The project is in line with the field specific priorities in the youth sector and is aimed at providing means for fostering a stronger participation of the young people in the democratic and civic life in Europe as well as broadening and deepening their political and social participation from local, through national and up to European level. The main objective of the project is to promote the active citizenship of young people by creating an innovative on-line communication platform for a dialogue between them and those responsible for the youth policies formation and cooperation in implementing regional strategies for sustainable development as well as the establishment of a Balkan youth network for cooperation and communication. The envisaged online platform can be viewed as a ‘participatory space’ – a place where young people can come together to explore and develop their own ideas and go on to meet with decision makers. It shall be a space for dialogue and reflection where young people can get to know the decision makers and vice versa, where barriers can be broken down and issues discussed. There is a growing concern at political level and enough evidence to indicate that young people have been turning away from established forms of democratic participation, for example increased abstention from voting and decreasing membership in political parties is indicating that young people are disengaging from “traditional” forms of participation and finding “alternative” or “innovative” forms of participation to replace them. The participation of young people in decision-making processes – be they political, civic, civil society or other – fosters their active citizenship, enhances their inclusion, and strengthens their contribution to the advancement of democracy. It is essential, therefore, to foster this participation and the main goal of the project is to support young people’s (positive) attitude to influence decisions in democratic processes – be that at national, regional or local levels – and to increase their involvement in the development of inclusive and peaceful societies. Specific goals and objectives of the project, relevant to youth participation: -Increasing the influence young people have on decision making in a public body; -Increasing the voter turnout amongst young people; -Enabling public bodies to consult with young people through new, modern media; -Encouraging decision makers to be more receptive to youth participation; -Educate the educators in formal, non-formal and other settings on the wide range of approaches to youth participation emphasizing the importance of children and young people having an opportunity to engage and learn about democratic decision making from an early age;

The Project Restart for Education in a Digital Era through Project-based E-learning (RESTART 4EDU) advances solutions for implementation of European policies regarding increasing the quality of higher education. The Project stands for innovating teaching and learning methods at academic level by integrating the digital technology in the educational process. The main innovation consists in the development of methodology of teaching that integrates Project-Based Learning (PBL) with digital technologies. This innovation will lead to a better correlation between the higher education and employers’ expectations, by creating the framework of cooperation between students and specialists from different fields of activity. Also, this will support the internationalization of the academic educational process. The debate about teaching practices in higher education has decades and was the core of Bologna Process. Current developments as the Covid-19 Pandemia reveal that by dramatic changes (i.e., switching from traditional face-to-face teaching to online learning) requires best-practice models, worked examples and vocational training for Higher Education staff to meet the requirements of new emerging situations and demands. These requirements different perspectives as addressed within TPACK-model and affects technological knowledge, content knowledge and didactical expertise as well their interactions. By providing sustainable support with regard to these factors, RESTART 4EDU will be a best-practice model and knowledge source for project-based and related instructional Higher Education approaches (e.g., problem-based learning, service learning, etc.). So, Covid-19 Crisis might be an opportunity for universities to discuss and reflect about the best educational solutions and implement new methodologies in teaching, learning and evaluation activity. HORIZONTAL PRIORITIES: -Innovative practices in the digital era SPECIFIC PRIORITIES in higher education: -Tackling skills gaps and mismatches-Promoting and rewarding excellence in teaching and skills developmentThe GENERAL AIM: Increasing the quality of the teaching, learning and evaluation process in higher education by promoting active and collaborative methods (Project-Based Learning) using e-learning platform and digital resources. SPECIFIC AIMS: SA1. Supporting efforts for integrating ICT in the educational process on an academic level, by creating an innovative instrument: RESTART 4EDU e-learning platform for PBL SA2. Improving teaching skills for professors of partner universities by training them to implement Project-Based e-learning Method in teaching: 50 teachers trained to be drivers for the integration of the RESTART 4EDU e-learning platform SA3. Promoting a high-quality academic education based on a thorough analysis of the impact made by innovating solutions (RESTART 4EDU e-learning platform for PBL): an experimental study on the impact of using the platform will be conducted at the level of partner universitiesThe project beneficiaries: university teachersThe consortium is made up of: - Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania - The Applicant - INFOREF, Liege, Belgium - Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Braga, Portugal - Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Turkey The total amount of the project is 228.245,00 €The implementation period: 1st March 2021-28 th February 2023Intellectual outputs developed in the project will be the following: IO1 - RESTART 4EDU e-learning platform for PBL IO2 - Handbook for Project-Based Learning implementation in Teaching Academic Courses (with examples of projects, interactive training, and video lessons) IO3 - Experimental Research on Implementing Project-Based Learning method via digital resources (1 Scientific Article)In terms of outcomes, this project will lead to training and developing professional competences for teachers: - Digital competences in using online resources - Teaching and learning using Project-Based Learning Methods- Guiding the students into learning and self-assessment process and managing work teamsBeside these, the project contributes to the development of soft skills: - Project assessment and qualitative analysis competences - Decision-making competences in project designing - Critical and creative thinking competences - Problem-solving competences - Teamwork competences Learning, Teaching and Training Activities:- Summer School on Project-Based Learning Implementation at the academic level via digital resourcesMultiplier Events - Discover and Use RESTART 4EDU Resources (2 seminar events) - International Conference on RESTART 4EDU Academic Teaching and Learning Opportunities

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

The project “Business and Competitive Intelligence for Entrepreneurship” (CIEN) creates a network of universities in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and France, aimed at developing knowledge, skills, and competencies in the field of business and competitive intelligence (BI and CI). The project develops curricula for short-term and long-term programmes in this field, to be implemented in partner universities, where appropriate, or other educational facilities, creates study materials, adjacent to the aforementioned curricula, develops training module kits for both sections (BI and CI) and proposes a Survival Kit for Entrepreneurs with interactive resources to be used in order to collect, select, analyze data and information related to BI and CI. Thus, the project proposes a complete package of elements (curriculum, study materials, resources, training kits, etc) to be used in the development of courses on BI and CI in partner universities, as well as any other university which may decide to adapt its educational offer to the demands of the global, evermore digital and flooded by information and big data. In order to deliver these packages, the project creates an online platform, the project website: cien.ase.ro, to be used for the learning activities within the project, to facilitate virtual mobility for participants and further on for common usage of the kits developed.The project strengthens the cooperation between the five partner universities from four countries, by having transnational mobility of teachers for the training modules on BI and transnational mobility of students for the summer schools focused on CI. Furthermore, the network of these five universities shall have a common curriculum as standard, to be implemented where such a need is identified, allowing for streamlined transferability of credits, skills, and competencies at a European level, enhanced by the ECTS allotted to each learning activity. The project targeted 100 students (undergraduate and graduate) from the partner universities, 70 with a business background and 30 with any other type of background, split into two waves (50 for each year of project implementation). The project lasted for 24 months, between September 2016-September 2018, and had two summer schools (one for each year, in Varna, Bulgaria and Bucharest, Romania) lasting 5 days and 10 training modules (blended learning – 5 days of face to face action in home university+ virtual mobility). Overall, the project involved more than 600 participants in learning activities and multiplier events. It created 7 intellectual outputs: Analysis of Best Practices on Curriculum in Business and Competitive intelligence, Curriculum Design in Business and Competitive intelligence, Study Materials for Business and Competitive Intelligence, Business and Competitive Intelligence Training Modules, CIEN Survival Kit for Entrepreneurs, Study on Entrepreneurial Survival kits, CIEN Online Platform (cien.ase.ro). The main results of the project are: an enhanced cooperation between the five partner institutions, manifested through a common curriculum on BI and CI, mobility of teachers to deliver the training modules, mobility of students to the summer schools; shared knowledge in the field of BI and CI, through the cooperation of the project experts, team members, as well as wide dissemination of created knowledge through the online platform and the multiplier events (6 online seminars/webinars, 2 information sessions and 2 knowledge fairs). The main activities in the project may be packaged in 5 different areas: 1. Project management activities (5 transnational meetings, Financial Management, and Project Management, Monitoring and Reporting); 2. Curriculum Development (Analyses and studies of Best Practices, Curriculum design, Study materials: eBooks, dedicated Multiplier events), Learning activities (Student Selection, Summer schools, Training modules, Virtual mobility, dedicated Multiplier events), Training module development (Module development and redesign, module delivery, dedicated Multiplier events) and CIEN Survival Kit (Similar kits studies and Kit design, Kit OEP development, Online Platform - Design and Content, dedicated Multiplier events). The project is sustainable through the implementation of the curriculum in partner universities, where such a need has been identified (e.g. A master programme in Varna, Bulgaria and post-graduate studies in Bucharest, Romania), the inclusion of BI, CI courses in the education offering of the partners, the online platform containing all the materials developed, the CIEN survival kit available for current and potential entrepreneurs and the annual Knowledge fair to be continued even after the end date of the project.