EuroDuaLE want to open the road for transnational cooperation for the provision of dual learning programmes. HEIs are asked to strenghten the quality of the education provided, for example with the use of ICT solutions and more innovative training approaches, open up to cross-national cooperation and relate more efficiently with the labour market (EU Modernisation Agenda for HE, 2011) . With EuroDuaLE we aim to put HEIs at the centre of a new learning/training framework, a form of transnational dual learning driven by HEIs which promotes formal learning combined with apprenticeship possibilities and work-based learning, as an approach to accompany european youth in their mobility experience. Drawing on the experience of few European inititatives which have open the road for apprenticeships in Europe (the European Alliance for Apprenticeship, Youth Guarantee, Your first Eures Job) and following the priorities indicated in the Europe 2020 Strategy, such as to increase the number of apprenticeships and traineeships where possible in cooperation with education systems, EuroDuaLE promotes the design and implementation of a transnational cooperation framework for dual learning mobility. High unemployment rates, combined with emerging disparities in the labour market between the demand of employers and the skills acquired though traditional education call for urgent action. The project does not have the ambition to change the situation over night, but aims to direct attention toward the development of transnational dual learning programmes, giving students the possibility to combine learning in HEIs with practical training in collaboration with companies and employers, across European countries. Learning from the experience of VET centers, HEIs should become the vehicle for the provision and recognition of innovative forms of blended learning, develop a framework for quality assessment of informal competences, support youth in exploiting the opportunities of a connected Europe for apprenticeship. The framework implies form of physical mobility and virtual mobility, reducing the social costs of migration by using the potential of ICT solutions. The project foresees the design and evaluation of such framework, together with an analysis of barriers and facilitators for youth mobility. A set of recommendations to HEIs, employers in the private and public sectors as well as policy-makers will be produced, to sponsor reforms in line with a stronger European cooperation for dual learning and transnational apprenticeship.
EuroDuaLE had pursued the objective of developing and testing an original transnational Dual Learning framework. 13 partners participated in the project, namely Centre for Studies in Law, Economy, Environment, and Work of the Marco Biagi Department of Economics of the Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, SOPHIA R&I, Fondazione ADAPT, Camera di Commercio Italo-Germanica, Otto-Von-Guericke-Universität Magdeborg, University of Southampton, Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, University College Leuven, Cofora International Projects BV, European Foundation for Education e.V., Universidad de Sevilla, Università degli Studi di Padova, and Università degli Studi Roma Tre. The background of the project was characterised by: ¥ Skills mismatch: a growing number of employers highlights the disequilibrium and the difficulties to recruit people matching with their constantly evolving needs ¥ Higher education programmes sometimes lag behind compared to the emerging needs of the economy in general, and specifically to emerging career paths ¥ High youth unemployment, even among highly skilled young adults, is also the result of such delay, particularly dramatic in Southern Europe The main goal of the project is to help fighting youth unemployment, through the improvement of youth employability and the reduction of the mismatch of competences between education and labour market. The project wants to clear the path of synergy between HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) and labour market actors, giving students the chance to test new academic curricula and combining formal training (in class) and training on-the-job, geographical and virtual mobility. Therefore, the EuroDuaLE project aimed at facing these critical issues by seeking primarily to reduce the mismatch of competences. This was pursued by involving companies in the definition of the academic studying and training programmes; taking advantage of the potentials offered by dual learning programmes to substantially increase youth employability, not only at the conclusion of but also during the education experience; giving students the chance to combine and integrate formal academic training and training on-the-job. In this sense, the project set out the main objective of producing a framework for dual learning in higher education that combines dual learning and transnational mobility, giving students the possibility to integrate notional and practice training in collaboration with companies in different European countries. The first phase consisted in analysing learning and job mobility of young people (IO1) and the current situation of different dual learning systems in some European countries participating in the project (IO2). In the second phase, partners produced a model for transnational dual learning programmes in higher education. The model was firstly developed from a theoretical and methodological point of view (IO3). After that, a Practical Handbook was created considering the related issues as regards the realistic implementation of this model (IO4) in order to guide both the piloting phase planned by the project (C1 and C2) and other possible stakeholders who would like to develop dual learning programmes by following the model proposed by EuroDuaLE. The last phase of the project consisted in the realisation of the piloting phase, which gave some students of the universities involved in this project the opportunity to gain a dual learning mobility experience (physically and virtually), and to draft a methodological and practical guide for designing and implementing a quality dual learning higher education programme (IO5). The project was integrated by assessment activities of the project execution, which considered: methodology, implementation and reporting; validity and transferability of this innovative project idea; mainstreaming activities for the targeted dissemination of the project outcomes; set of recommendations directed to national and European political decision makers; the paper presenting all the methodological as well as practical aspects of the EuroDuaLE project. The objective of these activities consists in making it a scientific reference point in order to introduce the innovative elements of the model also in the already existing programmes of study. The dissemination of the project outcomes took place through multiplier events, along with other canals and instruments described in the specific section. The expected result, which consisted in defining a model to design transnational dual learning programmes in higher education, has been reached. The impact is represented by an extended awareness of the value of dual learning in general and transnationally in particular, as well as of its feasibility.