"The concept of internationalization in the professional operations of SMEs is often approached by its employees without previous preparation or adequate strategies. Economic and Industrial Chambers, VET providers and institutions are available, but this concept is usually not incorporated in their main operation, and even if they are able to advise in this area they are not equipped with mechanisms or tools that would grasp activities from the beginning to the end to account for sufficient support to their beneficiaries.Thus, the ISO project is addressed to Economic and Industrial Chambers, employees of VET providers and VET trainers who work with and support SMEs (trade and services). The project results will also be beneficial for start-uppers or SMEs that have already guaranteed themselves a recognized position on the national markets, but are interested in introducing their businesses to the international markets (specifically to the EU audience).The project is a response to specific priorities in the VET field:1. Developing partnerships aimed at promoting work-based learning in all its forms, e.g. the development of new training content(including Joint VET qualifications), integrating periods of work-based learning, including opportunities to apply knowledge in practical projects/""real life"" workplace situations, and embedding international experience (mobility) whenever possible;2. Introducing systematic approaches to, and opportunities for, the initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers and mentors in both school and work-based settings, with a focus on developing effective digital, open and innovative education and pedagogies; as well as to the horizontal priority: transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications.The project will fulfill the priorities, by developing and making available:IO1- Internationalization Service Officer profession manual.The manual will be developed for chambers employees who want to become Internationalization Service Officers and will provide them with the necessary help and advice on how to support for internationalization processes in SMEs. It will support them in promoting work-based learning opportunities among SMEs by striving to internationalize the enterprise in which they work or they are the owners.IO2- Videocasts for SMEs concerning internationalization processes.The videocasts will be prepared by SMEs representatives from every country who have achieved success in internationalization of their businesses. The scenarios will be developed by the partners and they will discuss ""real life"" workplace situations andpossibilities of WBL use for reinforcement and effectiveness of internationalization processes in SMEs realty. IO3- ISO mobile application for startups.The app will ensure personalized training pathways by initially testing the knowledge and awareness of Internationalization processes among startupers. The “ISO for startups” will also elaborate a personalised strategy for the startuper to be able to address the weak points and empower its approach to Internationalization processes. The app will contain: self-assessment panel concerning internationalization processes in SMEs; training pathway on 3 levels of advancement on the results of self-assessment; strategy maker panel.The results will account for competence development, facilitate WBL and assist in internationalization practices that SMEs are or will be participating in. Further speaking, the project's objective is also to promote WBL practices, support professional development of staff in VET institutions, assist companies in providing strategies enabling cross-border sales and promotion of how the cooperation with Chambers (at any level) will advocate business development.The ISO partnership constitutes of representatives from Poland (RIG and Danmar), Portugal (AEVA), Greece (HCCI), Italy (IFEL), Ireland (ITT) and Spain (Cenfim) - organizations experienced in impacting on societies lacking sufficient skills or resources. The partners are well-oriented in mechanisms for fighting market competition and carry out activities for the promotion of brand awareness on national and EU markets."

<< Background >>On March 7, 2019, the women’s European Committee of COPA, held the conference “Strong rural women 4 strong rural Europe”. The conference dealt with the gender gap in agriculture all over Europe and concluded with the realization that further action and initiatives need to follow on a European and member states’ level in order to increase the number of female entrepreneurs participating in the agricultural sector. As it was pointed out, in order to achieve the above, focus should shift to educating and facilitating women’s access to agricultural training and life-long learning based on their specific needs, and social contexts.All above realizations are supported by official European Statistics which reveal that the agricultural sector in the EU is a male dominated sector with only 28,7% (2016) of farm managers being women, a percentage that has slightly increased in the years from 2005 to 2016, indicating that female farmers are holding steady, (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Statistics- 2020 edition). It was also indicated that only 8,9% of farm managers had full agricultural training, 22,7% had basic agricultural training, while the majority of farmers only had practical experience. Along those lines, the article published by the EC on 8 March 2021, entitled “Females in the field” highlights the importance of women in agriculture, as well as EC’s commitment in supporting them through the income support system, the rural development funds and the CAP. Even though above realizations are embraced by the official European Bodies, little action is taken to overturn the existing state of women in agriculture. The situation is even more alarming with regards to women in rural areas where they represent 45% of the economically active population, and about 40% of them work on family farms. However, the number of women showcasing entrepreneurial initiative is limited due to the lack of financial resources, training and lifelong learning.The proposed project “DEMETRA: Developing Entrepreneurial skills & tools for woMEn in agriculTure in Rural Areas” comes as response to this lack and was designed by a consortium of 7 partners form 6 different EU countries (Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic), in order to address the consortium's common interests and needs with regards to the above. In all participating countries it is observed that there low participation of women in agricultural entrepreneurial activity. The percentage of women farm managers in Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia and Poland is 27%-20% while in Germany and the Czech Republic is as low as 10% and 12% respectively. This project is an effort to create the conditions for women in rural areas to be involved in the agricultural sector, by providing the tools for educating them on agricultural entrepreneurship, and offer them the ability to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skills.On the whole, the project addresses the need to better understand existing and needed competences of women in rural areas with regards to agricultural entrepreneurship and promote a more inclusive context for their participation in the filed. At the same time, this project, is the consortium’s response to the need of these women for education through a specifically designed innovative curriculum, platform and a mentoring scheme reflecting on women’s current needs on agricultural entrepreneurship training and also a response to lack of resources for VET providers on the topic.<< Objectives >>The overall objective of DEMETRA is to facilitate the development of agricultural entrepreneurial skills and tools for women in rural areas. In doing so the project aims at recognizing the needs and gaps with regards to women’s education and competences in the area of agricultural entrepreneurship and device the tools that will facilitate their education and overall knowledge in order to cover those needs and gaps.The specific objectives of the project are to:· Create a network of partners, share practices and strengthen their capacity to work transnationally through the cooperation in the full lifespan of the project and the joint activities proposed in this project in the area of women’s education on agricultural entrepreneurship. · In depth analysis of the context within which women agriprenuers are called to act by creating a clear picture of women agripreneurs, their level of education and competences in the field and their educational needs while at the same time recording the gaps and obstacles they need to tackle on a national and European level and developing policy recommendations.· Develop an innovative educational curriculum for educating women on greener, more sustainable models of agricultural entrepreneurship (as brought forward by the Green Deal and supported through the CAP policy) as well as other entrepreneurial skills.· Develop a digital tool for enabling women with limited access to education in order to further pursue their agripreneurial education.· Provide access for women in rural areas to educational programmes in the field of agricultural entrepreneurship, designed specifically based on their needs and provide them with up-to-date knowledge by experts and successful professionals.· Connect women agripreneurs with the labour market by bringing them into contact with agricultural businesses and agricultural stakeholders.· Raise awareness on the issues of gender inequalities within the agricultural labour market and the access to entrepreneurial education and skill training.These project objectives are in line with the Horizontal priorities of the ERASMUS+ programme on Inclusion and diversity in all fields of education, training, youth and sports and Environment and fight against climate change. Additionally, the project also addresses the sectoral priority of adapting vocational education and training to labour market needs.<< Implementation >>Throughout the lifespan of the project, a series of activities are going to be implemented which are all interconnected and complementary to each other in order to safeguard the achievement of all objectives set and the maximum possible impact of the overall project: Those activities are:5 Transnational Project Meetings (TPMs). (3 with physical presence M2, M13, M24 and two online meetings M7, M18). The TPMs will be held with the purpose of better coordination among the partners ensuring that they all will be aware of the project’s progress and the decisions taken for all aspects of the project’s monitoring and implementation processes. Additionally, the transnational project meetings will ensure that all partners are informed about the activities that need to be implemented, the timeframe of those activities and that they are actively contributing to discussions and decision-making procedures.1 short term staff training to take place on M13 of the project in Slovenia. The particular activity will be committed to educating staff members of the partners on DEMETRA platform and the curriculum that will be developed in order to acquire the knowledge required for implementing the pilot course in all partner countries and provide help in the use of the DEMETRA Platform. 7 multiplier events to take place one in each country and two in Cyprus which will involve a wider range of participants from all defined target groups (VET providers, Educational Institutions and other training organizations, Stakeholders in Agricultural, Women in rural areas and other individuals involved in agricultural activity, Businesses & StartUps in related sectors, Decision makers, Media and the General Public) aiming at creating an extended network of contacts for the outreach of project outcomes. This extended participation will be beneficial for the impact of the project’s results as well as for the purposes of reaching out to as many stakeholders and affected parties as possible.A comprehensive dissemination strategy to be implemented throughout the lifespan of the project drafted within the framework of a comprehensive communication campaign. The dissemination strategy will be implemented in order to achieve the maximum outreach possible for all the activities and results of the project. All dissemination activities implemented by the partnership will be supported by the grant for project management.<< Results >>The consortium will cooperate in order to successfully deliver the following project results within the set timeframes as they were recorded in the initial meeting for the drafting of the proposal:DEMETRA Matrix of Competences and Policy Recommendations Report.(PR1) A report will be drafted where the needs and gaps associated with women’s education in agricultural entrepreneurship will be identified. The Green Agripreneur DEMETRA Curriculum. (PR2)The curriculum will be an innovative approach to Women’s Agricultural Entrepreneurship with specific emphasis on environmental agricultural and entrepreneurship offering practical training for the development of skills and competences.DEMETRA The All Encompassing Platform. (PR3) Demetra platform will be designed as an OER in order to be publicly accessible. Through the platform, the curriculum that will be developed in Project Result 2 will be shared with the target groups, that is with women in rural areas who engage in agricultural entrepreneurship, VET providers and educational institutions, trainers, teaching staff and other stakeholders or beneficiaries in the field of agriculture. DEMETRA Pilot Course. (PR4) The pilot course will reflect on the common denominator of meeting the needs of the target group by offering them tools for developing competences and enriching their knowledge in the area of agricultural entrepreneurship based on the Curriculums developed in PR2.DEMETRA Mentoring Scheme. (PR5) Through this scheme mentors will offer up-to-date insights to women who aspire to develop their own business idea in the agricultural sector, as well as provide support and offer solutions to the obstacles and challenges that women may face in this process.Through all above mentioned results, DEMETRA aspires to have a positive impact on the participating organizations, on relevant stakeholders such as agricultural governmental and non governmental organizations, VET providers, Universities and academics who are interested in the field of women’s agricultural entrepreneurship. Additionally DEMETRA will also positively impact women from rural areas with limited access to education who want to develop an entrepreneurial action on the agricultural sector, as well as women from other areas who want to update and enrich their knowledge on agricultural entrepreneurship. Thus the consortium considers that the overall project through its activities and project results will be impacting relevant stakeholders and target audiences not only on a local and national level but on a European level as well.

Innovation is key to boost productivity and has a role to play in the economic success of the era of new technologies (The Global Competitiveness Report 2018, WEF), while digitisation offers SMEs new opportunities to take part in the next production revolution (OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Outlook 2019). However, SMEs can lag behind in innovation capacity and innovation management capacity skills compared to large companies. Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas consists of 12 major business support organisations - key innovation players, industrial associations and innovation support organisations, as well as chambers of commerce and industry - creating a country-wide network. This network serves as a key facilitator in enhancing the competitiveness, innovation capacity and growth potential of Greek SMEs. The overall goal of the proposed action is to enhance the innovation capacities of Greek SMEs with international ambitions enabling their business growth and boosting their competitiveness in the Single Market and beyond. More specifically, the proposed action aims to: • Assist SMEs in identifying and addressing innovation management gaps and developing respective strategies; • Support SMEs to utilize the opportunities offered under the EIC Pilot Schemes -SME Instrument(SMEI), Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) and Future and Emerging Technologies (FET Open) programmes- as a tool for bridging the gap between research, innovation and market; • Identify SMEs with the capacity to innovate and internationalise and provide them with tailored services; • Offer targeted assistance on innovation management that, compared to large companies, have limited capacity for R&D activities and consulting services; • Support business innovators to translate their ideas into market success, fostering their innovation potential; • Empower SMEs to unlock their growth potential by better managing more effectively and efficiently their innovation processes.

<< Background >>The current pandemic has affected everyday lives of people around the world. Countries have introduced various forms of restrictions in order to fight against the virus and keep their citizens safe – including complete to targeted closures. The pandemic has had a huge impact on education system as well. A nationwide closure of schools has been common recently. These closures have affected the way of gaining knowledge not only amongst young people and children but adults as well. It is estimated that the current pandemic has affected the professional development in VET sector.The world in time of the pandemic is a different place: telework has gained popularity in many countries that did not use it before and ICT skills have become a basis for both – work and education environment. The ongoing changes in VET are demanding different kinds of support mechanisms for teaching staff globally. Mostly this concerns implementing new pedagogies, curricula and use of new technologies. However, this is not always easy or possible due to the scale and speed of the labor market changes. As consequence VET providers are often struggling on their own with the future oriented changes. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2020.)The current situation requires a transformation within small and medium goods producers in Europe. The existing patterns related to trade and export of goods do not work any more – they should be quickly replaced with new methods of communication and online marketing techniques. Furthermore, digital models are essential in order to open up to new markets.There are several organizations SMEs can turn to in order to gain assistance and support: chambers of commerce, clusters and VET agents. Entrepreneurs want to find a partner who will support them with their participation in foreign fairs, completing customs procedures and requirements for the import or export of goods, advertising goods on foreign markets, adjusting marketing strategies and more. The problem is that most common form of communication between SMEs and those institutions was a standard face-to-face meeting. However, in the current situation (the COVID 19 pandemic) there are certain limitations. Firstly, many chambers of commerce or clusters are not able to provide entrepreneurs with quick support in the field of opening / resuming foreign exports in the online dimension. Secondly, the traditional face to face mode is not available during the Covid-19 pandemic and so the entrepreneurs are left with no choice – the only possibility of communication nowadays would be digitalised communication which requires certain skills.The aim of the project: to strengthen the possibility of small and medium goods producers in Europe for successful transformation from traditional to effective and online transborder activities (import/export) by building capacity of Chambers and similar VET institutions for providing digital education support as well as the development and implementation of digital pedagogical competences of VET educators.<< Objectives >>The project focus is on two target groups:•T1: employees of chambers of commerce, regional development agencies, VET clusters, local authorities and centres for entrepreneurship development, VET teachers, trainers and mentors;•T2: owners and managers of small and medium enterprises involved in the production of goods and employees of sales and export departments in these enterprises.By implementing the project and its results the project partners endeavour to provide assistance to the forementioned target groups facing challenges which occurred during the worldwide pandemic of Covid-19. The main goal to be achieved is transforming small and medium goods producers in Europe so that they become effective and online transborder organisations. Moreover it is important for the Chambers and similar VET institutions to provide digital education and support and implement digital pedagogical competences.With the COVID-19 situation continuing and the new Erasmus+ program 2021-2027 with increased possibilities to cooperation and mobilities on a European level in mind there is a need to develop ways of cooperation and learning using digital and virtual methods. The project is a response to the European Union’s call for support for digital transformation in the coming years - illustrated by the recent proposal for the Digital Europe programme (for 2021-2027), which would be the first ever funding programme dedicated solely to supporting digital transformation in the EU.Thus, the project focus is on ICT (new technologies and digital competences); new innovative curricula/educational methods and development of training courses; entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurship education. Innovative practices in digital area are the core of the project.Moreover, the activities within the framework of the project will result in a raised awareness and knowledge of VET actors in the area of digital pedagogical literacy. The project will enhance access to quality trainings and qualifications in the area of: Development paths accounting for successful business launch or cross-border expansion; Specifying the transborder business strategies based on EU recommendations; New online marketing techniques for digitalized enterprises in the EU; Assistance in legal and customs procedures applied to EU member states Participation and presentation of products at online fairs or events.The aim is to include as many vocational fields that have been affected by the COVID-19 situation as possible. The emphasis is on organising very few face-to-face sessions and create the online work environment by experimenting and co-creation online. This way the project can proceed according to plans despite the pandemic of Covid-19 but at the same time increase the VET educators skills, competences and confidence to work online.Additional objectives of the project would include:•VET: Enhancing access to training and qualifications for all;•VET: Initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers and mentors in both school and work-based settings.<< Implementation >>The methodology that the partnership intends to apply is going to be based on proper, competent management and effective monitoring of the activities, on-going assessment and evaluation of project outcomes. Firstly there needs to be a project management plan created to make sure everything is according to the schedule. This step is strongly connected with planning, assigning responsibilities and minding completion of tasks as well as preparing reports. Another important issue is the Promotion and Sharing strategy which would consist of preparing a Promotion plan, deciding on promotion activities, evaluation and feedback collection, preparation of promotion materials and their reporting. There will be one leading organization which task will be to evaluate and monitor the quality of the project cooperation and results. Essential promotion and sharing materials will be prepared including:•Visual identity of the project (logo and templates with Erasmus+ emblem);•Project website;•Leaflets;•Newsletter ;•Articles (partners will prepare articles about the project in order to present its outputs);•Social media (there will be two social media channels created).The promotion materials are crucial for effective communication with the Target Groups of the project. However, the Project Results are the main goals and all the activities and action taken by all the partners are focused on developing the final results of the project. In order to prepare the results the partners need to arrange the very first meeting – the kick-off meeting. During this meeting they will update all working documents, update membership of groups, make detailed decisions and define tasks and responsibilities. Also the training about management system will take place. Details about implementation of all activities within PR1 will be made.During the first months partners will work on setting up and adjusting the m-learning environment structure. Then partners responsible for the individual modules will breakdown their parts into chapters and confirm the capability of contributing to digital education – this way the materials and methodology will be developed. The next step will be to conduct internal testing. In addition, m-learning course will be given for evaluation to external Experts who will provide opinions and recommendations. Works concerning PR2 will start with distributing templates for partners and content division for them to contribute to the works on this output. After introducing improvements agreed by partners after the internal testing and external evaluation, the final version of the m-learning course will be delivered to target groups for testing.The very last activity connected with PR2 will be monitoring the testing phase in partners’ countries. Based on the feedback gathered, the team of developers will fix all bugs and malfunctions identified, but also will implement all reasonable suggestions for improvements. After the establishment of the final version each of the partners will need to translate the content into their national languages.In the last month of the project, partners will meet in Spain. This meeting will be the time of summarising the project and plan the activities to be done by all partners in order to sustain the results after the project ends.<< Results >>During the project two Project Results (PR1 and PR2) will develop. The first result is Methodological VET handbook - methods for effective digital education. The agreed learning outcomes outlined in the Research Report will be the constant benchmark for partners’ work and this will allow partners to tailor content to suit local cultural and societal values. Demonstrating the flexibility of the Methodological VET handbook, it will also aid further transferability beyond the project consortium. Methodological VET handbook developed will specifically address the needs of the owners and managers of SMEs involved in the production of goods and of VET teachers, trainers and mentors regarding the appropriateness of learning environments, structure and relevance of learning content and accessibility of learning platforms.The proposed new Methodological VET handbook will consist of 5 main Chapters:1 – Development paths accounting for successful business launch or cross-border expansion;2 – Specifying the transborder business strategies based on EU recommendations;3 – Assistance in legal and customs procedures applied to EU member states;4 – New online marketing techniques for digitalized enterprises in the EU;5 – Participation and presentation of products at online fairs or events.The estimated size of a module will be 30 pages. The structure of the handbook will consist of the following parts:- the educational objectives;- the content with the description of the 5 modules (exercises, source texts, quizzes, practical advices etc.);- detailed description of the possibilities of using content modules, for further development and integration with other development topics;- tests verifying the increase of knowledge.The handbook should be used to increase competencies of the goods producers in the 5 topics (and consequently, to increase their chances of transborder digital readiness). Furthermore, it could be used by VET teachers, trainers and mentors and employees of chambers of commerce as a standalone textbook for courses aimed at increasing competencies. Finally, it will be a basis for the digital Methodological VET handbook that will be posted on the platform developed in PR2.The second result of the project will be the On-good m-learning training materials for small and medium goods producers. Because of overwhelming amount of information we have access to today, VET teachers can find it difficult to learn about the most efficient ways towards implementation digital qualifications aspects in their teaching. This is why the On-good m-learning tries to build upon the scheme of data/information collection – processing and matching – customised learning path presentation. The innovative character of the On-good m-learning is definitely its ability to perform a fully automated knowledge/skills diagnosis of each teacher and response to the results of this analysis with a customised learning path. This approach will ensure that the On-good m-learning is not aiming at delivering universal resources to all VET teachers, but will instead focus on presenting a set of action fiches that can be treated as a direct response to the analysis performed. The expected impact that the On-good m-learning will have on VET teachers is that these educators will be able to implement different actions that will help them engage in digital education related activities and therefore contribute towards better resources utilisation and consumption.