The crisis that Europe is facing has led to a sharp decline in economic activity and recession. The labour market is being severely hit and unemployment rates are increasing thus negatively affecting the EU’s potential growth. In this scenario, the aim is for Europe to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. EU rural development policy focuses on jobs, growth and sustainability as basic pillars. Rural areas shall fully exploit their potential, resources and human capital, and create high-quality and sustainable jobs. EU’s rural areas are diverse in terms of population, demography, economic and social structures, but most of them are highly suffering the negative impact of the crisis in terms of unemployment rate. To the known problems suffered by the general population in EU’s rural areas: * Ageing population.* Mass exodus to the cities.* Gaps in facilities.* Reduction of rural employment and lack of entrepreneurs.* Income p/c in rural areas is nearly half of urban income p/c.* Skills and educational attainment is generally lower in rural areas.We have to add specific problems facing by rural women:* Invisibility of her work.* Lack of infrastructure to balance their work and family life.* Serious difficulties in accessing the labour market.And relating self-employment, rural women could face to the following obstacles:* Territorial and social isolation problems.* Lack of confidence to raise their business ideas.* Minor number of business information points for supporting and accompanying.* Weaker marketing channels.* Difficult access to ICTs.So, general objective of WE-RUN project has been to offer new opportunities and innovative instruments to adult women living in rural areas for improving their qualifications and thus their levels of employability and integration into the labour market, mainly through entrepreneurship activities related to the New Yields of Employment (NYE) and emerging sectors. Therefore, main direct beneficiaries of WE-RUN were women living in rural areas (especially lowly qualified adults). Furthermore important stakeholders for the development of the project have been: rural women associations, adult education and training organizations, local businesses/enterprises associations, local/regional authorities and citizens in general.Main activities were:* Study-analysis on the relation between rural women and NYE and emerging sectors* Catalogue of innovative best practices on entrepreneurial rural women and NYE and emerging sectors* Training for rural women in entrepreneurship on NYE and emerging sectors* European Virtual Community of entrepreneurial rural women and NYE* Piloting: Launch time* One Multiplier eventWE-RUN, implemented through a partnership which includes 7 organisations from 6 countries, allowed reaching the following impacts:* Increasing levels of employability of rural women through the acquisition of new skills and competences.* Development of entrepreneurial capacity, primarily related to NYE.* Training in personal skills (autonomy, adaptability, sense of responsibility, communication, etc.).* Getting in touch directly with women from other EU's rural areas.* Increasing the self confidence of rural women in an individual and collective way.* Receiving a professional and individual counseling and tutoring for running its own business.* Active participation in consultation processes and in the design and implementation of innovative tools specifically addressed to the needs of female populations from different regions.* Identification of the existing relations between women from rural areas and the NYE.* Recognition of specific sectors with potential for being developed by rural women through entrepreneurship activities.* Reaching an optimal exploitation of existing social resources in the rural areas to achieve the real conciliation and make the leap to self-employment.* Awareness about the importance of training and the improvement of skills for rural women.* Building local capacity for employment and diversification.* Creation of permanent transnational networks for fostering the exchange of knowledge, experiences and expertise.* Creating synergies between public and private actors.* Fostering cooperation between partners and the main actors involved in the European labour market.In conclusion, WE-RUN has permitted women from rural areas to acquire and develop skills and competences needed for their employability and personal fulfillment, mainly through entrepreneurship in NYE, which is one of the strategic priorities recognized in the Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training (ET 2020).

ESIRA acknowledges that innovative social economy initiatives, focusing on local networks, competences, and resources, are able to recognise the important role of citizen-led activities to fulfil the needs of rural areas, especially marginalised ones. Nevertheless, many policies and initiatives fail to effectively support them and/or engage the more vulnerable groups of population. The main objective of ESIRA is to contribute to the rollout of place-based innovative social economy initiatives for rural inclusion and development in (marginalised) rural areas by supporting enabling frameworks, well-interconnected policy architecture and directly piloting innovative solutions which ultimately build more inclusive, resilient and prosperous rural areas. To achieve it, ESIRA will implement a work plan focused on (i) the research of community-led rural innovation spaces able to connect and empower actors, reinforce the social capital and sense of community, considering the great diversity of rural areas within Europe, and eventually (ii) nurturing and piloting social economy initiatives that strengthen the inclusiveness and living conditions of different groups of population in vulnerable situation, from the improvement in the provision of (social) services, economic diversification, and sustainable management of the natural capital. This will enable to (iii) stocktake and formulate recommendations for policymakers to better support the third sector and local communities, increasing the understanding of the needs and challenges of vulnerable groups of population and social economy, and (iv) boost the knowledge-exchange among local actors, building up their capacities and facilitating the scale up and replication of social economy initiatives across Rural Europe. 9 regions in 7 European countries will be involved in the project. The exploitation and dissemination activities will aim at expanding those regional spaces and replicating our concept in new regions.

The scope of the project is to develop and deliver a customised e-learning program to all interested parties in the agri-food supply chain focusing on cereals and rice (workers, supervisors, managers, farmers, producers, carriers, supply chain companies, warehousing and packaging companies, packing and freight forwarders, etc) in four Euro-Mediterranean countries (Greece, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus).Green logistics and grain sector were selected to set the framework of this project, because of their strategic importance in the regional and national economy . These countries are struggling to find ways to overcome financial crisis and quest sustainable growth. Towards this direction, supporting evidence indicate that logistics and agriculture may be the springboard for their growth. The coordinator, Department of Logistics Management (DLM, TEI of Sterea Ellada, Greece) is a HEI and its faculty members possess deep academic and business expertise in logistics, supply chain management, skills development, VET and e-learning. It is active in significant extended networks on local, regional and European level. EIEO (Greece) is an Institute focused on education and training in the field of agriculture, and develops expertise in EU agricultural policy, and precision agriculture.SEEDYZ (Greece) is a member of COCERAL (European association representing the trade in cereals, rice, feedstuffs, oilseeds, olive oil, oils and fats and agrosupply) and has a variety of members covering the whole cereals supply chain, providing valuable experience in transferring the scientific knowledge to practice and VET. SODEBUR (Spain) is a public body, which provides services to the Province of Burgos and its municipalities, and works to promote social and economical development of the Province. SODEBUR has a wide experience in the communication, dialogue and exchange with the most important entities, administrations and stakeholders at provincial, regional and national level.IAPA(Cyprus ) is a Non Governmental Organisation which has developed serious expertise on the field of rural and regional development in Cypriot agriculture.IPC (Portugal) delivers graduate studies in various fields, including business administration, communication and information science, and agricultural sciences, and has grounded long-term partnerships with private enterprises, public entities (e.g. Ministry of Agriculture) and other HEIs at the national and international level. Building on the integration of the knowledge triangle (higher education, research and business), training requirements surveys charting the current skills & competencies profiles of the logisticians in alignment with the best practices provided by the cereal and rice sector professionals, lay the foundation for the e-training program for the agrifood supply chain. Additionally, mapping the cereal and rice sector, as well as the collection of best practices in green logistics, guided the identification of project’s outcomes potential users (target groups). In particular, two field surveys were conducted, adopting qualitative and quantitative research methods (personal interviews, structured questionnaires, online survey tools). Findings grounded stakeholders’ skills profiling in the agri-food supply chain, and pointed out the lack of specific categories of skills and competencies in order to achieve higher performance . Thus, results guided project’s training curriculum content in four languages (English, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese) grouped in three distinct categories of skills and competencies: (i) Green logistics and operational skills in agro-food sector; (ii) Organisational skills (iii) ICT skills and competencies. The training program is completed with the evaluation which leads to the awarding of certificate of attendance by the TEISTE in alignment with ECVET guidelines. In addition, a trainer guide has been developed to support learners as facilitators for the creation of business networks and clusters. Moreover, a Documentary about the Journey of seeds was created (from crop to fork) to disseminate project's results and raise public awareness.The development and identification of best practices in the supply chain enhances awareness and highlight the importance of this sector. Consequently, aligning e-learning with national policies & strategies may secure sustainable growth as an asset for local and national economies. At the same time, cultivating a culture of distance learning among young farmers, workers, managers and entrepreneurs also brings multiplier benefits to the agri-food industry as it can easily be adapted and transmitted to other sectors. In this context, entrepreneurship is fostered and the involvement of young people (students, farmers, business managers and scientists) is strengthened by improving the quality of work through effective training actions and cross-border cooperation.