Considering the high unemployment rate of youth in Slovakia and Italy, the project targeted at further establishing the countries' dual system of vocational training by means of supporting the professional-ism in companies that train apprentices. To this end the the corporate, well-established, and widely networked German training establishment IB Jena cooperated with its partners in Italy and Slovakia - both companies providing long-standing, excellent, and considerable experience in vocational training.The Italian partner FONDAZIONE ENAIP LOMBARDIA has shown expertise in the vocational training for metalworking and food service. They are partners for companies in the dual vocational training in Lom-bardy.Next to the long-established schooling in the food service and service sector in their facility, the Slovaki-an partner, Stredna odborna skola hotelovych sluzieb a obchodu Stredna odborna skola hotelovych sluzieb a obchodu, have trained apprentices for the local companies within the framework of dual voca-tional training.The dual vocational training systems in the three countries are as inconsistent as is the array of institu-tions and their responsibilities. In order to achieve a better mutual understanding, a common matrix was developed to indicate con-trasting aspects such as training duration, distribution of training facilities, percentage of theoretical and practical training, apprentice's pay, entry of youths into the dual system etc. The matrix was used, among others, to initiate conversation with various networking partners within the three countries and in order to be able to work on individual issues such as recruitment of potential apprentices / supporting arguments for companies. The conversations mentioned were, among others, included in the six project meetings. These meetings also served the mutual presentation and transfer of numerous documents.Comparing the framework plans' contents for curriculum and training as well as the examination content for the professions cook and cutting machine operator identified a wide-ranging conformity.The experts were particularly interested in the expansion of their technical and methodical repertoire.Various tasks in terms of the transfer of good practice examples from basic training to examination level were mutually exchanged.In order to support company trainers, training material was collectively updated in terms of methodolo-gy.An activity-oriented project task for companies was designed and tested for each profession. The mate-rial thus generated is usable and stored in a Cloud. Access to the Cloud is granted by the three partner-ing institutions. In addition, a Facebook account with regard to the project was generated, thus far how-ever counting an insufficient number of followers. The intended starting point, namely to raise the aware-ness within companies to get into training apprentices themselves, was unnecessary to this extent. The Slovakian and Italian companies have realized that the dual vocational training system pays off for them and they are willing to accept apprentices. Demographic change combined with the increasingly exaggerated academization result in the common problem of finding young school graduates who can enter the system . The dual system in Italy and Slo-vakia has noticeably progressed and hence consolidated in the course of the project . The development is, however, not yet complete. Each country requires additional formalities and tools to further promote progress.The project led to the conclusion that the companies have to become more attractive in order for gradu-ates and their parents to realize the chance in starting a dual vocational training.The partners will continue their cooperation in the course of various Erasmus+ projects.

The partnership was created to link the public and private sectors aimed at promoting regional development. The engineering industry has been and still remains a core industry in the regions and therefore it is important to provide the employers with qualified staff. Nevertheless, this is only possible via intensive cooperation of companies and schools, and in particular by increasing of amount of practical training in the companies. The German dual system of vocational education can serve as a model, where students are prepared directly in companies. We achieved the following objectives by realization of the project:- to modernize the vocational education in partner schools via cooperation of the school and practice- to increase the interest in technical professions- to exchange the experience and develop possible proposals to reform of the education- to acquire new skills and knowledge from the country, where the dual system is implemented- to involve the key employers in the vocational education more and persuade them that coordinated education can bring more benefits- to enhance the cooperation between the partnership created by organizations that are responsible for vocational education and training, whit the main aim to connect the education with the requirements of practice- to strengthen the role of partnership between schools, companies and social partners by possible influencing of the network of vocational educationThe target group of the project were teaching staff and students of secondary vocational schools, directories of engineering companies in the regions (especially employees involved in the vocational training) and the representatives of the regional government, industry and professional associations involved in vocational education.The partnership consisted of organizations from three EU countries. On the one hand, it is Germany with its functioning dual system of education, on the other hand, Slovakia and Czech Republic are countries with ambitions to introduce dual system. We cooperated in the project with these partners: Vocational school Tremosnice (Czech republic), 1. Slovak engineering cluster and German partners Jenaer Bildungszentrum, respectively Internationaler Bund Bildungszentrum Jena.The project produced three intellectual outputs - training modules for engineering professions, proposals of regional cooperation networks and a model of career guidance in vocational education.Intellectual output O1 consists from 15 training modules in engineering.Intellectual output O3 includes a model of career guidance in vocational education. The partners prepared a model based on the needs of Slovak and Czech schools and on the experience of the German partner.The most extensive project output is the intellectual output O2, which focused on linking vocational training from the point of view of theory and practice. The results of the output are varied, the most important part was the mapping of cooperation between secondary vocational schools and employers.The project also included 4 transnational project meetings and 14-day mobility for 30 students from Slovak and Czech schools at the German partner.The project partners that the results of the project will also contribute to the modernization of vocational training in the participating regions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The strategic partnership and international co-operation will work even after the end of the common project. All project outputs will be used in the next process. Within the established regional networks in vocational education, we expect the contribution of employers, especially in the area of recruiting students, organizing excursions or competitions for the interested in technical professions.All outputs have been made available to other schools and employers, school management and 1. SSK management are responsible for managing it. Schools will continue to organize researches between employers and social partners as well as analysis of the applicability of graduates in order to maintain the best connection between theory and practice needs.The sustainability of the project will also be supported by the new law on vocational education, which defines dual education as one of its aims and duties. Schools and employers in Slovakia will be motivated to implement this system. All participating schools will be able to benefit from the experience gained.

In the current global context of complex economic challenges, there is growing interest in how workplaces develop and use skills, and this involves understanding the nature of the skills demanded by employers, and therefore the need of VET-business win-win cooperation has become morepressing. Cooperation between businesses and VET is very important for both the quality of education and for making sure future employees have the skills which labour market needs. By organising the VET provision close to the labour market, the skills needs can be more directlycommunicated and solved and does not (necessarily) depend on skills surveys or skills forecasting models.Despite, as concluded by a recent study from EC, there exists several constraining factors to successful VET-business cooperation across Europe, and in particularly in BRIDGES’ participating countries (North Ireland, England, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Poland and Cyprus), including: lack of effective dialogue between business, providers and government; insufficient ownership of the real needs of businesses and to a lesser degree, of providers; high costs of training making companies, in particular SMEs, reluctant to invest; lack of information about benefits of and opportunities in VET; limited business’ and learners’ participation due to still a lower attractiveness of VET (at least when compared with other educational paths).With a view to the above-mentioned challenges, partners recognise the need of upskilling their VET professionals and have an effective employer engagement internal policy and agenda. In this frame, BRIDGES project will provide a bespoke framework, blended CPD programme and digital resources to support VET providers and professionals in improving WBL through effective employer engagement. The following objectives, activities and participants are defined:-Supply VET providers with a bespoke 4-level employer engagement framework: i) Building Educational Capacity; ii) Co-designing Curricula and Career Pathways; iii) Leading and Networking; iv) Enhancing Internationalisation;-Upskill 64 VET professionals in effective employer engagement that has the required impacts, through a blended CPD course and digital resources;-Engage 40 associated partners and key stakeholders by involving them in development, validation, dissemination and exploitation actions;-Promote the excellence and attractiveness of WBL and VET among VET providers, professionals and stakeholders, through BRIDGES Community of practice and multiplier events in all partners' countries, targeting more than 210 participants (including VET providers, VET professionals, employers, but also Social Partners, HE and AE providers and professionals, chambers of commerce, employers’ associations, public bodies, decision and policy makers).Expected outcomes of the BRIDGES project are:- Knowledge acquired on efficient employer engagement pathways by partners’ organisations and other VET providers involved in the project;- Skills gained on employer engagement by VET professionals involved in the project;- Increased use of the BRIDGES virtual learning environment and community of practice;- Reinforced links, synergies and cooperation among partners’ organisations but also other VET providers and their network of employers;- Increased awareness of VET and WBL as an attractive way of education and employability;- Enhanced capacity of VET providers and professionals to proactively engage with employers to identify and respond to their specific skills needs;- Deep-rooted strategic partnerships with local, national and international employers of every size to work in designing and delivering VET solutions that meet their current and specific skills demands, whilst planning for those of the future;- Increased appropriation, transferability and scalability of the project and its outputs (available as OER is six languages - english, portuguese, german, spanish, polish and greek) by VET providers and professionals, but also by other educational players, such as AE and HE in other European countries;- Expanded awareness of VET and WBL as an attractive way of education and employability, across Europe.

<< Objectives >>LEADING 2030 project wants to:•accelerate a culture of sustainability and ownership of the SDGs, creating a holistic and practical background and driving action •upskill business consultants/CVET professionals and leaders with competences to mainstream sustainability across sectors •enhance local/regional/national and European cooperation through the participation of associated partners, experts and key-stakeholders<< Implementation >>LEADING 2030 key activities are: •Best practices benchmarking •Extended training need analysis •Transnational hands-on workshops•Online pilots to upskill business consultants/CVET professionals •Piloting corporate MOOCs and individual consulting sessions with leaders •Finetuning results based on multistakeholders advisory groups’ feedback•Production of the LEADING 2030 promo clip •Organisation of the LEADING 2030 final summit in Germany •Promotion, dissemination and exploitation actions<< Results >>LEADING delivers eight results:R1. LEADING 2030 practice principles frameworkR2. LEADING 2030 upskilling programmeR3. LEADING 2030 multiresource WebHub R4. LEADING 2030 Corporate MOOCs R5. LEADING 2030 StoryMapsR6. LEADING 2030 Awareness & Understanding campaigns R7. LEADING 2030 Impact-drivenR8. LEADING 2030 Exploitation

"With age, there is an increased risk of becoming dependent on care: between the ages of 60 and 80, about 4.2 percent of people need care, and with over 80, it is already 28.8 percent. At present, about 2.45 million people in Germany are in need of care . The number is estimated to increase to 3.2 million by 2030 and to 4.23 million by 2050. (https://www.diakonie-hamburg.de/de/fachthemen/altenpflege/Fakten-zur-Situation-der-Pflege-in-Deutschland-)Europe is confronted with an ageing population and a shrinking workforce, as well as labour and skills shortages: While in 2010, just over 4.2 million people in Germany e.g. were 80 and older, in 2050, experts estimate, there will be over 10 million. OECD (2014) estimates working-age population to decline by 7.5 million (-2.2%) between 2013 and 2020 and with zero net migration it would be expected to decline by even -3.5% by 2020 in the 28 EU countries. In the care sector, the ver.di trade union, estimates 70,000 skilled workers are already missing nationwide in nursing. 40,000 additional specialists are needed in geriatric care and this issue will become even more severe in the future. According to forecasts of the Deutsche Pflegerat (German Nursing Council), 300,000 caregivers will be missing by 2030, 200,000 of them in geriatric care alone."" (www.tagesschau.de)To overcome this situation, many countries, inter alia Austria and Germany, have invited high qualified workers without (yet) solving the overall skills and HR gap. One possibility however not yet explored well, due to legal limitations and/ or longterm preparations needed in education mainly, is that of involving migrants and regugees who, in many cases, show respective qualifications or at least knowledge, skills and competences to start in the care sector with support related to knowledge/ skills assessment gained from (non)formal or experimental learning situations in their home countries and learning of customer care related skills and competences at a European standard.By active transnational cooperation, the MIGRANTS CARE project - in this light and for these reasons - elaborated innovative education material and accompanying support documents for their transfer into other VET organisations, companies in the care sector and initiatives supporting migrants in their (labour and or education) integration. Partners from three countries, i.e. Germany, Austria and Spain/France, brought in necessary expertise, substantial experience and direct access to the target groups of this project (migrants/ refugees, education stakeholders, VET providers, umbrella organisations and initiatives working on behalf of migrants/ refugees) to concretely provided them with:IO1 - A MOBILE LEARNING APP for self-assessing prior learning, learning in daily care sector work based situations aiming at improving their employability. Contents elaborate customer care to work with elder people, those having disorders and/ or handicaps due to their age. The web-based APP is now available in German, English, French for B2 language level and will have language support in learning contents also in Arabic, Serbian and Turkish. The APP can be found here: http://www.migrantsincare.eu/Learners will be able to receive up to two ECVET points upon its completion.IO2 - POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS for upscaling in VET for stakeholders and professionals to better support migrants and refugees in continuous VET and education stakeholders and policy makers in transferring and upscaling the results. The final document can be found here in English, German and French, following the link: www.migrants.deThe intellectual outputs were accompanied by dissemination events in partner countries addressing the project target groups. In total, the consortium aimed to reach 6411 beneficiaries (including migrants/ refugees, professionals, stakeholders), These numbers were reached, through partners own clients and learners, associate partners, multiplier events, mailing lists, conferences (face-to-face and digital), internal magazines etc. MIGRANTS CARE was supported by a strategic involvement of target groups and key stakeholders and is confident to thus achieve the long term impact of helping target audiences in improving customer care aspects in the care sector for migrants; make policy and education providers rethink towards the implementation of alternative training solutions for otherwise people at risk of exclusion from society, work and education."