Crisis no matter if it’s financial, environmental or political, is a driving force for transformation of the economy and the businesses. Tоday the digital transformation of the businesses is more needed than ever, since the global need of preventing and managing situations that can affect the market conditions and the traditional ways of doing business. While no one can anticipate organizational, financial, environmental, technological crisis it’s important that new businesses are ready to handle these situations should they ever occur. New business models, digitalization of services and products, remote work systems, cyber security, digital channels for communication with clients and employees are key factors for sustainability of every emerging business. Being an Entrepreneur in the Digital Age means to be aware of how to run a business which is agile and prepared to react to every crisis by implementing the right technologies. The educational programs in entrepreneurship should be also adapted by taking into account the emerging need of sustainability and digitalization.The “SMART Youth” project aims:1) to identify types of crises that can arise, the needed skills and knowledge required for running entirely digital business or business which is agile and ready to respond to change in situation of crisis 2.) to address the emerging needs of the new generation of entrepreneurs by launching a new curriculum; 3.) to build on the capacity of the staff in higher education institutions and other training organisations;4.) to foster collaboration among businesses, students, young entrepreneurs, academic staff and other stakeholders; 5.) to stimulate creativity of young people and to make them think about crisis management, new business models and sustainability through digitalization; The partnership involves four universities from Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania and Ireland as well as two chambers of commerce and industry from Turkey and Bulgaria. The role of the business-support organisations is to analyse the needs, the opportunities and the successful experiences in the field of entrepreneurship during crisis, to promote the project through their network of contacts, including Enterprise Europe Network, organisations in support of start-ups and entrepreneurship.The role of the universities is to bring their experience in development of educational programs, in building entrepreneurial skills and competencies and in implementation of new online methods for teaching and learning. Before starting the creation of the new Curriculum the project foresees the conduction of a research on risks and opportunities and a research on the needed entrepreneurial skills. The Curriculum will include at least six courses focused on development of specific skills that entrepreneurs need when starting a business that is agile and can work or adapt to work during crisis. The next step will be the organisation of a short-term joint staff training in Ireland that will be attended by the lecturers from the participating countries. It aims to build on the capacity of the PPs' staff and to ensure good understanding of the topics included in the curriculum. In order to test the Curriculum and to foster the transnational interactions and the exchange of knowledge between lecturers, students, successful businesses and solution providers, the PPs will organize international pilot training(virtual boot camps). The videos from the boot-camps will also serve as an example of innovative method for interactive teaching and learning that can be implemented in HE and other training institutions. These videos will be uploaded in a virtual space “Smart business toolbox” where young entrepreneurs will also have access to different types of tools and materials that will help them to start their sustainable businesses, to find digital technologies and reliable business solutions, to assess their digital competences, to find inspiring stories and best practices. The PPs will maximize the number of the organisations implementing the Curriculum, by developing a recognition toolkit that will ensure credit transferability, sustainability and substantial impact. In order to multiply the dissemination effect and increase the project visibility the PPs will implement a communication strategy, laying down promotional instruments and multiplier events. The PPs will strive to ensure proper implementation of the planned activities and sustainability of the action and its results. To ensure the efficient management and quality control the Coordinator and the PPs will follow preliminary defined procedures for reporting, administrative and financial control. The project success will be measured by set of indicators and the PPs will follow a methodology for evaluation of the project development at every stage.

MESMERISE will develop and test a High-resolution non-intrusive scanner up to TRL 5 able to automatically detect and identify both internal and external concealed commodities being entirely independent of human operator interpretation and training and based on two complementary technologies: ultra-low-dose Multispectral Xray transmission and Infrasonic interrogation. A novel x-ray detector, in addition to a higher imaging resolution, captures 256 channels of spectroscopic information, allowing a step change in material identification. Crucially, this level of resolution has the potential to enhance the detection of narcotics and explosives concealed in the body -a highly complex problem with currently available equipment. A second subsystem for detecting externally concealed items based on a novel, intrinsically safe, technology (infrasound near-field acoustic holography) is entirely new to security screening. Low-fq MEM Micro-technology shall also be exploited to provide an automated version of non-contact pat-down. Both sub-systems will be able to work independently, or together to provide complementary information and improve the detection of externally concealed objects. Automated algorithms for both subsystems and, through data fusion techniques, for the combined system will identify chemical substances, recognise pattern and detect anomalies with100g threshold in any part of the body, including prosthetic elements or plasters. A big manufacturer of body scanners, SMEs, Univs, R&D centres, end-users and a diverse and high quality external advisory board, with a broad international contribution and connection to US counterparts provides a straightforward exploitation route. Acceptance by society will be promoted by communication activities highlighting its non-contact nature, non divest condition and the absence of the requirement for operators to view explicit images through automated detection making MESMERISE intrinsically respectful of dignity and privacy.

The project’s objective is the creation and implementation of an online Method-toolbox, which can be used in European education programs and actions in the context of adult and especially older adult education. Central task will be the development of criteria for the analysis of projects and methods with the focus on good practices in the areas of fostering critical thinking, European consciousness and solidarity and the reduction of prejudices. The Method-Toolbox should help to improve and extend the supply of high quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of different target groups and individual learners.Partner organizations from Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria are members of the educational networks Danube-Networkers, the international association DANET e.V., the FEDERUNI Network of Italian Universities of the Third Age and in Bulgaria the Platform AGORA. All partners are experienced in national and international work with different target groups, especially older learners.Collected will be methods of learning and transnational European cooperation, which will then be analyzed and adapted for work with the target groups of this project, especially older people, women, people with low education, and for learning settings (formal, non-formal, informal) in general adult education in Europe.There will be four partner meetings and cooperation via online tools. Taken into consideration will be various learning arrangements, target groups and differences in work conditions, culture, languages, as well as the educational and social framework of the respective countries and the applicability of the methods in the respective countries, focusing the cooperation of education providers from West, middle and Southeast Europe.To identify projects suitable for dissemination, a survey will be carried out on national and international level. Learners in the partner organizations will be asked about the effects of their participation in European projects. In the first partner meeting, criteria for good practice will be developed. In the second and the third partner meeting the partners will present and analyze selected relevant projects with focus on lifelong learning for older people, social participation, intergenerational dialogue and new media, related to the issues of EU citizenship, EU awareness and democracy.The results of the analyses will be documented in a method-toolbox which can be used free of charge by other education and learning providers, stakeholders and interested individuals. Dissemination of the results will be made via mailing lists and newsletters of the partners’ networks and other educational associations and networks. Each partner organization and their networks will offer learning activities identified and influenced by the processes of the project. The cooperation in the project and the utilization of the method-toolbox will promote European networking of education providers.