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Assembly of European Regions

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Eurodyssey’s website launch – Behind the scenes

8 December, 2021 By Bianca Basílio Silva

The new Eurodyssey’s website launch marks an important milestone in our programme’s journey. It has been a result of three years of close collaboration between our member regions and the AER Secretariat, from meetings to seminars and trainings.

Featuring stunning new looks and a better user experience, its new functionalities will significantly improve the day-to-day management of the programme. 

eurodyssey.aer.eu

Three years in the making

This collaborative process kicked off in February 2019, at the 2-day Website and Communications Training hosted by Catalonia’s Employment Agency, where AER Programmes Coordinator, Andrés Muñoz Rojo, together with WordPress Developer Audric Delcour run a full demonstration and set out the main features of the new website.

Following such training, the AER Secretariat opened in Autumn 2020 a testing site for the regional users to get acquainted with the new functionalities and share their feedback for further website development. This testing period allowed the regional correspondents to make suggestions on the user experience and to keep track of the evolution of the website as they discovered the main features of the new website.

Ready, set, go!

This year, on 1 September the Eurodyssey website hosted by AMEOS webmaster was brought down to migrate all the data and files into a new WordPress portal with the technical assistance of web consultant Audric Delcour and the Eurodyssey’s regions.

Given the huge volume of data migrated, it was not until 16 September that the new website was officially launched. During this hiatus, the Eurodyssey regions increased cooperation to manually process the applications of the young candidates.

Our 🆕 website is NOW LIVE!! 🥳🥳

Bookmark the new domain on your browser: https://t.co/8cUFalWz6I📝

If you are already a registered user, please read these instructions to reset your account: https://t.co/AavB8onPvI

Welcome to Eurodyssey's 🆕 virtual home and… APPLY! 🔛 pic.twitter.com/OfIGIHQIN9

— Eurodyssey (@eurodyssey) September 16, 2021

This morning the #Eurodyssey regions met online to have a first introduction to the website and discover the 🆕 functions and how the programme has been translated into computer language 🖥️🖱️ for more efficient management! 🚀

Visit us at 👉 https://t.co/yPRD0KtQGM 🌐 pic.twitter.com/dCy5kTWVVO

— Eurodyssey (@eurodyssey) September 30, 2021

The size of the Eurodyssey website project can be revealed by the following figures from the data migration process:

  • 40,000 attachments saved
  • 170 regional admin users
  • 40,400 young person users
  • 3,600 company users

To facilitate the transition to the new portal, the AER Secretariat published a comprehensive manual for users and organised webinars on 30 September and 22 October to run a full demonstration and answer questions from regions. Furthermore, at the 2021 Eurodssey Forum on 3 December, the AER team shared ideas for regions on how to create an attractive regional profile on the new Eurodyssey website, and how to make the best of its new features.

Nonetheless, the website remains under construction since there is still a lot of pages edition, contents translation, files and media uploads to be completed. Apart from reducing the site maintenance costs, the new portal is expected to revamp the programme and attract more users and potential new regions.

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Not Just Another Workshop: Looking Back at the Includ-EU First Regional Peer-2-Peer Learning

10 July, 2021 By Anna Comacchio

The project in a nutshell: The Includ-EU Project is funded by the European Union’s AMIF– Asylum Migration and Integration Fund Programme and aims at enhancing regional and local expertise with engagement of social cohesion in Europe. In this workshop, we brought together representatives from all the different countries involved in the project: Italy, Greece, Spain, Romania, Slovenia and the Netherlands.

Setting the Scene.

We live in an increasingly complex society. There are no easy solutions or easy answers to the many challenges we are facing today, and the ones presented by migration, integration and inclusion are no exception. Policies and service designers must make sure these mirror the complexity of realities around us.

That is why our first Includ-EU Regional Workshop focused not on discussing solutions, but analysing and sharing problems and challenges in our ever-changing Europe, in a collaborative way, and with peer-to-peer dialogue.

The past few months have been challenging for all of us. The restrictions affected our work and social cohesion, especially for migrants but there are a few lessons learned that we can bring with us and that can help improve the near-future situation, and in light of new  unpredictable crises.

In her opening speech Geertrui Lanneau, Senior Regional Labour Mobility and Human Development Specialist, at International Organization for Migration (IOM), reminded us how migration is still very high on the European Agenda  with the EU pact on migration and asylum passed last year and followed by the EU action plan on integration.

At the same time, she stressed how it is not the EU that finally implements the integration action, but the Member States, and  in particular, the local and regional levels are the centre stage. 

Geertrui Lanneau, Day 1

It is with this mind that we feel that with our project we can make a difference through the exchange of practices, region-by-region tailored SWOT analyses and especially with the pilot projects to be tested and implemented in the different member states.

Alas, also this time the consortium and associated partners didn’t have the chance to meet in person, but even virtually, we had an extraordinary time and opportunities to exchange our experiences. In particular, we collectively brainstormed around new challenges raised by the pandemic as well as old challenges that the pandemic might have exacerbated, both in the way we work and provide services, and in the way migrants and vulnerable communities would interact with the community.

The fact that all participants had experienced similar challenges, had seen similar opportunities and learned similar lessons despite the different geographical contexts, was very surprising and helped create a warm atmosphere of collaboration that lasted throughout the workshop, which lasted 2 days, and it felt a very special and unique moment!

The visual result of our peer-learning exercise on Mural, Day 1

Let Your Imagination Soar!

Before getting into the second part of the first day of the workshop, we did a quick icebreaker activity, where we split in 3 teams of five, and each group took 5 minutes in separate breakout rooms to brainstorm together and draw 50 apples, with only one applicable condition: ALL THE APPLES MUST BE DIFFERENT.

It was hilarious and mind-opening at the same time to see how different groups came out with absolutely different ideas, stories, concepts, or how they decided to devote their time: some shared memories associated with apples while others exchanged about different way to say “apple mus” in different languages, but fun fact: none of the teams reached the 50 apples goal. 

In short, this exercise tells it all about the very purpose of the workshop itself, meaning it is not about the destination, and focusing on solutions, but about the journey and what you learn along the way.

Becoming familiar with design for change

In the second session of the day, we worked together with Abram El-Sabagh, a service designer and the founder of Design for Impact, who led us through some exercises and discussion on good service designing, while sharing his own personal journey.

“It was in mid-2019 when I realised I could spend less time working, and more time helping others create impact.

The truth is it was a difficult decision. My day job is about using Design to create impact. I’ve been able to travel around the world to places as far as Marshall Islands, Kenya, China, and Bhutan. All to help coach others and build their ability to create positive impact using Design. But something was missing.

I had experienced what it was like working alongside others who genuinely want to make our world a better place, and there is no feeling like it. It’s euphoric.”

“No passion to be found in playing small”

Innovation Systems are extremely complex, Abram goes on explaining, as there are many different components and they all interact together. Imagine for a moment the healthcare system for instance:  How many hospitals and doctors are there only in your area?

Another thing to keep in consideration is that experiences regarding the system depend on each one’s different pathway. In healthcare, the experience will change depending on which doctor I talked to, which disease or illness you have, to mention only a few variants.

Migration is of course, a very complex system affecting real people who are facing real challenges.

It is easy to read 10 books about system change and design, but it is harder to apply all the theories that you learn in real life. Abram explained how his path led him to go into the field, talk  and interact with different people from many professional and social backgrounds, rather than keep learning on his own. Eventually, he gathered more and more skills that are useful to design services and testing powerful ideas, until he was skilled enough to lead his own project.

KEY CONCEPTS OF DESIGNING SERVICES IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS

If a 1.5 hours session couldn’t of course cover and teach participants hard and soft skills harnessed through years of experience and exercise, Abram gave us the key concepts needed to start understanding how to create change thanks to design.

He touched upon many concepts, but few of them resonated particularly among the participants.

Emergence is one key concept in complex systems that is worth explaining, as  it means that because of the complexity and the many actors involved, one cannot predict behaviour, or be sure of what will happen before you test an idea and that’s why it is therefore important to test hypotheses.

As a consequence, running parallel fail-safe experiments and interacting with the system is the only way we can truly understand it.

When running an experiment, it is important to test behaviours and not intentions, as many times these intentions do not translate into behaviour (just think about your new year’s eve resolutions..).


A final concept to keep in mind in testing hypotheses  is that correlation does not equal causation -although these two often get mistaken- meaning that just because two things correlate does not necessarily mean that one causes the other.

Main takeaways from day 1

The big finale of day 1 came with an interactive exercise where participants were asked to design, in teams, a new policy or service to help people get vaccinated.

The special feature of the exercise was the identification of the team members with multi-level stakeholders, meaning that each team member represented a different perspective and therefore brought an additional value to the co-creation process.

Each team formed several hypotheses around why a specific cohort of people (migrants over 50 rather than young people living in the periphery) are not getting vaccinated enough and generated experiments to test each hypothesis.

What did participants learn?

Mainly 2 things came up from the different teams:

  1. You need to involve many people, not just the usual suspects. 
  1. It is important not just to co-design services in a participative way but we should also aim to co-create and co-decide on a political level. It is essential to cooperate at all stages of a project or process, “ If you want to go far, go together”.

All in all, we can safely and happily conclude that by reflecting on the challenges the pandemic created or worsened, speakers and participants shared their concerns around the needs of their regions, but also injected optimism in the future on integration and inclusion, while giving us reasons to believe that design and multi-stakeholders approaches can be powerful tools for creating sustainable and innovative services, solutions and policies.

Angelique Petrits with some of the participants, day 2

DAY 2 -Good Practices and Hard-won Wisdom through the Includ-EU Marketplace

After the insightful and comprehensive presentation by Ms Angelique Petrits  (DG Home, European Commission) on the new Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-27) and its 4 key areas -Education, Employment, Health, Housing-, the morning of Day 2 continued with a dynamic market-place exercise.

Here different regions and municipalities presented their own future strategy for integration, but showcased good practices and successful projects from the past programming period. We are happy to share here all presentations which are available below for you to browse.

Strategy on Migration, Valencia

Pilot experience of community sponsorship in the reception and integration of migrants, Valencia, Spain

Regional Plan for the socio-economic integration of TNCs, with focus on COMMIT Project, Tuscany, Italy

Project School for Adults, Jesenice, Slovenia

Integration Strategy, Cluj Napoca, Romania

Project Murcia Acoje (Welcoming Murcia), Spain

For more information, contact: [email protected]

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Rethinking Inclusive Societies in Light of Crises

24 June, 2021 By Anna Comacchio

“Migrants are ‘us’, not ‘them’. Everyone has a role to play in making sure our societies are cohesive and prosperous.” 

Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson 

Within the Includ-EU Project, AER continues its long-standing commitment to making the voice of its member regions heard, in both matters of migration and asylum and otherwise. In this context, we are proud the share their success stories developments and practices, in the upcoming workshop, organised with the involvement of Intercultural Regions Network.  

Integration and inclusion of people with a migrant background is a process that involves a whole of society, that includes migrant and local communities, employers, civil society and all levels of government. 

Regions, above all, have always had a paramount role to play and extensive experience in implementing innovative ideas and projects. They have the contextual knowledge and resources can be activated quickly.  

In light of this, AER’s role in the project is to foster structured regional exchanges, and the dissemination of knowledge and good practices within its wider network. This objective translates in organising of 5 thematic webinars structured around the key priority areas and 5 thematic workshops, envisioned to bring together target beneficiaries, experts, partners, and respectively representatives of interested social communities to exchange and engage in peer-learning exercises. 

So far, AER, with the support of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has organised 3 of the planned webinars and is now preparing the 1st regional workshop, taking place on 30 June and 1 July from 9:00 to 12:30 (CEST). 

The pandemic might have exacerbated some of the challenges already in play in regards to integration of migrants but on the other hand, as for many other sectors, it has provided an occasion for shifting paradigm and rethinking our whole society in order to be better prepared for future crises. It can empower us to demand a much-needed transformation of a system in crisis. 

As such, the focus of the first day will be on how to rethink services in light of crises and raising awareness on the role of design in shaping better and more sustainable services. Abram El-Sabagh, expert in designing strategic solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals, will facilitate the session, in which participants will immerse in a peer-learning exercise, which will help them to brainstorm collectively and identify challenges and opportunities to apply to the concrete specific needs of each regional/local reality. 

The second day keeps looking ahead with the presentation by DG Home of the Commission new Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-27), which structures among 4 key areas: Education, Employment, Health, Housing. 

This is followed by a dynamic market-place exercise, where few regions and municipalities will present their own future strategy for integration, but also good practices and successful projects from the past programming period.  

We will hear from Valencia municipality (Spain) to Cluj-Napoca and Timis (Romania), among others. 

Registrations for day 1 are open exclusively to Includ-EU consortium partners, while day 2 is open to all interested stakeholders working on migration and interculturality. 

This project receives funding from the European Union’s AMIF – Asylum Migration and Integration Fund programme. It aims at bringing together local and regional authorities from Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia and Spain for the purpose of enhancing transnational knowledge and experience sharing cooperation and partnerships. 

To read about the results of the 1st workshop, follow AER website. To register, click here.

Contact: Anna Comacchio, Project and Policy Officer 

E-mail: [email protected] 

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Skillnet Training Session – Making the Most of Cohesion & Rural Development Funds

4 June, 2021 By Justin Sammon

MFF, ERDF, ESF, EFRD, EAGF…navigating the sea of acronyms in the EU funding lexicon can be a daunting task for would-be applicants. Yet, unlocking these funds will be crucial for regions if they are to bounce back from the pandemic. What can be done to help regions access the crucial funding they need to support their recovery?

The AER recognises these challenges members face when it comes to accessing EU funding. That’s why on 26 May, as part of our Skillnet Project on European funding opportunities, the AER held a training session for regions and their stakeholders looking to make the best of new EU funding opportunities.

Featuring presentations and an extended Q & A with experts from the European Commission, the first webinar in our “Unboxing the MFF (Multiannual Financial Framework)” series took attendees through Cohesion & Rural Development funds, and the EU’s Next Generation EU Recovery Package.

Cohesion Policy and Next Generation EU – What’s New?

Our first speaker, Ms Tereza Krausová from DG REGIO gave an overview of the 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy and Next Generation EU packages, and provided insights on how regions can benefit under the new frameworks. She noted that while NextGenEU is “at its core” a crisis-repair instrument, the Commission wants it to compliment the EU’s climate goals and facilitate the digital transition – important aspect to bear in mind.

Also of note are the substantial sums allocated to bolster programmes of key interest to regions. There is EUR 47.5 billion allocated to Cohesion programmes 2014-2020, like the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund (ESF+), and cross-border programmes like the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) and Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). (Note – AER members are invited to request more information on these and all instruments discussed from the AER Secretariat).

.@TerezaKrausova1 stresses that "all instruments have to be based on local strategies." The @EU_Commission is committed to a bottom-up approach, "empowering cities and local communities to identify their own priorities and projects in a participatory way. " 🤝 pic.twitter.com/nnbTIG2zTs

— AER (@europeanregions) May 26, 2021

Ms Krausová also set out the features of these shared management funds, which have a strong territorial dimension. While the partnership agreements for programmes under these funds are set up nationally with the Commission, local and regional authorities are strongly encouraged to engage themselves fully in the process by meeting with and setting out their priorities to their national authorities. Most notably, Policy Objective 5: ‘Territorial Tools’, underlines that all investments have to be based on local strategies. These should empower cities and local communities “to identify their own priorities and projects in a participatory way.” Possible tools available include integrated territorial investments (ITIs), community-led local development (CLLD) and other territorial tools designed by member states.

In terms of priority themes, as mentioned, under the ERDF there is a “thematic concentration” on improvement of the economy and meeting the EU’s climate reduction targets. Of particular interest to regions will be the thematic concentration on sustainable urban development. 8% of the ERDF is allocated towards integrated urban development delivered through local development partnerships. There are also new funding streams available for interregional innovation, and Ms Krausová again emphasised that these local development strategies must have true “local ownership”. Within the INTERREG programme, there is a bigger emphasis on cross-border programmes – including a new European cross-border Mechanism, a specific component for outermost regions, and the incorporation of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), which supports co-operation outside the EU.

Ms Krausová also touched on the EU’s Just Transition Fund (JTF), which provides over EUR 19 billion in tailored support to territories to help them achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This money aims to galvanize green investment in areas like waste reduction, resource efficiency, recycling, etc, as well as encourage SME growth in the green economy. Coal and peat intensive regions in transition will be key beneficiaries of this fund.

European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) – driving a Fair Recovery

Our next speaker, @l_reid89 from @EU_Social sets out how regions can benefit from the ESF+ fund. Noting for example, the €531 million available under shared management for Outermost Regions. 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/QHuEDPgZdl

— AER (@europeanregions) May 26, 2021

Our second speaker, Ms Louise Reid from DG EMPL gave insights on the new European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). The ESF+ supports employment, education and social inclusion through EUR 99.3 billion of investments in different programmes.

As with other funds, there are specific “thematic concentrations requirements” for member states relating to tackling youth unemployment, eradicating child poverty, and capacity building of social partners and civil society. Of note is that there is EUR 531 million and EUR 197 million available to support Outermost Regions and Transnational cooperation respectively under shared management. With regard to REACT-EU funds distributed under ESF+, Ms Reid said these will be directed towards short-term work schemes and youth employment, as well as ensuring equal access to health services. Echoing Ms Krausová, she underlined that “regions should now take the opportunity to be involved” in the national planning processes, and contact their local management authority for more information on accessing REACT-EU funding.

The Common Agricultural Policy – the importance of Partnership

Our final speaker, Mr Stefan Jensen from DG AGRI updated attendees on the reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and how regions can make the most of the EU instruments available to support rural development. While still under negotiation, from 2023 the National CAP Strategic Plans will integrate “direct payments and market funds” – the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), with the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Between 2021-22 there will be a transition period where the current framework will be extended, and there is an additional EUR 8 billion earmarked from the Next Generation EU recovery programme to support rural development. As with the other funds under discussion, there is “a strong focus on Green Deal ambitions”, with 30% of the EAFRD concentrated on helping rural areas meet climate and environmental objectives.

Our final speaker, Stefan Jensen from @EUAgri underlines the importance of partnership between national & regional authorities in implementing the new #CAP🚜
Member states "must make it possible to delegate tasks to regional authorities within their national strategic plans."🤝 pic.twitter.com/KuKvmh7oyv

— AER (@europeanregions) May 26, 2021

Mr Jensen underlined the essential role that regional stakeholders will have in the administration of the new CAP. Members should note that regions are very much embedded in the design of these instruments, and are expected to be involved in the design and implementation of the National Strategic plans. More concretely, the Commission expects these plans to be able to identify regional specificities and needs, and it is therefore vital that all levels of government are involved in elaborating these strategies.

The Commission equally recognises the need for local approaches to fulfill broader Green ambitions. To this end, Mr Jensen encouraged local organisations to “take ownership” to ensure that “the green transition takes place on the ground.” He also advised regions “to look across different EU funds that will help you on the ground,” noting provisions in the Common Provisions Regulations (CPR) that can help regions identify funding opportunities.

There were several noteworthy takeaways for the 100+ participants who took part in this training session. Firstly, for regions to make sure they can access the funding they need, it is essential that they reach out to their member states and involve themselves in the process of designing the National Strategic Plans. Having an awareness of which streams in each instrument have a strong territorial focus (some noted above) can help regions guide such discussions, as will keeping in mind the wider political focus at EU level on delivering the Green and Digital Transitions.

Still not sure where to start? Want a more detailed briefing on this Training Session and other funding opportunities? The AER is on-hand to give one-to-one guidance on how to make the most of EU Funding opportunities. For more information, please contact our European Projects Coordinator, Ms Agnese Pantaloni via email at [email protected]

In the meantime, you can find our speakers’ slides at this link. Make sure to keep an eye on our website to find out when the next webinar in our “Unboxing the MFF” series is announced!

***

This training session was organised as part of the Skillnet Project, which is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission. Skillnet aims to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s role and capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs through enhanced transnational and cross-sectoral partnerships. To learn more about funding opportunities within the Skillnet Project, visit our dedicated Partnerships in Focus Hub.

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Why Innovative Skills are the Catalyst for Rural Areas

5 May, 2021 By Valeria Simonte

On 25 March, the Assembly of European Regions hosted the “Ambitious Skills and Innovation Strategies: A Territorial Approach” webinar. The event was part of the series of webinars on EU funding opportunities organised within the Skillnet project (co-founded by the Erasmus+ Programme) to bring together experts in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and to establish collaborations for future EU project proposals.

We are now living in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where machines and artificial intelligence play a significant role in enhancing productivity and wealth. These changes have given rise to new skills requirements and a growing skills shortage among businesses and especially SMEs, which often struggle to find the talent they require. The new skills requirements are not only limited to high-tech and manufacturing competences but also cover interpersonal skills, as well as competences related to sales, human resources, care, and education.

In the context of regional innovation strategies, rural areas should play an essential role, not just as a source of raw material and places to locate space-intensive activities, but as genuine partners and drivers of innovation. Additionally, increasing attention should be addressed to the many interdependencies between regional development policies and the skills required to sustain innovation strategies.

Interreg EU Policy Learning Platform – Support for regions in delivering better place-based policies

Existing networks and platforms offer increasing support to regional authorities across Europe to develop and deliver better policies through a territorial approach. Among these, Elena Ferrario, Thematic Manager of the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform (PLP), presented the services of the PLP as online learning, events, and personalised policy advice through a free on-demand peer review service. The latter is a service offered to local, regional, and national policy makers who seek advice on a specific policy framework through the design of a two-day knowledge-exchange experience with experts and peers. The cooperative approach within the Interreg community allows to identify the thematic experts who will set the to-do-list of actions within two working days (online or onsite), and after 12 to 18 months they will follow-up with the implementation results.

The application for the peer review service is open permanently and is an easy process. Interested regions can access the Terms of References and/or contact Elena Ferrario [[email protected]] to apply.

Additionally, the PLP outlines policy briefs, concise and to-the-point documents outlining recommendations and best practices for regional and local authorities and policymakers. In this context, Katharina Krell, Thematic Expert of the Interreg Europe PLP, highlighted the Skills for Innovation and Skills for Energy Transition briefs, which feature policy recommendations that draw on Interreg Europe’s experience with projects on the development of skills for innovation, and which aim to show regions a path towards better regional innovation policymaking.

Good practice from the Donegal County – Education and training for high tech skills

The ICT FinTech and engineering industries are key sectors within the Donegal County, contributing to regional development and boosting place-based innovation. To this aim, Mr. Vinny McGroary, Area Training Manager at the Donegal Education & Training Board (ETB), stated that the County encourages the continuous development of new skills through Donegal ETB. The latter provides second-level education programmes and Further Education Training which include a partnership of collaborations within the community, voluntary and private sectors, as well as with businesses.

The national strategy is focused on promoting growth through the improvement of working skills from the beginning of apprenticeships right up to the professional level. Additionally, Donegal ETB provides a number of full-time and part-time programmes for the development of skills tailored to the industry’s needs, and many of these courses are industry certified and endorsed by employers. Among these, the Skills to Advance and Skills for Work programmes are tailored to upskill people with a lower skill set and who need more opportunities to make progress in their professional careers. The Apprenticeship programme enables close collaboration with industries through a combination of learning in the workplace and education in the training centre.

The provision of these trainings focusing particularly on the ICT, FinTech, and Engineering sectors has been of core relevance to address the high rates of school drop-out. Additionally, it contributed to boost solid partnerships between people, businesses, and local organisations.

Funding incentives for territorial development

As presented by Agnese Pantaloni, EU Projects Coordinator at the Assembly of European Regions, the EU has deployed several means to support territorial development in rural areas. Among these we find:

  • The Common Agricultural Policy 2021-2027 (CAP) will be supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development which is designed to reduce economic, environmental, and social constraints in urban areas and outermost regions, fostering knowledge transfer and innovation while promoting social inclusion, and economic development.
  • Additionally, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) supports Technical Vocational Education and Training systems through investment on skills development for smart specialisation, employability, and adaptation to labour market changes.
  • The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) brings together the existing European Social Fund with the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) and the Fund for Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). Initiatives supported through this newly established fund will likely focus on the acquisition of digital skills through schooling and education, support measures to improve the recruitment, and promote the socio-economic integration of newcomers from third countries.
  • Interreg Programmes aim at fostering a more competitive, smarter, greener, resilient and connected Europe. Interreg Programmes include cross-border, transnational, and interregional.
  • With a budget of over €28 billion, the ERASMUS+ Programme supports mobility and learning for all across the European Union and beyond. It provides opportunities for study periods abroad, traineeships, apprenticeships, and staff exchanges in all fields of education, training, youth and sport.
  • Horizon Europe finances research and innovation projects in thematic areas such as climate change, transport, health, food, agriculture, rural development, energy efficiency. Participating in Horizon Europe is open to all types of organisations based in the EU and all over the world, both public and private sector organisations, working on individual and collaborative based projects.

Where to find resources & support?

LEADER/ CLLD: European initiative that supports development projects to revitalise rural areas through bottom-up approaches.
European Network for Rural Development: Hub for sharing ideas & experiences on how rural development policies work in practice, facilitating knowledge sharing and networking among all rural stakeholders in the EU.
Smart Specialisation Platform: The platform that provides guidance and good practice examples, tools to facilitate strategy formation & mutual learning of the smart specialisation strategy (S3).
EIP-AGRI: European Innovation Partnerships that build bridges between science and practice, collecting knowledge and best practices for farmers, foresters, advisers, and others.
Policy Learning Platform: The second action of Interreg Europe programme that provides a space for continuous learning, where a network of policy makers can benefit from personalised expert advice, updated news and examples of peer-reviewed good practices.

Open and Future EU Funding Opportunities and Initiatives

  • Become an AER member
  • Apply to the AGRIP-SIMPLE-2021 Open Call for proposals for simple programmes 2021: Promotion of agricultural products (topics in internal market and in third countries) by 11th May 2021
  • Apply to the ERASMUS+ Open Call for projects: Small scale partnerships by 20th May 2021
  • Apply to the ERASMUS+ Open Call for projects: Cooperation partnerships by 20th May 2021
  • Apply to the UCPM Open Projects Grant Call: Network Partnership by 1st June 2021
  • Apply to the SOCPL Open Call for Projects: Information and Training Measures for Workers’ Organisations by 9th June 2021
  • Apply to the ERASMUS+ Open Call for projects: Partnership for Cooperation in the field of Youth – European NGOs by 15th June 2021
  • Apply to the ERASMUS+ Open Call for projects: Partnership for Cooperation in the field of Education and Training – European NGOs by 15th June 2021
  • Apply to the Horizon Europe open call for projects: Green Deal Innovations for Economic Recovery by 16th June 2021
  • Apply to the Horizon Europe open call for projects: EIC Accelerator Open 2021 by 16th June 2021
  • Apply to the ERASMUS+ Open Call for projects: European Youth Together (Small)by 24th June 2021
  • Apply to the SOCPL Open call for projects: Support for Social Dialogue by 30th June 2021
  • Apply to the SOCPL Open call for projects: Improving Expertise in the Field of Industrial Relations by 15th July 2021
  • Apply to the ERASMUS+ Open Call for projects: Partnership for Excellence – Centres of Vocational Excellence by 7th September 2021
  • Apply to the ERASMUS+ Forthcoming Call for projects: Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills (implementing the ‘Blueprint’) by 7th September 2021
  • Apply to the ERASMUS+ Forthcoming Call for projects: Alliances for Education and Enterprises by 7th September 2021
  • Join the EU Green Week 2021 from 3rd May to 13th June
  • Access the Future of the Common Agricultural Policy proposal by the European Commission
  • Access the new Horizon Europe Programme
  • Access the new Erasmus+ Programme

To learn more, you can download the presentations from the webinar on the event webpage, and join discussions through the Peer Learning Clubs!

Photo from Unsplash @jeshoots

This webinar was organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission. Through building transnational and cross-sectional partnerships, SKILLNET aims to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs. To this end, after each webinar, a bulletin with open and upcoming EU opportunities is circulated among relevant stakeholders.

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REGISTRATIONS OPEN: Improving the attractiveness of TVET for women

26 April, 2021 By Johanna Pacevicius

In the context of its activities around skills and the future of work, AER has been organising a series of webinar together with partners of the Skillnet project since Spring 2020. We are very pleased to invite you to join a webinar on improving the attractiveness of TVET for women.

Important: The event has been postponed and will be held on 13 July 2021 at 10:00 CET. The change will not impact on the registrations already submitted for the initial date (19th of May) and no further action is needed by the registrants. Yet, for all those that have not registered, registrations are already open!

What about gender?

AER has been working on mainstreaming gender and equal opportunities in AER activities. This was reflected by the setting up of an Observatory on Equal Opportunities in AER more than 10 years ago, which was then turned into a Vice Presidency for Inclusion, Diversity & Equal Opportunities, currently held by Andrew Gibson, Hampshire (GB). In this context, the current focus on Technical and Vocational Education and Training provides an opportunity to look at the situation from a gender angle.

Bridging the gender gap in TVET

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training sector has a major role to play in providing the skills Europe will need in the future. Moreover, countries with well-designed vocational training programmes find it easier to avoid youth unemployment, even in times of crisis. However, this sector has traditionally been a predominantly male environment.

This is why the European Parliament underlined the need to

continue to address gender bias and gender-stereotypical choices by ensuring and encouraging the equal participation of women in vocational training for what are usually traditional ‘male’ professions and of men in ‘female’ professions; calls for the gender dimension to be reinforced in efforts to modernise VET systems and to make learning both at and outside work more accessible to women employees and those with family care duties, not least in sectors where women are under-represented, notably the digital, STEM and green sectors, in order to combat gender segregation in education and employment and combat gender stereotypes

European Parliament resolution of 17 December 2020 on the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience (2020/2767(RSP))

The event will be held on 13 July 2021 at 10:00 CET and will provide an opportunity to share regional experiences and hear about support initiatives at the EU level.

If you would like to share an example from your region, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Birgit Sandu and Johanna Pacevicius

The events are part of the Skillnet webinar series AER is organising, which provides an opportunity for mutual learning around topics identified by AER members.

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Digital Transformation & Skills in the Agri-food Sector

9 April, 2021 By Birgit Sandu

The agri-food sector is facing a revolutionary transformation within a complex operating environment characterised by technological and economic change, consumer concerns, climate change, and global value chains. The so-called Digital Farms, which combine precision farming techniques with the use of digital and high-tech tools, have been promoted by the EU Agenda to help farmers work more precisely, efficiently, sustainably, and in turn, make rural communities more attractive. Yet, the use of advanced digital and technological solutions in the agri-food sector requires workers to develop new knowledge and skills.

To support regional policy-makers, VET and agri-food experts in this process, on March 26th, the AER held a mutual-learning webinar, ‘Innovation and Farming: Applications of Advanced Manufacturing in the Food Value Chain‘. The event was part of the series of webinars on EU funding opportunities organised within the Erasmus + project Skillnet. It brought together 55 experts in the field and allowed them to exchange and learn about available opportunities to apply innovative digital and technological solutions to the food value chain, through the uptake of new skills and knowledge in particular.

Experiences, resources, and challenges for a digital agri-food sector

As presented by Miguel De Porras, Director at the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FIBL, European policies and tools offer opportunities to exploit the potential of new technologies in the agriculture sector. The new Common Agricultural Policy has identified the need to increase competitiveness and agricultural productivity in a sustainable way through the use of new technologies as one of its key objectives. Additionally, the Farm2Fork’s objective to increase production of organic food by 25% inevitably requires the uptake of new digital and technical solutions and, in turn, of new skills and partnerships.  

The need to boost new skills for digital farming has been discussed during a dedicated seminar held by the EIP-AGRI, which highlighted that the sector workforce presents a low skill level in comparison with the digital solutions available. In this context, a series of EU-funded projects were presented as key initiatives to lead the digital transition while facilitating the exchange of knowledge among farmers through activity demonstrations and online resources, as well as compiling a database of the digital tools available to farm advisors. Yet, findings from the DESIRA project, which aims to assess the social, economic, environmental, and governance variables influencing the impact of technologies, reinforce the idea that innovation in the agri-food sector must be tailored to specific local contexts.

EU-wide partnerships and research and innovation initiatives provide farmers, businesses, research institutes and academia, and policy-makers with increasing support to launch pilots and gain expertise in the field. In this context, George Beers, Horticultural Engineer at the Wageningen University and Research, presented two Horizon2020 EU-wide projects that offer new evidences, resources and networks for the agri-food sector and its practitioners. The IoF2020 project aims to demonstrate and deliver the benefits of high-tech tools focusing on five agriculture sectors: arable crops, dairy, fruits, vegetables and meat. Results from several use cases demonstrate the value of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for the European food and farming sectors. IoT enables the use of different digital prototypes with different flows of information & solutions and integrates them into existing farm systems. Use cases do not only provide information on technological tools, but also why these tools are relevant for the sector. All the information has been collected and made available to farmers and practitioners in the online ‘Use Case Catalogue’.

The SmartAgriHub project is a network of Digital Innovation Hubs consisting of 2000 Competences Centres and 28 Flagship Innovation Experiments (FIE). The project offers a space to develop ideas, prototypes and a place in the innovative smart farming techniques market. At the same time, it embeds a network of Regional Clusters, which ensure that newly developed knowledge and tools are accessible to local farmers.

Lastly, Mladen Petres, Assistant Provincial Secretary of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry of the Province of Vojvodina in Serbia, shared the measures launched in the region to further boost the agricultural sector. The region launched direct subsidies for farmers to increase the purchase of relevant up-to-date equipment in the sector, ranging from greenhouse infrastructure to start-up programs for farmers. Additionally, the AgroSense platform was launched by the BioSense Institute to provide farmers with digital services, enabling them to monitor from satellite crop production to digitalised data on the chemical condition of the soil and, eventually, to facilitate the application of subsidies within the region.

Hence, meaningful opportunities and practices are available to help European regions and farmers increase their agricultural productivity while protecting the environment and ensuring the inclusiveness of the workforce. However, persisting challenges were highlighted in debate too. Among these, the need for governments to increase their financial support for a just transition into digital and sustainable agriculture, and the need to up-skill workers, including those involved in the daily management and maintenance of the digital tools.

To learn more, you can download the presentations from the webinar on the event webpage and join discussions through the Peer Learning Clubs!

Open and Future EU Funding Opportunities and Initiatives

  • Become an AER member
  • Apply to contribute as partner event to the EU Green Week 2021 by 15th April 2021
  • Apply to the AGRIP-SIMPLE-2021 Open Call for proposals for simple programmes 2021: Promotion of agricultural products (topics in internal market and in third countries) by 11th May 2021
  • Apply to the SmartAgriHubs Open Call: Prepare Innovation Experiments for Digital Transformation with Teams in the Agri-Food Economy by 26th May 2021
  • Apply to the SmartAgriHubs Open Call: Restart the European Agri-Food Economy after the COVID-19 Crisis by 26th May 2021
  • Apply to the SmartAgriHubs Open Call: Expand the SmartAgriHubs Community Network by 26th May 2021
  • Apply to the Joint Open Call ERA-NET: Circularity in mixed crops and livestocks farming systems with emphasis on climate change mitigation and adaption by 26th May 2021
  • Apply to the agROBOfood Open Call2: Innovation Experiments by 31st May 2021
  • Apply to the UCPM Open Projects Grant Call: Network Partnership by 1st June 2021
  • Apply to the SOCPL Open Call for Projects: Information and Training Measures for Workers’ Organisations by 9th June 2021
  • Join the CityZen impact workshop: ‘Inclusive Governance to Foster Urban Farming’ on 19-20 April 2021
  • Join the EU Green Week 2021 from 3rd May to 13th June
  • Join the IAMO Forum 2021: Agrifood systems in the bioeconomy from 7th to 9th June 2021
  • Join the FarmFit event for young entrepreneurs in the Agri-food market (end of 2021)
  • Access the Future of the Common Agricultural Policy proposal by the European Commission
  • Access the European Network for Rural Development CAP post-2020 Portal
  • Access the new Horizon Europe Programme
  • Access the new EU Action Plan on Organic Production in the EU
  • Access the new initiatives launched by the European Commission to boost the organic farming sector

Photo by Naseem Buras Unsplash

This webinar was organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission. Through building transnational and cross-sectional partnerships, SKILLNET aims to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs. To this end, after each webinar, a bulletin with open and upcoming EU opportunities is circulated among relevant stakeholders.

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Job Vacancy: EU Projects & Policy Officer

22 March, 2021 By Anne Henk Bloemhoff

Are you a motivated professional who is passionate about European policy? Do you have experience in the management of EU funded projects? Are you enthusiastic about knowledge sharing activities? If this sounds like you, and you are eager to reinforce an enthusiastic, international team with a wide range of responsibilities, you might be our new Project & Policy Officer. Apply now!

We are looking for a colleague to support our Project and Policy teams in the implementation of EU-funded projects, and the delivery of related activities. We want this to be combined with a knack for supporting our team in mutual learning activities, policy analysis, as well as contributing to our advocacy work.

We offer an initial 6-month, full-time Belgian employment contract, with the possibility of extension if our project activities continue to grow. You must have the right to live and work in Belgium. 

This position is to be based in Brussels. 

Are you our next colleague?

We need someone who is open-minded, a team player, organised, reliable and autonomous, and able to be operative from day one. In this position, you will be expected to ensure the proper implementation of EU projects within the AER portfolio, especially in the fields of education and training, culture, and inclusion. You will design and actively participate in mutual learning and knowledge sharing activities, as well as staying up to date on developments in relevant EU policy areas. You will work in our Project Unit under the guidance of the European Projects Coordinator, and additionally provide support to our Coordinators for Knowledge Transfer and Advocacy.

Key responsibilities

Project management – 40%

  • Implement project activities according to grant agreements, AER’s political priorities, and membership needs
  • Prepare project deliverables, monitor project progress, and evaluation
  • Prepare and process technical and financial reports
  • Cooperate with project partners, stakeholders, and member regions on a daily basis
  • Communicate and disseminate project activities, deliverables and achievements through AER channels
  • Support the AER team in scouting funding opportunities and establishing partnerships for AER member regions
  • Contribute to writing new project proposals within EU funded programmes
  • Participate in project meetings, webinars, workshops, etc
  • Being a small team all staff members are asked to perform additional transversal tasks and some secretarial work

Policy-related tasks: knowledge sharing and advocacy – 60%

  • Both in relation to knowledge sharing and advocacy, monitor policy development and draft briefings in selected thematic areas (examples: culture and inclusion, social cohesion, regional public services, or neighbouring topics). We will discuss with you the details of your thematic portfolio, taking into account your expertise and the topics of other team members.
  • Deliver project activities on knowledge sharing, capacity building and learning events, including conferences, webinars, workshops and training seminars.
  • Ensure the smooth running of these events including the participation of highly relevant speakers and stakeholders.
  • Support advocacy work and influencing activities. 

Your profile

  • At least 2 years of professional experience in the management of EU funded projects
  • University degree (MA or higher; or BA with additional academic qualification) in relevant subjects (e.g. Political Science, European Studies, International Relations, Cultural Studies, Economics, Management, or other courses related to this profile)
  • Fluency in English and another major European language, oral and written
  • Knowledge of EU funding programmes and opportunities
  • Good knowledge of EU policy-making, including regarding regional political challenges
  • Good understanding of several topical EU policy priorities (examples: sustainable economic development, innovation and digitalisation, social and territorial cohesion, public services and good governance, culture and inclusion)
  • Beneficial: experience in associations, non-profit work, or the public sector 
  • Beneficial: experience in partnership development 
  • Self-motivated and a self-starter
  • Strong team spirit and a positive attitude; eager to contribute to common objectives 
  • Autonomous and independent in completing tasks, with good organisational and time-management skills
  • Ability to prioritise and multitask
  • Excellent interpersonal  skills coupled with well-honed verbal and written communication skills
  • Excellent organisational and record-keeping skills
  • Good ICT skills (Microsoft Office Suite, various online tools, e.g. Slack, Google Drive, etc)
  • Readiness to occasionally travel between Strasbourg and Brussels, and AER events elsewhere

How to apply…

If this piques your interest, here’s how you can apply:

Please send a cover letter (max. one page) along with your CV in English to [email protected] with “EU Project & Policy Officer” as the subject line. 

Deadline for application: Friday 9 April – midnight.

Anticipated interviews (indicative days): 

Round 1: 19/20/21/22 April
Round 2: 30 April/early May

Desired starting date: June 2021

Due to the large number of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

————–

Founded in 1985, the Assembly of European Regions is the political platform of regional governments in wider Europe, with direct membership of public authorities from 30 countries – from Norway to Turkey and from Portugal to Russia. As the largest independent network of its kind, AER promotes the regions as key players in the European project, as well as democracy and good governance. AER has offices in Brussels (BE), Strasbourg (FR), and a Southeast Europe Hub in Alba Iulia (RO).

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is an equal opportunity employer – our membership is diverse and so is our team. In line with our political priorities, we are an organisation committed to fostering inclusion and embracing diversity, including in our recruitment process. We therefore guarantee equal treatment of all applications regardless of sex or gender identity, ethnic, national or social background, political or religious belief, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

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Job Vacancy: EU Finance & Administration Officer

15 March, 2021 By Anne Henk Bloemhoff

Are you a numbers guru, with experience in project management? Are you also a good organiser who is happy to reinforce an enthusiastic, small, international team with a wide range of responsibilities? If so, you may be our new EU Finance & Administration Officer. Apply now!

We are looking for a colleague to support our Project Unit in the financial management of EU-funded projects. We want this to be combined with a knack for supporting the AER team in administrative matters, internal planning, and coordination tasks.

We offer an initial 8-month, full-time French or Belgian employment contract, with the possibility of extension if our project activities continue to grow. You must have the right to live and work in the EU.

This position is to be based in Strasbourg or Brussels.

Are you our next colleague?

We need someone who is responsive, responsible, systematic, and attentive. In this position, you will be expected to constantly refine our EU projects’ finances, as well as recurring workflows of the AER in a proactive manner. You will be working in our Project Unit under the guidance of the European Projects Coordinator (Head of Unit), and additionally provide support to the Secretary General and other team members in related matters of administration.

Key responsibilities

EU finance & administration – 70%

  • Financial planning, budgeting, and reporting; outlining of contracts; processing payments; and monitoring budgetary performance for specific EU co-funded projects run by the AER, in close collaboration with the European Projects Coordinator and the Project Finance Manager.
  • Ensuring a high quality of finance-related workflows within the projects and in relation to our donors, notably the European Commission, as well as compliance with the specific guidelines provided by the European Commission. You will also be required to act as the contact point for the Project Unit and other members of the Secretariat when it comes to the European Commission guidelines for the financial and contractual implementation of projects.
  • Preparing monthly timesheets together with colleagues; collecting and archiving of evidence for projects as well as administrative and legal documentation.
  • Contributing to financial and administrative aspects of new project applications.
  • Organisational support for activities carried out as part of European Project implementation.

Internal administration – 30%

  • Supporting the Project Finance Manager in compiling data and documents for the AER’s overall budgeting under the guidance of the Treasurer and the Secretary General.
  • Processing and archiving of invoices, including in view of external audits.
  • Liaising with our external Social Secretariat to ensure the smooth processing of payslips and holiday rights; and assuming other tasks related to salaries, social security, and taxes.
  • Administrative support to the AER team: Correspondence with internal and external stakeholders; organisation of meetings.
  • Being a small team all staff members are asked to perform some secretarial work.

Your profile

  • At least 2 years of professional experience in financial management and implementation of European projects, as well as in the preparation of financial contributions for project applications
  • Broad experience in workflow management and administration
  • University degree (B.A. or higher) in relevant subjects (e.g. administration, finance, management, European studies, or other courses related to this profile)
  • Fluency in both English and French, oral and written
  • Knowledge of EU funding programmes and opportunities
  • Beneficial: experience in associations, the public sector, or non-profit work
  • Self-motivated and a self-starter
  • Strong team spirit and eager to contribute to common objectives
  • Autonomous and independent in task accomplishment
  • Ability to prioritise and multitask;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills as well as verbal and written communication skills
  • Excellent organisational skills and record-tracking
  • Good ICT skills (Microsoft Office Suite and particularly proficiency with Excel; various online tools e.g. Slack, Google Drive, etc.)
  • Readiness to occasionally travel between Strasbourg and Brussels or to AER events

How to apply…

If this piques your interest, here’s how you can apply:

Please send a motivation letter (max. one page) and your CV in English in one PDF document to [email protected] with “EU Finance & Administration Officer” as the subject line.

Deadline for application: Sunday 4 April – midnight.

Anticipated interviews (indicative days):

Round 1: 12-14 April
Round 2: 19-21 April

Desired starting date: 3 or 17 May

Due to the large number of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be notified.


Founded in 1985, the Assembly of European Regions is the political platform of regional governments in wider Europe, with direct membership of public authorities from 30 countries – from Norway to Turkey and from Portugal to Russia. As the largest independent network of its kind, AER promotes the regions as key players in the European project, as well as democracy and good governance. AER has offices in Brussels (BE), Strasbourg (FR), and a Southeast Europe Hub in Alba Iulia (RO).

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is an equal opportunity employer – our membership is diverse and so is our team. In line with our political priorities, we are an organisation committed to fostering inclusion and embracing diversity, including in our recruitment process. We therefore guarantee equal treatment of all applications regardless of sex or gender identity, ethnic, national or social background, political or religious belief, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

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Registrations open! Ambitious Skills and Innovation Strategies: A territorial approach

8 March, 2021 By Valeria Simonte

We are pleased to invite you to the webinar “Ambitious Skills and Innovation Strategies: A territorial approach” that will take place on 25 March 2021 at 10:00 CET

Including rural areas in innovation strategies to tackle EU challenges

Rural areas, cover 44% of the EU territory, and are home to almost 1 in 4 Europeans. Education, vocational training and lifelong learning play a vital role in the economic and social strategies of the European Union (EU). The strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training is called Education and training 2020 (ET 2020). It pursues four common objectives: make lifelong learning and mobility a reality; improve the quality and efficiency of education and training; promote equity, social cohesion and active citizenship; enhance creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship.

However, rural areas rural or sparsely populated regions often have a relatively large agricultural sector, with a low level of supply of highly-skilled employment opportunities. This in turn reinforces the existing brain drain trend, from rural areas to cities.

In this context, integrated innovation and skills strategies are needed to develop the strengths and comparative advantages of rural areas, instead of barely considering them as a source for raw material and cheaper space. For rural regions, the necessary competitive edge can be done by finding niches or mainstreaming new technology into the existing industry. Further including rural areas in innovation strategies will also help regions to reach the objectives of the Green Deal.

This webinar will look at:

  • Why innovation strategies aimed at developing Advanced manufacturing need to be based on territorial approaches and why it is so important to consider and involve rural areas from the start
  • Available EU funding opportunities and tools to boost innovation and skills in rural areas
  • Strategies to attract innovation and skills in rural areas 
  • The role of VET to achieve more cohesive regional development

Agenda

Ambitious Skills and Innovation Strategies:
A territorial Approach

25 March 2021 at 10:00 CET

  • 10.00-10.05 – Housekeeping rules, quick presentation on Skillnet, Valentina De Vico, Communication Manager, Skillman Team
  • 10:05-10:10 – Opening remarks and introduction to the webinar, Johanna Pacevicius, Policy and Knowledge Transfer Coordinator, Assembly of European Regions
  • 10.10-10.20 –  Available EU funding and incentives, Agnese Pantaloni, EU Projects Coordinator, Assembly of European Regions
  • 10:20-10:35 – Peer reviews and knowledge exchanges to boost innovation, Elena Ferrario, Thematic Manager, and Katharina Krell, Thematic Expert, Policy Learning Platform Interreg Europe
  • 10.35-10.45 – Regional practice from Donegal County, Vinny McGroary, Area Training Manager, Donegal ETB
  • 10.45-10.55 – Panel discussion and Q&A session
  • 10.55-11.00 – Closing remarks 

How to join the webinar

Click on the below “register here” button

or go to the Skillnet events page and chose:

  • E 419 – Ambitious skills and innovation strategies: a territorial approach; 25/03/2021 10:00 CET
Register here!

This webinar is organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission aiming to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s role and capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs through enhanced transnational and cross-sectoral partnerships.

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Building a better future: Generating enthusiasm for Vocational Education and Training (VET)

9 February, 2021 By Stanislava Milankov

On January 27th,  the Assembly of European Regions in cooperation with Skillman Alliance hosted the “New enthusiasm for Vocational Education & Training, Boosting self-confidence in young people” webinar. This was the ninth webinar on EU funding opportunities that are being co-organized by AER within the Skillnet project framework (co-founded by the Erasmus+ Programme) in order to bring together experts in different fields linked to vocational education and training (VET) and establish relevant groups of collaboration for future EU project proposals.

Generating enthusiasm for Technical and Vocational Education and Training

This webinar offered the opportunity to learn and exchange about regional policies and practices aimed at making young people more aware of the opportunities related to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). One of the main challenges in TVET is that it is often associated with negative representations such as the difficulty to follow general education or attend university. It is therefore crucial to inform the general public about the opportunities TVET offer and showcase it as a path for success.

Kjerstin Torpmann-Hagen, Policy Officer at the European Commission DG Employment, gave a detailed overview of financial support available to support VET across Europe. In her presentation (available on the event webpage) she emphasised the importance following EU programmes:

  • European Social Fund (ESF+)
  • The European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF)
  • Recovery and Resilience Faculty (RRF)
  • Erasmus+
  • Technical Support instruments (TSI)
  • InvestEU

Regional experiences on showcasing TVET as a pathway for success

Two examples from regions were presented during the webinar, which shed light on how regions are generating enthusiasm for Vocational Education and Training and boosting self-confidence in youth.

Miquel Carrión Molina, Deputy Director at Youth Employment and Professional Qualification, Catalonia (ES) said to boost enthusiasm for vocational education and training, policies must put young people’s needs “at the centre”, for example, by allowing for a longer training process accounting for trainees leaving and returning to training. He also stressed the importance of personal guidance and support to young people and in relation to VET, the possibility for youth to choose among different programmes and training.  

Gabriela Rus, Policy officer at Economic and Rural Development department, Alba County Council (RO) presented a project “Dual and vocational education – a new beginning” and explained how Alba region created a local working group of key VET stakeholders “to harmonise education offerings with the labour market” and increase engagement with vocational training among young people. The activities included: 

  • organisation of the parents’ meetings in schools in urban and rural areas to provide additional information to the students and their parents regarding the opportunities of a professional career in a technical field 
  • development of skills and professional interest questionnaire for professional counselling to students and parents 

For a better future!

To conclude, the moderator, Hrvoje Kovač, Chair of the AER subcommittee on Youth, Varaždin (HR) highlighted that actions at the local and regional levels are vital for generating enthusiasm for Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Building a better future for the youth means replicating experiences from other regions and transferring knowledge.

Open and Future EU funding opportunities and initiatives:

  • The new EACEA website has gone live today at this address: www.eacea.ec.europa.eu It contains information on programmes for the period 2021-2027;
  • INNO4COV-19 Open Call to support fast deployment of solutions to fight COVID-19 – Deadline 31 March 2021;
  • Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund – Deadline 30 September 2021;
  • 2020 Erasmus accreditation in the field of Youth – Deadline 31 December 2021;
  • European Commission: Funding and tender opportunities
  • European Investment Bank – Social Innovation Tournament – Deadline 3 March 2021;
  • European Social Fund – Call for proposals
  • Publication of DG REGIO Grants and Procurements
  • The Recovery and Resilience Facility
  • Erasmus+ Calls for tenders and proposals
  • InvestEU

To know more, rewatch the webinar and engage in the discussions through the Peer Learning Clubs!

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Vocational Training in Times of Lockdown and Pandemic

9 February, 2021 By Valeria Simonte

Reducing the number of early leavers from education and training across the member states is one of the EU’s priorities in the field of education. The risk of an increased number of drop-outs from education is a growing concern in Europe; with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating the challenges faced by vulnerable learners. In this context, young peoples’ feelings of exclusion and isolation may impact their motivation to continue studying, enrol in training or find a job, with considerable costs for individuals and society at large. To counter this trend and facilitate mutual learning between regions and vocational education and training (VET) organisations, the AER hosted our second Skillnet webinar of 2021. This webinar focused on how to prevent young people leaving education and training early in the challenging context of a global pandemic.

The event was part of our series of webinars on EU funding opportunities organised as part of the Erasmus+ project, Skillnet. These webinars bring together experts in different fields linked to vocational education and training (VET) and aim to build partnerships for future EU project proposals. 

A tool to support learners at risk

On 28 January, the Skillnet webinar “Vocational Training in Times of Lockdown and Pandemic – Preventing early school leaving” brought together experts working in the field of Vocational and Educational Training (VET). The webinar had the aim of sharing knowledge and concrete examples of how regional authorities and educational institutions are coping with the new challenges posed by the pandemic.

The event brought together around 70 participants, and drew on the expertise and insights of an international panel of experts in the field. The discussions began with a presentation by Irene Psifidou, Expert at the Department for Learning and Employability of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP). Ms. Psifidou underlined the importance of community involvement to support learners at risk. Young people dropping out of school happens as a result specific social, economic, educational, and family circumstances. Therefore, the type of support a learner requires will depend on the specific needs of that individual.

With this in mind, Ms. Psifidou then presented CEDEFOP’s VET toolkit for tackling early school leaving, the first online toolkit of its kind. This valuable, evidence-based and interactive source of support to policymakers and education & training providers is designed to help students reintegrate, remain in, and graduate from upper-secondary level education. It contains an array of resources ranging from from good practices to statistical reports, with the ultimate aim of developing tailored, targeted policies aimed at meeting the specific needs of learners at risk.

Moreover, CEDEFOP is at the forefront when it comes to reducing the rate of school drop-outs. Through its network of Ambassadors tackling early leaving from VET, they help disseminate the toolkit and enrich its resources by disseminating good practices, news, publications, and statistics. The opportunity to become an ambassador is open to individuals from all EU member states, the European Economic Area (EEA) and EU candidate countries.

A societal problem; an emotional response

Closing the discussion, Borja Castellet, Project Manager at El Llindar, gave an overview of how their “Second Chance School” in Catalonia has kept their students engaged during lockdowns by adapting teaching to their needs, both emotional and educational. Their education programmes are based on diverse learning environments designed to offer each student a training itinerary tailored to their needs and aspirations. This highly personalised and integrative orientation and subjective accompaniment ensure that young people at risk of isolation are monitored and supported while they develop their skills for the future labour market.

The examples presented during this discussion show that despite the pandemic there are practical solutions available to support learners at risk. In the first instance, it is crucial to ensure the right equipment is available to all students to support distance learning, that appropriately translated material and opportunities for digital training are provided, and there is a greater focus on the emotional side of learning through actively listening to learners at risk. At the same time, collaboration among regions and VET organisations across Europe and beyond is essential to develop tailored actions and programmes that can be applied broadly to different social contexts.

To learn more, you can download the presentations from the webinar on the event webpage, and join discussions through the Peer Learning Clubs!

Open and Future EU funding opportunities and initiatives:

  • Become an ambassador on tackling early leaving from VET: for policy-makers, learning providers, experts or other stakeholders involved in tackling early leaving from vocational education and training and interested in helping to promote and disseminate the VET toolkit
  • Making excellence inclusive: towards a new Cedefop survey of VET teachers and trainers: the event will be held online on 3 February from 09:00 to 13:00 CET.
  • What does quality mean in practice? Integrating the apprentice’s perspective: the event will be held online on 11 February, from 11:00 until 12:15 CET.
  • Financing apprenticeships in the EU: Financial flows, shared funding, apprentice pay, and the COVID crisis: the event will be held online on 23 February at 10:00 AM CET.
  • EIB Social Innovation Tournament: Apply before the 3 March!
  • European Conference on Educational Research (ECER): The conference offers an inclusive platform for initiating, reporting, discussing, and promoting high-quality educational research.
  • LIFE2021Remote: a training program that offers an exclusive opportunity to visit Finnish kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as the University of Lapland’s Teacher Training School
  • ICVET 2021: International Conference on Vocational Education and Technology, July 29-30 in Vienna (AT)

This webinar was organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission. Through building transnational and cross-sectional partnerships, SKILLNET aims to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs. To this end, after each webinar, a bulletin with open and upcoming EU opportunities is circulated among relevant stakeholders.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

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Building the Circular Economy through Circular Skills: Regions and Universities leading the Change

20 January, 2021 By Birgit Sandu

The transition towards a circular economy is among the core objectives of policy-makers at all levels of government. Yet, its full and effective achievement strongly depends on the readiness of all the societal and economic actors. In this regard, a growing mismatch between skills and labour needs can hamper both the transition as well as the possibility to exploit its great potential for employment and social inclusion. To counter this trend and facilitate the adoption of effective models by regions and vocational educational and training (VET) organisation, AER launched a dedicated webinar within the 2020 edition of the Skillman International Forum.  

During the first day of the Skillman International Forum (10-11 December 2020), AER held the webinar ‘Circular Economy: Opportunities and Needs in the Labour Market’. The session gathered around 30 regional policy makers and international experts working in the Vocational and Educational Training (VET) system with the aim of sharing knowledge and concrete examples of how regional authorities and educational institutions are assessing and building the professional skills needed in a circular economy.

The event counted upon an international panel of experts in the field as Eva Hallström, the Regional Councillor of the Region Värmland (SE) and Chair of AER Working Group on Environment and Climate change. Mrs Hallström opened the discussion providing insights on the importance of achieving a full circular economy transition and the work that international organisations and institutions – including AER, the EU, and the UN – are doing to this aim. Inspiring examples of how the Värmland region is moving towards an inclusive circular economy were also shared. Värmland is at the forefront when it comes to the green transition through an established system of schools and a dominating university that prepares youngsters to work in a circular bio-based economy, an innovation park, and the recognition of “paper region” due to its long experience with the employment of sustainable materials as paper in the replacement of plastic and over 100 dedicated companies.

Additionally, Belén Gracia, PhD Area Coordinator at Campus Iberius (ES) and Coordinator of the Eramus+ Project PackAlliance, explained how the PackAlliance project is tackling the skills shortage in the circular packaging industry seeking to align academic curricula with industry’s needs, develop a post-graduate programme tailored to this emerging value chain, and extend the model for replication in other contexts. The project is based on open innovation and co-creation approaches that empower the main actors affected by the circular skills transition, as well as on transnational cooperation with higher educational institutions and private companies based in several EU member states. Students and SMEs cooperate in detecting the professional skills shortage in the circular packaging industry, and – through the support of educational institutions – in designing a new post-graduate programme focused on the needed competences.

Lastly, Øyvind Nordstrand, Advisor at the Inland County Council (NO), presented the regional and national efforts to strengthen the bioeconomy in the region and build upon its potential. According to a report published by SINTEF in 2018, 25.000 new jobs related to bioeconomy can be created in the region by 2050. To ensure that SMEs and workers in rural areas in the region are able to meet the future with the necessary competences, the region has launched the Competency Pilot project financed jointly by the County and the Ministry of Local Governments and Modernisation as part of a broader national initiative. Specifically, the project focuses on addressing the competency needs in the forest industry – being Inland the largest wood region in Norway – by applying the competency broker model, and connecting national and regional governments, local businesses, academia and education institutions, and the civil society. Competency brokers visit and liaise with local SMEs to map their needs in terms of skills, and on the basis of the results, the region develops a training programme that can be customised to the specific needs of the SME. At the same time, the project will provide the region with a more general framework that can be applied for other sectors and replicated by other regions.      

The examples and discussions held within the webinar emphasised the importance of directly engaging with local business to understand what skills are needed for a circular economy and to jointly develop educational or training programmes that can meet the needs of the future. At the same time, collaboration among regions and VET organisation across Europe and beyond becomes crucial for designing a model that can be broadly applied and declined to different societal contexts and economic sectors.

To know more, download the webinar’s presentations and engage in the discussions through the Peer Learning Clubs!


Open and Future EU funding opportunities and initiatives:

  • Horizon2020 Green Deal Call: send your proposal by 26th January 2021
  • EU Circular Talks: Education, Skills and Learning for a Circular Economy: The series of talks has been running from November and it will conclude shortly
  • Have your say on the EU strategy for textiles: provide your feedback until 2nd February 2021
  • 3rd International Workshop on Smart Circular Economy: The event will be held on 7-9 June 2021
  • Circular Economy Hotspot Catalonia 2021: The global event will be hosted in Barcelona on 15-18 November 2021
  • European Cluster Excellence Programme with ClusterXchange scheme connecting ecosystems and cities: submit your proposal by 2nd February 2021
  • Boost digitalisation and innovation in tourism sector: submit your proposal by 11th February 2021

Photo from Unsplash @resul

This webinar was organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission aiming to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s role and capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs through enhanced transnational and cross-sectoral partnerships. To this aim, after each webinar a bulletin with open and upcoming EU opportunities is circulated among relevant stakeholders.

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Enthusiasm in learning and success in times of pandemic

18 January, 2021 By Valeria Simonte

We are pleased to invite you to two webinars on tackling early school leaving by improving information, support, and mutual learning

How to encourage young people and provide them with adequate support so they remain interested in learning in a global context that is particularly challenging? These two events will provide an opportunity to share regional experiences and hear about support initiatives at the EU level.

The events are part of the Skillnet webinar series AER is organising, which provides an opportunity for mutual learning around topics identified by AER members.

Generating enthusiasm, informing about potential

One of the challenges in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is that it is often associated with negative representations such as the difficulty to follow general education or attend university. Informing about the potential of TVET and its success potential is also instrumental in boosting self-confidence in learners.

The first webinar, which will take place on 27 January 2021 at 10:00 CET, will offer the opportunity to learn and exchange about regional policies and practices aimed at making young people more aware of the opportunities related to Technical and Vocational Education and Training, in order to:

  • avoid early school leaving because of the inadequacy of training pathways and the risks associated with the feeling of failure;
  • encourage young people to see Technical and Vocational Education and Training as a pathway for success: for the Technical and Vocational Education and Training choice to be a positive choice;
  • recruit talented young people in Technical and Vocational Education and Training.

Vocational Training in Times of Lockdown and Pandemic

In the context of the pandemic, the fundamental role of schools and teachers has been challenged. With lockdowns put in place across Europe, vocational education and training (VET) schools had to convert physical classrooms and work-based learning spaces into digital learning environments overnight. Keeping up the attention, motivation and good spirit of students became a major focus of teachers, as global events increased uncertainty especially for young people.

The second webinar, which will take place on 28 January at 10:00 CET, will focus on Vocational Training in Times of Lockdown and Pandemic.
The event will be an opportunity to hear about the Cedefop VET toolkit for tackling early leaving created by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training CEDEFOP, a very current source of support to policymakers, education, and training providers.

Agenda

New enthusiasm for vocational training and education
Boosting self-confidence

 27 January 2021 10:00 CET

 

  • 10:00 – 10:05 Welcome introduction of the topic & speakers Hrvoje Kovac, Chair of the AER subcommittee on Youth, Varazdin (HR)
  • 10:05 – 10:10 Housekeeping rules, quick presentation on Skillnet, Valentina De Vico, Communication Manager Skillman Team
  • 10:10 – 10:20  VET & initial training and existing funding and support opportunities Kjerstin Torpmann-Hagen, Policy Officer, European Commission DG EMPL
  • 10:20 – 10:30 Experience from Catalonia, Miquel Carrión Molina, Deputy Director Youth Employment and Professional Qualification, Catalonia (ES)
  • 10:30 – 10:40 Experience from Alba, Gabriela Rus, Policy officer, Economic and rural development department, Alba County Council (RO)
  • 10:40 – 10:55 Panel discussion and Q&A session
  • 10:55- 11:00 Closing remarks

 


Vocational Training in Times of Lockdown and Pandemic
Preventing early school leaving

28 January 2021 10:00 CET

 

  • 10:00 – 10:05 Welcome introduction of the topic & speakers Birgit Sandu, EU Project Manager, Assembly of European Regions
  • 10:05 – 10:10 Skillman introduction and Skillnet project presentation Valentina De Vico, Communication Manager, Skillman Team
  • 10:10 – 10:30 Presentation of Cedefop VET toolkit for tackling early leaving Irene Psifidou, Expert, Department for Learning and Employability CEDEFOP
  • 10:30 – 10:40 Experience from Catalonia Borja Castellet, Project Manager El Llindar
  • 10:40 – 10:55 Panel discussion and Q&A session
  • 10:55- 11:00 Closing remarks

 

How to join the webinars

Click on the above “register here” buttons (one registration per event)

or go to the Skillnet events page and chose:

  • E 418 – Mutual learning on early school leaving: Generating new enthusiasm for vocational training and boosting self-confidence 27/01/2021 10:00 CET
  • E 911 – Vocational Training in Times of Lockdown and Pandemic: preventing early school leaving 28/01/2021 10:00 CET

 

 

Watch back New enthusiasm for vocational training and education – Boosting self-confidence

Vocational Training in Times of Lockdown and Pandemic – Preventing early school leaving

Handouts VET & initial training and existing funding and support opportunities
Experience from Catalonia
Experience from Alba
Presentation of Cedefop VET toolkit for tackling early leaving
Experience from El Llindar, new chances school, Catalonia
Contacts

[email protected]

[email protected]

This webinar is organised as part of the SKILLNET series of webinars on EU funding opportunities. SKILLNET is a project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission aiming to strengthen the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system’s role and capacity to design high-quality VET programmes tailored to current societal needs through enhanced transnational and cross-sectoral partnerships.

 

 

 

 

AER discussing Next (Talent) Generation EU

12 January, 2021 By Editor

On 17 December 2020, AER took part in Finnova Foundation‘s webinar Next Talent Generation EU: COVID-19 Challenge, training in European Affairs for young people abroad. The webinar addressed the challenges that the COVID-19 crisis is posing to European mobility programmes, which are vital for upgrading the education and training of young professionals.

A European Marshall Plan to invest in Youth Talent

There are currently 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 15 and 35 in the world; the largest youth population in history. With 25 million jobs expected to be lost due to the health crisis, this cohort accounting for one-third of the world’s population is at a higher risk of exclusion amid the pandemic. At EU level, it is hoped that the Next Generation EU (NGEU), which will supplement the MFF by €750 billion, will help Member States to mitigate the enormous socio-economic impact of the epidemic on young people through reinforced funding such as the European Social Fund+, the Youth Guarantee system or the Erasmus programme.

Beautiful news! The EU 🇪🇺 got it right; with #COVID19 disproportionally hitting young people, the increase in funding of the Erasmus+ programme represents a ray of hope for many! @europeanregions
#Europe #youthrights #youthmobility https://t.co/esB3lL1izg

— Eurodyssey (@eurodyssey) December 18, 2020

Next Talent Generation EU: COVID-19 Challenge, training in European Affairs for young people abroad set about addressing these challenges by bringing together representatives from public administrations, those responsible for youth matters, training in European Affairs and professionals in charge of mobility programmes to share their perspectives, experiences and good practices.

Discussion highlights

The webinar, moderated by Juanma Revuelta, Director of the Finnova Foundation, consisted of four parts: An opening address by Ms Romy Karier, Member of the Committee of Regions’ Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment and Culture; Panel 1 – Mobility and training challenges in the era of COVID 19 and the EU economic recovery programmes 2021-2027; Panel 2 – The vision of the different European mobility programmes and how to face the new normal; and Panel 3 – Success stories and personal experiences.

During the second panel, AER Programmes Coordinator, Andrés Muñoz had the chance to elaborate the Eurodyssey experience and explain the benefits of learning mobility for youth development. The second part of his presentation set out the challenges ahead for youth policy-making in light of the gaps that the pandemic will prompt across generations in terms of unemployment, education, inequality and mental health.

AER Programmes Coordinator, Andrés Muñoz Rojo speaks with @FinnovaEU this morning about how AER's @Eurodyssey programme boosts youth mobility and employability! 👏👏👏 https://t.co/MEpyGKNbg4

— AER (@europeanregions) December 17, 2020
View presentation

There were also presentations from speakers like Sara Corres Armendáriz, Deputy Director-General of Legal System of the Spanish Government’s Directorate-General for Migration, who underlined that “over the last few years, important steps have been taken towards the consolidation of a European labour market“. César Plá, Head of Service of the Public Function Department of the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU, highlighted that “despite the current pandemic situation, the employment prspects in the EU institutions are encouraging, along with many windows of job opportunities for young people“.

The event closed with the launch of the Next Talent Generation EU website, a job portal which hosts a wide variety of stakeholders (NGOs, companies, universities, European institutions, national administrative authorities, etc.) aimed at building a European alliance for employing and training young talent.

If you missed our contribution to this webinar, you can rewatch it at the link below:

Rewatch the webinar!

Featured picture by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

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