Since 2008 the key stakeholder in the Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) sector are cooperating towards the harmonisation and modernisation of professional qualifications in inland navigation. These stakeholders consists of: European Commission (DG Move), River Commissions (Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), International Sava River Basin Commission and the Danube Commission), EU Social Partners (European Skippers Organisation (ESO), European Barge Union (EBU) and European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) as well as the European IWT education and training (e&t) institutes (EDINNA). Following the activities in the FP7 project PLATINA, the European Commission installed in 2012 a Common Expert Group on Professional Qualifications in Inland Navigation (CEG) co-chaired by the CCNR, in order to start the revision of the 96/50/EC in place. This resulted in 2016 in a proposal from the European Commission for a directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in Inland Navigation. One key item of this directive is the fact that the competences crew members on board of inland vessels should possess are laid down in an Annex, based on a series of research activities executed. The second key item is the fact that the students that will pass an exam in line with the new directive, will receive a Union certificate, increasing labour mobility throughout the EU. On the 27 December 2017, Directive 2017/2397 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the recognition of professional qualifications in IWT and repealing Council Directives 91/672/EEC and 96/50/EC has been published in the Official Journal of the EU. For this reason, the time has come to support the implementation of the competence based IWT e&t system throughout the EU. COMPETING will develop curricula and lesson materials, as well as a Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) system, to ensure the highest level of quality concerning the implementation of future proof IWT e&t

Projectcontext:The Competency Based Inland Waterway Transport Education & Training (IWTCOMP) supports the implementation of the European directive 2017/2397, on the recognition of professional qualifications in inland navigation. According to this EU Directive all Inland Shipping Training and Education institutes must be prepared to comply with the CESNI Standards of competence, built around tables of competencies for personnel working on board inland vessels on Operational Level (OL) and Management Level (ML) and lay down the minimum key competences for staff working on board of an inland vessel in the entire EU. Due to this new Directive, the IWT education and training institutes need to get prepared for competency based education, assessing and examination.Objectives:The purpose of IWTCOMP project is to lay the foundation for competency-based education and training for the IWT sector, to ensure that every student in the EU possesses the same competencies on OL and ML after graduating from their study or training. To reach these goals, teachers need to be able to educate students in the competency-based system. Within the IWTCOMP project specific products were developed to prepare the institutes in training and assessing with the competency based approach, namely:•Table with CESNI Standards of competence on OL and ML combined with EQF levels•A collection of best practices in competency based education•A train-the-trainer course on competency based education, including didactical manual and supporting (e-)learning materialsProject partners number/profileThe 6 IWTCOMP partners are members of EDINNA (Education in Inland Navigation), the network of all existing inland navigation education and training institutes in the EU. All these institutes educate their students for their future jobs and have therefore similar aims: to prepare their students to navigate and work safely on European waterways, and to become well-qualified crew members. All teachers working within these institutes must be prepared in training and assessing with the competency based approach. From all partners a project manager and 2 or more teachers were involved in the development of the intellectual outputs. Besides additional teachers from every partner were involved in the trainer the trainer course and workshops conducted during the project.Activities:The application of the EQF system in the different partner member states was analysed and compared to the existing qualifications for IWT. After review by national EQF experts, findings were discussed during a meeting with all EDINNA members. Conclusions were drawn about the use of the EQF system for IWT and a proposal for minimum job requirements for IWT job qualifications.The collection of best practices in Competence Based training started with a study on the definitions used, such as “competence based learning” and “best practices”. With these definitions as a framework the examples from EDINNA members as well as education institutes from related sectors, such as maritime, shipbuilding, fishery, etc were gathered.The development of the train the trainer course was done by first defining the target group (teachers), objectives and main subjects. It was decided to create a didactical manual as well as additional (e-)learning material, which can be used as an integrated set of learning materials. The topics were divided and developed by different partners. All materials were reviewed by EDINNA members. During the course evaluation was done by a dedicated evaluator, the trainer and the 12 participants. To reach a higher amount of teachers follow-up workshops were conducted within each partner institute. These 6 different workshops in 4 different countries were led by the participants of the train the trainer course and a total of 90 teachers from different sectors attended these workshops.Results, impact and long term benefitsBy means of this project and the members of EDINNA, IWTCOMP did lay the foundations on a European level for competency based education and training for IWT throughout the EU, furthermore it will ensure that every student will benefit from this approach and be able to work in inland navigation in every EU Member State, and at last the systematic approach of IWTCOMP can be transferred to other sectors as well. Students will receive a high quality training provided by the well trained trainers and they can acquire required competencies needed to work in the IWT sector. This results in bigger changes of finding a job. The trainers trained during the lifetime of IWTCOMP will become multipliers and will train other teachers with the material developed in the project, and thereby facilitating the uptake of competency based education and training by all IWT E&T institutes throughout the EU. This way, the outcomes of IWTCOMP will strengthen key competences in Inland Waterway Transport curricula and will lay foundations for future use by other sectors.

PLATINA3 provides targeted coordination and support activities to promote Inland Waterways Transport (IWT) in Europe. PLATINA3 makes the bridge towards future research, innovation and implementation needs within IWT in Europe. A key objective is providing the knowledge base for the implementation of the EU Green Deal in view of further development of EC`s IWT action programme (NAIADES) towards 2030. PLATINA3 addresses priority topics for the success of IWT: 1) integration & digitalisation of IWT in view of modal shift & synchromodality 2) zero- emission, automated & climate resilient fleet 3) skilled workforce anticipating to zero-emission & automation 4) smart & climate resilient waterway and port infrastructure with clean energy hubs. PLATINA3 is structured around fields Market, Fleet, Jobs & Skills, Infrastructure. Key experts and stakeholders are consortium partners ensuring required expertise and support: IWT sector and shippers (IWT Platform, BLN, ESC), member states and river commissions (CCNR, DC), waterway administrations (INE, viadonau), education institutes (STC, MAH), Waterborne TP / Sea Europe, workers (ETF), expertise centres (PDM and SPB/EICB). PLATINA3 sets up a coordinated platform consisting of these consortium partners enriched with committed Advisory Board members, policy makers, researchers, wider logistics and waterborne industries, other sectors and other transport modes. The platform is a catalyst for awareness, stakeholder engagement and uptake of outcomes from related national and European projects and initiatives. PLATINA3 consolidates their findings, assesses their impacts and gaps. Desk research and dialogues with experts and stakeholders lead subsequently to policy and R&D roadmaps and implementation plans. Interactive workshops and consultations are organised in 6 PLATINA Stage events. It gives targeted input to amongst others Horizon Europe. Moreover active dissemination will take place using websites, newsletters and social media.

<< Objectives >>Currently, there is no formal structure and or culture in the inland waterway transport (IWT) sector for upskilling. 1System 4IWT aims to build a learning system that will act as a solution for ensuring and enduring continuity of education & training for IWT students and workers and generate a „personalized learning experience”. The project will focus on developing commons resources, that meet the needs of nowadays trends and challenges for (incoming) staff (boatmen) in the IWT sector.<< Implementation >>This project will design the system architecture for interconnecting education & training institutions e-learning platforms with the Inland Navigation eLearning System (INeS) which has been developed in previously EU funded projects, in order to exchange and share digital learning material and to provide information about individual learning progress to users in organized learning settings or to individual users in form of badges or microcredentials using open standards.<< Results >>The partners want to: - create a resilient, easily accessible and future-proof education & training system for the inland waterway transport sector (by creating new content and building a platform); - achieve a process of structured cooperation, focusing on formulating and developing needs and learning outcomes, between the fields of education, industry and social partners (by means of a community of practice); - contribute to a strong brand to further improve the positioning of the sector.