U-ECO Upskilling for more creative circular economy
U-ECO is a project co-financed with the support of the European Union through the ERASMUS + under the coordination of SWIDEAS AB (Sweden) alongside partners from Belgium (ASSOCIATION EUROPEENNE DES AGENCES DE DEVELOPPEMENT), Poland(STOWARZYSZENIE ARID), RomaniaCENTRUL PENTRU PROMOVAREA INVATARII PERMANENTE TIMISOARA ASOCIATIA), Spain(FORMACION PARA EL DESARROLLO E INSERCION, SOCIEDAD LIMITADA and BIOAZUL, SL).
U-ECO is a project carried out during the period October 2019 – September 2021.
A full transition to Circular Economy is not possible without professionals with a new way ofunderstanding the economy, a comprehensive knowledge of the circular business models and newskills, tools and competences for developing circular strategies. The job market needs to be prepared for a transition that is already taking place and a specific Circular Economy training would be a key instrument to boost theemployability, self-employment and meet the new labour market demand.
For that purposes, the objectives of the U-ECO project are:
♦ Identify the current state of development of Circular Economy in the EU zone.
♦ Identify areas with more potential of self-employment and job profiles required.
♦ Promote Circular Economy showing the opportunities this model offers and the risks for our societyof a linear model continuation.
♦ Endow a range of young adults with a deep understanding of the Circular Business Models andtools to initiate and finance their business in the context of Circular Economy.
To reach these objectives, U-eco target groups are:
♦ Entrepreneurs interested in starting a business in a Circular Economy Context.
♦ Professionals interested in learning about Circular Business Models
This project is based on 3 Intellectual Outputs:
Intellectual Output 1 – Circular Economy for promoting entrepreneurship and self-employment: Major expected outputs: design and implementation of a training strategy based on the analysis of the current state of development and application of the CE in the partners’ countries, needed to detect which our baseline is and to trace the way forward.
Intellectual Output 2– Learning from real life. Major expected outputs: selection of successful case studies and good practices divided into 5 blocks connected to the areas previously identified with the aim of inspiring the potential entrepreneurs.
Intellectual Output 3 – Upgrading facilitator for Circular Economy. Major expected outputs: the creation of a manual for trainers (in e-format). Future trainers will need to work independently in an effective way, so it is intended to produce a manual too, on the one hand, be able to use all tools and products developed within the project and, on the other hand, be able to apply de methodology followed within U-eco and further develop their own tools.