The project BADGES has aimed at valorising the huge lifelong learning potential of European cultural and natural heritage sites.Nowadays the concept of lifelong learning is strictly connected with the validation of non-formal and informal learning and the relevance of recognizing the entire scope of knowledge and experience held by an individual, irrespective of the learning context is widely remarked. Despite the growing interest and the European institutions’ strong commitment to promote validation systems in different learning situations, there are contexts, such as the heritage and cultural sites, where concrete experiences of competence validation are rather few and scattered.BADGES developed a fully fledged methodology to support both cultural and natural heritage sites in offering learning enhancement experiences to their visitors, and the opportunity to have the new knowledge and skills acquired during the learning experience recognised and validated.BADGES developed:•a methodological frame for competence based informal and non-formal learning in cultural and natural heritage•a CPD Programme for cultural and natural heritage staff capacity for developing and organizing validated informal and non-formal learning at their sites•a European system for issuing electronic badges as a certificate for competence development•and eventually created a community of interest around this topic and support the creation of a ‘badging culture’ as part of an approach to personal and professional development and to employabilityThe main target groups of the project are:-Professionals working in museums, other heritage or cultural organisations, natural parks, archaeological sites that will be able to issue the badges linked to their mission.-People visiting cultural sites, nature parks, historical sites, etc. that can be invited to make the most of the experience by getting a badge.The project started with a research on:•Good practices in European cultural and natural heritage sites•Heritage professionals’ needs in terms of educational methodologies•Successful examples of electronic badges usageThe results of this study laid the basis for setting up the core components of the BADGES methodology.An inventory of relevant competences was identified, relating to transferable social, personal and organisational competences (SPOC) that may be acquired in the specific learning contexts and also field competences connected to the cultural and natural heritage topics. The description of the competences followed the LEVEL5 validation system, a well proven methodology to validate social and personal competences acquired in informal and non-formal learning. For each competence, a framework will be set up along the dimensions of knowledge, skills and attitudes. A validation system was set up considering the stages: Identification, Assessment and Documentation of competences and their Certification with Badges.The Badges issuing system is based on an open learning space (the LEVEL5 learning suite) consisting of different OER components Mahara (e-Portfolio and Moodle as open source Learning Management System. The system is connected to the LEVEL5 software which issues certificates as qualified badges since it is build on a specific taxonomy.The BADGES approach creates a transferrable learning system that connects the competence framework with individual learning pathways in heritage contexts.All the components of the BADGES methodology were transferred to a group of recruited professionals working in the field of cultural and natural heritage that will be invited to attend a European short-term course. After the course the participants designed and offered a competence based learning pathway to the visitors of their heritage sites. Though this activity was not funded anymore the application of the BADGES methodology in real-life cases gave important feedbacks to fine tune the products developed.The project main outputs were wrapped up in the BADGES Toolkit which is freely available. In order to maximise the impact of the project the partners put in place a structured valorisation strategy which is based on the coupling with the REVEAL network to ensure the continuity of the activities, the exploitation of the BADGES products. The valorization strategy includes the mission of the BADGES community, descriptions of the products and services and the network strategy and organisation. This way the qualified badging system and the whole CPD approach shall be valorised for cultural and natural heritage institutions throughout Europe in promoting the learning experience among their visitors.During numerous national and European events the project was highly recognized by heritage professionals and was widely disseminated to the European Community of professionals working at cultural heritage sites and those stakeholders who consider cultural heritage education as an enrichment of their adult education.

The project is an example of a strategic partnerships to support the exchange of good practices. Its main message was to allow organisations which have formed the partnership to increase the capacity for action in the field of supporting people with intellectual disabilities through exchange and confrontation of ideas, practices and methods to increase social activity (if possible from a medical point of view also vocational activities). The project dealt with the problems of adult education with very low skills. It was an example of action to support the social inclusion of people who are particularly at risk of social exclusion. It supported the development of social and civic competences of people with intellectual disabilities. The project allowed on one side dissemination of good practices in social activation of this target group, on the other for advancing the diagnosis of needs and the development of guidelines for the design of the strategic partnership for innovation which is planned to be submitted in the coming years in the framework of adult education. The project promoted diversity, equality and non-discrimination in educational activities. Activation and inclusion of people with different disabilities is now a public issue and a key issue requiring effective solutions to transnational cooperation. In 2010 The European Commission adopted a comprehensive strategy to create by 2020 Europe without barriers for people with disabilities. People with disabilities represent approx. 16% of the EU population, that is 80 million people. Statistical studies show that people with intellectual disabilities aged 15+ represent approx. 3% of all persons with disability.he main objective of the project was to focus on developing, through the exchange of international experiences, good practices in the area of social (and possibly vocational) activation of people with intellectual disabilities. To facilitate the achievement of this aim partners pointed out three specific objectives: 1) Collection and analysis of solutions from the three partner countries in the field of social and vocational support of people with intellectual disabilities; 2) Development of good European practices in the field of social and vocational activation of people with intellectual disabilities. 3) Development of mechanisms for cooperation and the idea for the strategic partnership for innovation application, among partners of the project, dedicated to the support of the specified target group. Innovation in the project focuses on two areas: 1. The target audience - people with intellectual disabilities and problems associated with their preparation for life in a society (social activation) and possibly of vocational activation (people with slight disability). 2. Methods - effective social activation of people with intellectual disabilities through effective actions to support their independence and development potential.The partnership consisted of four entities from the three member countries of the European Union. The project responded to the needs of all partners. Current solutions in Malta or in the Benelux for social and vocational activation of people with disabilities are much more effective and sensitive to the needs of this group than the solutions adopted in Poland, but social processes taking place in contemporary Europe (aging population, the need for extending the period of vocational or social activity) cause to further their improvement, which is extremely important. The selection of partners for the project was well thought out, and the partnership structure will allow for the direct usage and testing of good practices in environmental self-help home for people with intellectual disabilities Bonitum Wroclaw, which is run by the Leader and Polish Partner since the beginning of 2017. Stakeholder groups potentially interested in the results of the project are guardians / parents of people with intellectual disabilities, educators, representatives of training institutions and institutions of social integration, and above all people with intellectual disabilities. The project gave the opportunity to show the issues of social inclusion in a broader environment than ever before - not locally or regionally but transnationally, due to that, it was possible to actually start a discussion on working solutions in the area of effective social (and possibly vocational) activation of people with intellectual disabilities. It is worth noting two features of the project. The first was the long-term benefits of the implementation - the project has contributed to creating a comprehensive project proposal in the competition in 2019 (KA2), which we hope will allow finding a universal, sustainable and effective solution to the problem identified. The second feature was the ability to directly translate the solutions developed during the project to function in an environmental self-help house in Poland.

The project aims at promoting and validating social, personal and organisational key competences such as entrepreneurship, civic competences and learning to learn with the help of an innovative, self-directed learning approach at the interface of higher education and business.Social and personal key competences are hardly to be acquired in lectures, frontal teaching and self-learning.The ideal learning contexts to develop these competences are informal/non-formal learning contexts such as learning in mobility and in traineeships.However, up to now only singular attempts have been made to assess these competences, to give evidence of their development in the learning activity, to connect them to existing certification systems and to offer a European wide validation approach.PROMOTE has developed and piloted an approach to tackle this issue based on a long term partnership of academia, business and educational partners from all over Europe.The traineeships involving learners from 15 institutions, including universities, businesses and public authorities has been piloted in different EU member-states. The innovative momentum of these internships was that they work along a project management structure; each trainee had to plan, develop and assess his or her project, which lead towards at least one of the key competences described above.In the framework of the project well-proven evaluation approaches (6 LEVEL5 projects, EDUCCKATE) were applied to assess and evidence informal learning in different mobility learning environments and traineeships.

<< Background >>The CIM project dealt with the acquisition and validation of competences related to Creativity and Innovation in Higher Education Institutes and Business. The acquisition of these 21st century skills affords not only new learning concepts but also a new way of facilitation. Both approaches (learning and facilitating innovation) have been combined by the CIM consortium of 16 partners from 9 member states.<< Objectives >>The project aimed at developing innovative teaching and learning approaches to include Creativity and Innovation Management (CIM), using a competence-oriented and constructive learning and developing approach that leads to concrete product and service prototypes.Educational professionals in HEI and in businesses have been qualified to facilitate CIM learning projects in a learner-centred way and also validate the competence development therein.<< Implementation >>The project started with a comprehensive survey designed to understand the needs of the different targets groups and educational sectors in terms of Creativity and Innovation Management. Subsequently, the project designed competence frameworks for future innovators and their facilitators. These formed the basis for a 5-day training mobility in which 66 educators learned how to facilitate practical learning projects on Creativity and Innovation in Higher Education and Business contexts.<< Results >>Based on the developed learning and facilitation instruments and approaches for “Design Based Collaborative Learning” the training and counselling concept was delivered to 66 professionals. They facilitated 66 learning projects in 9 partner countries with 90 learners and validated their development in terms of competence in spotting ideas and opportunities.CIM organised three large-scale conferencing events with more than 250 participants to largely disseminate and valorise its outcomes.

Despite the challenges caused by millions of refugees seeking for shelter in the European Union, this flux also provides an opportunity to invigorate labour markets since many refugees show a high level of education and qualification.To back-up and support the initial integration programmes and initiatives driven by state and administrative stakeholders, tailor-made support measures are needed for “integration in employment”.Only through the direct integration in the local economy, the migration threat may be transformed into an opportunity and may contribute to improving the European work force, which, in parallel, has been shrinking and gets dramatically old.National and regional solutions may provide financial, legal and administrative structural support, however, they do not influence the situation on the local and interpersonal level where real integration takes place. The COME IN – project (COMpetences in Enterprises on Integration) acted exactly on this level.European employers, be it SMEs or large-scale enterprises and organisations are still hesitant to hire and employ refugees due to their unclear professional and personal situations. To integrate refugees at the workplace (be it in full time, part time, supported employment or internships) European employers need practical and direct support that responds to the uncertainties related to the legal, social and working status of refugees, as well as to intercultural and psycho-social issues. This was the starting point of the COME IN project, which aimed at creating and applying a comprehensive training to support enterprises and organisations and their responsible staff members in integrating refugees at their workplaces.The COME IN approach consists of:- face-to-face workshops- an Open Learning Space with training materials and usable information - a validation system to assess and document the developed competences.The COME IN consortium was composed of a multi-actor partnership of seven partners from six countries; among them countries that receive most refugees (“entrance countries ”), and countries where most refugees claim asylum (“target countries”)The partnership consists of:- a regional authority (Landkreis Kassel, DE) responsible for the integration of more than 3.000 refugees and for the economic development and the coordination of SMEs and larger enterprises- two HR consultancy agencies (TRENDHUIS, BE; Catro, BG)- two labour market agencies and vocational and adult education providers (die Berater, AT; and BUPNET, DE)- two large NGOs whose daily business is to support incoming refugees in their countries (CESIE, IT; 4 elements, GR) that will ensure that refugees’ needs and perspectives will be fully taken into account and adequately addressed.The partners did work along six main work packages and intellectual outputs in COME IN:In the stocktaking phase (O1) best practices regarding the integration into the workplace were identified and support and training needs were derived.The COME IN Curriculum (O2) defined learning and training contents, learning objectives and a catalogue of aspired learning outcomes for key staff in enterprises and organisations on integration at the workplace.In the COME IN Training Pack (O3) suitable materials, instruments, didactic patterns and transferrable approaches on work-based learning on the topic of integration at the workplace were developed.The COME IN Open Learning Space is a state of the art learning platform. Contents developed as O2, O3 and O5 were implemented here, aiming to create and maintain a constantly growing pool of COME IN learning resources as OER.The COME IN Validation System (O5) was designed based on the LEVEL5 approach which has been developed and applied in more than 150 informal and non-formal learning projects since 2007. It was based on a specific competence framework developed for the target group which is coupled with O2 and O3.The COME IN Implementation Strategy (O6) aims to valorise the approach, the instruments and the materials developed on a large scale European level. It is based on the trainings and pilots in the partner countries that were carried out with more than 180 training participants. The pilots were thoroughly evaluated, best practices derived and a transfer and implementation strategy established. The Implementation Strategy also contains success stories from the project that are also available in multimedia format on the website https://welcomingenterprises.eu/Three additional work packages ensured the delivery of the project results in a high-quality and sustainable way. The project was thoroughly evaluated (WP7) and widely disseminated (WP8) along a mainstreaming strategy to achieve utmost transferability and a high impact in Europe and professionally managed (WP9).