The project aimed to support the professionalisation at EU level of participatory and innovative local development processes, in line with 4 ERASMUS+ priorities: Inclusion and diversity, Digital transformation, Environment and climate action, Participation in democratic life and civic engagement. Its specific objectives were: SO1: To collect evidence on recent approaches adopted by territorial communities (local authorities and stakeholders) to address current development challenges, with a focus on integrating human resources from diverse sectors and backgrounds. SO2: To identify emerging competence needs and develop a reference framework to assess learning needs, design integrated curricula in higher education and VET, match professional development demand and supply, and explore the feasibility of a competence certification system at EU level. SO3: To design and test a modular curriculum prototype for various job roles (e.g. Territory Analyst, Community Manager), based on a shared body of knowledge and adaptable specialisations. SO4: To provide learning opportunities and foster a transnational professional learning community through a collaboration platform aimed at sustaining project results and expanding active participation.
The digital and green transition in EU pushed local and regional authorities to create multi-stakeholder platforms and co-design development paths aligned with local needs and EU strategies in National Recovery Plans. New and consolidated sector-specific working routines needed to be integrated into system-level efforts, bringing together different disciplines and professional practices. Public Administrations were not the only ones seeking new professional profiles for next-generation planning; the private sector and civil society were also expected to play a significant and positive role. That is why the project partners saw the necessity and opportunity of exploring, analyzing, and structuring the emerging professional area that referred to innovation-oriented participatory local development, and proposing a reference and a learning community to support the initial training and continuing professional development of qualified professionals, based on a common European platform of partners and digital learning resources. The bottom-up approach was crucial, as innovation required local adoption rather than just policy declarations. The project’s “practice approach” embodied this principle, fostering grassroots social innovation.