"Persecution, conflicts, human rights violations and climate changes continue to force people to flee their homes and seek safety in the EU. In 2018 only, an estimated 634700 asylum applications were registered compared to 728400 in 2017 and 1.3 million in 2016 (Eruostat:2020). This number will potentially grow due to the changing politics of Turkey and as aftermath of prevailing Covid-19 crisis, which will lead to worsening economic conditions for refugees globally. Many are here to stay and the European Union needs to ensure that they enter the labour market and become self-reliant as quickly as possible. However, despite diverse educational backgrounds, working experiences and reasons for coming to the EU, migrants tend to have worse employment outcomes in comparison with native-born citizens. In 2018, the EU unemployment rate for people aged 20 to 64 was 12.2 % for those born outside the EU, 6.1 % for the native-born population and 6.8 % for those born in another EU Member State. NEEDS OF THE TARGET GROUP In this context, both research and practice suggest that Vocational Education and Training is recognised as a key aspect of integration as it fosters employability either in general terms or through enhancement of specific language or work skills (Duke et.al “Refugee resettlement in Europe” (2010); European Commission “Handbook on Integration for policy makers and practitioners” (2007). It is also recognised that VET needs to stay a jour with the ongoing changes to meet the Labour market (employers´) and refugees´ needs. In its report from 2016 “Vocational Education and Training: Bridging Refugee and Employer needs”, CEDEFOP states: “Considering the growing numbers of refugees there is a need to upscale, adapt and reinvent VET programmes.” However, while there are many efforts put in adapting VET concerning accessibility, broadening the provision and individual guidance for refugees in all EU countries, the competence-development and support of VET trainers/teachers/counsellors is still limited. According to CEDEFOP, it is vital to provide VET professionals with knowledge/tools/support for creating high quality VET programs. It is insufficient to merely focus on teaching specific working techniques and behaviour while neglecting other work-related skills, just like communication skills, team-work or other soft skills. VET professionals rather have to be able to communicate and teach values, concepts and realities that are relevant in their companies and the contemporary society, e.g. skills and knowledge to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts due to different cultural backgrounds. Consequently, many VET professionals often struggle with high jobs demands leading to stress and burnout. This, together with the fact that they encounter students suffering from multiple traumas related to pre-flight or flight situations might contribute to compassion fatigue. In her qualitative research study ""The experience of staff working with refugees and sylum seekers in the UK"", Helen Liebling confirms that 75 % of professionals including VET trainers/counsellors express need for ongoing training and counselling for coping with compassion fatigue as well as support in development of the intercultural competence.To sum up, while there is a great number of solutions concerning inter-cultural communication developed for trainers in in-formal and non-formal education at NGOs, formal VET programs still lack this aspect. The concept of compassion fatigue is mostly applied for staff in social work and is unfamiliar for formal VET training. OBJECTIVES The main objective of SEP project is to create a hands-on a learning program for sustainable engagement of VET-professionals working with migrants to prevent Compassion Fatigue and to foster Inter-cultural Training. Intercultural capacity building of VET-trainers and counsellors will support them in developing the capacity to make teaching/counselling more responsive, flexible and divergent to accommodate the variety of learning needs and educational expectations of the diverse cultural and ethnic groups of students. Tools for recognition and prevention of compassion fatigue will contribute to less burnout and stress.Enhancing social and economic integration of refugees and migrants is a problems across all EU countries, and although the issue needs to be solved at local level with the local communities, finding solutions which work is a transnational challenge. The transnationality is vital to learn from each other experiences in how different countries address the type of activities as proposed by the project and generate mutual learning in relation to how the professionals working with refugees and migrants upfront the challenges of empowering and creating a sense of agency among their “clients”. The different views and perspectives of stakeholders from different EU regions are exchanged, analysed and applied by their representatives in the consortium."