The textile and fashion industry are one of the most important manufacturing industries in Europe; they are, however, also the second biggest global polluter after the oilindustry. The United Nations(UN), in February 2018, described "Fast Fashion" as an environmental emergency.The European Union(EU)is currently leading the work globally on the environmental challenges of the textile and fashion industry, taking concrete steps,at legislative,policy andprogrammatic level. This has positively impacted EU SMEs working inthese industries, as more and more of them are shifting towards more sustainable modes of design, production and recycle. As such, these companies are achievingelements of differentiationand competitive improvement in the market. The FASCINATEproject aims to leverage this competitive advantage, by helping shape the EU sustainable fashion and textile meta-cluster(s) and at the same time support them in accessing the global value chains.Thus,the proposed project contributes directly to theoverall objective of the COSME programme,by fostering the creation and development of a European Strategic Cluster Partnership –Going International (ESCP-4i)in the textile/fashion sectorandrelated industries (footwear and technology) based on circulareconomy and sustainability principles, which is oriented towards increased internationalizationand strengthened sustainability of European SMEs.
Projects
Migrant integration has gained prominence in recent years, notably with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which calls to “leave no one behind”, including the migrant population.
In the EU, discussions have been focused on the integration of migrant populations for many decades.
Regional authorities are increasingly active in the field of migrants’ integration. They enjoy the advantage of being close to the population and have first-hand knowledge of the challenges and needs of the local society.
Nevertheless, there is lacking an effective structure or mechanism to facilitate, guide and improve their work and efforts.
A common framework for migrants’ and refugees’ integration in regions is key to ensure a fruitful use of their proximity to the
population and to encourage regional cooperation in this topic.
The main objective of REGIN would therefore be to set a common framework for migrants’ and refugees’ integration for regions, and to develop a set of tools to achieve integration. Specifically, the project aims to enable regional
policy-makers to use evidence-based, feasibility tested cutting-edge research to underpin policy-making on integration.
The project aims to ensure that the communication, capitalization and dissemination activity targeted at a broad audience is organised in a continuous and effective manner throughout the whole project cycle.
Four main objectives are addressed in the project:
1) Identifying inclusion and integration indicators at regional level;
2) Developing a set of tools able to facilitate regional performance on promoting and strengthening migrants’ and
refugees’ integration;
3) Improving planning and monitoring of integration indicators;
4) Interchange, dialogue and cooperation in practices and initiatives between partners.
The aim is to advance robustness, accuracy and reliability of the regional authorities’ capabilities to promote
integration, as well as improving cooperation and knowledge-sharing among them.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the “good” governance has become a must when sports organisations are facing cases of corruption, doping, match fixing and mismanagement.
The overall objective of this project is to create a governance and management tool to analyse, compare and assist European sports organizations (ESO) to manage them in a more efficient and transparent way.
The project tackles 5 gaps identified by ESO managers and the European Commission:
1. Practical Tool,
2. Objective indicators,
3. Integrated model,
4. Transparency and Open Data,
5. Risk Management.
EPICAH aims to promote the improvement of the policy instruments for crossborder cooperation processes in the natural and cultural heritage protection. The objective of the project is also to develop the management of the border by using it as a tourist attraction factor. It shall improve the effectiveness of tourism activity in managing the organization and valorisation of these assets.
Working together to support a better crossborder cooperation in the preservation, protection, promotion and development of natural and cultural heritage.
For the next five years partners will learn from each other and share their knowledge and also their challenges they face in crossborder development in order to enhance the cooperation between border entities by encouraging coordinated actions of the policy makers and technicians responsible for its implementation by developing sustainable, homogeneous and consistent tools on both sides of the border in heritage preservation.
The objective of STEP4youth is to design, test and evaluate a new sport-based intervention that introduces and improves employability knowledge, skills and networks in order to foster the social inclusion of refugee and migrant youth (including unaccompanied minors and youth at highest risk) in Europe. This new Programme will focus on soft skills valued by employers, such as commitment, motivation, teamwork, flexibility, leadership, time-management or creativity and problem-solving to name few. Working and strengthening these skills will allow a group of 180 refugees and migrant youth from Spain, Greece and Italy to be better equipped when entering the labour market. Having a job is crucial for their independency and self-reliance and facilitates their social inclusion and integration in Europe. The programme, inspired by the best European practices linking sport and social inclusion, will be delivered by a pool of 90 educators and coaches trained in the new methodology. Furthermore, the project will connect refugees and migrants with a group of 15 companies through the so-called BRIDGE events, an ideal platform for employers to seek for new talent duly trained by the Programmes’ methodology. Another key output of the project is the design of a systematization process to evaluate and asses the intervention, and from there extract conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations for the EU sporting community. Dissemination of project results is ensured through the wide international network of the project partners, and at least 20 new European organizations will be identified to share with them the STEP4youth values and seek their adhesion to the network. The project is led by the Barça Foundation, partnering with Organization Earth, Prospettiva Cooperative, the Danish Refugee Council and the European Football for Development Network.
The main objective of Awakening Sleeping Instruments in Europe (AWAKEN) is setting up a transnational cooperation mechanism, made of public and private cultural operators, in order to recover, recreate and to promote musical instruments from the Middle Ages, a common cultural heritage of several EU countries. By achieving this goal, the project will reconnect European citizens with their common past, transmitting important values, spirit, traditions and stories of the Middle Ages Europe through the magic of music and its instruments. AWAKEN involves the recreation of the instruments depicted in wood or other mean, with professional musicians from CY, ES, FR and IT making them sound again to a wide and new public. This project will enable at least 50 musicians and singers to travel abroad and perform in front of wide and international audiences, while exploring new professional opportunities through a significant number of meetings with cultural agents. 80 concerts will be organised around emblematic medieval monuments to attract visitors attention, which will be complemented by awareness raising seminars and educational workshops about the reconstruction of instruments. Special remark to the VR travelling exhibition, projecting tangible heritage from the 4 countries during the concerts and shows. The whole strategy will be supported by a sound communication and dissemination strategy, including the edition of 1000 pedagogical CD-Books with live recordings. Another key output is the Online Educational Platform, where 20 music teachers will provide training to at least 500 people interested in medieval music and history. Finally, the Final Congress will deliver main project conclusions and recommendations, inviting key European stakeholders to know more about the main project research and outputs. This Congress will be supported by the final and biggest AWAKEN concert.
General objective of the project is to contribute towards sustaining European young athletes in their DC and increase their employment opportunities (before and during the retirement transition), providing them support to prepare for careers outside the sport field and promoting the recognition of nonformal education acquired during their sport career. This project initiative connects academic experts, sport organisations’ volunteers and representatives and the business sector, from six EU countries – Spain, Italy, Finland, Bulgaria, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Financing is a fundamental aspect for the development of sport and sporting organizations as highlighted in the EU Work Plan for Sport 2014-2017. Main sources of funding come from public organizations, though private companies and the sports industry are becoming more and more relevant in terms of sponsorship. In both cases good governance appears as a crucial condition to be fulfilled in order to manage external funding. Adopting new and innovative mechanisms of governance will have a direct and positive effect in the overall image of sport organizations and likely increase the sponsorship revenues and attractiveness of sport. BIG4SPORTS aims at connecting funding sources (public & private) with sports organizations to jointly develop new and innovative collaboration schemes in governance for sport. The main project objective is strengthening governance capacities of sport organizations fruit of their collaboration with public and private sponsors, achieving long-lasting cooperation between them. More specifically, BIG4SPORTS seeks to: 1) Jointly develop an innovative collaborative scheme to effectively enforce governance principles in sport organizations, built from the excellence of public and private (corporate) governance standards; and 2) Implement and evaluate this scheme in order to deliver a solid and tested methodology transferable to the EU sporting community. The partnership is made up of 9 organizations covering 9 EU Member States and bringing in a permanent dialogue forum the sports industry, public authorities, sporting organizations (5 multi-sport clubs which are the main beneficiaries of the new governance scheme) and academic partners contributing to the conceptualization of the new scheme. The project estimates an impact in the partnering 5 sports clubs and their around 19000 people (managers, staff, coaches, players, etc.) as well as in other 50 European clubs beyond the partnership adopting the BIG4SPORTS Scheme through online tools.
The main objective of the Dual Career for Women Athletes (DONA) is to investigate, develop and test a DC methodology for successfully approaching & enhancing women’s athletes Dual Careers in a form of a club-based pilot project, involving volleyball clubs from 4 different EU countries. Furthermore, the partnership consists of the necessary & complementary profiles of a university (UL), a coaching center (DSM) & of the European Dual Career Network (EAS) from 2 more EU countries. The project will target female volleyball athletes between 12-20 years old, covering the important development stages including major changes on academic, athletic, psychological, social & professional levels. Through the sport clubs, 250 athletes will be directly involved in the pilot program. Moreover, 300 family members, 25 coaches & 24 other clubs’ staff will also be directly part of the DONA project.Athletes & main stakeholders will be first taking part in a study where DC experts will investigate deeper the challenges faced by the target group. After, following the developed DC methodology several professionals in key areas (such as psychologist, career coach, nutritionist etc.) led by the Dual Career Club Management (DCCM) unit will support & help athletes in the 16 months long pilot. Further to the support services, the clubs will work on creating an optimal DC environment by setting up the necessary cooperation agreements with educational institutions (4 universities & 16 local schools will be involved).The project’s most important IO will be a transferable DC support methodology specially designed for female athletes. The successful achievement of DONA aims at; decreasing female athletes’ dropout from sport clubs; preparing athletes for the transition periods with developing the needed skills & competences; increasing the number of elite female volleyball players; making young athletes & their families aware that it is possible to aim for both educational & sports career.
The main objective of the project is to foster dialogue between 13-19 aged old young people from Spain and Greece and their critical thinking on the issues of gender equality and social inclusion with a focus on the migration crisis in Europe through the use of audiovisual tools and the non-formal education methodology.
The main project results are:
- short films on social issues developed by young people,
- film festivals with the presentation of short films, developed by young people and open debates on gender equality and social inclusion with the focus on migration crisis in Europe,
- blog about the project flow and its results,
- webinar for youth workers “The methodology of the use of audiovisual language for youth work focused on social issues such as social inclusion and gender equality”,
- development of key and personal competencies of young people,- professional development of youth workers - project leaders.