"""How to make accessible to the greatest number a food of quality, of proximity and respectful of the environment? "". Essential question for future generationsFaced with this question, Passeurs de Culture is designed to enable young professionals in the food industry and catering and educational teams to develop new skills through the exchange of practices and knowledge in the field of sustainable food, local productions and their valuations.This project is based on:- 4 mobilities between young professionals entitled ""I would cook at home"" exchanges between young Europeans to give to know the practices of their partners in the field of sustainable food and the development of local productions.- The realization of educational resources around the following themes: quality approaches and Signs of Quality and Origin Identification (SIQO ...) societal issues and sustainable food, knowledge of local food heritage, consumer trends and distribution.- Within fablab provide young people with tools to work in project mode to enable them to design projects and innovative ideas to enhance their local food heritage- And infine, design the route of a European route of flavors in the four partner territories of the project (France, Italy, Portugal, Spain) in order to involve young people in the construction of a project at European level and to promote a proactive attitude towards Europe and its intangible heritage."

The biotechnology of microalgae has gained considerable importance in recent decades, as they represent a largely untapped reservoir of novel and valuable bioactive compounds. The biological and chemical diversity of the microalgae, has been the source of unique bioactive molecules with the potential for industrial development as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, nutritional supplements. The proposed project will combine both basic and applied research in the fields of –omics technologies, biochemistry, applied and enzyme biotechnology in order to exploit microalgae resources for the development: 1) Natural UV sunscreens, based on algae mycosporine-like aminoacids, 2) Algae-based nutraceuticals as functional foods and food supplements, 3) Algae-derived proteases with applications in cosmetic (skin repair enzymes) and food industry. The implementation of the project will offer to the involved academic and SMSs the opportunity to translate scientific research into well defined knowledge-based ‘green’ products and analytical tools. Apart from scientific objectives, the project will enhance the European’s capacity in the field of Blue Growth and Marine Biotechnology by exchanging interdisciplinary knowledge, developing and disseminating joint research activities, thus strengthening the intersectoral links between academia and industry for sustainable growth.

AFTERLIFE proposes a flexible, cost- and resource-efficient process framed in the zero-waste and circular economy approach for the recovery and valorisation of the relevant fractions from wastewater. The first step of such process is an initial step consisting of a cascade of membrane filtration units for the separation of the totally of solids in wastewater. Then, the concentrates recovered in each unit will be treated to obtain high-pure extracts and metabolites or, alternatively, to be converted into value-added biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates). Moreover, the outflow of the process is an ultra-pure water stream that can be directly reused. The outcomes of the project will be focused on: - Demonstration of an integrated pilot using real wastewater from three water intensive food processing industries (fruit processing, cheese and sweets manufacturing) - Demonstration of the applicability of the recovered compounds and the value added bioproducts in manufacturing environments The design and optimisation of the AFTERLIFE process following a holistic approach will contribute to improve performance and reduce the costs associated to wastewater treatment by maximising the value recovery.

The European agri-food sector faces pressing global challenges, including food security, climate change, and sustainability. To address these, it must adopt a knowledge-driven strategy rooted in cutting-edge research and innovations towards a sustainable food system. Promoting interoperable R&I careers that bridge academic and non-academic (NA) sectors is essential for fostering new solutions. LETSGROW is based on three pillars: training, mobility of talents and policy development to support this effort. These aim to foster collaboration between sectors, ensuring knowledge and resource exchange that mutual benefits. This mutualistic approach can nurture a fertile environment for R&I talents. Training focuses on equipping R&I talents with the evolving competencies of both sectors. LETSGROW addresses current gaps by building up talents’ skills as well as the institutional competence to support talents and their careers, offering a set of 37 training activities. Mobilities play a critical role in preparing R&I talents to work across sectors. LETSGROW offers: quality-based talent selection, a mentoring system, a return plan to maximise impact, and mobilities coupled with training. The cross-sectoral exchanges will allow NA talents to gain practical, industry-related experience, while gaining insights from academic research. Mobilities are designed so R&I talents gain critical competencies while involved entities establish and promote future collaborations. Evidence-based and needs-based policy is essential to enable positive change, and lessons learned from both training and mobility activities will feed co-creation of policy recommendations to enhance R&I talents career interoperability and employability. LETSGROW’s combined impact of targeted training, cross-sector mobilities, and supportive policy development will promote competitiveness of the R&I talents and the consortium, which gathers 11 Partners (7 from 5 Widening countries), including 4 NA entities.

Rationale:There is a huge gap between supply and demand of skills in the labour market in Europe. It is expected that is gap will continue to grow over the next years, especially in the green sector. Many current jobs disappear and new jobs that do not yet exist will emerge. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about to create a shift in the skill sets required of workers in green jobs. This holds true in particular for the 68 million people in the European Union with skills on lower and middle EQF levels.Objectives:The project aims to contribute to reducing the skills gap in the labour market and help increasing the employability of people on EQF levels 2-4 by aligning learning outcomes with the EU Skills Agenda. Participating organisations:Five vocational education and training (VET) institutions from four different EU countries have teamed up with five partners representing the world of work (companies, branch organization, cooperative, etc).Main activities and project results:The project partners have 1) Actively participated in a customized training based on the updated ECVET Experience as developed by ECVET.nl, and co-developed a shared and unambiguous framework for units of learning outcomes that are based on ECVET principles and align with the EU Skills Agenda by embedding generic skills, professional skills and social-emotional skills; 2) Produced over 50 units of learning outcomes on EQF levels 2, 3 and 4 in English for multiple job profiles, and added translations in 5 additional languages; 3) Selected and established an applicable and shared assessment methodology that supports the recognition and validation of the learning outcomes; 4) Created a training programme for the assessors of the learning units including a short animation video on the assessment for all stakeholders (students, company tutors, teachers);5) Trained the assessors;6) Tested the units and assessment in a pilot with nearly 90 students (twice as much as estimated in the application);7) Collected and summarized recommendations for adjustments and optimization for future use8) Organized and implemented multiplier events in every partner country, as well as one joint multiplier event, joining a conference of umbrella organisation Europea International. All together we've reached more than 250 non-partners. Outcomes and impact attained:* The project partners now have a shared language and a better understanding of EU instruments such as EQF and ECVET. Some of the participants had little to no acquaintance with these instruments prior to the start of this project. Their knowledge and understanding of the value of these tools has increased. * The partners have also built a strong common understanding of what working with the EU Skills Agenda means and how to cooperate in developing those skills. * The project partners have built a closer relationship. Attitudes have changed in a positive way, making it possible to contribute to bridging the gap between the labour market and VET. * We can now recognize and validate formal and non-formal learning, also abroad. This has led to an increased number of students who engage in international mobility programs.* The quality of student mobilities has also improved: it is now clearer to all stakeholders, including the learner, the tutor at the company and the assessor, what the desired learning outcomes are. Feedback from students and work placement companies indicates that the students’ commitment to the learning process and self-assurance during the internship has increased.* The considerable dynamism on the job market calls for a greater degree of flexibility on the part of VET. Learning outcome-based courses lead to a more flexible VET because how and where the learning takes place is no longer restrictive, nor are the teaching method or materials. This makes it easier to provide VET courses in accordance with the needs of the labour market.* The co-developed learning units have given the industry partners a better understanding of the skills acquired by graduated VET students who enter the labour market. This aligns with one of the main topics of the EU Skills Agenda: making skills more transparent.* The inclusion of generic and social-emotional skills in the learning units aligns with another main topic of the EU Skills Agenda: understanding the skills needs of tomorrow.* The partners from the world of work intend to use the project results to improve the employability of their employees. Some of them are using the learning units for their in-company training of workers.* The VET providers are also using the project results to fostering excellence. Excelling students who seek additional challenges can now acquire extra learning outcomes, or learning outcomes at a higher level.