Erasmus + Projects
News about the projects we're working at
News about the projects we're working at
In the light of the SWIFTSME project’s end, Kleinon has held a face-to-face multiplier event on the 27th of October 2022 in Romania.
The event has taken place in Tg. Neamt and hosted 31 participants, a mixture of SME actors, freelancers, teachers and trainers and they were actively involved in the presentation and in open debates on:
• Overall presentation of the Project and current contexts on the Pandemic end.
• Operational overview of the Project: coordinator, involved partners, duration, E+ KA2 and the strategic partnerships.
• The intellectual outputs of the Project, along with a live demonstration of the OER Platform, e-learning activities and a summary of the Mapping ran by Kleinon in Romania.
• Group discussions: feedback on IOs, sharing insights and personal examples, good practice and development ideas.
The participants were pleased to receive a walkthrough on the OER platform, in order to access the Training Materials.
In order to comply with the ‘Green Deal’, Kleinon offered an alternative solution to gather feedback from the attendees: the ones who had smart devices on them could scan a QR code and leave their Feedback for the Multiplier Event through a Google Form.
Kleinon is happy to declare that after collating the feedback from both the hard copy and the responses spreadsheet, these reflected that the attendees were positive with the logistics around the event (70% of the respondents said it was an excellent service) and the way the information was delivered onto them (72% stated the delivered content was ‘very good’ and an exceptional 91% mentioned the event helped them to better understand what Smart Working means) and will further use the SWIFTSME’s resources in their Business (60% declared that they will further consider using some of the tools and the remaining– 40% stated they will definitely use the instruments).
On the other hand, the trainers and the teachers are looking forward to using the IO4, since they were glad to hear that there is an instrument available for a great delivery of the training sessions and a set of good-practice for knowledge-transfer (5 out of 6 teachers and trainers mentioned that they will introduce the tools in their teaching courses and the same amount stated that the Training Materials (IO3) and the Uptake Guidelines (IO4) are very useful).
To conclude, the event was a striking success and an effective instrument to reach out to the local community of SMEs and teachers. With their help, SWIFTSME will be further mentioned and used as a tool in their day-to-day work.
Should you want to find out more on the SWIFTSME Project, you may visit our website and follow us on social media:
https://www.swiftsme.eu/
https://www.facebook.com/SWIFT-SME-104501944845553
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Wqet13FceKmrzBmiOUteA
The fourth transnational project meeting was conducted on October 14, 2022 in Cottbus. The meeting gave a reflection of the overall project duration and which tasks have already been done.
In the first months of 2020, as COVID-19 infections were rising all over the world, entrepreneurs and employers have been asked to close their activities and, if possible, to transfer all of their work online, forcing them to implement telecommuting solutions that, in many cases, have never been experienced before.
A comprehensive sample of results emerging from EU sources1, confirm that EU SMEs and their internal workforce lack a strong and reliable digital/ICT culture (specifically those located in the Mediterranean and Balkan area); a skill-lag that throughout the post-crisis exacerbated pre-existing gaps in terms of opportunities for long-term financial sustainability.
EU SMEs are the most affected by the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Europe is “closed for business”, and while large companies have systems in place to implement telecommuting and smart work, SMEs (especially microenterprises) do not have ICT systems in place nor policies for their staff to work remotely.
SWIFT SME tackles the challenge to equip micro and SMEs all across Europe with tools and means to embrace telecommuting as a new competitive solution to operate in the new business scenarios.
The 2-years project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission and reunites a consortium of six organisation from five countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania and Spain).
As the first project’s result, the strategic partnership developed, tested and published online the official Open Educational Resource (OER) Platform. The SWIFT SME’s Platform is in multilanguage version and its consultation is completely free with no log-in credentials required; throughout the following two years, the OER Platform will publish the milestones achieved by the partnership, namely:
• Transnational analysis from secondary and primary sources mapping quantitative and qualitative dynamics related to the phenomenon of smart working and telecommuting among microentrepreneurs and SMEs
• Training tools and operational solutions to facilitate a smooth transition towards new business models embracing the paradigm of remote working
• Uptake guidelines to sustain the replicability of the project so to wide-spread SWIT SME’s impacts beyond its natural life cycle
Extremely relevant is also the COMMUNITY section of the Platform: private and public stakeholders in the domain of Entrepreneurship, digital training, business consultancy, etc., will be able to join the community of practice of SWIFT SME while remaining updated on projects’ results and achievements.
For further information on SWIFT SME:
http://www.swiftsme.eu/
https://www.facebook.com/SWIFT-SME-104501944845553
Kleinon joined the online Kick-Off meeting of SWIFT SME – Smart Working: Innovative & Flexible Training for SMEs, a project co-financed by Erasmus+ Programme
On November 30, 2020, Kleinon joined the online Kick-Off Meeting of SWIFT SME (Smart Working: Innovative & Flexible Training for SMEs), a Project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, which brings together six Partners from five countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania and Spain). The Kick-Off Meeting, hosted by the Centrum fur Innovation und Technologie GmbH (CIT) and Institut De Haute Formation aux Politiques Communautaires asbl (IHF), was originally planned in Brussels, but has been rescheduled online due to COVID-19 restrictions.
EU SMEs represent the backbone of the EU economy. Yet, they are also the least prepared to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and the related lockdown measures. Contrarily to large companies, SMEs are ill equipped for the shift to remote work, lacking as they are both ICT systems and policies to ensure business continuity. According to the latest figures, less than 15% of EU SMEs are ready to implement Smart Working arrangements (European Commission).
The European Commission acknowledged the pressing need to make SMEs competitive and resilient by providing them with ICT solutions and practices to implement Smart Working. Not only is this transition an absolute necessity, but it also constitutes an opportunity, as it allows businesses to increase their efficiency and improve their employees’ working conditions (Eurofound/ILO).
The SWIFT project stands as a concrete response to the pressing need of equipping SMEs with new, innovative and “agile” business models.
SWIFT specifically targets this most vulnerable yet essential segment of European economies to bridge the skill gap and make SMEs more flexible, responsive, efficient and thus able to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis and in the post-pandemic world.
SWIFT will capitalise on the valuable experience of its consortium partners to provide SMEs with skills, competences and tailored solutions to successfully implement Smart Working arrangements. In particular, partners will carry out the following activities:
a) Develop the SWIFT OER Platform, a repository of knowledge accessible to all, free of charge, in full Open Access mode and in multilingual versions (DE, EN, IT, RO, ES)
b) Develop a shared methodology for the mapping of current trends, threats and opportunities (including technical, operational and human resource implications) and then consolidate the findings in a final report on the basis of which the training and tools will be designed
c) Develop the SWIFT training courses, handouts, operational tools and guidelines for European SMEs to adapt and implement Smart Working so as to stay afloat, be more responsive, efficient and competitive, all the while improving the work-life balance of their employees.
d) Deliver the training to 120 target groups and collect feedback to fine tune the material created
e) Develop guidelines to facilitate the uptake of SWIFT and its mainstreaming in VET and SME ecosystems
f) Put forward policy options to promote Smart Working and competitiveness of SMEs
For further information on SWIFT SME https://www.swiftsme.eu/
DELTA is an Erasmus+ project coordinated by Dundee & Angus College (Scotland) which counts with partners from Germany, Romania, Italy, Sweden and the Basque Country.
Along the first year of the project, this team developed a tool addressed to VET teachers and VET students, based on the use of Google sites, to create professional digital portfolios in order to present the VET learners´ skills and competences in a more attractive way to companies.
The second half of the project starts with this meeting in Berlin, where partners discussed about the development of a toolkit addressed to companies, to attract them to dual VET and also to improve the quality of the work based learning (WBL) provided by them, and also exchanged experiences on the use of collaborative schemes for WBL, which will be gathered in a final document with some conclusions/recommendations for policy makers, companies and VET colleges themselves.
The tool to elaborate digital portfolios and the rest of the results of the project will be accesible in the project Website
The multiplier event, dedicated to VET colleges/teachers, their industry partners and interested companies, to offer them the opportunity experience DELTA Digital Portfolio, what it is, how to use it in their relation with companies and how to develop their own digital portfolio, brought together 32 VET professionals, twice the number initially expected, showing the high level of interest amongst them for improving VET-companies cooperation.
It involved highly interactive activities and active participation of all the attendants. After the initial presentations of the project and the project, live demonstrations, testing sessions and workshops have been organized. The participants provided feedback on how the usability and impact of the product can be maximized and they have expressed their interest for future collaboration.
The event and DELTA Digital Portfolio been rated as high quality and with a significant degree of relevance and usefulness for the VET field by 100% of the participants
3rd and 4th of May 2018
24-25th of April 2018
Between November 30th and December 1st Kleinon met for the first time with the AXESS project partners in Brussels. The event was hosted by IHF (Institut de Haute Formation aux Politiques Communautaires asbl).
AXESS (Acquisition of Key Competences for Economic and Social Sustainability) is the concrete answer to specific needs in the field of upskilling adults, with focus on Digital Skills for low skilled adult women. The choice for the topic (Digital Skills) is due to the relevance of digital skills in modern social and economic environment. Digital Skills for low skilled adults is a priority for Erasmus+; Digital skills for adult women is a topic for Slovakia: the OECD International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), which is a survey of adult skills, reports that Slovakia scores very well in Literacy (8 out of 24 countries) and Numeracy (7 in 24). But Slovakia scores poorly (17 on 24) in “Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environment” (the combination of ICT literacy and cognitive skills of problem solving: in EU and Erasmus+ Context = Digital Skills).
The direct target group is represented by low-skilled adult women and the overall “ecosystem” of female digital empowerment, including AE. A very import part are AE educators, trainers and mentors who also need to enhance their digital skills. The project is coordinated by Academia Istropolitana Nova from Slovakia.
Kleinon attended the first transnational meeting of DELTA (Developing Expertise in Learning and Training Assessment in the Workplace) project, held in Dundee on November 5th/6th and hosted by Dundee and Angus College.
The objective of the proposal is to increase the skills of tutors in company to be able to host, train, monitor and assess the apprentices/students and design a process to facilitate the participation of SMEs in the dual VET system (or any other scheme of hosting students in companies). The project will aim to promote a training culture amongst companies, especially SMEs, through awareness raising activities and utilizing the experience of companies with a prior experience of hosting VET students and showing the beneficial results for the organization.
We're open to cooperation and new ideas.
office@kleinon.eu
international@kleinon.eu
+40742807292
