The ageing of the EU population and workforce represents a great challenge to societies and economies, requiring relevant changes in labour markets. SASSI intends to focus on empowerment of the ageing workforce, developing innovative training strategies that can be applied both in continuous professional development (CPD) for 50+ employees and in VET programmes for adult job seekers. The idea is to develop an age-sensitive approach that better reflects the learning patterns of ageing workers/job seekers and make a strong impact in: • Helping mature employees to be more involved in CPD courses and maximize their possibilities of keeping their job • Empowering 50+ job seekers to promote their employability Often projects addressing this topic are focused only on one specific target group such as 50+ unemployed or mature employees less or no longer involved in training programmes. But these target groups often experience similar obstacles in joining training programmes, for instance they can find themselves denied access to training simply because they have crossed a particular age threshold. There are also similar personal barriers in the two groups, when these people internalize ageist myths believing, for instance, that retraining in unnecessary or that they are too old to retrain. The central assumption in the project is that these two target groups express the same needs in terms of age-sensitive VET and CPD programmes. The project will start with a need analysis, to get a clear picture of the actual needs of the main SASSI stakeholders – senior learners, adult VET and CPD providers, HR managers, employers, and to explore the state of the art on age-responsive education. In parallel, a community of interest (SASSI community) will be established, to generate a strong network of stakeholders, and create favorable conditions for a long life of SASSI concepts and products. The community members will make use of a multilingual e-platform on age-responsive education (SASSI HUB). SASSI stakeholders/target groups, will “meet” there and benefit from many different online features. The core of the project is the SASSI methodology and the validation system. In this context of activities, the first step will be the development of the SASSI concept, the theoretical backbone of the project. This means a precise identification of all the aspects that make a VET and CPD learning offer an age-sensitive one. The concept will present effective learning solutions that take into account different learning styles, needs and concerns of senior learners and particular psychological elements of the target group to take into consideration, like level of motivation, confidence, expectations, etc. Then a validation system will be designed, to recognize and certificate the new competences developed by the education providers and to identify the institutional/organisational changes in the enterprises’ CPD system. To this end, the partners will work on the adaptation of LEVEL5, a well proven methodology that has been set up to validate social and personal competences acquired in informal and non-formal learning. Once the first draft products (methodology, training modules and validation system) have been developed, they will be tested during a well structured piloting phase. The piloting will be preceded by a European five-day training course (C1) for VET and CPD providers, to get to know the SASSI methodology and to learn how to apply it in real training contests. At least 2-3 educational professionals will be trained per partner along the SASSI concept. During the course, the participants will be invited to scope out and start to design an educational project to be implemented in their professional practice. The idea is to let them develop training modules addressing the SASSI target group (senior job seekers and/or senior employees) applying the methodology acquired. After the course, the SASSI methodology will be piloted by the participants in real VET courses. A total number of 6 piloting entities with a minimum of 15 VET providers is envisaged. At the end of this process, the methodology will be finalised and all the main outcomes will be rolled into a unique “SASSI toolbox” which will contains all the information and guiding material to use the project main products (in particular the methodology and the validation system) in a correct way. In order to guarantee the correct use of the SASSI methodology, a certification system for VET providers will be designed. The idea is to build up a sound process to enable educationalists to become age responsive learning providers, by embedding the SASSI approach and developing concrete learning activities accordingly. Finally, a European label will be developed, as a tangible sign to recognize and reward the efforts made by the enterprises in empowering their 50+ employees through embedding the SASSI methodology into their CPD system.
Across Europe demographic trends, reinforced by policies aimed at delaying retirement (including raising the state pension age), are leading to an increase in the age of the workforce. People are wanting to, or having to, work for longer than ever before. This is a cause for concern for both employers and older workers if skills, and therefore productivity and employability, deteriorate with age. The goal of the Silver Age, Silver SAge Initiative (SASSI for short) was to give people the opportunity to maintain a productive working life by focusing on the updating and upskilling of this ageing workforce. To do this, it focused on trainers and HR managers, aiming to provide them with a better understanding of how older people learn and a range of practical skills, tools and techniques to help them support older learners and workers more effectively, and in a more age-sensitive manner. The target groups for this project were therefore: • Trainers: VET tutors and CPD professionals • HR Managers and Line Managers with people management responsibilities The ‘end-user’ beneficiaries were older workers and learners aged 50+ The SASSI project consortium was chosen to provide a diverse range of expertise from like-minded professional organisations. Each partner was chosen for their specialist areas of expertise, understanding of education and training, and also for their access to VET trainers and employers. The consortium consisted of six partners from the UK (Apricot Training Management); Germany (BUPNET and BLINC); Austria (die Berater); Slovakia (CVNO); Portugal (Inovamais); Netherlands (ROC Drenthe College) Our main activities: The project started with a detailed Needs Analysis to gain a clear picture of the implications of the ageing workforce in each country and the needs of the main stakeholders. 6 National Needs Analysis reports were produced and findings amalgamated in a Comparative Needs Analysis Report. Throughout the project, the SASSI HUB and Community Platform was developed to give access to: • the wide range of training resources, guides, case studies, research materials, e-portfolio facilities produced including the SASSI Toolbox • an innovative competence framework for those involved supporting older workers and learners in CPD, new skills development and on-going learning • A modular trainer training programme, based on the SASSI Methodology and validation tool for validating current or newly gained competences • a community of interest; a place where stakeholders can ‘meet’ and share ideas. The core of the project was the SASSI METHODOLOGY with its Learning Modules and Validation System. ‘The SASSI Methodology and Trainers Guide’ sets out the SASSI concept and its theoretical background along with the processes, trainer competences and learning solutions realised to take into account the needs and concerns of senior learners. The resulting Trainer Training Blended Learning programme is made up of four modules including webinars, seminars, self-study workbooks, a Learning Project, and competence assessment via the customised LEVEL5 platform for the validation of non-formal learning. The modules are: • The Ageing Workforce and How Older People Learn • Applying Age-sensitive CPD in practice • Putting our understanding into practice (Learning Projects) • Validation The first drafts of the methodology, training modules and validation system were tested and evaluated in a well-structured piloting phase that included a (C1) 5-day training course and Learning Projects. At the end of this process, the SASSI TOOLBOX was populated with the finalised training materials, resources and Guides and made available to the registered users of the SASSI HUB. The SASSI BADGE (digital) and the SASSI CERTIFICATE were developed as awards of recognition for trainers and HR Managers who demonstrate age-sensitive approaches to the training and have completed the trainer training. Similarly, the SASSI LABEL was designed and promoted, recognising and rewarding organisations that with age-sensitive approaches to Workforce Development. Organisations demonstrating innovative age-sensitive workforce development strategies were also encouraged to apply for the SASSI AWARD. The Awards were presented to 3 best practice organisations at the Final Conference in May 2017. The organisations were from Portugal, Slovakia and the Netherlands. Short-term impact on the partners' organisations and staff, trainers and employers has been profound. Evaluation has identified changes in practice amongst participating trainers & HR Managers. Amongst those involved in the pilots, we have also seen long term impact in plans to implement new, more age-sensitive HR and CPD policy and practices to support the older workforce. All partners will sustain the outputs of our innovation, embedding our learning within current practice and continuing to exploit the results with and through employers and VET organisations, and in other projects.