The recent economic and political crisis in the South Mediterranean (SM) region and the general frustration of young people for obstructing their entrance to the job market show that access to higher education is NOT a sufficient prerequisite for economic/political stability and job creation. The mismatch between academic programmes and labor market has created a political and economic void where young, high educated people have difficult to build careers in the industrial sector.

European project “SM WELD” represents an integrated approach to create full opportunities for people to meet societal needs for jobs in the manufacturing sector at three levels:

Level 1:

Creation of (a) education programmes in Welding and Joining specializations in Partner Countries according to Bologna process system, (b) Certification programmes for International Welding Engineers and (c) programmes for Welding audit for Quality assessment of companies according to ISO 3834.

Level 2:

Development of a complete education and training program with further certification training programs for International Welding Technicians (IWT) based on modern technological and economic concepts in Welding and Joining.

Level 3:

The educational and training programmes will be developed during the project with the purpose to stimulate the technical and entrepreneurial spirit and by this the self-containing the capacity for innovation, research and business representing the prerequisites for a successful carrier for the next generation young people and for the benefit of industrial development and society in the SM region.

The design and organization of the aforementioned objectives and activities was the purpose of the first transnational meeting of the project’s partners, which took place in Hamammet, Tunisia, 16-17 of February 2016.