Shift was aimed at promoting an exchange of practices amongst each partner organisation in order to improve knowledge and develop joint initiatives on Intercultural Mediation from the education and training perspective. IM can be considered a key professional role and also a transversal competence necessary to ‘build’ a link between immigrants and workers in the institutions of the host society, to reinforce networks and to increase the capacity to operate at transnational level, share and confront ideas, practices and methods in the relevant field of intercultural dialogue. Specifically the project was aimed at •Investigating and reporting about the profession of ‘Intercultural Mediators’ and/or similar professionals within the partnership’s contexts. •Investigating and reporting on existing paths (formal, nonformal, informal) for becoming ‘Intercultural Mediator’. •Mapping the Gapping of relevant learning outcomes within formal education pathways on Intercultural Mediation The Shift Project involved a complementary partnership led by Consorzio abn a & b network sociale, an Italian Consortium of social cooperatives. The other partners were: In Italy, Unione Nazionale Consumatori with expertise in mediation, the Municipal authority City of London (UK), Xano Channel, a Spanish organisation expert in education and training as well as in mobility of staff and learners. It furthermore involved other organisations in Italy (CIDIS onlus) and Spain (ESMOVIA) with specific expertise in Intercultural and Cultural mediation on the one hand and in VET on the other. The partnership worked together on the professional profile of Intercultural Mediators. The first step was to investigate on the State of the Arts, that is the professional status and the professional training available in UK, Italy, Spain. However, it was through the Blended Mobility partly held in Valencia that the participants came to a shared definition of Intercultural Mediation and built together a shared view and agreement on the complex series of Competences that characterize this profileThe investigation of the IM profile has been carried out both through desk research (performed by each partner organisation autonomously) and through the Mobility experience held in June 2017. The former has been carried out online (using google drive as common platform to share materials and collaborative work on the common theme) and offline. The Workshop on Intercultural Mediation was organized in Valencia from June 20th to 24th. In this experience, which involved the participation of professionals who perform intercultural mediation activities, the discussion was focused on: •Agreeing on a common definition of Intercultural Mediation •Distinguishing between Intercultural Mediation and other forms of mediation (e.g.. Cultural Mediation) •Identifying the set of core competences belonging Intercultural Mediators •Identifying competences GAPS within the existing training paths in the partner countries In order to base our work on a common ground, the partnership has adopted the following definition of Intercultural Mediation: Intercultural Mediation is the process of facilitating communication amongst different cultures for social integration. “Intercultural mediation” intervenes by “mediating”, as a tool of synthesis between the different identity, cultural, religious and ethnic components; on the other hand, the word “intercultural” includes all those aspects that shape the identity of single individuals. The blended mobiliy of learners was held during the month of June 2017. The mobility involved nr 3 accompanying persons and nr 9 learners. At first stage, sharing of materials and discussion was held through skype and google drive. In Valencia a workshop was held from June 20th to 24th where participants have worked together to the construction of an agreed competences framework of the profile of Intercultural Mediator and met local initiatives and services which include intercultural mediation as a core competence/activity. The exchange or practices held during the Shift lifetime and overall deeply and intensively during the Mobility training programme in Valencia, led us to look more compellingly at Intercultural Mediation not only as a profession to be pursued through professional training but also as a transversal competence which is key to a great number of professional profiles such as doctors, teachers, lawyers, public officers (this list is far from being exhaustive). From these reflections and conclusions stem the strong commitment of the Shift project partners, to continue the collaborative work in the domain of IM undertaken through the Shift project to make Intercultural Mediation a competence accessible to all.

"European Commission has set out as one of its main goals to create a Digital Single Market, where citizens and businesses can access online goods and services. The Digital Single Market Strategy will simplify consumer rules for online purchases, make data protection, copyright and telecom rules for the digital age. In the same context, digital literacy can enhance consumers’ ability to profit from new digital goods and services, as acknowledged by the OECD report: “Consumers’ ability to fully profit from digital content products provided electronically depends, to a great extent, on their knowledge and awareness of the digital environment and of their rights and responsibilities. How such digital competence could be enhanced through education and awareness raising initiatives is a challenge for all stakeholders”. However, despite the clear benefits and interest on promoting the Digital Single Market, there are some important barriers from the citizens perspective. Consumers want reliable, trustworthy, easy-to-use services that deliver information or other products and services in a way that doesn’t result in costly mistakes or damaging misjudgements. And they also need to count on the necessary skills to access, understand, assess and make an informed decision on consumption. Additionally, another pressing priority that stands out at the EU level is the need to develop Digital Competencies for all, that is ""to develop the digital skills to ensure that all citizens are active in our digital society"". In this sense, the development of these competences will also help combat digital exclusion, which is emerging as a widespread and growing phenomenon in the European Union. Within this context, DIGConsum projects main objective is to contribute to the empowerment of adult Europeans by providing them with digital competences in the field of digital consumption. Additionally, the specific objectives of the project include: - To create OERs addressed to European adult population and their trainers, reducing the gap on digital competences for consumption. - To develop a training path to be used and adapted by any adult education practitioner interested in providing training in the project topics. - To provide a common framework for development but also assessment of competences of digital consumers, valid at the EU level. - To bring new technologies to all citizens and develop new pedagogical and training approaches and resources that allow reducing inequalities in access and participation in ICTs in non-formal education. DigConsum training will be designed to fulfil the following learning objectives: - Learners will be able to search, filter and assess information on goods and services online, and to follow a responsible and sustainable consumption. - Learners will be able to identify and verify reliable and non-reliable sources on advertisements and commercial communications. - Learners will be able to manage their own digital identity online, including their privacy and own data protection. - Learners will have the ability to participate in collaborative economy platforms and to share information with other consumers in the digital market. - Learners will understand and be able to use copyrights, licences and contract on digital products or services. Project transnationality is one of the key aspects of the proposal. Achieving a European Digital Market requires from a transnational approach to the analysis and also solutions given to EU citizens. The DIGCOM framework for consumers provides a starting point for adult education practitioners to develop adapted paths and training resources in the field. Project partners represent different national contexts that provide the project with insights from those diverse realities, trying to include those countries over or closer to the EU average on digital consumption to those with lower rates."

WATSON provides a methodological framework combined with a set of tools and systems that can detect and prevent fraudulent activities throughout the whole food chain thus accelerating the deployment of transparency solutions in the EU food systems. The proposed framework will improve sustainability of food chains by increasing food safety and reducing food fraud through systemic innovations that a) increase transparency in food supply chains through improved track-and-trace mechanisms containing accurate, time-relevant and untampered information for the food product throughout its whole journey, b) equip authorities and policy makers with data, knowledge and insights in order to have the complete situational awareness of the food chain and c) raise the consumer awareness on food safety and value, leading to the adoption of healthier lifestyles and the development of sustainable food ecosystems. WATSON implements an intelligence-based risk calculation approach to address the phenomenon of food fraud in a holistic way. The project includes three distinct pillars, namely, a) the identification of data gaps in the food chain, b) the provision of methods, processes and tools to detect and counter food fraud and c) the effective cross border collaboration of public authorities through accurate and trustworthy information sharing. WATSON will rely upon emerging technologies (AI, IoT, DLT, etc.) enabling transparency within supply chains through the development of a rigorous, traceability regime, and novel tools for rapid, non-invasive, on-the-spot analysis of food products. The results will be demonstrated in 6 use cases: a) prevention of counterfeit alcoholic beverages, b) preservation of the authenticity of PGI honey, c) on-site authenticity check and traceability of olive oil, d) the identification of possible manipulations at all stages of the meat chain, e) the improved traceability of high-value products in cereal and dairy chain, f) combat of salmon counterfeiting.

The upPE-T project aims upcycling recalcitrant oil-based plastics by bioconversion into biodegradable bioplastic for food and drink packaging production. Plastic packaging, which make up nearly 60% of the total plastic waste in Europe, is highly problematic from a waste management- and environmental- point of view due to their durability and resistance to degradation. Polyethylene (PE) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are the leading plastic use in food and drink packaging (43% PE and 19% PET). The sustainable management of this plastic waste has become a very challenging problem for global society. In upPE-T we will include sustainable strategies as an alternative for plastic chemical degradation. The consortium will improve PE and PET depolymerization through enzymatic engineering to positively impact food and drink packaging recycling rate and achieving the European Union expected impact. In upPE-T we will turn PE and PET waste streams via enzymatic degradation and microbial assimilation into raw material for the production of biodegradable bioplastics. In addition, we will simplify the downstream bioplastic recovery process from cell biomass using an efficient and green extraction approach in which toxic solvents are not used. Finally, together with customers and food and drink brand owners, bio-based end-packaging will be demonstrated and validated to ensure fast market deployment. Additionally, in order to ensure 100% of PE and PET recyclability, plastic rejections not optimal for microbial bioconversion into bioplastics will be valorized by their use in building applications instead of be sent to incineration or landfilling. upPE-T will be an important part of the actions for compliance with the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy.

FOODGUARD aims to develop and demonstrate co-created solutions that will support innovations & advances based on microbiome, microbial activities & technology hubs to address food, health, economic and environmental challenges.The envisioned approach consists of a framework of toolsets & methodologies to provide sustainable solutions in food processing, packaging & across the food value chain to address food shelf-life increase & waste reduction in a holistic manner.The proposed solutions aim to (a) extend food shelf life with novel packaging/ biopreservation i.e. use of protective cultures/synthetic microbial consortia, recyclable films with natural antimicrobials or protective cultures;(b)monitor food quality/safety/shelf life with microbial indicators/molecular biomarkers used in smart packaging (TTIs, smart printed tags, no-invasive sensors)& (c) accurately predict food shelf life & improve traceability using predictive models, AI/ML, Internet of Things & tools like QR,NFR etc.; FOODGUARD toolbox components will be extensively evaluated in real life settings through four pilot demonstrations in 4 different countries with involvement of all relevant actors while covering diverse requirements and different food products. FOODGUARD outcomes target i) to minimize food loss and waste by shelf life extension and prediction,ii) to help the food industry to implement these preservation solutions as an alternative to chemical preservatives,iii)to deploy responsive policy for implementing these approaches as well as to engage consumers educated via tools/platforms, effectively improving awareness &trust in the food sector to(iv)increase traceability, providing real-time supply transparency that will improve the uptake of data-driven innovations in food systems, optimize resource efficiency (reducing food waste from farm to fork)(v)manage increased complexity in agri-food production & supply chain process, make it easier for consumers to adopt a healthy & safe food diet.