Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge/skill considered by the UNESCO to be part of a place’s cultural heritage; it comprises nonphysical intellectual property, such as folklore, customs, beliefs, traditions, knowledge and language.EU official papers confirm that Intangible Cultural Heritage is crucially important for socio-economic development:a) Council of EU “Conclusions on Cultural Heritage as a Strategic Resource for a Sustainable EU”b) EU Commission “Towards an Integrated Approach to Cultural Heritage for EU”c) EU Commission “Getting Cultural Heritage to Work for EU”ICH is more important for the EU economy than the entire automotive sector: over 300,000 people work in the EU cultural heritage sector. Almost 8 million jobs in the EU are indirectly linked to heritage (tourism, interpretation, security). For each direct job, the heritage sector produces 26.7 indirect jobs. This compares with 6.3 indirect jobs created for each direct job in the car industry.Notwithstanding this great potential, ICH is seldom capitalised as a topic for training to empower professionals to develop ICH-related economic opportunities, as old professions are evolving and new professions are developing.The EU identifies specific challenges and needs in its report “Skills, Training & Knowledge Transfer for Traditional and Emerging Heritage Professions” (Oct 2017):a) It is necessary to identify and map professions; demonstrate their position in the European Qualification Frameworkb) The “traditional” sectoral skills need to be updated. Training of cultural heritage managers is not well understood or prioritised: “management” is instead a priorityc) Successful ICH management across EU is vulnerable to variations in standards, practice, inconsistent career guidance and supportd) Training should be broader, go beyond “traditional” competences and skills involved in cultural heritage professions. New subjects need to receive increased attention:- transversal skills (management, communication, fundraising, sustainability)- ethics- new forms of heritage, such as digital heritage- transversal approach and multidisciplinary work.OBJECTIVE of NICHE (Nurturing Intangible Cultural Heritage for Entrepreneurship) is to enhance entrepreneurship in the ICH sector by developing innovative training for the underserved cohort of professionals (and prospective ones) who operate in ICH to promote entrepreneurial initiatives in the sector, enhance its competitiveness and sustain its growth.The objective is to develop professional profiles of ICH operator to leverage ICH, widen and create economic activities through increased entrepreneurship.NICHE is fully aligned with the Priorities of Erasmus+, specifically:VET Priority #5: strengthen key competences in initial and continuing VETHORIZONTAL Priority #9: Socio-educational value of EU cultural heritage, its contribution to job creation, economic growth and social cohesionVET Priority #4: Enhance access to training and qualifications for allPARTICIPANTS include 9 partners from 8 countries, all endowed with ICH and intangible assets. Partners provide for the complementary expertise, knowledge and competence to develop highly innovative and quality deliverables. Partners represent the various facets of ICH, VET and entrepreneurship ecosystems.NICHE also involves directly 180 learners among the target group and at least 5,000 stakeholders of the ICH domainACTIVITIES & RESULTS: partners will carry out a series of well-defined activities that will lead to the production of tangible and operational results, and develop:1) EQF compliant professional profile of ICH professional2) Training courses based on Learning Outcome and in line with EQF 3 to 5 on innovative topics for the ICH sector, such as management, fundraising, multifunctional work, digital Cultural Heritage3) A pan-EU Open Educational Resource that becomes the focal point for ICH professionals to widen and deepen their skills and competences to be more competitive and respond to the demand of a fast evolving and growing marketIMPACT and LONGER-TERM BENEFITS of NICHE are multifaceted as the project will provide tangible and operational impact on> Partners will have new and innovative training content, widening their offering and entering in new domains of entrepreneurship> Target groups will have acquired new competences and skills needed to unlock the potential of ICH in an operational fashion to develop ventures> VET system as a whole benefits from the NICHE training and tools that will be widely available for free, in open access modality and in multi-language versions to amplify impact> ICH ecosystem benefits from a renewed vision assisted by training and operational tools to develop ICH-related actions> Policy makers and stakeholders will have access to findings, knowledge and resources to advance evidence-based policy formulation and programmatic actions

"In 2016, the EC published a new Skills Agenda. It recognises the rise of “parallel universes” between formal and industry-based education. A component of the Agenda is the EU e-Competence Framework (e-CF) which is the first sector-specific implementation of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), another is the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp). Both insist on the fact that future demand for skills goes beyond basic ICT skills and beyond basic economics knowledge to advanced and e-Business skills and will continue to grow as most staff is expected to possess them.In upper secondary education, the students are motivated young people who arrive to class with many ICT user skills already exercised through non-formal and informal education (at home, with friends, on internet). Their motivation decreases when they become aware that the school´s curriculum does not improve the knowledge & skills that they already possess.The students of upper secondary ask themselves ""Why not go further and make that the ICT and/or economy subjects serve me to undertake something and that my e-entrepreneurship capacity will be exercised & assessed?”In upper secondary, main ICT learning is focused on ICT user skills and not so much on e-business skills, the subject of economics is not oriented to the digital economy and the teachers are not supported in developing innovative teaching & assessment methods for e-business competences.e-business skills are the capabilities needed to exploit opportunities provided by ICT, notably the Internet; to ensure the more efficient performance of different types of organisations; to explore possibilities for new ways of conducting business and organisational processes; and/or to establish new commercial activities. One such advanced e-entrepreneurial competence is Digital Marketing: DM is one of the most demanded e-Business skills.6 secondary schools from Spain, Greece and Spain plus an SME, an HIE university business school and two local authorities for education, declared the ambition to create synergy of expertise and innovate through a powerful tool: to construct a digital marketing itinerary for teachers & students of K11 & K12 levels, and new assessment mechanisms by means of digital OERs and pilot them within ICT or Economics curricula in upper secondary schools.An EdTech SME from Spain, several SECONDARY SCHOOLS from Spain, Greece and Sweden, a prestigious UNIVERSITY from CYPRUS and 2 LOCAL AUTHORITIES FOR EDUCATION in Greece & Sweden want to make high schools ‘principals, students, teachers, policymakers more permeable to the acquisition & validation of e-competences aligned to the needs of the entrepreneurship world and the ICT labour market: project DIMAS - DIgital MArketing in Secondary.One of the most effective ways to introduce digital marketing in high schools is through a Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach. Part of DM fluency can to a certain extent be taught, the other part cannot. Skills needed to plan DM strategies can only be developed through practice. Teachers cannot teach how to do DM without themselves being “digital marketers”. DM competency & skills can be built only through hands-on real-life learning experiences. The DIMAS project will develop actions based on real-life scenarios, problem-solving, learning by doing and connecting the formal education and the business labour market. Students and teachers will acquire and validate digital marketing skills by conducting real activities within the same channels that their schools use to communicate with society (websites, newsletters, blog contents and social media).The project aims to invest in teachers & students to start and lead their DM venture taking advantage of their own schools’ digital channels.The partners will develop several IOs, such as an innovative Digital Marketing Competence Profile, a new DM curriculum, the corresponding elearning materials and the adaptation of an eportfolio to evaluate & recognise the students learning achievements, guidelines, implementation results report, and a strategy to implement the outputs of the project. Two rounds of local classroom project work with students & teachers - engaging the upper secondary schools and experts belonging to the world of business - are a source of input for the improvement of outputs. Multiplier events in different conditions will enable the strategic partnership to truly disseminate the results.DIMAS activities make a unique combination between the potentials of students and the opportunities offered by the entrepreneurship world and the ICT labour market, by means of improving the curricula.Supporting teachers in adopting a collaborative & innovative practice will strengthen their profiles to embrace teaching for e-business.DIMAS ensures the real impact on upper secondary education, as well as the impact on the mindset of the teachers and schools ‘principals involved, on the regional, national & EU level"

"Sustainable transition(s) (covering social, economic, political and educational dimensions) is a world-wide challenge. Since this transition concerns all dimension of our modern life, the answer to these challenges should be holistic and global. It’s crucial “to understand” before “acting”, that’s why we think that sustainable transition(s) is also a question of education. Education contribute to the development of a culture of change and sustainability, creating the background for effective sustainable transition actions. A human rights-based approach to adult learning and education (ALE) aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is one of our aims. Education for Sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development have been under discussion for some two decades. The UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development 2004–2014 has provided a most important focus for this issue, and for its facilitation. However, while the Decade raised awareness of the need for Education to Sustainable Development, particularly in Higher Education, discussion of how this education can be effectively delivered to trainees in adult education settings is still at an initial phase. Although sustainability has become a key focus in higher education, developing a better understanding of how sustainability competencies can be cultivated in college and university courses and programs in adult training settings is still needed. Adult trainers who are to become capable of affecting holistic sustainable change, transforming values and culture, healing the earth and human communities, and designing creative solutions, must have the opportunity to engage in learning processes that reflect and emphasise these learning outcomes/objectives. Sustainability is a main concern of the EU explicitly expressed in its communication to the European parlement, the European Council , the European economic and social committee and the Committee of 11.12.2019 - COM(2019)/640, the EU said: "" ...The European Green Deal is a response to these challenges. It is a new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use"", The EU said also: ""It also aims to protect, conserve and enhance the EU's natural capital, and protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts. At the same time, this transition must be just and inclusive."" concluding that ""The EU has the collective ability to transform its economy and society to put it on a more sustainable path.""Adult educators and teachers can play a central role in providing learners with knowledge and practical information to help them understand the challenges and act as active citizens in their local communities, individually or collectively. We believe that Transformative learning theory and ecological design principles offer promising opportunities to create meaningful learning experiences that can develop the personal, intellectual, and socio-cultural skills necessary to create resilient and regenerative systems.SUSTAINABLE partners noticed that changing our ways of producing and consuming is notoriously difficult, but believing that education is a powerful tool in empowering individual and groups, boosting voluntary action and helping people and organisations through the transition so they understand and enhance sustainability in Everyday life.The following Intellectual Outputs will be developed:1. IO1 – LET’S UNDERSTAND: a guide on sustainable topics education including climate change, theoretical background and more (addressed to trainers/teachers/counsellors…)2. IO2 – LET’S PLAN IT: guide step by step to make training green addressed to trainers/teachers/counsellors to improve awareness about green topics by trainers starting from their personal life and going to their professional life. A quick and effective guide about good/bad habits/behaviors with effects on the environment in the training settings and in work areas, and how to design effective training contents to counter them.3. IO3 – LET’S BE PRACTICAL: Curricula, tools, methods and training materials on green topics to teach/train our target groups. The materials could be adapted to each national context according to the needs.4. IO4 – E-education Hub addressed mainly to the trainers/teachers including the above IOs’ contents and more, to raise awareness and develop knowledge on different elements related with Sustainability and SDGs."

Well-being in our society can no longer be based on overconsumption of natural resources. To maintain viable businesses, we need new solutions to ensure that materials and their value circulate in our society for as long as possible and loss and waste are kept to a minimum. The 2017 EU Consensus on Development identifies circular economy (CE) as priority area that contributes to the transformation to sustainable and resilient societies in the EU. With Agenda 2030 EU member states commit to using natural resources more efficiently and implementing sustainable production methods and ways of consumption. The EU CE Package (2018) sets ambitious goals for 2030 which involve systemic change on all levels of the society creating the urgent need for circular entrepreneurial mindset of all its actors including those underrepresented among business founders - low skilled, low qualified young adults - who need to be enabled to use their creative and innovative potentials.Micro, family firms are the driving force for empowerment of young adults - active or future entrepreneurs. To apply CE to micro firms, start-ups, active or future entrepreneurs need new skills for circular thinking. To implement CE micro enterprises often need new business models. Main changes include different products or services, different (relationships with) customers, different production processes and revenue models. Managing these changes requires entrepreneurs to understand: the logic by which a circular enterprise creates and delivers shared or multiple value to customers (Porter & Kramer, 2011); what does this new way of thinking mean for the business community; how can profitable business models be combined with social and environmental responsibility; how can they design products right from the beginning, and do things better, instead of just less bad. The skills to understand the circular business model are essential for low-skilled/low-qualified people for whom creating and running viable (circular) business is significantly more challenging than for others. They have difficulties accessing affordable high quality entrepreneurial trainings and lack education tailored to their specific needs in the field of CE. LiveCircularCanvas addresses the above challenges and contributes to achievement of EU priorities by developing key entrepreneurial skills of low-skilled, low-qualified, unemployed young adults (active or future entrepreneurs) in order to be able to design circular products and services and to create and run their businesses while getting more value out of less.Its objectives focus on: • Exploring circular business models through digital success stories of circular enterprises in EU, and using them as highly innovative training tools• Designing and testing a new training program for key entrepreneurial skills for circular thinking• Developing practical, interactive, highly educational training methods, materials and tools to gain core skills for circular entrepreneurial techniques• Developing and maintaining high quality OER providing open and innovative learning environment for the target groupThe core target groups are:1. Low-skilled, low-qualified, unemployed young adults (active or future entrepreneurs, start-ups) 2. Adult education providers Intellectual outputs:1. 'Circular Doing and Thinking’ - Real-life Stories2. Circular Business Models of Entrepreneurial Practices (CBMCs)3. ‘Circular Thinking Goes Digital’ - Digital Stories of Successful Entrepreneurs4. Curriculum for 'Circular Thinking in Action' Training Program5. LiveCircularCanvas Digital Educational Product6. LiveCircularCanvas Digital Learning HubThe consortium consist of 6 partners from SE, RO, NL, ES, DK, CZ highly motivated in designing, testing and sustaining the project outputs, with complementary expertise and highly experienced in the project topics. The project will also engage, share knowledge and experience with other 34 institutions as ‘organisations of interest’, to be involved during implementation and dissemination events.A total of 75 young adults will benefit the pilot workshops using the LiveCircularCanvas educational tools; 28 experts/trainers from partner countries will be directly involved in the validation process of various outcomes; 10 adult trainers will take part in the short-term transnational staff training testing and validating the LiveCircularCanvas curriculum. The LiveCircularCanvas outcomes and results will directly reach at least 600 persons (targeted adults and experts/adult trainers, stakeholders) via project activities, multiplier events, creating a very strong base for long term exploitation. We are strongly convinced that the LiveCircularCanvas educational product and tools will be core part of the training offer of organisations involved in the project. The Digital Learning Hub will be sustained for a min of 5 years and be largely promoted among adult education communities and beyond.

A lot has changed over the last decade around both attitudes/perception of refugees and continuing support of multiculturalism and diversity. Populism in Europe and beyond and the rise of extremist parties in many European countries is not helping this debate where xenophobia and far of the ‘other’ is increasing. A better understanding of other cultures and more initiatives to foster intercultural education become now more relevant than before. ‘Signs’ goes North project creates an innovative model to promote cultural diversity and social inclusion. The project is based on the highly successful Signs in the City methodology for obtaining basic language, communication and intercultural skills by exploring city’s signs signs and symbols (street signs, bar, restaurant, shop, banks, post office, graffiti and anything else ‘printed' as part of a city). ’Signs’ Goes North extended this methodology with innovative features matching the urgent needs of refugees and newly arrived migrants to understand the place, the language and culture in the host country, and transferred it to the important context of migrants and refugees integration in Sweden, Netherlands, Iceland and Denmark. Project objectives focused on:• providing refugees and newly arrived migrants with the means to adapt to a place of arrival easily and effectively, help them socialise and express themselves;• providing creative mutual learning experience for newcomers and natives, fostering respect and understanding for diversity, intercultural competencies and values;• developing effectively model for the inclusion of newcomers at the municipal level;• remove barriers to integration and promote equality of opportunity.’Signs’ Goes North project developed methods and material to support emerging linguistic, communication and cultural need of refugees and newly arrived migrants, providing tailored solutions for their early integration. Project approach compromised a needs analysis: focusing on target groups need in terms of better cultural integration, a communicative competence model: embedding the target groups in the development of the products, and mentoring and peer support: partnership and community learning using the expertise of experienced partners. This approach covers the different perspectives of migrants’ integration process, and turned into a prerequisite for immediate testing and implementation¨ and future sustainability.’Signs’ Goes North developed and piloted a practical learning model “Feel the city - share the feeling”, where newly arrived migrants/refugees, long-term migrants, staff of supporting organisations and native citizens worked together locally to defining specific needs, selecting places of interest and linguistic and cultural themes in their cities, were co-creators of content and material (working in partnership with partners and experts). The model allows the newcomers to understand the local culture better and to obtain skills in team work with local comunities and natives; on the other hand, the original population understands who the refugees are, and how to include them in mutual activities.While bidging digital art and storytelling and educational content the project developed:City and Language books - “Signs i Bollnäs och Söderhamn”, “Signs in Rotterdam”, “Signs in Reykjavik”, “Vis os Vejle/Signs in Vejle” - with visual and linguistic content for the hosting cities and languages, containing photography of city signs and related survival vocabulary, language and culture guidelines and facts, communicational tips;Digital Stories of cities and migrants - 8 short films telling the stories of 23 migrants, who already experienced the integration process in Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark and Iceland, presenting a community of many cultures within the host city and migrants’ own voice and vision;Digital learning resource - freely accessible, multidevice digital versions of the books, incl. audio pronouncation and translation into English.Project ouputs influenced the integration by involving migrants in practical inclusive activities together with local citizens and stakeholders, that were integral part of the development of the products - selection of linguistic and cultural content, local workshops, filming, content development and testing, informational and awareness-raising activities, etc. Thus, migrants were provided with competences to integrate in the local society during the project life. Project activities have been implemented by a consortium of 7 partners from 6 European countries (SE, NL, DK, IS, RO, UK) all having significant and complementary expertise in development and promotion of high quality outputs and their mainstreaming in the partner countries and beyond.