Author name: Fred

The Spanish HERA Lab, implemented by CETEM in Yecla, began with an ambitious challenge: engaging women aged 45 and over in a seven-month journey focused on learning, professional reinvention and personal development. From 24 November 2025 to 22 June 2026, the programme delivered 17 sessions structured around the four phases of the HERA methodology: Mutual Aid and Team Building, Learning to Learn, Engagement with External Stakeholders and Personal Action Plan development. The Lab received 22 registrations, with 18 women attending more than 70% of the sessions and receiving a certificate of participation. But one of the most important outcomes went beyond attendance figures. Throughout the programme, the participants built a strong peer-support network, sharing experiences, challenges and practical advice. According to the final evaluation, 100% of respondents reported increased motivation towards learning and greater confidence, self-direction or engagement in learning. The Lab also connected participants with local female professionals and organisations from sectors such as furniture and woodworking, adult education, corporate services and agriculture. These encounters gave participants the opportunity to hear first-hand career experiences, explore local employment and training opportunities, and ask questions about possible pathways for professional reinvention. During the final phase, participants translated this reflection into action. Fifteen women completed a Personal Action Plan, defining realistic next steps linked to their values, training interests and professional goals. The experience in Yecla shows one of the key strengths of the HERA approach: professional reinvention is not only about acquiring new skills. Creating a trusted space where women facing similar challenges can reflect, support one another and connect with real opportunities in their local environment can also be a powerful driver for change. Full story: herawomen.eu #HERAProject #ErasmusPlus #WomensEmpowerment #CETEM #Yecla #Reskilling #LifelongLearning

The HERA project has reached an important stage in its implementation, successfully completing three deliverables and four milestones by 31 August 2026. These achievements reflect the strong collaboration of the project partners and mark significant progress towards HERA’s goals. The three completed deliverables cover key areas of the project: Alongside these deliverables, the consortium also achieved four important milestones: Together, these results strengthen the foundations of the HERA project.  Although the completed deliverables are not yet publicly available, their submission represents an important internal achievement for the consortium. The outcomes will support the next stage of the project and help ensure that HERA’s activities are evidence-based, accessible and aligned with its target group. Reaching these seven targets demonstrates the consortium’s shared commitment. Now, HERA will continue moving closer to its objective of empowering women over 45 through reskilling, professional development and access to a supportive European community.

In June 2026, CETEM presented the HERA project at Circularmente, a leading business event in the Region of Murcia focused on sustainability, environmental challenges and the circular economy. The event brought together institutions, entrepreneurs and companies committed to the green transition. CETEM participated with a dedicated stand showcasing some of its most significant projects, including HERA, to visitors and fellow participants. Circularmente provided a strategic setting in which to communicate HERA’s objectives. The transition towards more sustainable and circular business models is creating new professional opportunities and increasing demand for green skills. However, ensuring that these opportunities are accessible to people of different ages and backgrounds is essential for an inclusive transition. The project’s message at Circularmente centred on reinvention with purpose. Lifelong learning can enable senior women to apply their existing experience to new sustainability-related roles, combining professional knowledge with the skills required by circular and environmentally responsible business models. By showcasing HERA at the event, CETEM highlighted the connection between social inclusion, women’s empowerment and environmental transformation. The transition to a greener economy is not only about technology or new production systems—it is also about people and their capacity to lead meaningful change. CETEM’s participation reinforced HERA’s commitment to ensuring that women over 45 are recognised as valuable contributors to the sustainable economy and are equipped to help shape a greener, more circular future.

On 4 June 2026, Carina Dantas, CEO of SHINE 2Europe and partner in the HERA project, represented HERA at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Public Hearing SOC/831, titled “Reducing Barriers to Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Promoting Innovation and Providing Equal Opportunities for All.” Held in Brussels, the hearing brought together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and representatives of European organisations to discuss how inclusive entrepreneurship can be strengthened across Europe and how barriers affecting underrepresented groups can be reduced. The event featured a distinguished panel of speakers from the European Commission, academia, business associations, and civil society organisations. Carina Dantas participated in the second panel, which explored initiatives and experiences from across Europe, highlighting successful practices, remaining challenges, and recommendations for future policies. During the session, she presented the work and objectives of the HERA project, alongside other initiatives. HERA was presented as a good practice example of how European projects can contribute to more inclusive entrepreneurship by empowering women, supporting innovation, and creating opportunities for participation and growth. The discussion highlighted the importance of collaborative approaches and targeted support mechanisms to address inequalities and strengthen the role of women entrepreneurs across Europe. The participation of SHINE 2Europe in this high-level European dialogue provided an important opportunity to share HERA’s achievements, exchange knowledge with key stakeholders, and contribute to discussions shaping future policies and initiatives for inclusive entrepreneurship.

The HERA Labs sessions in Sweden are gaining momentum. Implemented by WomeninTech Alliance (WITA), the program has found a receptive audience in a country with a long tradition of peer-led adult learning. The women joining these sessions bring experience, eagerness to learn, a genuine drive to upskill, and a clear sense of what they are looking for. In Sweden, women aged 45+ already show strong educational attainment, solid workforce participation, and an active entrepreneurial spirit. HERA Labs meets them at that point and builds from there. That said, Sweden has required its own approach. Women here tend to choose learning opportunities based on personal interest rather than committing to a fixed program sequence.   For WITA, this has meant thinking creatively, designing sessions around topics that genuinely resonate, moving away from a traditional classroom structure toward something more open and interest driven. It is a learning, but also a reflection of something deeper: the Swedish adaption of HERA Labs is itself an expression of the methodology’s core value: Learning should be relevant, personal, and grounded in real life. Within that spirit, sessions have been carefully shaped around the four phases of the HERA Labs methodology – Team Building & Mutual Aid, Learning to Learn, Stakeholder Engagement, Personal Action Plans – ensuring that the journey, however flexibly navigated, remains purposeful and coherent. The tools provided by the methodology have been woven into the sessions and have been well perceived, offering participants a practical and reflective framework. In one session, participants were invited to reflect on a simple but meaningful question: What truly drives you? Through personal mission-building exercises, women began naming their values, strengths, and passions. One thought stayed with the group long after: Passion without dedicated time and energy remains just a hobby. For many, it was a truth they already knew, spoken out loud. The room was calm, focused, and quietly charged with a sense of clarity. In another session, the focus turned to how mindset shapes the way we learn and grow. Drawing on research into fixed and growth mindsets, participants explored how self-limiting thoughts can hold them back – and how a simple word like “yet” can begin to shift that. What made the session particularly meaningful was the openness in the room. Women shared personal struggles with honesty and generosity, turning what could have been a theoretical session into something grounded and real. It became clear that participants were not only seeking new knowledge, but they were seeking connections and exchange of experiences. Across all sessions, something consistent emerged: women who arrived thoughtful and left a little more certain of themselves – supported by a program that is learning, alongside them, how to serve them best.

In May 2026, CETEM presented the HERA project at the Yecla Furniture Fair, one of Spain’s longest-running furniture-sector events and an essential meeting point for the national and international habitat industry. Held in Yecla, where CETEM is based, the fair has strong ties to the region’s business community. It brings together hundreds of companies from a historic manufacturing sector that is currently undergoing an important process of digital transformation. Throughout the event, CETEM welcomed thousands of visitors to its stand, where the team shared information about HERA through dedicated communication materials and conversations with companies, professionals and other stakeholders. This provided an excellent opportunity to introduce the project to representatives of a traditional industrial sector in which lifelong learning and digital skills are becoming increasingly important. Many experienced women working in areas such as production, administration and sales need opportunities to update and expand their skills. HERA responds to this challenge by promoting upskilling and professional development for women aged over 45, helping them adapt to technological change and strengthen their role in the labour market. CETEM’s participation in the fair also helped raise awareness among companies about the strategic value of senior female talent. With the right training and support, experienced women can play a leading role in the digital transformation of the furniture industry. By representing HERA at this important event, CETEM reinforced the project’s central message: experience is an asset, and investing in the skills of women over 45 benefits individuals, businesses and the wider industrial ecosystem.

The HERA Lab in Italy, implemented by COSVITEC in Naples, is now well advanced in its journey, and what has emerged most strongly is something that goes beyond individual development: a group that has become, in its own right, a resource. The Lab began with a phase dedicated to building mutual trust and connection. Through activities rooted in the principles of mutual aid, solidarity, and collective empowerment, participants gradually created a space where personal histories, fears, and aspirations could be shared openly. In one of the early sessions, each participant was invited to reflect on her own vulnerabilities and strengths through an exercise inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken objects are repaired with gold, and the cracks become part of what makes something valuable. The session produced moments of unexpected depth: women shared stories they had rarely spoken aloud, and the group listened with a quality of attention that the facilitator described as one of the most moving experiences of the entire Lab so far. By the end of the Team Building phase, participants had created small handmade bracelets, each inscribed with a word of wisdom chosen by another member of the group. It was a simple gesture, but one that captured something real about what had been built: a community of women who had chosen to see each other clearly, and to offer each other something to carry forward. “I came here thinking I needed to update my skills. I didn’t expect to find people who understand exactly where I am”, said one participant, reflecting on the first weeks of the Lab. The Learning to Learn phase that followed brought new energy. Working through themes of growth mindset, skills mapping, learning strategies, and mentorship, participants began to connect their inner reflections to the world outside. A recurring theme across these sessions was the gap between how participants saw themselves and how much they actually knew and could do. A collective competence mapping exercise, in which each woman shared her knowledge and offered herself as an informal teacher to others, made this visible in a way that statistics or assessments never could. What has continued to stand out, as the Lab progresses into its later phases, is the strength of the group itself. Participants have not only engaged with the programme content: they have built something among themselves that extends well beyond any single session. They support each other between meetings, share reflections, and have expressed clearly that they do not want this community to end when the formal programme does. That desire is itself one of the most significant outcomes of the Lab. It reflects what can happen when women aged 45+ are given a structured, safe, and genuinely participatory space: they do not just develop individually. They build something together that neither the programme nor any of them could have built alone.

The Greek partner WHEN presented the HERA project during the RES-MOVE Transnational Event, held in Vienna, Austria, on 5 and 6 May 2026. The event brought together European partners and stakeholders to exchange experiences, strengthen cooperation and explore new approaches to social inclusion. WHEN actively participated in the session dedicated to Collaborative and Co-Working Spaces (CWCS), contributing its experience as a local organisation working directly with women from diverse backgrounds. The session offered an important opportunity to discuss how local inclusion initiatives can connect with wider European networks, programmes and objectives. As part of its involvement in RES-MOVE, WHEN is implementing the programme locally through two financial literacy workshops for migrant and refugee women at the WHEN Hub. These activities provide participants with practical knowledge and tools to strengthen their financial independence, confidence and capacity to make informed decisions. Presenting HERA in the context of RES-MOVE highlighted the strong connection between the two European initiatives. Both recognise that accessible learning opportunities, supportive environments and community-based cooperation are essential to overcoming barriers faced by women. WHEN’s participation in Vienna increased HERA’s visibility within a European network committed to inclusive and collaborative approaches. Through its representation of HERA at the RES-MOVE Transnational Event, WHEN promoted a clear message: empowering women through skills and cooperation strengthens not only individual careers, but also communities and the European labour market as a whole.