Circular €conomy Digital Training Toolbox to Foster Innovative Green Entrepreneurs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Circular €conomy Digital Training Toolbox to Foster Innovative Green Entrepreneurs

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Environment and climate change; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The aim of the Eng@ge partnership was to improve the level of Green Entrepreneurial culture in Europe by providing knowledge about the Circular Economy concept to VET providers and VET stakeholders through an innovative and open digital training toolbox comprised of training resources. The increased skills needed to cope with the changes in the labor market, relating to both new or existing jobs, are based on technological changes, globalization and climate change. Sustainable development and the shift to a low-carbon economy are of great importance for companies and imply structural changes across sectors and occupations. Greening the jobs is the new momentum and new skills, updating of curricula or new qualifications are at the heart of these changes. To achieve the overall aim, the project met five specific objectivesO1: To understand the training needs of VET stakeholder and VET providers with respect to the CE and its benefits to society and business;O2: To develop a framework/curriculum that can address the needs identified in O1;O3: To develop an open and innovative digital training toolbox supporting the training framework/curriculum established in O2, consisting of a set of digital training tools/methods and six relevant case-studies providing trainers with the means to adopt their training approach to the needs of different learners;O4: To carry out 1 pilot test to help improve the digital training toolbox developed in O3,O5: To disseminate and exploit the results of the project in particular the digital training toolbox, to make it available to at least 10,000 people. The project brought together seven partners from six EU Member States with diverse interest and backgrounds, each having a clearly defined role to contribute to the Eng@ge project : 1 CCI, (LP) , VET centers (LS ES CAMIS/RO) , two Higher Education Institutes (GCU/UK, BTU/BG) , one technical consultancy entity with expertise on Eco-design MECB /MT and one social enterprise (DRO/GR). Collectively, the partners put together different competencies and different expertise to design, implement and test a modular digital training toolbox completed with augmented reality based e-learning content. As the content required a careful consideration of TG needs, a desk research and field research were conducted in every country of the partnership. Field research was done based on a questionnaire, focus groups and in depth interviews. The report was the input for study cases selection ( IO2, IO3) and above all for the new curriculum (IO4). Based on the curiculum, the course material (IO5) was produced by the different partners and then was converted into e-learning format (IO6) so that it can be freely offer on the Engage learning management system (IO10) (available at www.camis.pub.ro/engage ). To help the TG tailor their own training programmes, a framework on how to apply, was developed (IO7). A prototype of the digital training toolbox was created (IO8) and evaluated during a LTT/C1/RO session and following different events organized in other participant countries. An evaluation report was done based on the questionnaires created by BTU/BG(IO9). Templates were created for TG (IO11) and final digital toolbox was uploaded http://www.engage-ce.eu/toolbox-main/(IO12). Dissemination and exploitation (IO13) were planned and implemented. Around 20000 persons were informed, dissemination materials were produced such as posters, leaflets gadgets for ME, newsletters, press releases, SM posts,events and articles.
Results and impact attained: The project results were presented to a number of 307 participants during 9 ME organised in partners countries but as well in local and national events and through European networks ( i.e. EDIC network, SME network). They are freely available in e-learning format on the Toolbox http://www.engage-ce.eu/toolbox-main/ hosted by official project web site and on LMS hosted by CAMIS-PUB/RO. They can be used by stakeholders in any EU country to train VET stakeholders on CE and as already happened many stakeholders will use the result for different training programmes.
Long term benefits – all partners can become CE training providers for different VET stakeholders in the involved countries, benefiting from an increased visibility as well as from a new body of knowledge very important for each country alignment to the continuous effort to transform Europe’s economy into a more sustainable one and to implement the ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan, through the contribution to greening both existing and new jobs.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 194581,38 Eur

Project Coordinator

CAMERA DE COMERT SI INDUSTRIE BISTRITA NASAUD & Country: RO

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITATEA POLITEHNICA DIN BUCURESTI
• THE GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY
• Social Cooperative Enterprise Drosostalida
• LAWTON SCHOOL S.L.
• PROF DR ASEN ZLATAROV UNIVERSITY
• MACDAC ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY BUREAU LTD – MECB