Plastic pollution has become a global environmental and societal concern in recent years. Numerous protocols have been developed to monitor plastic debris, but these are rarely comparable. This has hindered gathering of knowledge regarding pollution sources, development of monitoring programmes and risk assessments and implementation of mitigation measures. To develop long-term solutions to reduce plastic pollution, it is essential to establish harmonised methodologies. EUROqCHARM will address this by critically reviewing state-of-the-art analytical methods and, taking harmonisation one step further, validating them through an interlaboratory comparison (ILC) study. This will bring together prominent laboratories in environmental plastics analysis and will produce certified reference materials to be marketed for at least three of the four target matrices (water, soil/sediment, biota, air), during and after project completion. EUROqCHARM recognises that harmonisation for large scale monitoring requires flexibility, comparability and reliability. We will identify Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAP), resulting in a catalogue of RAP procedures for nano-, micro- and macro-plastics for the four target matrices. Each RAP will be validated in terms of Technology Readiness Level to decide if further validation is needed (by ILC). Blueprints for standards, recommendations for policy and legislation and support for the establishment of acceptable reference levels and environmental targets will be given. This will include a roadmap for harmonised data collection and management, where policy analysis and coherence will be integral parts. To maximise impact, EUROqCHARM will also establish and consolidate an operational network for plastic monitoring, stimulating Transnational Joint Actions built on existing and future European and international initiatives. The multi-stakeholder composition of EUROqCHARM puts the group in a unique position to achieve these ambitious goals.

"PARTNERSHIPThe project SPRINT: “Standardize best PRactices about INTernships” started in September 2017 and ended in December 2020. It was implemented by a consortium of European structures representing all the parties concerned by the internships: Higher Education Institutions: HEI (Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 University), students (Trade Union Youth Plus), host organisations (The Adecco Group). The partnership was enriched by the expert structures participation in the field of standardisation (AFNOR: Association Française de Normalisation), the supervision of youth mobility in Europe for learning purposes (UNISER), the development of digital tools and the internships evaluation (InternsGoPro) and the promotion of higher vocational education inside the European Higher Education Area (EURASHE). PROJECT CONTEXTInternships play a fundamental role in the integration of students and graduates into the labour market by enabling them to acquire professional skills and to experience host organisation functioning. However, not all internships fulfil their objectives. Numerous initiatives have emerged in Europe to provide quality frameworks for placements, but they are not been applied in all European countries. OBJECTIVESThe SPRINT project has been implemented to create a common European quality framework for internships to be recognised by all the stakeholders (HEIs, students, host organisations) with an effort to improve the supervision of the internship at a European scale and thus enable better integration of the young’s into the labour market.The partners also implemented the project activities to:- establish a strong partnership between organisations working in the field of internships;- raise awareness among stakeholders of the importance of the quality of internships;- encourage host organisations to improve their practices;- prepare the different stakeholders’ training to ensure proper implementation of the internships quality criteria.These objectives have been achieved by the consortium.ACTIVITIES The SPRINT project partners carried out the following activities:> Drawing of a general report on internships’ national legislation in the member countries of the European Union and Switzerland: 182 pages.> Sending out a survey on needs and barriers about internships: 116 participants (HEIs, students, host organisations).> Production of a summary of good practices in internships.> Drawing up of the common European quality framework for internships, drafted and approved following the steps of a CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) Workshop Agreement, under the AFNOR supervision. 8 quality criteria have been identified for internships through the following activities:- Kick-off meeting of the CEN workshop (E1) (17 participants from outside the SPRINT consortium);- Drawing of the CEN workshop agreement (9 participants);- Adoption of the CEN Workshop Agreement with a 60-day comment phase open to any organisation: 28 participating organisations (64 pages of comments);> Drawing of the practical guide on the implementation of quality internships for host organisations;> Development of a self-assessment tool for host organisations on their internship programme; > Production of a guide on the quality of internships and higher education institutions; > Organisation of two training sessions (E2) (in English and French) for HEI teams in charge of student placements to raise awareness of the ""quality internship"" concept and to train them to the tools developed in the SPRINT project framework (96 participants); > Organisation of a conference (E3) aimed at explaining the European policy context concerning the quality of the internship and presenting the SPRINT tools developed to bring a concrete solution to internships improvement in Europe (153 participants).OUTCOME The implementation of the above activities led to the achievement of the following results:- Harmonisation of best practices in the field of internships in Europe;- The adoption of common quality criteria for internships;- The creation of tools for the implementation of these criteria within host organisations;- The development of a coherent evaluation system on the quality of internships valid for the whole of Europe;- The establishment of a working group on the quality internships.IMPACTSThe project enabled the partners to broaden their knowledge about internships in Europe and the pre-standardisation process.The participants in the dissemination events improved their knowledge on the quality criteria of an internship. Stakeholders interested in internships have reliable tools on the quality of internships in Europe."