Urban regeneration with the help of artist entrepreneurship_ArtUrbanRegen

In the current policy context, EU countries are facing a broad range of issues and challenges with a disproportionate impact on urban areas, for eg., social exclusion, economic disparities and losses, migration, and environmental degradation. Historic and traditional buildings and sites play crucial roles in the identity of cities, but statistics have shown that an important % of them are left aside- abandoned (2.03% in EU, 1.75% ES, 2.06% DE, 1.68 SE, and 3.34% in RO, according to EU Building Stock Observatory-EU leading in renewables). Refurbishing the sites and build non-used and left-aside environments can have additional positive effects on communities such as improving cultural landscapes, facilitating a more balanced demographic distribution of population, and providing a solid base for local economic activities. Therefore, it is necessary to create new profiles of professionals to identify and keep these buildings and sites alive, ensuring their permanent and efficient use, adapting them to the current needs of the community and of the social environment. 31.3 % of young people aged 18-24 in comparison with 17.4 % of the elderly aged 65+, in the EU are still at risk of poverty or social exclusion, 35% of the adults having attained at the most the lower secondary education level. The consequence is severe material deprivation and very low work intensity affecting 8.1 % of the EU residents. In comparison with an EU youth unemployment of 17.9%, the lowest % of unemployment was observed in DE(3.6%), while the highest was recorded in ES (42.9%). In RO, it was 4.8% in 2017 and in SE of 6.6%. As a possible solution, the partnership proposed the development of urban regeneration and artistic entrepreneurial skills for adults of the knowledge-based society in order to know how to answer to this current problem of their community: old buildings and sites left aside- abandoned and the risk of poverty and social exclusion. The project answered these problems, by developing and offering training courses, extending and developing the competencies in the area of urban regeneration and artist entrepreneurship, improving and extending the supply of high-quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of low-qualified adults, that will help them to better fit the social and labor market needs. The project answered these problems, by developing and offering training courses, extending and developing the competencies in the area of urban regeneration and artist entrepreneurship, improving and extending the supply of high-quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of low-qualified adults, that will help them to better fit the social and labor market needs. The partnership succeeded in reaching through its project activities all profiles described in the target group, exceeded the indicators set initially in the application form (at least 305 persons), as follows: 119 Low-qualified adults in the Pilot course (RO, ES, DE, SE, and other EU countries), 35 Educators in Urban regeneration, Entrepreneurship and Creative industries (RO, ES, SE), more than 450 Decision makers, Experts, specialists, professionals, and more than 17100 persons reached as a result of the dissemination activities at national and international level (project social media, organizational websites and Facebook accounts, project e-learning platform, EU dissemination platforms), 107 decision-makers, experts, specialists, professionals attending the 7 multiplier events organized in the project countries, 18 low skilled adults attending the 1-week training workshop in Valencia, etc. The project generated as tangible results the following: - a training package in Urban regeneration, tested in the 1-week workshop in Valencia with 18 low skilled adults - a social e-learning platform, comprising of 1 interactive EN course and 5 theoretical courses and additional training resources and materials (EN, RO, ES, SE, and DE) to ensure the proper future training of the low-qualified adults; the platform also stands as the project website - a Handbook for Training facilitators in Urban regeneration with complementary information to the training course - an assessment tool for evaluating and validating the learning progress of trainees who have in the e-learning experience - a Policy Guidelines on Urban Regeneration, developed to make the project methodology transferable and used in other European contexts and by other actors - dissemination materials – 1 leaflet, 6 newsletters, and 1 promotional video - 1-week training workshop organized in Valencia to test the training course and e-learning platform - 7 different Urban regeneration Camps organized, multiplier events (1-ES, 3-RO, 1-DE, and 2-SE) To legally ensure the successful realization of the project, consortium agreements have been signed by all project partners, together with addendums when changes have occurred in the partnership consortium or allotted budget. Also, the coordinator and one representative from each partner (the steering committee)-was responsible to report to the coordinator and management team all the financial and administrative tasks of the respective partner, or to monitor and approve the development and progress of the project's activities. The project coordinator ensured the smooth communication flow and project management between partners, providing all information guidelines and reporting document templates to be used, and he also implemented the Monitoring and Quality assessment and transversal activities. The Spanish partner was responsible for the Dissemination and exploitation of project results. The most important impact of the project was to raise awareness about urban regeneration and artist entrepreneurship, by developing entrepreneurial and urban regeneration skills, with artistic input, for low-qualified adults, with the purpose of making the transition from a lack of knowledge or low skills stage to a complete social inclusion, upgrading the competencies needed on the work market, in a transnational approach. The most important impact of the project was to raise awareness about urban regeneration and artist entrepreneurship, by developing entrepreneurial and urban regeneration skills, with artistic input, for low-qualified adults, with the purpose of making the transition from a lack of knowledge or low skills stage to a complete social inclusion, upgrading the competencies needed on the work market, in a transnational approach. The main tools that will ensure the continuity on a long term basis (for at least 5 years) of this impact are the Facebook profile, the eLearning platform/website, and the partners’ organizational web sites with project information. The training courses, Handbook, Assessment tool, Policy Paper, and all the other project materials will still be available on the e-learning platform as free open resources after the project completion.