1) Project background Education and businesses, whether for-profit and non-profit, are facing change like never before. Numerous driving forces to this change include rapidly expanding marketplace (globalization), and increasing competition, diversity among consumers, and availability of new forms of teaching technology, methodology and approaches. In this environment, competitiveness at company level depends crucially on the speed with which new products can be brought to the market and new cost-saving improvements made. Innovation - the ability to reap the rewards of scientific achievement - requires much more than the ability to turn a new idea into a working product. It requires the systematic and holistic approach of innovation management. From another point of view, education is on the dynamic path of change and modernisation. New innovative cross-functional and cross-disciplinary approach, engaging business, external stakeholders, the public, researchers and other third parties is essential. The Europe 2020 strategy, its Flagship Initiatives and the Modernisation Agenda of European universities put knowledge at the heart of the Union’s efforts for achieving smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Including practical experience in courses can help attune curricula to current and emerging labour market needs and foster employability and entrepreneurship (Agenda for the modernisation of Europe's higher education systems, 2011 ). 2) Main aims and objectives of the project • To provide pedagogical methodology and course plan for obtaining competences, skills and knowledge in IM. • To provide European HEIs, researchers, experts and SME managers with fully documented training materials and tools in innovation management. • To increase the competitiveness and the innovation capacity by providing SMEs with the necessary IM tools and practices for their everyday activities. • To increase the European business and training community awareness and to cultivate a common consciousness about innovation management. • To increase the intensity and quality of business-academia collaboration by providing a ready-to-implement model. 3) Number and profile of participants The APInno proposal has a balanced partnership structure and includes two HEIs, two SMEs, one Research Centre and one NGO active in HEI-business collaboration and adult training. Four different countries will be involved: Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, UK. 4) Project activities • Cross-Country Needs Analysis of SMEs managers and HEIs' stuff from the partner countries on the topic of IM • The merged results of the study are basis for development of IM methodology • Development of IM course • Development and testing of training materials for students, trainers, SME managers • Development of project web portal • Upgrading the project deliverables based on the feedback gathered from all involved parties (participants, trainers, experts etc) and elaborated final version • Final conference in Bulgaria 3) Project Methodology - The APInno aims to apply a university-industry collaboration methodology through repeated cycles (iterative) and in smaller portions at a time (incremental), allowing precise quality control for the results. 4) Results and impact - The main outputs of the APInno project are the Innovation Management methodology, the IM course, Three sets of training materials, Guide for business-academia collaboration. These products will help both HEIs and SMEs to develop new practices to systematically manage their potential for innovation. Managers of SMEs and other organizations will be able to identify, value, select the best means to develop, trigger and share their most valuable asset: creativity. HEIs will have a model for experiential learning approach in IM. Despite the widespread recognition of the need of innovation, practical guidance and systematic approaches to managing innovation are still not available in an integrated training framework. This is exactly the overall aim of the APInno project: to transfer, adapt and develop an integrated training package (materials, tools and methodology) for Innovation management to benefit from this knowledge and use it in a practical manner in their everyday activities. All outputs will be available on the web portal of APInno and in the languages of the partners in the consortium: English, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian. 5) Long-term benefits - Direct replication of the Guide for collaboration and APInno experiential model. - If appropriately connected with the industry, academia will be able to impact society, through their advanced identification of upcoming innovation management developments and challenges. Based on their future experience with APInno and the case studies of the work with SMEs academic institutions and researchers will be able to build models and identify upcoming challenges in the field and/or provide ready solutions. - SMEs will gain higher awareness of the benefits and role of IM.