"The project ""Network of knowledge for efficient private forests - Net4Forest (2018 -2021)"" aimed to develop and promote the vocational education and training for private forest owners. Behind the delivery of the many services that forests provide are people - forest owners with a wide range of skills. The increasing multifunctional role of forests in the transition to a sustainable future requires more skills. Information on the marketing of forest products and valuation of forest services is widely available in the participating countries and in the EU, but there is a lack of information, guidelines and training materials suitable for practical application by forest owners. Therefore, the main long-term objective of Net4Forest was to develop training materials and practical tools for forest owners to increase income from their forests.Experts from 5 European countries (Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Spain) participated in the Net4Forest project. They all have different knowledge and traditions in managing private forests. The exchange of knowledge, experience and examples of good practice between the project partners gave us the opportunity to develop innovative training and information materials.The main target groups involved in this project were: trainers (they served as a tool to reach the large groups of private forest owners), forest owners (they were directly involved through local seminars), different stakeholders from the forest sector (especially educational and training organizations) and young people just entering the forest sector (students, young practitioners were involved through the presentation of tools through different social media platforms).Developed intellectual outputs represent a collection of existing knowledge and newly developed tools. They were presented and discussed in different events. Organized events provided an opportunity to raise awareness among all the target groups involved and beyond. A knowledge network was established by PP through events for the training of staff (Training of trainers - LTT). A total of 4 pieces of training were organized with 112 participants. During the trainings, trainers had the opportunity to learn from each other, share experiences and existing knowledge. Local seminars in each country (we organized 11 seminars in total) were organized to test and promote the project results and outcomes among the project target groups. We directly involved 360 participants in these seminars. At the end of the project, an international final conference was organized where we presented the project results and outcomes with 83 participants. Throughout the project, we used promotional and informational materials to share useful knowledge and information with our target groups. We published 21 articles and more than 60 posts and news on different internet platforms and social media, together reaching more than 60,000 people."

Family forestry provides the main use for very large land surface areas in many European countries. Efficient and responsible use of this land is of considerable importance not only for the owners, but also for wider society.The target group of the project is family forest owners who make forest management decisions, based on advice. The project envisages to join forces and share experience from several countries in order to provide better understanding of what are the best ways and methods to channel the knowledge to those, who need it - the forest owners. The main objective of the project was to promote education of forest owners addressing forest management issues in order to improve the quality of forest management decisions, thus contributing to employment and economic development in rural areas of Europe.Project partners were five European forest-related organisations from four countries: 2 partners from Latvia, 1 from Estonia, Finland and Slovenia. Partners were of different size and scope, yet they share similar aims and target groups.The main project objective was achieved by different activities. Centre for Support of Forest Owner Cooperation oversaw the overall management and implementation of project activities by all project partner organisations.Each partner organisation set up a local project management team. Issues pertaining to project implementation and achievement of expected project results were discussed with partners during transnational project meetings.During the course of the project, several intellectual outputs were developed:1. Innovative online manual for forest owners about basic forest management; consisting of 4 parts – one for each country in its national language with a summary of manual in English. Each part of the manual is ca 200 pages. The developed manuals are printable and available in project partners's web sites.2. Interactive education materials pertaining to forest management planning. Education materials were created in national languages of the project participating organisations. Developed materials are publicly available at the web sites of the project partners. Developed intellectual outputs mentioned above are expected to assist forest owners in making better informed decisions in such areas as: forest inventory; when to use natural or artificial regeneration; what tree species to grow; selection of the right type of seedlings; what soil preparation to select, when it is needed; pre-commercial and commercial thinnings, different thinning strategies and suggested thinning models; pests and diseases in forestry; ways to make forestry more environmentally friendly; forest certification schemes; right time to harvest; regeneration; basic aspects of tree harvesting and transportation; safety in forestry; alternative uses of forest; role of forestry in carbon cycle and global environment. The above mentioned topics were developed during the project implementation. In order to exchange methods and best practices among participating organizations, four transnational joint staff training events took place.Various dissemination activities were organised, including local seminars in Estonia, Finland and Slovenia and a conference where produced intellectual results were presented to a broader audience. In addition,social media (Facebook) and partners’ web sites were used to inform about achievements in the project and to promote the developed manual and education materials.Better quality of forest management decisions by family forestry representatives are among desired impacts of the project, as family forestry plays an important role in rural employment, economic development and landscape formation. Better ways for family forest owners to learn necessary skills and ideas is of great importance. Better understanding of balancing economic, environmental and social aspects of forestry is also expected to be accomplished. Well managed forest stores much more carbon, it is also expected to provide for increased employment opportunities. Well managed forests, based in informed decisions by owners, can significantly contribute to the above mentioned aspects country-wide, as well as Europe-wide.

The efficiency of the higher educational systems largely rely on institutional support from the research support staff (legal, financial, ethical, impact oriented, managerial, and administrative) in all phases: pre-award/preparatory, award, post-award/implementation phase and post-implementation phase (review and assessment). Research support structures are one of the key factors influencing the success or failure of institutions and researchers participating in competitive European, non-European and national project where types of activities range from research, development, innovation, demonstration, building capacities, raising awareness, coordination, support and similar (R&D&I) funding programmes. But the available educational programmes in the field of project management and research administration comply only in limited extent with competences and knowledge needed by support staff and the need for extensive additional training in this field is evident. ADMIN project addresses this issue through providing upgrade of professional competences of research administrator’s staff by elaborating a project toolkit in project management (IO1) with an aspect on ethics and enhancing the soft communication skills as well as providing a training in this field. Additionally, ADMIN develops a self-study learning tool “Alone in the office” in a form of video material (IO2). In order to connect the various stakeholders and strengthen the linkages between the higher educations and the economy, ADMIN creates a Baseline study on knowledge transfer market (IO3). ADMIN’s outcomes will be published on the EPALE and the partners’ websites.The main objective of the project is to contribute to capacity building of research support staff and enhancing the prospect for R&I projects and initiatives in European funding schemes. The second objective is to strengthen and expand the network of research support staff across project partner countries and beyond so as to allow free flow of information, knowledge and exchange of best practices hence increasing the prospects for excellence in research administration. The aim is to boost the capacities of research administrators by improving their performance, highlighting the visibility of their work and outcomes and strengthening relations with academic/scientific staff. The target groups are early stage research administrators who are faced to the challenge to respond to everyday tasks on R&I projects, academic staff, stakeholders and students.

Europe's major growth strategies recognize the role that the education has as an essential driver of innovation and development, and a generator of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the EU, as recognized also by the Europe 2020 Strategy and European policy priorities for vocational and educational training (VET). Education and training contributes also to the social, economic and environmental dimension of sustainable development and sustainable management of forest resources. Constantly changing political and forest related policy context demand continuous training of actors in the forestry and adjacent sectors. There is evident and urgent need for innovative training programme in sustainable forest management (SFM) in Austria, Croatia and Slovenia that will be developed by strategic partnership formed of partner organisations experienced in various aspects of adult and professional training related to various aspects of SFM. Main priorities addressed by this project are increasing labour market relevance of VET and fostering access to quality VET. Project’s objectives are 1) to develop innovative curriculum and training materials for VET and LLL learners in SFM that is multilingual, use ICT and OER (e-learning) for learning and 2) to implement this pilot programme trans-nationally in Austria, Croatia and Slovenia involving project’s target groups. The training programme will contribute to increasing number of adults involved in VET and LLL, increased number of adults with entrepreneurial skills, as well as digital skills in using ICT and OER and specific knowledge related to SFM that is relevant for increasing their employability and opportunity for self-employment or new business creation. Project target groups are forestry professionals, especially those young and unemployed, private forest owners (PFOs) who mostly lack knowledge and practical skills in SFM, forestry entrepreneurs and employees of institutions in charge of protected areas management.Special attention will be put on the analysis of the current status and identification of examples on good practice in professional training in SFM. During the project timeframe professionals working in the partner organisations will be trained in the approach and methodology for training of adults with the emphasis on professional training in SFM through training of trainers (in total 21 trainer or three persons per partner organisation). These trainers will be able to practice their skills during training of VET and LLL learners whereas learners are recruited from project's target groups. The curriculum as well as teaching and training material for the training programme in SFM will be developed by trained employees of partner organisations (trainers) on topics relevant for project's target groups that would contribute to their skills development and knowledge on various aspects of SFM. The innovativeness of this training programme in SFM is the use of ICT, production and use of multilingual OER and applying blended mobility of learners. The quality of the training programme in SFM will be assessed after the implementation of training based on the experience of both trainers and learners. The e-learning platform that is going to be developed during the project's timeframe will be accessible to all who are interested also beyond the project’s timeframe. The importance of open access materials on SFM is also for the wider audience than project's target groups, such as those teaching about natural resources and forests at various levels of formal education system and beyond. Dissemination activities of both project and project results will be undertaken through various means. In all dissemination events relevant stakeholders will be involved as well as in the in the identifying of relevant topics that will meet the needs of target groups and labour market. The project is expected to bring positive and long-lasting effects on target groups, participating organisations and relevant stakeholders directly or indirectly involved in the project activities. The expected impact on the organisational level is: 1) increased training skills for employees of partner organisations (trainers) for training of VET and LLL learners, 2) increased digital competence of trainers from partner organisations in using ICT and e-learning content for teaching and training, 3) increased capacity of partner organisations to work in EU/international environment through cooperation between partners in project preparation, implementation and follow-up, and 4) increased networking opportunities. The desired impact on the local and national level is increased employability, self-employment and new business creation for participants and subsequently reducing unemployment rates especially of young highly educated people. The expected impact on the European level is increased number of people participating in VET and LLL and higher quality of professional training in SFM.