"<< Background >>The VoW project ""Volunteering for a sustainable World! Increasing volunteering skills for global sustainability through experience in the Fair Trade sector"" focuses on how to prepare European citizens to deal actively, with more knowledge and skills, relevant aspects of the global environmental crisis the planet is facing. And for this reason, it addresses that vast sensitive area that is volunteering, improving its ability to be a co-protagonist of actions that contribute to spreading values, choices and behaviors that, now more than ever, must become the patrimony of all. At the heart of the commitment to global sustainability, and so also in fair trade (Fair Trade), there is a key factor: the person, the citizen, of any age and condition, who chooses to act responsibly, to be a protagonist, changing his lifestyle and becoming a promoter in his community of ethical values and practices, in solidarity. By far, volunteering in Europe has a strong collective impact in all areas in which it operates, on average involving millions of citizens, involving between 12% and over 30% of the population over 16 (Eurostat 2019). The Vow project focuses on them, on people who already engage time and energy as volunteers, or who could do so and meets specific needs: -Volunteers already active in fair trade, often senior, who are generally already very motivated, but little prepared for the global changes in progress, and skills to dialogue with the new generations; -Young people, driven by the desire to change the world as protagonists, who often do not know these forms of volunteering for sustainable economies, and the opportunities that it can offer, so closely linked to current global issues, but also to offer future professional spaces;-Adult and senior citizens motivated to volunteer, who have no information to be able to also consider this opportunity;-Voluntary organizations and their volunteers who work in other fields, and who - informed/trained - can act as a means - to become ""ambassadors"" - to disseminate behaviours and choices in support of policies and general practices of sustainability.VoW also responds to the needs of managers, trainers and managers of volunteers (often volunteers themselves): VoW wants to support them to strengthen their skills and skills in recruiting, welcome, manage and above all train volunteers to address the issues of the sustainable economy, and be able to be more competent for their organizations themselves.<< Objectives >>VoW, thanks to the decades of experience in the world of Fair Trade organisations, offers an integrated path to European challenges, well outlined by the Green Deal of the Commission, promoting knowledge, training and practical support practices towards ""sustainable economy"" (and circular) and responsible consumption, fundamental elements without which effective responses to the environmental crisis could not be given.Within this framework, the VoW project aims to:- To help citizens understand global change and implement virtuous behaviour by providing up-to-date and integrated knowledge of the fair trade system;-Improve the practical knowledge and content to be transmitted to operators, volunteers and citizens on the sustainable economy, networking the knowledge, experiences and practices of organisations operating in this field;-To enable more and more people to be protagonists, active for a sustainable future, strengthening the conditions for volunteering, in fair trade or other sensitive organisations;-Innovate the overall proposal for volunteers in fair trade, experimenting with new forms of volunteering, even involving more the new generations.<< Implementation >>In 32 months, with 8 partners from 6 European countries (4 fair trade organisations, 1 university, 1 national volunteer centre, 1 training research centre, 1 European communication and promotion network) will involve: - 32 experienced partners' operators;- 40 trainers and other volunteers;- 20 managers and managers of other voluntary organisations;- 180 volunteers, new or already active, even with fewer opportunities, taking part in experimental training and information courses;- 20 first generation immigrants or asylum seekers, who will be involved in training trials and placement in voluntary services;- 80 students or schools may also be included, which will be involved by linking VoW experiments to other local programmes;- 30 among operators of the associated partners and other stakeholders for research, accompaniment in promotional activities on the territories and for the practical evaluation of the results.It will be developed through 5 main Work Packages: 1) A new framework of competences of volunteering for the sustainable economy2) Recruitment and reception of volunteers for a sustainable economy3) Training the trainer of sustainable economies4) Testing and validation of courses for volunteers on sustainable economic activities5) From fair trade to civil society and citizenship: voluntary ambassadors of sustainability pathsSupported by 4 international trainings (three for trainers/staff, one for volunteer learners), 6 project meetings and 7 main results multiplier events.<< Results >>VoW plans to reach in 32 months 3 Innovative results (R), to foster the growth of skills of the world of volunteering on the issues of the sustainable economy, and increase the opportunities for active participation of European citizens in activism, especially in fair trade organisations, in a context of better ability to recruit, train and value volunteers:R1) CODE of skills and recruitment models for sustainable economy volunteers. It is the result of research, broad and innovative in this field, to define and organize the skills of the volunteer (which includes insights on knowledge about the sustainable economy), and to structure a subsequent model of recruitment and reception: the definition of the needs and expectations of the citizen who wants to commit himself, to the creation of information tools, selective and motivational.R2) GUIDELINES for the training of sustainable economy volunteers and their trainers: creation of a new overall training plan for volunteers in the main roles. And parallel Guidelines for the training of volunteer trainers.R3) The Sustainable Volunteer: TOOLKIT for organizations and volunteers on skills and paths of sustainable economy development. Offer to every volunteer sector the useful information to structure choices and ways of applying sustainability, in organizations, on how and where to learn about this topic and how to train their volunteers to become ""ambassadors"" of sustainability in their own community.Everyone will be able to access and use the tools produced, which will be available in English and in the languages of the countries involved, free online up to 24 months after the project deadline. At the end of VoW, the conservative estimate is that no less than 380 people, of the categories mentioned above, participated, but that the benefit, thanks to the national and European networks in which the partners are included, can reach at least another 200 fair trade practitioners and trainers, and some thousands of volunteers in organizations of different sectors, ready to launch information and training trials in other European countries.In the medium to long term, the results will offer:•For the fair trade new standards of skills and training processes;•e-learning modules, sustainable economy and its practices; made accessible and used by any organisation;•The strengthening of the main network of sustainable economy, recognized by the EU as ""Key action"" for the 12th SDGs ""Responsible Consumption and Production"", able to act simultaneously both as an economic/business model, that as an activator of social action and volunteering.•The increase of volunteers and active citizens on sustainable development issues; and trainers to support motivational growth and skills of volunteers already active in fair trade and beyond."

"<< Background >>Key background elements are:•The value of fashion and food sectors for the EU economy, based on quality as a strategic lever•The cultural and economic impact on other sectors (tourism, art, cultural services) central for urban economies.•The impact on social, environmental and cultural sustainability of both the supply chains.•Several cases of convergence between practices of food&fashion production, retailing and consumption have emerged in the economies of European cities•The pervasive role of digitalization for supply chains transparency and traceability and for innovating communication strategies toward more sustainability•The wide gap between attitudes/intentions and purchases’ behaviour, alongside the increasing consumers’ interest for the green productsCombining the knowledge about the two sectors is very promising if we want to create new job opportunities in cultural/creative urban industries.The areas of contamination are typically cultural and can be summarized as follows:1. Growing attention to the aesthetic dimension in food; the culture of packaging, decor, the art of plating. The valorization of the chefs’ creativity, considered as celebrities, alike it happens in fashion and social media worlds.2. Growing attention by fashion toward the food sector that is master in communicating values like authenticity, conviviality, identity, traced back to traditionally cultivated raw materials and traditional preparation techniques.4. Both value materials, inspirations, and knowledge that are rooted in the territories.5. Companies and firms in both sectors are increasingly developing circular business models. Moreover, Pandemic is showing the importance of developing specific competencies, due to some emerging trends:-Reduction/conversion of fashion production -Growth of local and 0KM food request-Increase of sustainable oriented consumers, with a new balance between local and global-Increase of digital communication and commercialization.All this given, both sectors require the development of specific communication techniques and strategies, to convey the strong intertwining of business strategies, knowledge, aesthetics, ethical values.In Europe there are just HE courses dedicated to the two sectors separately. For food, more than 200 MA/BA and high-level training courses, mainly focused on Chemistry, Engineering, Biochemistry, issues related to legislation or brand communication. For fashion, more than 400 MA/BA and high-level training courses, focused on Business management, Communication, Marketing and Design of fashion and textiles. No European evidence of university programmes/courses focusing on the common ground of fashion&food has been found (except one UK case for journalists/teachers). UC and JU have recently launched two BA programme to fill the gap, but they still need further experimentation and innovative contents.All in all, we want to take the challenge of teaching in this space, combining a sociological critical approach to cultural industries with innovative ideas and skills for the near future.F&F4Sustainability responds to the target groups’ needs as follow:•HE students, in order to make them learn cutting-edge contents and develop new skills to drive the next joint development of the two sectors.•University teachers/researchers, providing them with a new vision of the sectors and sustainability challenges.•University teachers/researchers together with public and private sectors operators, who will directly experience the joint design and test of learning modules and materials, to meet labour market’s competence needs.•Professionals and their companies, to keep their competitive power in the fashion & food world sectors, updating them with the latest and new elements of convergence and the sustainable trends.•Public managers and urban policy makers, to help them with a cultural cross approach, updating their ability to analyse urban phenomena and develop urban policies.<< Objectives >>THE OBJECTIVES•Update competencies of BA/MA students to the actual and perspective needs of the fashion &food sectors and to their increasing convergence, concentrating on the key issue of circular economy, sustainability communication, and tools for digital media analysis and visual analysis, with a cultural and interdisciplinary approach.•Adapting university courses and teachers' practices to future trends of fashion&food synergies, with a quick response to skills' needs, including soft and digital skills.•Developing community competencies in the same fields, by transferring content, methods and tools to continuous training for various target (young entrepreneurs and start-uppers, public managers, professionals in local businesses, etc.).<< Implementation >>In 36 months, 8 partners (4 universities, 1 fair trade umbrella organisation, 1 employment and training non-profit organisation, 1 global entrepreneurship and innovation support organization, 1 public regional business promotion agency) from 6 EU countries, will develop the following activities:WP1 - Definition of course module contents. Collection and preparation of contents on sustainability models in the fashion&food cultural industries and their synergies, key issues selection, partners’ experience exchange, territory mapping, case studies, competence framework (including soft and digital skills).WP2 -Course modules design. Identification and choice of the most effective and innovative methods for university teaching about sustainability issues in fashion&food. Preparation of training and in-depth seminars on new modules for teachers and researchers.WP3 - International testing of the course modules taught in English (first phase). Preparation of 2 training modules for students. Intensive testing of modules with students of all partner universities. Observation by other partners. Local training experiments of partner trainers on target groups (teachers, researchers and first groups of students). Analysis of the results, systematisation, validation and results certification.WP4 – Testing of course modules (second phase) and fine-tuning. Preparation of other 4 new modules for testing. Translations of training materials into the partner languages to enable the implementation of modules. Diversified implementation of new modules for students in different courses in all partner universities. Validation and certification.WP5 - Training the community. Design of training seminars/webinars. Adaptation of previous results into training contents for city managers and young professionals or future entrepreneurs. Implementation and testing of new seminars/webinars for entrepreneurs and/or public managers. Validation and fine-tuning of seminars/webinars. Creation of an online group (social media to be defined) to support and consolidate communication with stakeholders.The activities include transnational trainings (one in presence and 3 online - C) supporting the work packages implementation, local testing of course modules and seminars/webinars, 7 Transnational partners’ meeting (TMP) and 10 multiplier events (E).The project will involve (minimum estimated number):1.200 students who will participate in the testing of modules and materials, at international and local level;2.20 teachers, researchers and trainers who will participate in the testing of the modules;3.24 people of partners’ staff who will participate in any of the project activities;4.30 people of partners’ staff who will participate in local activities in their own countries;5.15 people of the staff of associated partner and other stakeholders who will participate in the trainings;6.50 people between personnel of enterprises, public bodies and other organisations who will contribute to the contents collection and modules testing;7.100 young entrepreneurs, public managers and professionals for the testing of the seminars/webinars.<< Results >>The project aims to increase knowledge about the intersection and cross fertilisation of fashion&food as cultural industries. The main concrete RESULTS will be as follows:R1. New contents to communicate sustainability in fashion&food. Collection and comparison of teaching experiences, workshops, research results focused on sustainability, in order to develop a new vocabulary to go beyond the term ""sustainability"" and specify the concrete different processes and dimensions which sustainability is made of. The word “sustainability” is overused and risks losing its meaning. It indicates actions linked to very different fields (environment, working conditions, cultural differences, etc.). It is time to go towards a new vocabulary able to express each of those dimensions and create awareness and advocacy among citizens and consumers.R2. New training guidelines for teachers. Reference tool for teachers and researchers to adopt new training modules in courses for students. The guidelines will collect tested experience, with attention to continuous teaching and learning evaluation.R3 New course modules for University degrees. Creation of tested brand-new contents for HE university students (BA/MA). The learning content will be organized in modular units that can be implemented in a flexible waySome ideas have been preliminary discussed with partners and will be developed, integrated and selected in WP1, such as:•MediaDataLab for collaborative development, refinement and use of data-driven tools for media analysis, with a focus on the analysis of visual data;•""Wardrobes and Cupboards”, to empirically study the role of material culture of f&f in everyday life;•Transparency and traceability of processes and products in the fashion and food supply chains;•Cultural sustainability (e.g. appropriation, inclusion, diversity etc.);•…R4. Training modules for the community. Training modules for professionals and adults for their lifelong learning, based on the university ones (R3). The learning materials will be suitable for e-learning and or blended learning. The foreseen activities develop further qualitative results:-University programmes (and their e-learning platforms) enriched with sharable international modules.-Students and professionals trained in new competences during the testing.-A group teachers of the partners HEI able to use the new contents and training materials, both on site and online.-The partnership staff trained as a team in the content collection/selection and technically and methodologically trained to produce learning materials, with attention to multimedia.-A 1st nucleus of a network of public and private organisations interested in the convergent development of the two sectors.The OUTCOMES will be:1. Improvement of the HE offer through:a.The development of competencies coherent with the latest trend in f&f and their synergiesb.The development of competencies that embed the digital turn as a facilitating condition for a sustainable transition.c.Experiential and participated learning methods2. The deepening of a humanities approach to the study of the cross-fertilization between fashion&food.3. Thanks to the type of partnership, where the University approach is faced with other learning approaches (adult education and continuous training AM, AL, SFG, EE), the outputs will be suitable for a number of potential targets, preserving a high-level standard, and available for partners and any other organisation interested in using them.4. An increase in the knowledge and skills of teachers, researchers, tutors, and students involved in the project.5. Strengthening of collaboration between universities dedicated teaching and research about sustainability.6. New connections among project partners and stakeholders’ organizations, at the private as well as at the public level.7. Promoting the transfer of the obtained results to other countries in which our partners’ networks operate, thus valorsing them."