The marine industry is a key component of the European economy and includes activities such as traditional shipping, offshore oil and gas, renewables and offshore construction. These activities are undertaken on sight by ships and offshore facilities, supported from shore by a complementary cluster which includes ships’ construction, repair, management, chartering, survey, classification, insurance, consultancy, valuation and finance. The marine education and training organisations and the recruitment companies are key stakeholders and part of the industry value chain, as they educate and supply workforce for the marine industry. In this context, the project main objective was to improve the employability skills and work opportunities for marine workers and to reduce the existing gap between the education and labour market, by diversification of career paths and skills recognition. This project led by Constanta Maritime University, Romania envisaged supplying better quality personnel and targeting the full range of primary and support activities of the marine industry. Such approach needs to proactively consider the trends outlook of the rapidly changing industry, shaped by technological advancement and the supply and demand curves. In order to respond to these challenges, we collaborated with researchers from Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov Naval Academy from Bulgaria, European Association of Career Guidance from Cyprus and STC-Group, from Netherlands. Specifically, we built a collaborative network to continuously identify the gaps between marine labour market needs and educational field in terms of both hard and soft skills. We used this network and 200+ marine professionals to identify those skills that are most required by marine labour market. The skills base equally refers to the technical skills adapted to new technologies and activities, and to the soft skills that assist employees to demonstrate and complement their hard skills. Employers benefit from both above categories of skill sets by enriching their intangible resources through improved organisational competences. EU recognises this context and recommends education development through increasing quality of and access to vocational education and training and their adaptation to labour market needs.The next stage was represented by creation of teaching curricula focused on areas of hard skills shortage, targeting new marine qualifications: -Ballast water management-Energy efficiency of ships -Dynamic positioning maintenance -Marine surveying -Cargo surveyor -High Voltage Safety and Maintenance -Electronic navigational chartsIn order to promote the continuous professional development of educational staff and marine workers in using ICT methodologies for training and assessment four learning sessions have been organized. Ten educational staff from partners’ institutions participated to two short term training sessions aiming to establish a common framework for skills development and assessment for: Effective communication, Leadership, Teamwork and Problem-solving.The developed materials and learning assessments were integrated in a E-platform for blended learning to facilitate target group’s access to training and certification. A system for recognition and validation of work-related skills and learning outcomes was integrated on the platform and it was tested during two pilot courses with 25 participants from Romania and Bulgaria. The project results impacted on the marine labor market, marine workers, training organizations and VET trainees that benefit from improved and transparent system for blended learning, new curricula for soft and technical skills development and assessment, better trainers and adequately trained and certified employees. Longer term benefits include:-E-platform for blended learning and assessment, continued online survey to identify the marine labour market requirements, curricula developed for seven marine specific subjects and for four soft skills. -Update of the database of the Classification of Occupation from Romania with marine specific occupations: Expert for operation of Dynamic positioning systems, Marine surveyor, Inland waterways surveyor and Technician for dynamic positioning system maintenance. -International recognition for continuing professional development by participation to courses for: Marine surveying, Cargo surveyor, High Voltage Safety and Maintenance, Electronic navigational charts.-Professional development of educational staff in using ICT and new pedagogical approaches for teaching and assessment, which represents a benefit for the new generation of learners.Through academic articles, workshops, multiplier events and panel session, the results were transferred to 500+ direct and indirect participants: future and actual marine workers, marine employers, trainers and training institutions that can provide training in accordance with the marine labour market expectations.

CONTEXTInter-personal communication and international cooperation play a key role in education and, in a broader sense, in active citizenship. These opportunities should be equally available to all, promoting social inclusion. This is a concern of modern society and a key issue in European Education. However, the access to these opportunities by disabled people is constrained, in particular for deaf people due to the barriers they face in daily communication. These are facts that severely compromise the development of creative, emotional and social skills in deaf students. Barriers to education limit future opportunities. Any contribution to tear these barriers down promotes equity.The I-ACE project established an innovative infrastructure to promote fluid communication with, and between, deaf students from different European countries. This infrastructure includes an automatic European Sign Language Translator allowing the automatic bi-directional translation between sign language and written speech in six European sign languages thus reducing the communication gap and contributing to promote the access to education and a better quality of life of deaf students.The I-ACE project transfers innovative research results and puts them to the service of the European community.OBJECTIVESThe I-ACE project aims to promote the access of deaf students to education and citizenship. The specific objectives are:(a) shorten the barriers to the inclusion of deaf students in education(b) promote active citizenship of the European deaf communityPARTICIPANTSThe partnership of 7 full partners and 6 associated partners includes 5 higher education institutions, the European Association of Career Guidance and the “Provedoria Municipal do Cidadão com Deficiência” from Câmara Municipal do Porto, 2 schools, one Education School, an Association of Sign Language Interpreters and 2 Deaf Associations. Every partner institution expects to actively participate in the process of social inclusion and European citizenship.ASSOCIATED PARTNERS are end-users and the main stakeholders benefiting from the I-ACE outputs. They have key roles in the project and are our gateway to sustainability. The consortium implemented pilot installations at the Metro of Porto and in special needs schools in all partners’ countries to test I-ACE outputs in real scenarios.METHODOLOGY AND PROJECT ACTIVITIESThe project work plan covered an initial preparation phase aimed at implementing the required management framework and performing a comprehensive study of the challenges faced by deaf students. At the implementation phase we transferred the results from the VirtualSign research project adapting them to new sign languages.VirtualSign is a bi-directional translator between written Portuguese and Portuguese Sign Language, a research product developed at the applicant institution. In concrete, we extended it to support other European sign languages, a product we call the European Sign Language Translator, and we have developed applications to assist deaf students in the classroom and in their daily life.We organized certified staff training sessions in each country to train staff in the fundamental of sign languages and on the operation of the I-ACE applications.At the closure of the project we evaluated the European Sign Language Translator through several pilot installations in schools and at the Metro of Porto, a public attendance service. The results from the pilot installations and the outcomes of the project were presented to the media and to general public at an open session.RESULTS AND IMPACTSIn order to disseminate project activities and results, we have provided information to the stakeholders through the media, online social networks, email, participation in conferences and other events and meetings. I-ACE raised the interest of the media (newspapers, radio and TV broadcasts)LONG TERM BENEFITSThe I-ACE project promotes inclusive school by transferring to the civil society innovative assistive technology research products that facilitate the communication between/with deaf people. I-ACE provides unique conditions to promote social inclusion, active citizenship and an improved educational experience to the European deaf community.Given our former experience with the VirtualSign impact in the Portuguese institutions related to the deaf community we expect that the I-ACE outputs will become more and more requested by public services, schools, museums, tourism offices, airports, police stations and many other places where fluent international communication is important.

"CONTEXT/BACKGROUNDEuropean Council recommends ""Strengthening guidance and counselling supports students’ career choices, transitions within education or from education to employment” and anticipates that ""ICT will change what, how, where and when people learn"" The need for online resources at national / regional level is confirmed by the insufficient number of career counselors in the region, many schools sharing the same specialist and the access for those resources being limited. OBJECTIVES1. development and usage of ICT tools and OER in CC for an open and flexible counseling and facilitating the access at educational resources;2. development of an efficient system of CC, with all the necessary digital resources.NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTSThe participants in the project will be mostly career counselor and trainers in this field (with the exception of software developers): around 50 participants from al partners involved in developing the intellectual outputs and other activities and 39 participants in teaching and trening asignments. ACTIVITIES- Management and implementation – selection of staff involved in the project, quality assurance, budget control and time management, risk management, acquisitions, accountancy and financial reports, archiving, reporting to the National Agency and European Commision- Intelectual outputs: analysis of CC needs, online platform for CC, CC guide, self evaluation instrument, digital resources for CC, curricula and methodology for CC.- 3 Short-term joint staff training events and 3 Long-term teaching assignments- 4 multiplier events (2 in Romania, 1 in Cyprus, 1 in Latvia)- 4 transnational project meetings (2 in Romania, 1 in Cyprus, 1 in Latvia)- Dissemination activities (within the institutions involved in the project, in other institutions, public events and mass media coverage, publications and scientific events, graphic materials and online dissemination).METHODOLOGY - In the preparation phase: establishment of an efficient communication network, organizational upgrades, informative activities, selection and preparation of participants, specific rules and financial regulations.- The implementation phase will begin with the analysis of CC needs that will direct all the other activities: developing the intellectual outputs based on internal expertise and exchanges of good practices during training and teaching assignments, and the process will be evaluated and redirected during the transnational project meetings.- The follow up phase will mainly consist of the multiplying events and direct activities with the target groups: pupils, adolescents not currently involved in formal education, teachers, career counselor, school managers, decision makers and policy makers, representatives of public institutions, including NGOs.- The dissemination phase will mainly consist in the dissemination activities previously mentioned.- The closure of the project will refer to establishing the specific tasks of each partner in the sustainability period, reinforcing the partnership and inviting mew partners, planning additional activities and new project to further develop the CC services provided. RESULTSThe main results of the project are the already mentioned intellectual outputsOther result are: 1. at institutional / organizational level: developing innovative strategies to implement CC activities based on the intellectual outputs and on the experience and expertise gained from the project;2. activities with the beneficiaries: implementing the methodology developed through this project and the OERs in at least 20 schools in all participating countries, with at least 1000 pupils, 100 teachers and 100 parents and family members attending;3. at inter-institutional level: partnerships with similar institutions and schools to use OER and ICT in CCIMPACT- impact on the participants: improved competences regarding CC and usage of OER and online tools for career guidance activities; broader understanding of practices, policies and systems in education, especially regarding CC across Europe; - impact on the participating organizations: innovative approaches to addressing their target groups by providing: more attractive CC programs, in line with individuals' needs and expectations, use of ICT-based methodologies; - impact on target groups: increased access to scientific CC information and resources, with accent on digital resources, OERs and online platform; increased level of digital competence, especially regarding OER and online platform; increased possibilities to develop more flexible CC programs using OERs. THE POTENTIAL LONGER TERM BENEFITS- new innovative practices and new policies for career guidance and counseling- new partnerships and projects to further enhance the results of this project"