"As defined by Ellen MacArthur Foundation, as the name suggests, a ‘circular economy’ is a feedback-rich approach, (often described as ‘circularity’) with its subject matter the choices we make around resources – the economy. It rests in contradistinction to a linear economy. A circular economy uses insights into real world systems which are complex, adaptive systems. These systems are open to modelling and influence where we emphasise participation, connections and understanding consequences rather than the identification of parts and their manipulation. A maturing circular economy will face three big challenges, as Walter Stahel (architect and industrial analysis) frames it. The challenge of ‘Re-‘ that is the challenge to perfect re-using, re-manufacturing, re-designing and all the other ‘re-‘ actions that need to occur to keep resources at their highest value for the longest possible time. Secondly follows the challenge of ‘De’, when products can no longer be re-cycled in a value-adding way: ‘de-constructing’, ‘disassembling’, ‘de-taching’. The third challenge comes with a capital K – Knowledge. Education about the circular economy framework and the crucial knowledge for it, such as technical and economic understanding, as well as ‘materials-literacy’, needs to permeate every level of society, not just c-suites and experts. As stressed and highlighted during the discussion taken at the “Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference” (9-10 March 2017) in Brussels, every worker, consumer and so, adult should be equipped with such knowledge, thus, education stands as one of the building blogs of a circular economy, including awareness-raising in general public and business community and integration of circular concepts at all levels of education, starting from the lifelong learning approach. Thus, CYCLE project stands for a shift to the circular economy by supporting the integration of circular economy into adult education curriculum and outreach programs to increase awareness in the general public and so, contributing to the construction of knowledge society based on human capital development.""Education in all its forms at all levels will form an essential part of the transition to a circular economy. This must include the identification of the training needs of workers who needs to be part of the immediate change as well as the longer-term action of educating future generations"" - as highlighted in the EESC ""Communication from the commission to the European Parliament"" on Circular Economy. Education needs to extend to all levels from primary schools to companies, SMEs, investors and financiers, etc. However, according to Jean Pierre Maugendre, there are some additional key trends to be considered when analyzing the effects of a circular economy on employment and the labour force. These trends are expected to profoundly shape the future of businesses, as well as the skills requirements for employees. Life-long learning is of major importance, however, the process of life-long learning has not yet been effectively integrated. By improving the skills of adult trainers, and thus, supporting the introduction of Circular Economy competences in lifelong learning, CYCLE project is intended not only to fill in the identified gap (improving the learning pathway of adult education professionals), but also contributing to the transition agenda. The project started in October 2017 and it finished in September 2019. CYCLE partnership is formed by six organisations coming from six different European countries: Spain, Austria, Italy, Poland, Belgium and the United Kingdom, representing different approaches on learning methodologies, adult education and competences development. CYCLE project is intended to create a set of tools that improve and develop Non-Vocational Adult Trainers (NVATs) training competencies that ensure the introduction of circular economy competences in adult training, contributing to the creation of an attractive learning pathway for NVATs and facing the existing gap in this area. The main target group are “non-vocational adult trainers” defined as those trainers & facilitators that provide any form of adult learning – formal and not formal – that is not directly linked to the labour market. During project implementation, one main Intellectual Output has been elaborated: Intellectual output 2: CYCLE Competence Centre. To support the development of this platform we have built a competences framework - CYCLE Competences Framework as a reference not only for the project but for future initiatives on the area of training and circular economy."

The SEVERE project aims to develop a transnational programme for nurturing entrepreneurial mind-sets and skills in order to encourage active citizenship and social entrepreneurship. At the same time, it will seek to reflect a completely new approach to working life born out of the COVID-19 crisis – as well as the Climate Emergency - and increasing demands for more sustainable forms of international collaboration, as well as a transformation in the way societies tackle these challenges. It reflects the increasing importance of civic society and the social innovation ecosystem and the role that universities can play in nurturing social entrepreneurs, supporting social enterprises and creating new opportunities for collaboration. SEVERE will meet a number of specific objectives: 1.develop a deeper awareness within universities in order to prepare their students for direct community action through digital means;2.create a suite of online tools housed within a virtual collaboration space that will help students but also social enterprises to collaborate and create joint ventures remotely;3.validate the tools by incubating 12 social innovation projects with partners in six different countries;4.establish a platform for virtual internships whereby students will be able to work remotely for social enterprises and community groups on specific projects;5.create and promote a SEVERE network open to promote digital social innovation.The project is coordinated by Glasgow Caledonian University which has several years’ experience coordinating projects under the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships as well as CBHE and Knowledge Alliances Programmes, specialising in the field of Social Innovation. The project partners all have a range of specialist experience in areas relating to the field: the University of Aveiro, specialising in design thinking and social innovation; Dublin City University specialising in student entrepreneurship and ideation; Servizi Didattici e Scientifici per l Universita Di Firenze, specialising in social enterprise support and the related ecosystem; Universidad Pompeu Fabra, specialising in service learning and microcredit; Montpelier Business School, specialising in responsible finance and social innovation.By the end of the project the following impact will have been made:Participants-They will become more aware of the needs of their communities and develop skills for active civic engagement and entrepreneurship;-They will be able to increase their employability both specifically in the area of social enterprise and community engagement (which has become increasingly important in the aftermath of covid-19) but also in other areas which seek individuals with well-rounded and altruistic personalities.-Improve their digital skills and specific skills for remote working and virtual collaboration which are now so prevalent and increasingly essential post covid-19 but also with the growing climate emergency which demands a more responsible approach to transnational cooperation. Participating organisations -Greater capacity for incubating student ideas, potentially transnationally but also virtually.-Greater employability of students-Closer relationship with their communities and the social innovation ecosystem-A greater understanding of the potential and limits of remote working and a more relevant approach to higher education that recognise digital social innovation as a key tool for socioeconomic impact.These impacts will be transferable to other institutions outside the consortium. Target Groups and other relevant stakeholders-More suitably-skilled workforce to enrich the social innovation ecosystem; -Access to more tools for remote working and digital social innovation;-improved health and well-being; -more sustainable environment; -more cohesive and equitable society.

PATHS2INCLUDE will provide new, gender-sensitive, comparative knowledge-base on effective employment policies targeted at developing inclusive labour markets for persons in vulnerable situations in Europe. The study will examine the importance of intersectionality related to how context creates vulnerability, by focusing on three central labour-market processes: recruitment; career trajectories; and work exit. Through the involvement of national and European stakeholders, PATHS2INCLUDE aims to develop proposals for effective policies and to inform relevant policymakers with a view to maximising the project’s impact from a societal as well as scientific perspective. The project will combine diverse methods, data and disciplines (economics, political science and sociology) in innovative ways: (1) harmonised factorial survey experiment combined with qualitative interview studies with employers in four European countries (DE, NO, PL and RO); (2) causal analyses of comparative microdata; (3) microsimulation analysis exploiting the EUROMOD infrastructure. Linking the analyses of these data and the three central labour-market processes, will give original insights on how institutional and contextual factors shape barriers or mitigate risk of labour-market attachment among persons in vulnerable situations. These insights could include cross-national differences in employment-protection legislations and facilitation of care, regional differences in demand for labour, differences at company level related to the size of the firm, flexibilities in job tasks, and conditions that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, covering unemployment rates and infection-control measures across different segments of the labour market. The project will be implemented by an interdisciplinary consortium of seven research institutions and one European civil society organisation. The consortium has a balanced composition in terms of gender, stage of the career and area of expertise.