The project, whose geographical coverage will be North-West Italy (3 regions : Piemonte Liguria and Valle d’Aosta) aims at implementing a specific framework service for supporting SMEs in the innovation management capacity . The service, delivered through provision of 96 individual companies’ service packages, will be directed to SMEs with international growth potential via product, process service and or business model innovation- with gaps regarding innovation management. In particular, the action will focus on the following specific objectives: 1. SMEs international growth, including participation to European programs 2. SMEs Innovation capacity enhancement and innovation projects implementation, job creation and new market access 3. SMEs Innovation results exploitation and innovation spill over enhancement at local level 4. Significant value creation for the SMEs through the intervention on ate least 1of the main innovation drivers (offer, process, distribution, customer relations) 5. Deep understanding of local business innovation support needs: mapping and understanding the context within which the service is placed 6. EEN specific service positioning within the regional innovation ecosystem 7. Advisory skill enhancement: ALPS EEN personnel, assisting the experts in this Action, will increase expertise and competences, providing high level advisory on innovation management 8. Fine tuning of a EU shared support methodology for EEN staff, which could be adopted for profitably supporting other local SMEs 9. Contribution to the creation of a visible and well identified Coach/EEN experts community at EU level (through the participation t o the specific pilot and or Working Groups and activating dedicated awareness raising campaigns ) 10. Editing of an operational internal manual/chart for a harmonized service within the EEN ALPS Consortium (for years 2015 on), and contribution to definition of an common, EU-level EEN operational manual

"The project ""KISS: the Key Is Social Sustainability"" aims to contribute in promoting the sustainability of the initiatives of Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) between its current actors and those young people who want to enter the sector. One of the major challenges faced by associations, cooperatives and other initiatives of the SSE, as well as those young social entrepreneurs, is the high dependence of their initiatives from public subsidies. This lack of sustainability (economic, but also social, environmental, of labor and political) conditions and makes them more vulnerable. Responding to the need of strengthening the sustainability of SSE initiatives, and using the potential of the intellectual products developed during the ""ISSE, community Works!"" project, we intend to promote a new European Strategic Partnership project that will benefit from the work of 9 Partner organizations from 4 countries (France, Italy, Greece and Spain) from the educational sector, youth work, the economy and the public sector: universities, non-formal education organizations, training centers, cooperatives and chambers of commerce. Over 2 years, the project aims to achieve the following specific results: - Create a network for the exchange of good sustainability practices in the field of SSE (with a local impact), exploring the different dimensions of sustainability and directly benefiting 44 participants among technicians, professionals and managers of the partner organizations and other organizations involved in the project, with a special attention to young people who want to start as entrepreneurs in SSE; - Develop and implement training modules on sustainable social entrepreneurship, training about 56 participants among technicians, professionals and managers, with special attention to young SSE entrepreneurs; - Create sustainable development plans of the organizations of origin of the young participants; - Collect good practices, training modules on sustainable social entrepreneurship and sustainable development plans already created and make them available to stakeholders and all those who want to promote sustainability within an SSE initiative; - Strengthen the capacities of the consortium organizations to improve the coherence and sustainability of their SSE proposal; - Consolidate a consortium of organizations from different sectors of society and different European countries, interested in promoting sustainability within social entrepreneurship, especially among young people. The project plans to achieve these results through the following activities: - the creation of the project website, showing inspiring good practices in sustainability within the SSE; - 3 transnational meetings of the consortium partners: initial, intermediate and final; - 4 study visits, one in each country, to publicize successful sustainable practices within the SSE. Each visit will address the issue of sustainability by focusing on a specific topic of interest: social inclusion through the participatory approach (in Spain); local social development in response to the crisis (in Greece); cooperation with public policies (in France); social innovation through non-profit cooperation (in Italy); - 2 international training courses focusing on sustainability within social entrepreneurship (social participation and sustainability, and innovation and sustainability policies), using the intellectual results of the ""ISSE, community works!"" project; - the development of sustainable development plans for all the organizations involved (mapping of budget proposals and support services), through the participants of the training; - 1 international learning seminar on governance, teamwork, cooperation and sustainable development plans, aimed at developing cross-cutting skills and improving sustainable development plans; - the compilation in a booklet of the good practices of sustainability within the SSE shared by the partners and of the sustainable development plans elaborated by the entities involved. This is the contribution of the current project for the promotion of a sustainability perspective within a value-based economy and for a participatory society."

The project, whose geographical coverage will be North-West Italy (3 regions : Piemonte Liguria and Valle d’Aosta) aims at providing and upgrading a specific framework service for supporting SMEs in the innovation management capacity . The service will be directed to SMEs with international growth potential via product, process service and or business model innovation- with gaps regarding innovation management. In particular, the action will focus on the following specific objectives: 1. Fine tuning of a Key Account Management based customised service provision directed to: a. SMEs /Scale ups international growth, including participation to European programs b. SMEs Innovation capacity enhancement and innovation projects implementation, job creation and new market access c. SMEs Innovation results exploitation 4. Integration of the service within local business innovation support delivered, EEN specific service official embedding within the regional innovation ecosystem 5. Advisory skill enhancement: ALPS EEN personnel, assisting the experts in this Action, will increase expertise and competences, providing high level advisory on innovation management 6. Upgrading a EU shared support methodology for EEN staff, which could be adopted for profitably supporting other local SMEs 7. Contribution to the enhancement of a visible and well identified Coach/EEN experts community at EU level 8. Updating the operational internal manual/chart for a harmonized service within the EEN ALPS Consortium and contribution to definition of a common EEN operational manual

The project, whose geographical coverage will be North-West Italy (3 regions : Piemonte Liguria and Valle d’Aosta) aims at providing and upgrading a specific framework service for supporting SMEs in the innovation management capacity . The service will be directed to SMEs with international growth potential via product, process service and or business model innovation- with gaps regarding innovation management. In particular, the action will focus on the following specific objectives: 1. Fine tuning of a Key Account Management based customised service provision directed to: a. SMEs /Scale ups international growth, including participation to European programs b. SMEs Innovation capacity enhancement and innovation projects implementation, job creation and new market access c. SMEs Innovation results exploitation 4. Integration of the service within local business innovation support delivered, EEN specific service official embedding within the regional innovation ecosystem 5. Advisory skill enhancement: ALPS EEN personnel, assisting the experts in this Action, will increase expertise and competences, providing high level advisory on innovation management 6. Upgrading a EU shared support methodology for EEN staff, which could be adopted for profitably supporting other local SMEs 7. Contribution to the enhancement of a visible and well identified Coach/EEN experts community at EU level 8. Updating the operational internal manual/chart for a harmonized service within the EEN ALPS Consortium and contribution to definition of a common EEN operational manual

Peer Learning Innovation Services – PLIS aims at enabling innovation support institutions in regions across Europe to quickly and effectively develop initiatives that will engage, encourage and aid SMEs to use Service Innovation as a mean to maintaining or increasing competitiveness, profitability and jobs. A technology driven approach has prevailed for addressing innovation assessment. Given its critical contribution to increases in productivity and jobs, most of the resources within national and regional innovation policies are allocated to encouraging technology driven innovation resulting in the generation of new products and processes based on R&D. However other types of innovation such as Service Innovation are key to maximising economic development at local, regional and European level. Consequently, the members of the consortium will collaborate using a Twinning+ as a peer learning methodology in order to develop new approaches to foster Service Innovation among SMEs and improve the current innovation support programmes; enhance the quality, efficiency and customer satisfaction of services provided; increase the number of Service Innovation projects developed by SMEs; accelerate the learning process among the participants; foster the relationship between PLIS partners in innovation services; and, inspire and guide other agencies (and similar organisations) that become interested in how to foster Service Innovation among SMEs. All PLIS members are most relevant to participate in the peer-learning activities through the Twinning+ methodology given their role in designing and implementing SME innovation management support within their regions; their shared and common objectives; the commitment, motivation and experience of the people involved in the project; and, the capacity to disseminate PLIS findings in order to strengthen peer-learning and boost similar activities to relevant European organisations.