Offering quality guidance services to all citizens at any point in their lives is an important challenge for regions. All regions participating in the strategic partnership "BRIDGE" have established guidance systems that support the access of citizens to training and further education. However, these guidance services don't reach all target groups to the same extent. Above all, only a very small number of low-skilled people use lifelong guidance in BRIDGE regions and the participation of low-skilled adults in up-skilling training activities is significantly low. Regional actors are, thus, looking for possibilities to improve the access of low-skilled adults to guidance and to develop the quality of guidance services with a view to lower-skilled target groups. The project will focus on special guidance needs of low-skilled adults, especially of those who are in employment but at risk of being excluded from the job-market because of missing qualifications. Companies employing low-skilled adults will be involved. The project partners will analyse the access to and quality of guidance services for low-skilled adults in Baden-Württemberg/Germany, Bretagne/France and Jämtland/Sweden from different perspectives and with different methods and activities. In a second step, they aim at the adaption, testing and transfer of best practice tools and processes in the field of guidance from one region to the others. At the heart of the project, a study and handbook will be produced which collects information, good examples and suggestions on the access to and quality of guidance services. The study addresses several thousand professionals working in the field of guidance in the participating regions and beyond. It will give them an overview of measures to support the up-skilling of low-skilled adults in the BRIDGE regions, it comprises the analysis of best practice projects, it includes results of two surveys among counselors and low-skilled people, it defines key-performance factors for counseling and it will contain a self-assessment-tool for institutions that are active in the field of guidance. The handbook and additional activities will allow professionals in guidance institutions to adopt best practice measures. The handbook will also help decision-makers to develop guidance structures for low-skilled adults on a regional level. Besides, managing staff from companies will profit from the findings of the study. In addition, an exchange of experiences during international project meetings, on-site visits of best practice measures in the participating regions and other training/multiplying activities will take place. The project is a continuation of the work of the working group on lifelong guidance of the European network EARLALL. The head office of EARLALL will guarantee the dissemination of results to its 30 members. One of the main strengths of the BRIDGE project is the fact that it is complementary to latest developments and innovative projects in the field of guidance on a regional level. The BRIDGE project also involves key actors from the regions like regional administrations and ministries (Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, Region Bretagne), the leading regional guidance structures/organisations (Volkshochschulverband Baden-Württemberg/Landesnetzwerk Weiterbildungsberatung Baden-Württemberg, Fongecif/Bretagne and Lärcentrum/Jämtland) and companies (via Z-Group/Jämtland). The following main regional projects and activities are backed up and enriched by the BRIDGE project: In Baden-Württemberg, the project accompanies the development of the new guidance network "Landesnetzwerk Weiterbildungsberatung" and will give important impulses to develop the accessibility and quality of services of the new network. In Bretagne, the partner Fongecif is one of the five key actors at national level who implemented a new law dated 5 March 2014. Fongecif will carry out guidance to support the professional development of employees under this new law and is currently looking for new strategies to adapt its services. In Jämtland, the project meets the goal of the Swedish project partners to enhance the quality of guidance in their structures. Aspects like communication, cooperation and interactivity, flexibility and adaptability, staff qualifications and experiences, resource allocation, institutional and cultural settings are of interest. Longer term benefits of the project shall be ... 1. to strengthen guidance networks, cooperations between organisations and measures to support low-skilled target groups through European mutual learning. 2. to innovate the access of low-skilled adults to lifelong guidance in participating regions and beyond. 3. to improve the quality of guidance with a view to the needs of low-skilled adults by supporting professionals in guidance services. 4. consequently, to increase the participation of low-skilled adults in up-skilling activities.
Offering quality guidance services to all citizens at any point in their lives is an important challenge for regions. All regions participating in the ERASMUS+ strategic partnership BRIDGE have established guidance systems that support the access of citizens to training and further education. However, these guidance services didn't reach all target groups to the same extent. Above all, only a small number of low-skilled people used lifelong guidance in BRIDGE regions and the participation of low-skilled adults in up-skilling training activities was significantly low. In order to raise the percentage of lower-skilled target groups in guidance and up-skilling activities new innovative concepts were needed. The BRIDGE project was designed to find such new ways of reaching lower skilled persons. As specific objectives of the BRIDGE project partners aimed at 1. analysing the access to and quality of guidance services for low-skilled adults in Baden-Württemberg/Germany, Bretagne/France and Jämtland/Sweden from different perspectives and with different methods and activities and to adapt, test and transfer best practice tools and processes in the field of guidance from one region to the others, 2. describing ways of addressing low-skilled adults e.g. through guidance in cooperation with companies, 3. analysing and increasing the quality of guidance services by learning from the partners' experiences and from the results of two surveys, by transfering tools and strategies and by training professionals in using these tools and strategies, 4. developing self-evaluation tools that help to evaluate the access to and quality of guidance for low-skilled people. Long term goals of the project were ... 1. to strengthen guidance networks, co-operations between organisations and measures to support low-skilled target groups through European mutual learning, 2. to innovate the access of low-skilled adults to lifelong guidance in participating regions and beyond, 3. to improve the quality of guidance with a view to the needs of low-skilled adults by supporting professionals in guidance services and, 4. consequently, to increase the participation of low-skilled adults in up-skilling activities. Seven organisations from four European countries participated in the BRIDGE project as full partners. In addition, four silent partners contributed to the project. The following institutions were full partners of the BRIDGE consortium: Volkshochschulverband Baden-Württemberg e.V. (Co-ordinator) as the biggest provider of adult education in the south-west of Germany and the co-ordinator of the regional guidance network Landesnetzwerk Weiterbildungsberatung Baden-Württemberg (LN WBB). Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport Baden-Württemberg which founded and finances the LN WBB. FONGECIF Bretagne whose mission is to inform, advise and support employees in their professional transition and development, e.g. in phases of reconversion, graduation and professionalisation. Région Bretagne that has in place a regional network of several hundred information centers which can offer basic information about training opportunities and orientation to more specialized guidance services. Lärcentrum Östersunds kommun, responsible for all matters regarding adult learning for citizens in the area including education and career guidance. IUC Z-Group which is a cooperation between manufacturing companies in the county of Jämtland, provides and verifies training and education to member companies. EARLALL, the European Association of Regional & Local Authorities for Lifelong Learning. During seven project meetings, the BRIDGE project partners investigated best practice measures and tools of guidance in the participating regions, described and analysed the measures and worked out success factors. Around 20 activities were followed up in detail. Powerpoint presentations on the different activities and reports were produced. The reports formed part of a study and handbook which collects information, good examples and suggestions on successful educational and career guidance. The study addresses several thousand professionals working in the field of guidance in the participating regions and beyond. It offers an overview on existing measures to reach low-skilled adults in the BRIDGE regions and puts the findings of the BRIDGE project into a broader context. The study and handbook also includes results of two surveys among counselors and low-skilled people, it defines key-performance factors for counseling as well as self-assessment-tools for institutions that are active in the field of guidance. The BRIDGE regions have successfully implemented several of the best practices in their guidance structures, used project results in policy processes and provided financing for new guidance strategies. In one European and three regional multiplier events results of the project were spread to other regions.