Work 4.0

<< Background >>Work 4.0 addressed the need to guarantee employment in SMEs and Social Enterprises (SE) for working age adults and make them able to face the market transitions towards a more digital learning environment. Studies shed light on the significant impact SMEs and SE suffered as consequence to the pandemic and their strong need for digital skills development to face the market changes, especially in the light of new approaches to work such as hybrid and smart working. The Work 4.0 project addressed this need through an exchange of good practice that allowed partners to build capacity and support the target group through the creation of a high-quality e-platform that provides in an interactive and easy way the possibility for working age adults to develop “ready to use skills” with a positive cascade effect on the SMEs and SEs in which they are active. Our project contributed to adapt vocational education and training to the specific requirements the labour market poses to SMEs and SE and to increase the flexibility of opportunities in VET with a flexible learning approach that included exchange of good practice, e-learning platform and local training.<< Objectives >>Our objectives were to: -create an e-learning platform with the correct mix of skills and competences to allow professionals and working age adults in SMEs and social enterprises to approach the digital trends of hybrid and smart working that have shaped the job’s market during and after the pandemic.-collaborate to close the digital gap in SMEs and Social Enterprises allowing them to manage successfully the market’s transitions. We provided working age adults in this sector high-quality platform and materials to develop “ready to use skills”, enhancing productivity and resilience of SMEs and Social Enterprises in the new digital era. -exchange good practices among partners on hybrid and smart working to build capacity and be better able to sustain the development of local SMEs and Social Enterprises, especially in rural and deprived areas. The emphasis on sharing good practices was not only to enhance individual organizational capacities but also to create a ripple effect in the broader VET sector.<< Implementation >>The Work 4.0 project: -Created an online e-learning platform for SMEs and Social enteprises available in ENG, GER, IT, TR. The partners created layout and contents for the platform creating flexible materials and interactive exercises to respond to the needs of working age adults in SMEs and Social Enterprises dealing with the digital accelleration catalysed by the pandemic.-Implemented 3 face-to-face TPMs (Lanciano IT 27-28 Jun’22, Berlin GE 3-4 Nov’22 & Innsbruck AT 31 Mar – 1 Apr’23) and 5 online meetings (18.01.22, 10.05.22, 18.10.22, 08.02.23, 03.05.23). The meetings allowed partners to cooperate and coordinate for the implementation of the activities and exchange good practices regarding the digitalisation of working environments, specifically on smart and hybrid working practices, tools and methodologies for digital skills development.-Trained of 24 working age adults in SMEs and/or Social Enteprises in 3 partner countries through a high-quality methodology that combined work-based learning, blended learning and flipped teaching. -Moreover, the project also included dissemination activities, both face-to-face and web-based, as well as an analysis of project results that confirmed the achievement of our goals.<< Results >>The Work 4.0 project: -carried out 3 Transnational project meetings and 5 online progress meetings.-designed and created 1 interactive e-platform available in OER for digital skills development in smart and hybrid working.-trained 24 working age adults in SMEs and Social enterprises through work-based and blended learning combined with flipped teaching for hybrid and smart working. -created 1 dedicated project website http://www.work4project.eu/ with information and access to the e-platform materials -built capacity of 3 EU organisations active in VET through exchange of good practice for the benefit of the sector and the creation of new pathways, for the benefit of the sector and more specifically of rural and deprived areas. -90% increase in digital skills for working age adults in SME and SE with “ready to use skills”.