INnovation Capacity building foR EnhAncing Sustainable growth and Employability (INCREASE)

NCREASE project is a direct response to reported employment risk of automation and SME problems in providing innovation and ensuring sustainability of innovation strategy. EU low-R&D intensive companies struggle with skilled workers availability, organisational problems and lack of innovation expertise. While ensuring staff engagement across functions is crucial for SME innovation, non-R&D SME staff presents significant lack of innovation understanding and skills. From the other side tech-innovation brought widespread risk of automation which is no longer limited to manufacturing and agricultural industries, but is accelerating fast across industries, especially in service, craft and other low-tech sectors.

It specifically aims at upskilling low-skilled adults from non-R&D SME staff in high risk of automation. By development, test and delivery of targeted methodology and integrated online digital tools, it aims specifically at increasing the supply of high quality skills development programs in innovation area that will suit individual needs of low skilled Europeans, facilitate their access to upskilling pathways in innovation area and increase the human resources poll with innovation capacities.

To support low-skilled adults in the risk of automation in increasing their employability and low-R&D intensive SME in increasing their innovative capacity the project aims at:

• providing non-R&D employees with understanding how to contribute to innovation and relevant innovation skills,
• building awareness of non-R&D employees of importance of innovation and related skills for their professional growth and employability,
• develthe oping innovative and entrepreneurial mindset among non-R&D staff,
• building awareness of SME managers of importance of building innovation capacities among non- R&D staff and how to integrate them in innovation processes.

• The University of Suceavan Stefan cel Mare (USV)-Romania
• Romanian Curtea de Arges ADES (Association for Economic and Social Development)-Romania
• Danmar Computers LLC-Poland
• LUT University-Finland
• E&D Knowledge Consulting-Portugal
• INNO HUB-Spain
• Warp-Innovation-Austria

LUT teams' role in the project is to develop a best practices guide for teaching methods to low-skilled personell, and to contribute to the quality assurance of the project throughout its lifecycle.