The main objective of this project is to contribute to the implementation of the European policies in the field of innovation management capacity building in SMEs and their implementation in Bulgaria, resulting in effective and efficient investments in novelties leading to growth and quality jobs. As a major tool for improving global competitiveness of European companies, implementation of novelties in products, processes and society needs specially devoted attention and resources. This project will contribute to the better filtering and acceleration of innovation processes in Bulgarian SMEs, thus supporting growth and jobs. Supported companies are supposed to be better prepared for using Access to Finance instruments and attract investments in innovations

Most recent Eurostat data show that in the European Union there are almost 17 million young people that are neither in employment nor in education or training: the so called NEETs; policymakers are increasingly concerned by the economic and social consequences of their disengagement. This strategic project is needed to give an answer to EU youth for qualified work-based education inspired by the successful German model and at the same time to limit brain-drain, that strips Eastern and Southern EU countries from human capital that is a fundamental growth factor. Work-based experiences have been proved to be leading to employment even in countries with high unemployability rates. Furthermore, PRO-YOUTH focuses on a specific growing sector in Eastern and Southern EU regions, where labour market offers concrete possibilities of employment: the tourism industry, with a a particular focus on hospitality and cultural heritage. Recent OECD statistics indicate a huge potential for cultural tourism to continue to thrive in the industry. In Eastern Europe price competitiveness is a strength, but the sub-region has not yet invested enough in cultural resources.PRO-YOUTH general objective aims accordingly to enhance the competitiveness of regions with high unemployment rates of NEETs, through addressing key tourism policy and management issues such as quality assurance through developing work based learning schemes focusing on linking culture, tourism and destination attractiveness. Project results have the specific aim to: offer better chances to young people (NEETs) to be better trained and to be more competitive in the tourism job market of their region; enhancing and assuring the quality in the field of tourism by the introduction of work based learning schemes tailored on local needs and opportunities; fostering a strong link between tourism and culture;strengthening the regional economic development through increasing competitiveness of local communities and assets.Countries affected by high unemployment rates are looking for ways to improve the transition between school and employment and are increasingly turning their sights on German WBL schemes. PRO-YOUTH model will outline innovative solutions for work-based learning through collaboration with companies and employers, thus training trainers to be able to offer more effective on the job training. Innovative intellectual outputs produced will be tailored on the needs of the countries where strategic partners are located: Croatia, Romania, Southern Italy and Bulgaria.As a first step PRO-YOUTH methodological framework will be designed and developed. It will lay out how to implement work-based learning schemes tailored to the needs of the local/regional labor markets in the field of hospitality and heritage tourism. Its design will be based on transnational and intersectoral cooperation, creating joint responses to reconcile the needs of the labour markets with the aquired skills and competences. The created methodology will be applicable and replicable by other organisations/regions/countries outside of the current partnership: other actors can easily follow the designed framework and adapt it according to their needs and implement it on site.In the next stage the methodology designed will be put to test by the means of designing learning modules, organizing regional pilot trainings in the tourism industry and including transnational mobility of professors, teachers, trainers, educational and administrative staff working in participating organisations. During the training, participants will have a chance to experience how the work-based learning/training activities are organized in Germany, where this learning scheme has a long tradition. Final learning modules will be produced in several EU languages.After pilot testing of the methodology and learning materials, PRO-YOUTH Practical Handbook for introducing work-based learning schemes, aiming to reintegrate unemployed youth in the labor market in the field of tourism, will be ready. Relevant stakeholders will be involved at local/national/EU level to adopt innovative WBL tools and contribute to dissemination of results and sustainability strategy.Policy Recommendations will be the core of a wide mainstreaming strategy, aiming at making transition from education to work in the tourism industry smoother for NEETs and furthermore fostering a strong link between VET, tourism industry and culture.The new approaches developed thanks to strategic transnational cooperation will support competitiveness and youth employment in particular at regional and local level. Those innovative WBL schemes, addressing prospective trainers of NEETs and fostering a strong link between tourism industry and cultural heritage will moreover contribute to strengthening the regional economic development through increasing competitiveness of the involved regions as locations to live, visit, work and invest in.

We provide a model, framework and tools, including digital, to not only help companies of different size and stage of development connect but also to develop the skills, knowledge and competences of the personnel for Industry 4.0The results of our project develop new educational approach (by the platform), content and materials to foster collaboration and innovation management based on the new standards group CEN/TS 16555.The main project goal is to provide skill improvement opportunities to companies’ staff (managers and employees) in order to connect international start-ups, scaleups, and established companies operating in specific verticals with focus on modern technologies and innovation (Industry 4.0) through a robust model of collaboration under the paradigm of open innovation. In terms of the latter (OI) we focus on business-to-business collaboration as key target are start-ups, scale-ups from one side and mid-sized and large corporats - from another. The specific target group is the staff of both groups - companies in start/growth and established companies. We will target primarily mid- and upper level managers and secondary - employees - in innovation and collaboration roles.Upskilling lab 4.0. as it is revealed by the name aims to establish a model and conditions for collaboration in the Lab conditions for testing and developing innovations for two groups of businesses: in growth - start-ups and scale-ups and established - mid-sized and large. The projects will evolve through iteration cycles as we develop innovations and non-existing training products.The main results are the intellectual outputs with the intermediate results generated at the development steps (activities):O1 Screening model for collaborationO1/A1 Research phase O1/A2 Organisation of focus groups O1/A3 Synthesis report O1/A4 Definition of screening parameters O1/A5 Development of the model O1/A6 Verification and translation O2 Skills development framework O2/A1 Business-to-business open innovation O2/A2 Collaboration management framework O2/A3 Development of skills cards O2/A4 Framework development O2/A5 Verification and translation O3 Upskiling toolkits O3/A1 Training toolkit for start-ups/scale-ups O3/A2 Training toolkit for mid-sized and large companies O3/A3 Pilot testing O3/A4 Finalization and translation O4 Gamified platform O4/A1 Development of collaboration tools O4/A2 Development of collaboration games O4/A3 Beta testing O4/A4 Pilot testing O4/A5 Update and translations O5 Implementation guidelines O5/A1 Templates for data collection and testing O5/A2 Development of case studies and good practices O5/A3 Development of the guidelines O5/A4 Finalization and translation We will involve the target groups since the very beginning of the project during the research phase and the focus groups as O1/A1 and O1/A2.Managers and employees at: start-ups, scale-ups; mid-sized and large companies.We will organize 5 multiplier events - one in each country in months 22 and 24: four national events with 50 participants (200) and one international conference with 70 participants. - 270 in total. In addition we will organize a short-term staff training event in month 18 hosted by Inqubator Leeuwarden.Through social media we will reach out in two years:- project website - 3000- our organisations' websites - 6000- social media accounts - FB page/group of the project, our organisations' pages - 6 partners x 1500 subscribers - 9000- newsletters - we will send regular newsletters - twice a year to our subscribers following the GDPR - 6 partners x 4 times x 500 subscibers/partner - 3000.The project will go through the following phases: 1ST PHASE: INITIATION (during and before application stage); 2ND PHASE: IDEATION AND DEVELOPMENT; 3RD PHASE: IMPLEMENTATION - months 18-21; 4TH PHASE: FINALIZATION AND CLOSUREThe overall logic behind the project is to develop a sustainable model and to impact at all levels as follow - virtually by the last two outputs and physically by direct involvement of the participants in the testing phase and the first outputs development. In mid- to long-term:- Beneficiaries of the results will be able to launch a new line of services and products for those who are already working in Industry 4.0 domain or plan to do so.- Overall innovation level within companies will increase- the screening model together with the skills development framework and the online games and tools can be used by a more users either as stand-alone results or as a complete package and transferred to other training organisations, business service providers, business associations, chambers of commerce. The ultimate goal of the project is to have such Lab as a sustainable model within the partnering organisations.

There are political incentives for start-ups and scale-ups, like the Commission's Start-up and Scale-up Initiative. It is supposed to bring Europe's innovative SMEs different opportunities to grow and find there place in the global competitive market. There are also supporting tools for the beginning of the entrepreneurial life, but few companies survive beyond the critical first few years. There are numerous mentors and advisers, forming a huge consulting society, each of them claiming high competence and ability to lead a company to the top of the world. It is very difficult for the entrepreneurs, especially having not much experience, to assess the value, which a specific consulting could bring. The strong EC commitment is to improve this situation. There’s not much of a support system for more mature, small companies with proven business models. With this project creates support system in the field of adult education and training. The Steps2Scale developed a harmonized qualification framework for the profession Scaling up adviser which doesn’t ‘exist in any EU country. With the creation of a harmonized occupation profile the consortium also creates the first network and community of scaling up mentors and envoys. In order to prepare the first scaling up advisers, the project also developed a harmonized training and learning methodology which was field tested during the project implementation. The Steps2Scale studied and implemented the best existing practices throughout EU. Professionals from different communities and possessing a variety of expertise gave valuable recommendations, which were, mostly, reflected. During the project course it was presented before similar project in the Alps region and received extremely positive feedback. In addition, the quality of the products is guaranteed by the logical three phase approach applied to them: development, testing and finalizing. The project reached thousands of representatives of the target groups and stakeholders through various communication channels. It is targeted to start-ups and spin-offs with at least 5 years of experience, balanced business plan and defined local market niche; SMEs with innovative product which is already well placed on the local market and has export potential; SMEs with export strategy and potential, but still local players. 82 entrepreneurs from the target group were trained while testing the training and learning methodology. The project partners utilized almost every opportunity to promote the Steps2Scale: Enterprise Europe Network meetings, side events with appropriate topics, similar projects etc. Consortium is convinced that high level of awareness among the business environment and the respective decision making public bodies. All developed materials are already published and available on the dedicated website, which will serve as an open platform after the project end, where members of the scaling-up community will exchange ideas and knowledge and interested entrepreneurs and educators (more than 50,000 already registered) will have direct access to the Scaling-up Envoys network. The deliverables were published in the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform as well. This way more people can benefit from the project even after its end. The Steps2Scale will create an environment that fosters competitiveness, business thinking, innovation and creativity. The scaling-up adviser is the profession of one more competitive and fast growing future of the EU. The project partners believe that with Steps2Scale will lay the foundation with knowledge which will eventually result in more scaling up SMEs in Europe.

"<< Background >>The transition to a circular economy is a major contribution to the EU's efforts to boost competitiveness, economic growth and job creation. Such a transition represents an opportunity to transform our economy, build competitive advantage and create sustainable jobs. An important environmental and economic problem that has a great impact on local communities and their quality of life is the unregulated disposal of food waste and overuse of food. Based on the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, we believe that awareness is the first step to dealing with the problem, and waste prevention skills and competencies are becoming extremely important. As is stated in the “Brief on food waste in the European Union” (Sanchez Lopez, J., Patinha Caldeira, C., De Laurentiis, V. and Sala, S., Brief on food waste in the European Union, Avraamides, M. editor(s), European Commission, 2020, JRC121196): Most food waste is generated during the consumption stage (46%) – households and hospitality industry. On the other hand, the experience of the participants in the partnership shows that the topic of food waste prevention is not covered in the provision of training for acquiring professional qualifications in the HORECA sector. Based on these understandings with the implementation of the project we intend to meet this need by choosing the professions ""cook"" and ""waiter"", the former being largely responsible for the way food is used, and the latter for interaction with customers and, accordingly, for the change of their attitudes towards the responsible behavior towards food consumption.<< Objectives >>The project aims to support the implementation of innovative teaching methods, through the digitalization of the learning content for profession “Cook” and “Waiter” and developing new teaching modules for food waste prevention. The project will focus on the following specific objectives:- provision of accessible education and training programmes, in line with individual needs and expectations through the use of participatory approaches and ICT-based methodologies- provision of modern and dynamic, committed and professional environment inside the HoReCa businesses: ready to integrate good practices and new methods into daily activities;- open to synergies with organisations active in HoReCa trainig; strategic planning of professional development for staff in line with individual needs and organizational objectives;- enhancing cooperation in the field of VET at EU level through building a European Network for the adoption of a more green skills in the HoReCa sector in response to Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target.<< Implementation >>The project focuses on food waste prevention education in the HoReCa sector and at the same time on a business model. It is targeted at various tourism stakeholders: hotels,restaurants, social partners, vocational education and training centers. The activities planned for implementation are as follows:1. Project management - planning, implementation and follow-up of the projects, including collaboration between project partners2. Implementation activities - joint development of project results within the partnership, each of which should contribute with its qualification and expertise to achieve the project objectives.3. Sharing and promotion activities: organization of 5 national info days aimed at sharing, explaining and promoting the results of the project.<< Results >>During the project 5 intellectual products will be created: (1) methodology for adaptation of educational content in digital environment; (2) Creation of open educational resources – prevention of food waste; (3) Software development – Module VET trainers and mentors, featuring testing options and presentations; (4) Software development – Module learners, featuring networking, learning, discussing, etc; (5) Establishment of a EU network for prevention of food waste HoReCa.They will improve co-operation between education and business and provide easily accessible and quality information that promotes lifelong learning.The project involves an appropriate mix of complementary participating organizations with the necessary profile, experience and expertise to successfully deliver all aspects of the project. They will become the facilitators of the platform, support its utilization and the co-creation of solutions through cooperation and exchange, which will contribute to their organizational development.In long term, the project will have a strong impact on the creation of better competences directly used for current or future professions and on the adoption of more circular economy solutions.The covid-19 pandemic had a socio-economic impact on all levels of education, including VET sector. Creating conditions for digitalization of the learning process and providing training in a digital meeting will meet the challenges posed by the pandemic, providing an opportunity for continuity of the learning process, a positive effect, both nationally and at European level."