An essential need is found nowadays regarding the connection between the VET systems and the labour market in view of the high unemployment rates, especially affecting youngsters. In many EU countries different policies have been recently enforced to support practical experiences in companies, as part of the vocational training systems. Most of these initiatives have a regional scope and a pilot purpose, or they are still at their initial stages of implementation requiring to fine-tune different elements. This causes a significant fragmentation of the models not only at European level, but also a national level, which makes difficult comparative analyses and to evaluate the impact of the different policies.This diagnosis led four partners in a previous EU transfer of innovation project in the fashion and textile sector to set up this proposal in order to benchmark existing resources and build tools based on the most effective ones, aiming to contribute to the solution of this situation. The partnership has been extended to another five partners, which have cooperate together for the first time in Modatop project. The participating countries include Spain, Italy, Portugal and Czech Republic, where textile industry is a pillar of their economies. The partnership has included VET practitioners, sectoral bodies representing the textile industry and educative institutions with public regulatory and policy-making roles at regional or national level. The project has built on the VET educational frames in the participating countries that incorporate practical training sessions in companies. It has reached the goal to benchmark resources and methods used in the VET schools and in the companies in the textile sector, which assist the training efforts of teachers and tutors in the practical training sessions. Modatop envisaged two tools, which have been produced to complement the already existing resources for teachers and tutors in the fashion and textile sector, including: (i) Guide of Recommendations for teachers and tutors; (ii) Online tool to enable recognising the learning outcomes accomplished in the practical phase of the training, in cooperation with the VET schools.The project has overly reached the target to involve directly some 150 stakeholders to get access to the intellectual outputs of the project. Most of them in the testing and validation phases of the outputs production. The promotion of the results through dissemination events and multipliers events carried out during project lifetime reached as well directly some 2.500 representatives from the three target groups: teachers and students from VET schools participating in dual systems in the textile and fashion sector, companies hosting and interested to host stages for VET students in this sector, policy-makers and institutions in charge of designing and implementing VET systems which incorporate practices in companies.

"The Learning for Living Together project was based on the objective of ERASMUS + Adult Education ""to develop innovative outputs and undertake intensive dissemination and exploitation of results in supporting, extending and developing educators' competencies"". The Project developed adult educators’ competences within both the community learning centres and further education institutions to deal with diversified groups of learners, and made use of new technologies and teaching outcomes.This project also sought to address the Erasmus+ horizontal principle ""Inclusive education, training and youth"" by providing a critical insight into promoting equality and inclusion, developing and upskilling tutors to address diversity and integration in (formal and non-formal) delivery to learners who are local, migrant, refugee and asylum seekers. This project also underpins the priority of the Paris Declaration, promoting inclusive education and training within local communities fostering a culture of respect and mutual understanding. The specific objectives of the project were met as follows: > Worked collaboratively with 6 transnational partner organizations based in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Latvia & Sweden who have particular expertise in delivery to adult education migrant/refugee/asylum seeker/ communities by developing, testing, adapting and supporting the embedding of innovative materials and practices; >Developed innovative materials for adult tutors/practitioners which were delivered to 23 adult tutors through a transnational training course based on Social Inclusion and Diversity. > Following this, the 23 tutors piloted the materials with over 100 adults learners during the life of the project, who gave on-going feedback on the benefits and the suitability of the teaching resources for the learner groups which enabled appropriate changes to be made. > Developed an online blended 18 hour social inclusion and diversity course which included a pedagogical handbook, student handbooks, assessment booklets and associated materials including film documentaries, podcasts and real life case studies (with refugees, economic migrants, asylum seekers) for adult learners and their tutors. This was accredited at level 2 by OCN (Open College Network) providing added value to the projects as accreditation was not one of the original objectives. > Built new networks of support for each partner organisation and their tutors by developing their outreach, capacity and skills base for future joint collaboration as well as internationalisation. > Shared results with wider networks within each partner country which increased their capacity to tackle racism within their own country through multiplier and dissemination events. The impact on the target groups included:Adult Learners - Increased knowledge of the needs of new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers - Development of new approaches to learning about integration of new communities - Increased capacity to challenge racism and prejudice - Increased sense of initiative and capacity to use learning at a local level - Increased level of digital competence - Increased levels of confidence, skills and cultural awareness Adult Education tutors: - Increased level of confidence and competence in their pedagogical approaches with adult learners - New networks of support developed with other staff in a European context for future joint working great insights into European Citizenship for their Learners and their roles in supporting local as well as diverse groups of learners to become European citizens - Increased bank of approaches, materials and case studies for use in the classroom/community - Increased knowledge of the needs of new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers - New approaches to learning about integration of new communities - Embedding and sharing of best practice in Adult education, training and lifelong learningIn addition, the project also had an impact on the Partners who benefited from: - Increased in knowledge and awareness of other European culture and traditions- Increased knowledge and working with organisations in different languages- Managing the intricacies of a multi-lingual working environment-Increased knowledge and understanding of adult learning practices in different EU countries- The introduction of new concepts for example the term ‘resilience’ - which was found by partners to be uncommon outside of the UK and Ireland.-Developed expertise in the multi-agency working for example College's working with social economies and government agencies.This partnership believe that the work carried over the last two years will in the long term, continue to address issues of marginalisation, intolerance and racism within a framework of equal opportunities and structured training and innovative resources which are freely available through the project website and will continue to be promoted and used by the partners & networks"

<< Background >>EQ-WOOD project-European Quality qualifications for the Woodwork and furniture industry-aims to contribute to the development of innovation capacity and competitiveness of the European wood and furniture industry, by designing and providing the Curriculum of a new vocational profile, Innovation Advisor. The curriculum is offered both as a Full Qualification, aimed primarily at young people, and as a set of independent learning modules aimed at the continuous professional development of workers.<< Objectives >>EQ-WOOD aims to boost the innovation and the competitiveness of the traditional woodworking and furniture sector at Eu level, facing the skill mismatching and the progressive ageing of the workforce. A new training path and an online platform have been developed to train young students, workers and unemployed people, able to generate innovative, sellable and production effective new products. At the same time, EQ-WOOD aims to create a sound sectoral network to exchange good practices.<< Implementation >>After a deep analysis of the sectoral training needs , a new Curriculum has been developed, identifying the KSCs, required to the new professional profile of the Innovation Advisor for the furniture sector. The Curriculum consists of 5 interactive learning units, tested by approximately 270 workers and students and promoted trough several Country events and through a final conference with institutional representatives and innovation experts. The training course is online, free and attractive.<< Results >>The new CV of the Innovation Advisor for the wood and furniture sector. The curriculum consists of 5 units useful for training the new figure who will manage innovation within companies. The e-learning platform and the innovative training course are available to everyone, free and without barriers. The course is entirely online with multimedia content and accessible insights. The project has created a stable network that will continue to cooperate in the future to develop other new training path

<< Background >>The project responds to the strongly felt need by EU SMEs to enter, develop and remain in international business circuits. In fact, recent surveys on the fabric of European SMEs (Global Competitiveness Report 2020) reveal the need for highly qualified human capital capable of supporting processes of:•COMPETITIVENESS to adapt to the challenges of the global market, with particular reference to typical crafts, whose competitive position has recently been questioned, despite representing a highly significant sector for the European context.•DIGITAL INTERNATIONALIZATION, i.e. entry, development and permanence in international business circuits which represents one of the most significant challenges for European SMEs. Their export quota is below 30% according to the Annual Report on EU SMEs 2018/2019 (EC, 2019). The small businesses active at international level show an occupational increase of +7% with respect to only +1% of others without international activity.The project addresses a topic of transnational relevance with a multi-actor partnership, cooperation strategy of co-elaboration of a continuous training model, of joint experimentation and adoption in European countries and of two transnational mobilities (LTTA) for trainers that cannot be realized in national or local projects making I.D.E.A. an action of European relevance able to favour the evolution of the VET training supply generating significant impacts in terms of fostering innovation in VET, and nurturing innovation capacity and competitiveness of EU and MS<< Objectives >>The I.D.E.A project, in line with the current and future developments of the labour market at transnational level and with EU policies, intends to create a transnational Strategic Partnership between VET Providers, Chambers of Commerce/Businesses Organisations to: 1.to increase the digital, international business management skills of 80 workers of small companies in Slovenia, Poland, Italy, Spain and Greece functional to define a correct and sustainable planning of digital, international company projection2.align a group of partnership trainers and consultants (16), involved in two international mobilities to acquire the logic of the crossroads-based story to represent behaviours, situations and relational dynamics typical of digital business internationalization and to implement the functional guidelines to guide, thanks to the transformational team coaching methodology, the target SMEs in the digital transformation of the commercial and marketing processes and guide the learners in their application on the field in the organizational contexts of the target companies during the company check-ups.3.co-elaborate a European, blended training supply which is innovative and in line with the needs of workers and companies to improve their development opportunities in the globalized economy4.Pilot the training course with at least 80 workers from European SMEs involved in the partnership, through:-the use of the Educational TV Programme and OERs and participation in face-to-face sessions during the e-learning course,-the holding of check-ups by learners, suitably assisted by the consultants who have participated in the mobility who, by applying the Digital Internationalization Guidelines, will collect the information and data to be analysed to guide their companies in the implementation of strategic planning efficiency paths, direction and control of the commercial development processes of the business through new digital media.In the long-term, I.D.E.A aims at fostering innovation in VET, and nurturing innovation capacity and competitiveness of EU and Member States. Major achievements will deal with the development of a sustainable, multidisciplinary and participated approach that makes knowledge transfer and links between training and business easier reducing the misalignment between the skills generated by the training systems and those required by production systems by defining training courses calibrated on the analysis of company operating needs and the development of integrated training approaches, to generate positive effects in terms of competitive development of small businesses and professional success of workers.In the medium-term, the project is addressed to strengthen the basis of a well-organized and integrated network involving diverse partners from training and business, to influence policy-making, then capable of maximising the formative efficacy of training courses in the European partnership reference contexts.<< Implementation >>The project responds to the strongly felt need by EU SMEs to enter, develop and remain in international business circuits addressing a topic of transnational relevance with a multi-actor partnership, cooperation strategy of co-elaboration of a continuous training model, of joint experimentation and adoption in EU countries and of 2 LTTA for trainers that cannot be realized in national or local projects making IDEA an action of European relevance able to favour the evolution of the VET training supply generating significant impacts in terms of fostering innovation in VET, and nurturing innovation capacity and competitiveness of EU and MS.The project includes 5 WPs (2 Traversal and 3 Technical) each WP will be led by a different project partner identified considering its experience in the specific domain. Other partners will collaborate in the implementation of WP activities.Here follows a description of the methods used to ensure a proper workflow during the entire project.WP1 Project management - Leader GZS CPU (M1-M24)The first work package will take care of all tasks needed to coordinate activities and a smooth flow of the project as well as a proper monitoring of results, information flow between partners, conflict management and quality of the produced project results.WP2 Communication and dissemination - Leader Camara de Comercio Italiana - Barcelona (M1-M24)that covers all the activities concerning the project visibility (i.e. Graphical identity, media coverage, etc.) and the diffusion of project results.WP3 Elaboration and Development PR1 (WP and PR Responsible: HAU; M1 – M6)A3.1 Desk Research (M1-M3)A3.2 Field Research (M3-M4)A3.1 will be integrated by a field analysis through the organisation of Focus Groups with workers, SME and partner training agency representativesA3.3 Learning Programme Design (M4-M6)On the basis of the findings of A3.1-3.2, the partnership experts will design the new learning program, defining the teaching methods, the criteria to select learners, the assessment methods, evaluation of the learning outcomes achieved.WP4 Design and Development IO2, IO3 (WP and IO Responsible: CONFORM; RCGE; M7 – M18)A4.1 Short-term joint staff training event (LTTA) – M6to be carried out at Conform, that will last for 5 days and will involve a group of 5 partnership trainers/experts involved in an upskilling and methodological alignment process, focusing on challenge based learning that uses the logic of crossroad storiesA4.2 Elaboration of contents and technical development of OERs (M7-M14)A4.3 Design and development of the Educational TV Programme learning environment (M10-M17)A4.4 Design of the Digital Internationalization Guidelines (M17-18)A4.5 Short-term joint staff training event (2nd LTTA) - M17to be carried out at RCGE: 5 days for 5 partnership experts/consultants involved in an upskilling and methodological alignment process, focusing on transformational coaching and digital internationalisation guidelinesWP5 PILOTING (PR1, 2, 3; WP Responsible HAU; M16-M23)These activities will be transversal to classroom trainingA5.1 Testing of the Educational TV Programme, OERs and the additional materials (M16-20)A5.2 Company check-up implementation (M19-20)by workers suitably assisted by the consultants who have participated in the 2nd LTTA who, that will apply the Digital Internationalization Guidelines (PR3).5.3 Evaluation (M16-23)with the identification of the methods to verify and evaluate all the learning process; the development of evaluation materials; the collection of results for reporting. Partners will prepare a compendium of the pilot phase carried out.<< Results >>Expected results are:1.the establishment of a stable, multi-actor network, of international excellence, of 3 EU Training body, 3 chamber system/business organisations, 3 HEIs/Research Center expression of 5 EU countries, to foster interaction and integration of company, methodological, technological and didactic expertise, functional to the strategic design of developing and maintaining among small business workers, enduring digital and international business management skills, based on a systemic vision of a technological, organizational/managerial, commercial, relational and marketing nature, functional to define a correct and sustainable strategic planning of the international digital projection of companies businesses.2.the undertaking, in response to the strongly felt need to enter, develop and remain in international business circuits by small of a cognitive analysis centered on listening to a group of key business people in small enterprise systems of Partnership reference territories, in order to assess the need for digital and international business management skills.3.the validation and diffusion of the training standard and of the teaching framework developed by the Project to favour its implementation in the framework of the partnership regional/national training supply systems (PR1 - DIGITAL AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LEARNING PROGRAMME)4.digital integration in learning, favouring access to a plurality of OER (gamified interactive training videos with narrative crossroads), which can be freely used online for at least 2 years after project end, to allow a wide range of students to acquire and maintain enduring skills and valuable knowledge of international, digital and cross-cultural business management, based on a systemic vision of an organizational/managerial, commercial, relational and marketing nature, functional to defining the correct and sustainable strategic planning of the international projection of companies (PR2 - EDUCATIONAL TV PROGRAMME AND INTERACTIVE GAMIFIED VIDEO TRAINING PILLS DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT )5.the achievement by a group of partnership trainers, as a result of mobility, of a methodological alignment (i) on the logic of the crossroads-based story, to represent behaviours, situations and relational dynamics typical of digital business internationalization and digital Conversational Marketing processes, allowing learners to verify the consequences of the behaviour adopted/chosen in cross-cultural contexts in a cause/effect logic - LTTA (ii) on the transformational team coaching to implement the functional guidelines to guide the target SMEs in the digital transformation of the commercial and marketing processes and guide the learners in their application on the field in the organizational contexts of the target companies during the company check-ups (PR3 - DIGITAL INTERNATIONALIZATION GUIDELINES)6.the development and implementation of Educational TV Programme with episodes as a Learning environment to guide the beneficiaries on the new ways to promote and valorise digital internationalisation that will consist of the OER, the additional training materials as well as the interviews with stakeholders/business operators (PR2)7.the involvement of a group of at least 80 male and female workers (20SI, 20IT, 10EL, 20ES, 10PL) in the piloting phase (PR1)8.identification of the opportunities foreseen in regional, national and EU calls for the implementation and transfer of results to new contexts

<< Background >>Work-based learning includes opportunities such as internships, apprenticeships, job shadowing, career mentoring, and other hands-on job training that build specific skills and provide students real-world professional experience and networking opportunities. The scale of the COVID-19 disruption to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) has been truly astounding. At the same time, the importance of maintaining work-based learning experiences for VET learners remains pertinent as the economic fallout resulting from the public health crisis increases the chance that VET learners may not graduate on time, or will not receive the training foreseen. Therefore, maximizing work-based learning opportunities for VET learners keeps them connected to the labor market —mitigating inequalities emerging during the covid-pandemic. The changes needed to keep VET placements and WBL attractive in a period where offered placements are shortened require creative and rapid adjustments that allow WBL schemes to continue to be attractive and applicable both during and after the pandemic. These adjustments include solutions such as the design and delivery of virtual WBL programs that are going to replace traditional WBL schemes, providing even better learning experiences for the Learners and an added value for the employers who choose to participate and offer virtual WBL placements.Within this context, the eWBL@HoME project is re-thinking WBL through the provision of a solid framework for transforming traditional VET schemes into virtual Work-Based learning experiences of the highest quality.The e-WBL@HoME project addresses numerous needs since VET Providers need to adapt their traditional forms of WBL to new, virtual WBL schemes, in order to tackle: •The fact that the current health (but also financial) crisis is leading to shortages of work-based learning opportunities for VET students since firms are expected to provide fewer training opportunities in the coming years. •The limitations of financial support to bring new employers on board to provide work-based learning opportunities have been underlined, showing the other solutions should be designed and delivered. Financial incentives are not a sustainable solution for many countries in the longer term, especially when governments are facing severe budget pressures. •The sometimes-large administrative burden associated with the provision of training opportunities to VET learners that constitute significant barriers for many firms, and especially SMEs,•Skills shortages and lack of experience to effectively train students –which was already an issue before the COVID-19 crisis-, limiting the capacity of SMEs to provide high-quality training and to reap the benefits of providing work-based learning opportunities.•Employers, Companies, and Intermediary Organizations, with or without previous experience in WBL placements, creating resources that are going to minimize doubts and reasonable questions that emerge when employers are being engaged to participate in a WBL scheme for the first time.•VET learners and their families who will be able to access WBL in a virtual environment, without having their studies disrupted through the pandemic and gain access to a higher number of placements through the elimination of geographical and other boundaries that are related to on-site WBL schemes.•Teachers / Trainers / Tutors / Mentors and VET Leaders, Finally, closing the gap of engaging businesses through the delivery of employers’ engagement plans. The necessary upskilling needed for the effective transition from traditional to new VET who will be able to organize WBL in an organized environment, ensuring the learning objectives and the upskilling of their apprentices.<< Objectives >>The eWBL@HoME project is : •Re-thinking WBL through the provision of a solid framework for transforming traditional VET schemes into virtual Work-Based learning experiences of the highest quality. (MAIN OBJECTIVE)Additional Objectives of the e-WBL@HoME project include: •Increase visibility and attractiveness of virtual WBL, through the design of a standardized high-quality framework for virtual WBL (Objective 1).•Active support for Employers to re-value WBL and offer virtual WBL placements for VET Learners (Objective 2)•Increase learning opportunities for VET learners, accelerating their performance within a virtual WBL placement, enabling the completion of their Practical Training without reducing their learning experience (Objective 3). •Upskill Teachers / Mentors / Tutors to support virtual WBL from the design phase to the implementation, up to the completion of the virtual WBL placements (Objective 4).<< Implementation >>With the support of the grant requested for Project Management and Implementation, we intend to carry out activities that will be deployed during specific phases of our project but also horizontally all through the duration of it. The activities/outputs it encompasses are the following:A. Coordination / Implementation activities:•Implementation of meetings: virtual and physical meetings, monthly and ad hoc online meetings with respective agendas and minutes of meetings. This activity will allow the smooth coordination of the project by allocating project resources to activities, performing regular quality checks of interim results, maintaining ongoing communication with all project team members, and keeping everyone involved in the project motivated through leadership, negotiations, conflict resolution, and the application of appropriate HR management techniques.•Quality Assurance: Annual and Final Quality monitoring reports are going to be prepared. This activity will consist of gathering evidence that proves the project work is following high-qualitystandards, methodologies, and best practices and will allow us to estimate to which extent the project is satisfying the desired scope and quality requirements within the project constraints.•Preparation of project reports: Annual Progress reports are going to be conducted and submitted according to the guidelines of NA BIBB and the Final Report will also be prepared and submitted under the responsibility of the Lead Partner (EVBB) and the participation of all Project Partners. •Utilization of Associated Partners: It is vital for the success of the project to enhance the cooperation with the identified Associated Partners and therefore we are going to prepare and agree with each Associated Partner Action Plans defining their input in the different implementation phases of the project. •Quality control of Project Outputs and Project Results. We are going to apply a peer-reviewing system, where partners are going to share the responsibility to proofread and agree on their quality and content. B. Monitoring and control activities:•Monitor & Control activities will run throughout the duration of the project and will be carried out based on the processes described in the PM Plans developed during the Planning Phase. They will ultimately be under the responsibility of the Project Manager (PM) who will track the project performance against the baseline in order to facilitate reporting and controlling, devise, plan, propose and implement corrective actions to address existing or potential performance risks or issues, while updating the relevant project plans and logs, etc.•Specific activities include project performance monitoring, controlling schedule and costs, managing requirements, project change, risk, quality, and deliverables acceptance.C. Information, promotion, and dissemination activities:•These activities are further detailed in our application and will be prepared based on our Dissemination and Exploitation plan that will outline the method and timing of exposing the project to its key actors and to its stakeholders. It will also identify and describe the most appropriate dissemination channels and the activities that will be implemented to make the results and deliverables of the project available during and after the project to all the stakeholders at the local, national and EU-level, to promote the project and achieve the set goals while describing the role each partner and other actors will play in its implementation.Indicatively, these activities will include the development/production of:oStakeholders engagement plan;oProject identityoProject website;oNewsletters and press releases;oSocial media;oAwareness raising event (info days at the start and annually during the implementation of the project);oTranslation of newsletters, press releases, website content, games, online platform, leaflets text, and other relevant material<< Results >>Our project will produce 4 main results:1: Bringing e-WBL@Home: A Framework for Virtual Work-Based Learning: Through the establishment of a Framework for the design and delivery of virtual WBL, the quality in WBL delivery is expected to increase, creating better employment opportunities for the Learners who will have the opportunity to participate in virtual WBL programs. The e-WBL Framework 1.0 contributes to transforming VET into a first choice, also in the e-learning environment. The impact is expected to be transnational since the Lead (applicant) Partner is a major VET umbrella Organization (EVBB) with a presence in all EU countries. The final e-WBL Framework 1.0, is going to serve as a methodology and guideline for the design and implementation of successful and tailored to the needs of remote working environments, providing a solid ground for the continuation and improvement of WBL in the new structure of businesses.2. Preparation of the Employers Package for Virtual Work-Based Learning: Higher engagement of Employers is going to be achieved, increasing placement opportunities for virtual WBLs. This is going to increase the image of VET and its linkages to the market needs, which is one of the primary objectives of the Osnabruck Agenda. Work-Based Learning Placements are going to be re-evaluated and will become active, increasing the number of placements available. At the same time, the outreach to employers is going to be increased, since the virtual variation of WBL will be available to all, without geographical or physical restrictions. All content produced in this Project Result is going to be available online at a single reference point to support employers to utilize virtual WBL in their working environments. It will act as a blog and reference point, including examples, testimonials, and all relevant material, ready to be used by interested employees. 3. Paving the ground for Learners. An e-wbl performance kit for Learners: The VET Learners component is going to increase accessibility to WBL for disadvantaged groups and VET learners that live in rural areas and lack reliable or affordable transportation options. Therefore, a higher number of expressed interests for virtual WBL placements is going to be envisaged, while VET learners are going to be informed about the expectations and the demands of the hosting organizations. All these variables are going to increase the attractiveness of WBL and support the vision of VET to become the first choice. Additionally, more opportunities for employability are going to be created through the facilitation provided to access all related services and supporting material4. Creating OER to support e-WBL for VET Teachers / Trainers and Mentors: Teachers and VET Staff are going to gain expertise and perform better in relation to the engagement of employers to offer virtual WBL placements and support of VET learners towards entering and completing virtual WBL. As a result potential virtual WBL is going to become more attractive and a significant choice in the post-covid environment, creating new pathways to employment through practical training, which has stopped during the covid pandemic. The final OER is going to be uploaded in the form of OER to the Project Learning platform and assure the technical support before, during and after the completion of the training program for at least 5 years after the completion of the project.