The EUROPEAN GREAN DEAL, promoting a fair and prosperous society, with a modern resource-efficient and competitive economy, and a climate neutral Europe in 2050, is the European response to tackle climate change and environmental-related challenges. The actions of companies and especially SMEs, accounting for 66% of private sector employment and approximately 60-70% of the industrial pollution in Europe have significant impacts in this regard. This applies to the products and services they offer, but also to working conditions, human rights, health, the environment, innovation, education and training as stated in the preamble of the EU Corporate Social Responsibility & Responsible Business Conduct. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the strategic, comprehensive and sustainable response from companies to address those issues. Even though CSR has been on the agenda for some years now, the implementation rate in SMEs is still alarmingly low and they are lagging far behind in responding to the justified demands of Civic Society. Many of them still believe, the topic is reserved for large companies, not being aware of the direct benefits but referring to the resources they consider necessary and the existing hurdles.The CSR-Ready project directly responds to the specificity of CSR implementation in SMEs and enables them to develop company specific strategies and measures based on a sound analysis of their specific impact areas and benefits, presented in a clear and easy-to-use CSR Scoreboard and accompanied by specific knowledge and tools needed to implement them. This innovative approach goes far beyond existing offers and initiatives and will lead to a higher implementation rate of CSR Strategies in SMEs in Europe. At the same time, future Entrepreneurs and StartUps are trained to implement CSR Strategies directly from the start – helping them to avoid future transition costs and allowing them to directly create CSR based competitive advantages. The project achieves a sustainable impact by directly supporting SMEs/ StartUps on the one hand and by professionalizing VET organizations, management consultants, entrepreneurship and SME support infrastructures and by providing first of its kind resources to be implemented into their curricula and services. We will build on the existing CSR theory and initially research on challenges and gaps explaining the low implementation rate in SMEs. Transferable studies on this subject area do not yet exist. Based on this, we will develop an interactive App-based CSR-Readiness Analysis Tool, leading to a company specific Scoreboard providing actionable strategy approaches and the specific learning resources. To guarantee the widest possible use, we involve VET organisations, trainers, consultants and support structures (incubators, chambers e.g.) in our work and enable them to update their services and trainings to real world needs.Specifically, we will:1) Identify the most relevant challenges, impact areas and best practices (IO1)2) Develop an innovative VET-Package providing curricula, learning resources and training materials to be implemented into the service provisions and trainings offered by VET, HEI and Entrepreneurship/SME support structures3) Develop an interactive CSR Readiness Analysis Tool Scoreboard (IO3) that enables SMEs to identify their specific CSR-Readiness, the Impact areas and actionable measures and provides the specific knowledge and tools to implement them4) To ensure wide and free access, all produced resources will be adopted as OERs and combined with a large variety of additional information on our interactive knowledge exchange platform (IO4)In doing so, the project addresses the following needs of our target groups and will create sustainable impact for them:a) SMEs and future entrepreneurs gain a profound understanding of the importance of CSR and are enabled to implement specific strategies b) VET organisations, trainers, consultants and support structures (e.g. chambers, incubators) are put in a position to update and professionalize their services and increase their impactc) By enabling companies to meet their social and environmental responsibilities while at the same time sustain their business, we make a sustainable contribution to improve the social, ecologic AND economic footprint of the European SME sector d) Project partners will acquire new strategies, tools and methods for improving the effectiveness of their services. They will improve their own competences in knowledge sharing and strategic relationship building and have a clear understanding of how to sustain and grow the project in the long term.The CSR-Ready project therefore is in line with the goals of the European Green Deal and will impact on the achievement of its objectives by increasing the implementation rate of CSR in SMEs and thus improving the social, ecologic AND economic footprint of the SME sector in Europe.

MOB4APP project aims at enhancing the professional development of VET professionals in order to improve, manage and support cross-country mobility for apprentices in Europe. The project will provide VET professional, companies and VET learners with specific knowledge, skills and competences necessary to promote, guide, assist, facilitate and assess effective mobility experiences abroad for apprentices. The trained VET Professionals will be able to design, develop and deliver quality transnational work based learning arrangements, recognising and overcoming some of the most common problems associated with practical implementation of long-term mobility for apprentices in Europe.The MOB4APP project aims at strengthening the role of VET professionals as link between apprentices and companies by developing a training path for VET professionals and supporting materials for companies and apprentices.The project will address VET teachers and trainers as primary target group while VET students, trainees and companies as final beneficiaries. Most official EC documents and recommendations confirm the existence of a mismatch between the benefits of long-term mobility for apprentices and the quality of the professional competences needed to implement this practice in an effective way (EC, Mobility of Apprentices in Europe, Report, 2019).In this regard, the project will produce the following tangible results: - IO1 MOB4APP Training Programme for VET professionals- IO2 MOB4APP Toolkit for companies and apprentices- IO3 MOB4APP MOOCThe partnership includes seven partners (Co.Meta, CISL Marche, Berlink, Pro Work, the Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce, The Pedagogical University of Krakow and the Spain Chamber of Commerce) from 6 different countries (Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Spain).The MOB4APP project is seeking to generate particular impact for VET Professionals (primary target group), VET students/trainees and companies (final beneficiaries) through the creation of original materials, activities and training modules to support, manage and implement long-term mobility for apprentices in Europe.The project activities aim at providing VET professionals with specific knowledge, skills and competences necessary to promote, facilitate and assess effective cross-country mobility for apprentices. The key strategy to impact on end users is to combine the training of trainers, with activities to raise the consciousness of companies, trainees and Policy Makers on the potential of mobility experiences abroad for apprentices in terms of acquisition of competences, employability, competitiveness and innovation.The second strategy is focused on the provision of innovative pedagogic approaches, tools and materials, producing resources, which can be very easily incorporated within existing training practices.

"<< Background >>As we all know, 2020 was the year when everything changed. It paused many people’s progress on family and career goals and it forced countless classes, trainings, and even holiday gatherings, either onto Zoom or out of existence. Many job positions that require face-to-face contact were lost or just dissapeared. These jobs were, in most of the cases, low-skilled positions occupied by young persons. Youth have now suffered two crisis in less than 10 years, as in some countries the effect of the 2008 crisis arose years later. This difficult situation for young people has resulted in a high and increasing rate of NEETs in Europe (17,1% Eurostat 2020) as the market seems to not being offering the right positions for this target group. Some of the reasons for this increase are the complex and multiple barriers they face, such as living in rural areas, the educational level, gender, migration backgrounds, ethnic minorities, drug and alcohol addictions, adverse family background, or mental health problems. On the other hand, it is been seen that EU Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are not digitalized and therefore can not make effective use of what digital tools can provide them. For instance, a company located in a small rural town in Romania could sell their artisan products to residents living in big EU cities if its staff were competent in digital tools and skilled in digital marketing, but the reality is completely different. Statistics reaffirm this fact, as the index for Digital lifelong learning fell in 3 three of the 4 participating countries in this project: Only Spain ranks within the Top 10 while Romania (24th), Poland (22nd) and Germany (27th) are at the bottom of the list. C4E sees this situation as an opportunity for young Europeans, SMEs and training institutions to impact on the digital transition. As one of the main subjects taught in C4E is Social Media, its staff started to see this as a tool to connect and digitalize both groups (NEETS and SMEs). The Needs Analysis conducted on both sides, reaffirmed Social Media as a tool to tackle NEETs problems since they provide participants with valuable opportunities for both social and digital inclusion. On the other hand, they help SMEs, as they give the opportunity to achieve visibility, reduce costs, and increase sales while achieving the digital transition. The Erasmus + call for 2021 offers an opportunity to promote social inclusion and reach out to NEETs and SMEs affected by socio-economic difficulties by contributing to creating inclusive environments that foster equity and equality, and that are responsive to their needs. By applying to this call, the project will develop the following tools that will address the following needs:- The Follow-us Training Programme for NEETs: Despite Social Media is considered as one of the most effective channels to reach NEETs, get them registered in Youth Guarantee, and later provide valuable opportunities for both social and digital inclusion, there is no programme that has been designed yet where Social Media is the vehicle to create employment for young people. - The Trainer UpSkill Course: A course aimed at training Socio Inclusion workers to become trainers of The Follow-us Training Programme for NEETs, as it requires professionals who are proactive towards working with the target group and knows well their needs. With this win-win strategy, Socio Inclusion Organisations working with NEETs will act as one-stop-shops, as they will outreach, engage, train and certificate NEETs to later putting them in contact with SMEs. - The Follow-us Platform: there is no platform or source where SMEs that are struggling can request Social Media content free of charge, and at the same time function as a tool to connect NEETs with the real labour market.<< Objectives >>The projects’ main objective is to use the existing digital and personal skills of NEETs to inspire, motivate and re-integrate them with innovative training-tools, services and methods to develop their skills as Social Media Managers and connect them to SMEs who need their services. By following this win-win strategy, these vulnerable youth will find a future career while becoming positive members of society, and SMEs will be able to request and use online content for the digital and financial improvement of the organisation. This will be achieved through a holistic approach by a multi-skilled team, which through counselling, mentoring, training, and follow-up will guide them to new opportunities. This approach also involves finding a way to address the main issues NEETs are facing, which are social exclusion, disconnection from groups, and demotivation to become again part of the active society.These innovations and actions will combat unemployment of NEETs as they will directly increase their participation in education and training, and support them to find sustainable work which can also easily be carried out remotely. This main objective will be achieved through the following specific objectives: 1. Connecting and educating NEETs through a motivational training programme of Social Media - The Follow-us Training Programme for NEETs - that will provide them with a Community Manager certificate that companies can trust,2. upskilling social workers in becoming Social Media Trainers through - The Trainer UpSkill Course - as they are the main point of contact with NEETs. This course will offer Socio inclusion institutions a tool to train their staff and act as a one-stop-shop for NEETs3. designing - The Follow-us Platform - where NEETS will be contacted by SMEs to create social media content and will, therefore, enable them to gain experience and build their own portfolio,4. providing SMEs with a tool - The Follow-us Platform - that will function as a Social Media department, that is often limited or even non-existent.By implementing the project, all the needs previously mentioned will be addressed by following this innovative strategy. The Follow-us project is also a good opportunity to foster cooperation within regions as it will implement joint initiatives in regions of Europe that are lagging behind. The implementation of Project Results will ensure transferability, as they can be adapted to other vulnerable groups, re-usability, as they will be of open-access to all interested parties (Socio Inclusion organisations, training institutions and Companies Cooperations) and the transdisciplinary dimension, as analysing multiple branches of knowldge, are needed to become Community Managers.<< Implementation >>For the accomplishment of the Follow-us goals, the partnership will carry out a detailed plan of activities to implement. These will be distributed in 6 different groups: 1. Activities that define the management framework of the project and guide the partnership through the timeframe of the project: These are Project Activities 1 to Project Activities 6 and are as follows: PA1 -Project Management System, PA2 - Management Plan, PA3 - Evaluation Plan, PA4 - Total Quality Management Plan, PA5 - Project Risk Management Planand PA6 - Dissemination & Exploitation Plan.2. Activities that are the building blocks of the dissemination strategy and support the projects' impact by widely informing stakeholders about the activities and the Project Results. These are: PA7 - Dissemination Materials (Logo, Posters, Notepads, Pens), PA8 - Project Website, PA9 - Social Media Presence (FaceBook, Twitter), PA10 - Digital news flashes, PA11 - Digital Flyer, PA12 - End of Project Booklet, PA13 - Tutorial Video.3. Activities that summarize and report the projects activities for control and monitoring of the planned successes, these will be: PA14 - Partner Meeting Minutes, PA15 - Project Evaluation Reports, PA16 - Dissemination Activity Reports, PA17 - Total Quality Management Reports, PA18 - Interim Report, PA19 - Final Report4. Activities that will make possible the tangible outcomes of the Project Results: The Follow-us Training Programme (PR1), The Trainer UpSkill Course (PR2), and The Follow-us Platform (PR3). These will include all tasks to be carried out during the research, design, development, testing and improvement of each project results. 5. Activities to enhance collaboration, face-to-face contact, exchange of practices, transnationality and better quality of Project Results. These will include the 4 Transnational Partner Meeting which will take place in the 4 participating countries and other planned online meetings in between. 6. Activities to present, explain, disseminate and give visibility to Project Results: These will be the multiplier events in its onsite and virtual form, including the National Workshops and seminars, that will be vital for the testing and improvement of the Project Results and the Final Conference, which gives a unique opportunity to present the Follow-us tools to stakeholders that will later make an effective use of them.<< Results >>The Follow-us project presents 3 interconnected tools that will make possible NEETs socio inclusion while achieving the digital transition of European SMEs. These are:a) The Follow-us Training Programme for NEETs, with motivational, innovative and interactive content that will engage youth attention. The training Programme will be conducted on-site, if possible, as NEETs need support and encouragement from the Follow-us Trainers (Socio-Inclusion workers), but also to have access to computers as , in general, this target group struggles to own a digital device that is not a Smart Phone. It deliver the following outcomes:1. Providing NEETs with a training programme that will support and encourage them to study and work again by making use of motivational resources of Social Media. 2. Enhancing access to training in digital tools and key competences to NEETs and Socio Inclusion workers. 3. Creating a Community of Practice of vulnerable youth willing to become Community Managers.4. Providing NEETs with accredited Certificates that companies can trust. 5. Undertaking a mapping of single-point of contact agencies in order to reach more young people and disseminate all Project Results. 6. Targeting support to individuals most in need. 7. Providing career guidance to NEETs.8. Involving NEETs in the design of the Training Programme. 9. Involving Socio Inclusion workers in the design of the Syllabus.b)The Trainer UpSkill Course, that will train and educate Socio Inclusion workers in a new and effective manner to become knowledgeable and successful trainers of the Follow-us Training programme for NEETs. This will result in the following outcomes: 1. Enabling Socio Inclusion workers to become Social Media trainers.2. Supporting Socio Inclusion centers with 3 interconnected tools for their users integration.3. Build a closer relation between NEETs and the Follow-us trainers, as they will be the main point of contact from the outreach till the integration phase.- The Follow-us Platform, a Web and Mobile Platform, that will allow, on the one hand, SMEs to request free social media services in form of one-off jobs, and on the other hand, young people to offer these services by applying what they have learned in ""The Follow-us Programme for NEETs"", with the objective to obtain a Community Manager certificate after successfully completing 10 one-off jobs (or what is the same, a traineeship period). The Follow-us Platform will: 1. Provide SMEs with a tool that will function as a Social Media department by enabling the selection of young people offering their digital services. This helpful service is not of easy access for the majority of SMEs. 2. Ensure sustainability of the Project Results by constantly updating Network/Partnership based iniciative with new actors. 3. Promoting the use of digital tools in youth education and its potential benefits for SMEs in productivity and competitiveness. The project will also produce intangible results which are:1. Fostering cooperation between the education sector, Socio Inclusion centres, young people and SMEs. 2. Building the trust of NEETs and engage them with the community. 3. Reducing the unemployment rates of NEETs in the EU. 4. Increasing the use of digital tools by SMEs. 5. Changing the minds of SMEs owners on Social Media as, in most of the cases, they are not aware of the importance of using them. 6. Creating a Community of Practice to spread the word among vulnerable youth to enroll into the course and to see the possibilities of using Social Media to exit Marginalisation (promoting the peer to peer support)."

The project responds to the concerns expressed by stakeholders on the shortcomings in the labour market orientation of Higher Education (HE), focusing on the balance between practical and theoretical learning in HE and to mismatches between the skills sets of graduates and the skills they require during their early careers. EU countries have experienced a substantial increase in graduate unemployment and a decrease of quality of their employment. European students and graduates report continuously that they are worried about their careers. At the same time employers and employers’ organisations report they are having increasing difficulties in finding graduates with matching skills.In this Knowledge Alliance, Integrating Entrepreneurship and Work Experience into Higher Education (WEXHE), enterprises, associations and HEIs have come together to identify and analyse current provision of work experience in HEIs in 7 different EU countries, generating 75 case studies of work-based learning (WBL) involving all four types of disciplinary sectors (hard-pure, e.g. natural sciences; soft-pure, e.g. humanities and social sciences; hard-applied, e.g. medicine and soft-applied, e.g. social work) covering work placements, traineeships and entrepreneurships. Working with practitioners, it has created 9 comprehensive Packages of WBL, together with guidance on management, quality assurance, learning outcomes, funding and accreditation, as well as 3 Summary Reports covering the identified three modes of WBL: work placements, traineeships and entrepreneurship. These cover and support the 4 sectors and allow for tailoring to national contexts. The project aims to:• increase capacity of HE staff and enterprises to provide high quality work experience and entrepreneurship• identify what kind of WBL leads to high quality jobs• support the accreditation of WBL through ECTS and effective Quality Assurance• ensure that skills needs of employers are understood

The main objectives of the REMEB project are the implementation and validation of a low-cost ceramic membrane bioreactor (MBR) in a Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), the study of the impact and replication of the technology for the reuse of the water in regions with water scarcity and the industrial sector, and finally, the definition of a proper business plan to start the commercialization of the technology, once the project will be finished. The low cost recycled ceramic membranes of the project are based on residues obtained in agricultural and industrial processes (sub-products), such as olive oil solid wastes, marble working wastes and chamotte from fired scrap, in addition to the typical raw materials used in the ceramic tile industry. The project aims to achieve several specific objectives: valorization of wastes from different agricultural or industrial processes, manufacturing of an innovative product using recycled materials, validation of a new MBR with a lower initial and running costs by using low cost ceramic membranes and comparison between REMEB MBR and the MBR in operation in the WWTP selected for the validation. Replication of both, manufacturing and validation tasks, is assured by repeating the processes in the facilities of some participants. Manufacturing membrane replicability will be performed in Turkey and Italy. The replication study of the MBR implementation in the urban and industrial wastewater sector will be performed in Colombia and nearby countries, Cyprus and nearby countries and Europe. Furthermore, evaluation of the environmental impact of product and process will be carried out by the method of LCA. Finally, a marketing and dissemination plan of the technology will be done by the entire consortium. It is expected that this technology would be implemented massively, principally due to the low cost of REMEB MBR (3.5 times lower than a MBR of organic membranes and 2.5 times lower than a ceramic MBR).