce three intellectual outputs, seven multiplier events and two learning mobilities:PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES: Country needs analysis reports, organisation of pilot courses for trainers and organisation of pilot courses for marginalised adults, QA and dissemination.INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS:IO1 Training programme ‘Social Entrepreneurship through passion’ (development of curriculum, practical activities and tools, translation)IO2 Trainers’ guide for adult educators with three chapters: identification of interests, talents and passions; guidance to implement the Training Programme; and peer-coaching (development, translation and piloting)IO3 On-line learning platform (development, translation, online community, webinars and information space)LEARNING ACTIVITIES: C1 Organisation for a learning activity for trainers in Nicosia. 14 trainers-coaches will be trained on how to use the Trainers’ guide.C2 Organisation for a learning activity for adults in Cham. 21 disadvantaged adults will participate in workshops and improve their soft skills in entrepreneurship.MULTIPLIER EVENTS:E1 Multiplier event in ChamE2 Multiplier event in PiraeusE3 Multiplier event in KaunasE4 Multiplier event in MalagaE5 Multiplier event in KristianstadE6 Multiplier event in NicosiaE7 Multiplier event in PalermoThe short term expected impact of the project is to reach 2583 participants from the identified target group, from which at least 475 persons will represent adults facing economic obstacles, social obstacles and educational difficulties.In the long term, due to the peer coaching methodology, the project is expected to have exponential outreach and significant impact at community level.

SMEs are Europe’s motor for growth and employment. They represent 99% of all businesses in the EU and account for two thirds of EU28 employment. The availability of skilled labour is an important prerequisite to their prosperity. Nonetheless, there is a mismatch between the skills the labour market demands and those that the education and training system provides. Realising this mismatch, the European Commission has identified that quality work-based learning and apprenticeships can be an efficient way of addressing labour market imbalances. In countries, where there is a well-established apprenticeship system, such as UK, Austria and Germany, SMEs contribute strongly to the training of the future work force through their involvement in work based learning and apprenticeship schemes. On the contrary, in countries with more school based systems, like Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Bulgaria, the engagement of SMEs in the supply of placements is more challenging as they lack the support systems and fail to realise both the financial and social benefits. The SMEs awareness of the cost-benefit analysis deriving from the work-based learning is therefore crucial in order to determine their participation to the apprenticeship system. Based on this need, “RoI of WBL and apprenticeships” project suggested the development of a return on investment (RoI) model and digital tool that allow European SMEs to calculate and visualise how investment on WBL and apprenticeships can manifest to multiple benefits. The innovative force of the project is the focus of its model to SMEs needs as well as the integration in the model and the digital tool of both SMEs-related benefits as well as society-related ones in order to clearly demonstrate the multilevel outcomes derived from work-based learning & apprenticeship practices. The general objectives of the project were: - make apparent the benefits of WBL and apprenticeships at the level of individual SMEs and the society. - promote WBL and apprenticeships by motivating the engagement of SMEs. The direct target groups were SME’s entrepreneurs, managers and staff as well as VET providers (vocational training centres, professional schools, employment centres) that cooperate with SMEs for the provision of WBL and apprenticeships. At second level, it targeted VET stakeholders and policy makers, national representatives of European networks as well as VET practitioners and experts. The main results of the project are: - A model for the calculation of RoI of WBL and apprenticeships by SMEs - A digital online tool that will demonstrate in visual way the RoI model - A Good Practices Guide addressed to SMEs, giving guidance on how to design, implement and monitor profitable apprenticeship practices which can benefit the enterprise, the apprentice and the entire society. - Creation and promotion of an apprenticeship-friendly SMEs badge to increase the engagement of companies in the provision of WBL. - Promotion of VET – SMEs cooperation, through experimentation and validation of the RoI model. - Organisation of promotional events addressed to SMEs entrepreneurs, VET centres and stakeholders that are interested to apply and promote the RoI model and tool. The project was implemented by 8 partners from 8 different EU countries in order to create results that have European wide applicability and impact, including countries that are still lacking in the engagement of SMEs in WBL (Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria), taking benefit from countries that are more advanced (UK and Italy) and using the technological know how of others (Cyprus). The expected long term benefits deriving from the project are: - increased supply of WBL and apprenticeship opportunities from SMEs - empowerment of mainly young people by expanding apprenticeship offer - better matching between skills needed by SMEs and those provided by the VET centers - increased number of VET business partnerships - contribution to the establishment of sustainable funding of WBL and apprenticeships through the self-motivation for investment from the side of the SMEs.

The need for climate action and sustainable resources management is more important than ever. The Green Deal presented by the European Commission on 11th of December 2019, sets the goal, Europe to be a climate-neutral continent by 2050. The Green Deal addresses the immediate need for specific actions that support Circular Economy, helping to reduce CO2 emissions, transform the energy industry, move the production to a more environmental-friendly stage and many more. The way to becoming Climat-Neutral continent will put in front of us new types of challenges. One of them lay in front of small and midsized enterprises (SMEs) which have an essential role in achieving a greener economy as it is indicated by the Green Action Plan. The upcoming regulations based on the Green Deal are extremely needed, but also they put many of the traditional business models in a transitional situation. The small business struggled in the past decay to recover from a financial crisis, finds it hard to adapt quickly to the challenges ahead. The most sensitive are the SMEs, where change management is challenged by the lack of present financial or human resources, sustainability and knowledge, especially for micro SMEs. BALANCE is a project that steps on the key learning points from the Green Action Plan for SMEs, to combine best practices around EU and back them up with financial knowledge in order to create a valuable and training program which curriculum is based on ECVET for the transformation of the small business into more greener without having to sacrifice the financial sustainability of the enterprises and allow them to keep their employees.The direct target group of Balance project are the SMEs (SME’s decision-takers, SME’s Consultants, Entrepreneurs) They will have access to the training program, e-learning program materials that will help them transform their operations. The SME's consultants are included as a direct target group in order to accelerate the dissemination of the results and reach up even more SMEs. Indirect target group - Employees in SMEs. The project’s results tackle the financial sustainability of the SMEs, who are providing 133 million jobs across the EU. The investment in knowledge in SMEs prepares them to become capable to handle the transition period and sustain the current level of employment. Moreover, they will know how to pre-qualify their staff when changes are applied. BALANCE has the objectives to:1. Provide a Report over best environmental practises already implemented within EU2. Provide financial analysis on those measures3. Create a dedicated training program for Greener SMEs 4. Provide SME's consultants with a training program5. Develop E-Learning program accessible to all6. Provide workshops and Multiplier events and help more micro SMEs to embrace a greener futureThe direct results will be:- Report: Green policies and financial sustainability - presenting examples in the partnering countries and provides financial analysis over the current best practises in the business sector.- Training program: Green and stable SMEs - comprising of the training ECVET based curriculum and materials, presentations, framework - providing the needed information to SME's decision-makers how to transform their operations without causing a financial stress to the enterprises- E-learning web platform: Greener and Sustainable Business - complimenting the training program and responsive for desktop version, mobile and tablets for promotion on the green measures and including video materials, case studies, quizzes and other training materials.The activities and intermediate results will include:- Synthesis report of focus groups results and the surveys at EU level and needs analysis of SME’s decision-makers for change-management, environmentally measures and financial sustainability- 6 national reports on best environmental practices across the partnering countries- Project Management Plan, Quality assurance plan, Dissemination strategy - 18 workshops, 6 multiplier events and 4 transnational meetings The project will be carried by 6 partners from Bulgaria, Ireland, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Belgium. Four of the partnering organisations work directly with the target group as adult training organisations and consultants of SMEs, one organisation is a VET provider with Environmental Science Education program and one organisation is working on a European and international level for providing geographic and environmental education as an association.The expected impact on SME's decision-makers and consultants will be to enhance their knowledge of how to make a successful transition towards greener operations without having to sacrifice financial sustainability or employees. Through the project, it is expected project to reach 200000 people for the first two years and to involve directly over 500 SME's and consultants in the different activities and 600 stakeholders.

In many European countries various programs, laws and policies have been adopted to fight against social exclusion of people with disabilities in all fields from home one to working one. It suffice to think about EC Council Directive 2000/78/EC of November 2000 -Article 5 which supports the idea of creating a reasonable ambience for all disabled people guaranteeing compliance with the principle of equal treatment in relation to people with disabilities. Social exclusion of people with disabilities, especially for those with mental disabilities, alongside with all possible prejudices that employees and managers may have or develop, tends to worsen their mental health and compromise also their ordinary life, affecting the way they are perceived by the others and the way they perceive themselves in relation to the others. In the working field it is frequent to find situations in which human resources managers and employees don’t know how to relate with people with mental disabilities creating a difficult and hostile environment for their disabled colleagues and not considering potentialities of their presence and of their work in the enterprises. For this reason, Work in progress steams from the necessity educate employees and human resources managers to respect and correctly relate with people with mental disabilities in working field with the objective of giving birth to a more inclusive and warm environment. How it is possible to realize this new environment? Work in progress aims at the creation of three principal outputs: a conceptual manual ( available in english, italian, greek and polish), that will educate and inform employees and human resources managers to all needs, limitations and skills of people with mental disabilities, alongside with a training course, at local level in each partner country, that will give the possibility to experiment what learnt and with an app that on the one hand, will contain the manual and post -training course exercises to verify knowledge acquired by participants; on the other, will be also the guarancy for dissemination for both previous outputs. Long term life of the project will be guaranteed by the online format of the app that gives the possibility to obtain an easy and more involving way of learning on the one hand and continuity in it on the other. Moreover, Human resources managers and employees, at the end of the course can share what they have learnt with their enterprises, increasing the spreading of the project and its impact; training course contents are based on the practical application of what learned at theoretical level through the manual, so also manual concepts will be spread and more and more employees and human resources managers will access the manual contents and the training results. Innovative aspect of “Work in progress” is that it combines this three important outputs that can offer a complete approach to the problem of the exclusion in the working field of people with mental disabilities, creating, as said before, an “in fieri” system. Main target group of the project will be therefore employees and human resources managers of enterprises, while indirect one will be people with mental disabilities. Project will be spread at local, national and international level thanks to a website of the project and the app that will be available at any time for both IOs and Android system and for all devices. We will involve through 4 different multiplier events at local level, staff member of organizations, staff members of partner organizations and all other interested stakeholders (enterprises at local, regional and international level, municipalities, VET providers and researchers, etc). We are a consortium made by 4 partners ( Multikultura, CEIPES, MBM training development centre and IDEC) coming from 4 different countries and realities, experts in the field of training courses, long life learning, web and app design skills, consulting and coaching ones.

CONTEXT: In Europe, Operating Room nurses don’t have necessarily a specific training before working in operating room. Specific trainings are heterogeneous or nonexistent. The 60-day mortality rate in operating rooms is substantially different between European countries ranging from 0.5% to 5%. Significant pressure on operating rooms is clear: staff turnover, development of ambulatory surgery, operating rooms multiculturalism. Staff and especially Head Operating Room Nurses (HORN) are subject to more and more demanding requirements on their practices. How to respond to these public health issues affecting operating room nurses (ORN) and therefore the patient? KSM, A FIRST PROJECT APPRECIATED: UNAIBODE (French national association of operating room nurses) and several European partners experimented and adapted the KSM (Key Skills Management) method in a previous project. KSM approach has been presented in ten European congresses. With KSM, HORN have a method, focused on key practices, used in high-risk environments. KSMOR, THE ISSUES OF THE NEW PROJECT: In 2015, the HAS (National Health Authority) strengthened requirements for certification auditors on human resources management in operating rooms. HAS made documented integration, regular individual assessment and updated training mandatories. Therefore HAS and ANAP (French National Agency for Performance Support) want a large scale KSM approach experimentation. In addition, HORN and UNAIBODE want to have a self-assessment tool to evaluate new ORN pedagogical paths in a field where they will have to master between 1500 and 2000 practices. To respond to these issues of skills and human resources management in OR, the CEPPRAAL (health quality and security regional support structure in France) decided to set up the KSMOR project. THE GOALS OF KSMOR project are: to elaborate an online self-assessment tool of OR nurses' practices allowing Head Operating Room Nurses (HORN) and nurse to position themselves in their practices and to evaluate their autonomy and thus their training course both for the common core and for surgical specialties. To experiment KSM approach in 5 to 10 French hospitals. Disseminate KSM approach to target audiences at congresses, professional journals, professional organizations and training organizations.PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS: the project brings together 7 European partners. France is represented by CEPPRAAL: a health quality and security regional support structure; the UNAIBODE: the French national association of operating room nurses and DPG, a structure that brings the expertise of the KSM method designer. Professionals from leading countries in training and OR safety like Finland (Savonia University) combined Parnasse Vinci group (Belgium) whose representatives have participated at the first project. The University of Pardubice in the Czech Republic has experience in international research programs. A Greek partner (IDEC) specialized in quality and skills, has already worked on these issues with the project designer. DESCRIPTION OF MAIN ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTATION: 4 European countries (Belgium, Finland, Greece, Czech Republic) have tested and assessed the “progression table” tool with working groups composed by nurses and head operating room nurses. A user guide has been written and an online application with the tools has been created. An experimentation of the KSM approach took place in 8 French hospitals in order to teste and evaluate the impact of KSM approach on the OR process. RESULTS AND IMPACTS: recommendations on the use of the tool emerged from workgroups; the online application is functional, the user guide is written and the implementation of KSM approach have been tested and evaluated in 8 French hospitals. The experimentation impact is positive with a better integration of the new nurses and the optimization of the skills management in OR. IDENTIFIED BENEFITS : French hospitals who have experimented KSM approach want to continue to use it and extend it to OR not included in the experimentation. The application and the user guide will allow any hospital to deploy the KSM approach within its OR. The long-term benefits are a better skill management in OR with benefits for staff, life quality at work and patient safety.