<< Background >>The COVID-19 crisis is having a greater impact on some workers than others. Young people are among those at greatest risk of joblessness and poverty. Youth unemployment and general economic developments are highly correlated (OECD 2020, Dietrich) and the COVID-19 crisis has emphasised the often difficult start many young people face in the labour market. Before the pandemic, EU youth unemployment (15-24) was 14.9% and in July 2020, it rose to 17% with an increase of 64.000 youth unemployed. The impact of the pandemic was visible mostly at the beginning of 2021 where 2.967 million young persons became unemployed with a youth unemployment rate of 17.2%. Compared with February 2020, the rate increased by 230 000 in the EU (Eurostat 2021).Following the data, there is an extreme need for improving the school-to-work transition for young people, supporting them to undertake training in more future-proof sectors and occupations (OECD, VET in a time of crisis 2020).Industry 4.0 technologies are considered by the European Union as horizontal technologies “enabling” multiple sectors that are expected to be decisive in tomorrow’s economy (EC, 2019 Curriculum Guidelines for Key Enabling Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies).Despite the great potential of these technologies in supporting youth employment, there is a lack of appropriate and multidisciplinary curricula providing the related digital skills. This is identified as a key barrier also to the development of innovation and digital transformation (EC 2020 Youth Employment Support: a bridge to jobs for the next generation).<< Objectives >>The emerging Maker Movement (JRC Report, Overview of the Maker Movement in the European Union, 2017) can support students in acquiring advanced digital competences needed by Industry 4.0. The maker activities are based on the same technologies used in the advanced manufacturing industries and the European Fab Labs should be used as testbeds for developing VET curricula focused on those digital competences (EC, Curriculum Guidelines for Key Enabling Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies 2019).Digital practices (3d printing, CNC machinery, 3D, etc.) promoted by Making movement (Dougerty, Anderson) in the last years are demonstrating to upskill young people with those digital competences, helping them access formal employment (and self-employment) opportunities (A desk review of the makerspace phenomenon and its potential to enhance youth employment and empowerment, Susan Njambi-Szlapka 2019).Thus, the project aims at supporting VET teachers in implementing maker-based activities for providing VET students with advanced digital competences, in line with the changes of Industry 4.0. The project aims at increasing the employability of VET students and synergies with advanced manufacturing companies.PRIMARY TARGET GROUP is composed by secondary VET school teachers and educators and all the people involved in the school-to-work transition process in the VET sector. FINAL BENEFICIARIES are secondary VET school students attending the last years of their education, including disengaged students.The partnership includes 8 partners coming from 5 different countries: Assindustria Consulting, Learnable and Polo3 (Italy), Fablab Muenchen (Germany), MCAST (Malta), PTA and IES Martin de Aldehuela (Spain), Pedagogical University of Cracow (Poland)<< Implementation >>The partnership will implement the following activities:- In the preparatory activities, each partner will involve the main stakeholders to share information with them and create the basis for the future cooperation - Production of the MakeMyFuture Competence Framework: VET teachers, experts in industry 4.0 and maker education will be involved in each partner country in questionnaires and interviews defining the most important digital skills for Industry 4.0. 41 VET teachers will be involved in testing this output. - Production of the MakeMyFuture Modules: VET teachers and experts in Maker Education will be involved in mapping the Maker Education potential with the profiles identified in the previous phase. 51 VET Teachers and 100 VET students for a duration of 20 hours will be involved in testing the output produced.- Production of the MakeMyFuture MOOC: VET schools and experts in delivering online, blended training courses and MOOCs will contribute to define the structure and layout of the MOOC through formal and informal meetings. 41 VET teachers for a duration of 32 hours will be involved for testing the output produced.- Joint Staff Training Mobility: 2 VET teachers, trainers, or educators for each partner organisation will be involved in a five days training course. - Project staff and local stakeholders will be involved in 3 transnational project meetings in order to monitor the project tasks and results, share experiences and improve the awareness-raising process. - The quality assurance process will involve project partners, beneficiaries and stakeholders in different project phases through questionnaires, interviews and evaluation sessions. - Dissemination activities: each partner will use its own networks and contacts in order to disseminate the project's results and output. - Multiplier events: In the multiplier events, VET teachers and students will be involved to take over the outputs of the project and make the most use of them in order to disseminate the potential of maker education within the VET communities in each partner country. Stakeholders, potential users and VET teachers interested in improving school-to-work transition processes will be involved in the multiplier events.<< Results >>The project, through the expertise of the organisations involved, will provide VET teachers and schools with resources and guidelines to effectively implement Maker education at school for adapting learning towards the digital transformation of the modern Industry. The tangible results are:- MakeMyFuture Competence Framework: it will provide different profiles needed by Industry 4.0, described applying the Learning Outcomes approach and in line with the standard VET curricula. This will ensure a link between the world of work and the VET sector, so as to align the advanced digital competences acquired by students through Maker education, with the real needs of the changing Industry.- MakeMyFuture Modules: the different maker-based educational modules will be designed with the scope of nurturing VET students with advanced digital manufacturing competences. The modules will be elaborated according to the profiles identified and the different technologies actually used by Fablabs, matching them with the company’s needs and VET curricula. - MakeMyFuture MOOC consists of an open web-based training course for VET teachers and trainers for implementing maker-based educational modules with VET students. This will also promote VET teachers and trainers' capability of developing and implementing learning paths, in synergy with local companies, focusing on advanced digital competences. It will improve, in combination with the LTTA, the teachers’ proficiency in using maker-based technologies and integrating them into their lessons. - LTTA for VET teachers will focus on developing advanced digital competences in line with the requests of Industry 4.0 implementing Maker Education