The project S.P.R.E.A.D. , according to the principles and the recommendations of the Bruges Communiqué, wants to promote internationalization and transnational mobility in VET Institutes and organizations. To be integrated and systemic, mobility needs to involve different kind of actors. The staff of VET organizations, Institutes and SMEs express a strong willingness to further develop transnational cooperation activities and improve their kwowledge, competences and capacities in implementing and managing European mobility projects. They wish to be aware of, adopt and apply successful methodologies and tools already experimented at European level by organizations expert in the field. The objectives of the project are: upgrading the competences and skills of the staff on specific and relevant issues related to mobility; developing and reinforcing European networks; increasing the capacity of VET organization to operate transnationally; promoting work-based learning through mobility projects. The project foresees the realization of six joint staff trainings events aimed at sharing and confronting tools, good practices and methodologies related to the implementation and management of European mobility projects among organizations operating in the VET field. The participants in joint staff training events will be 3 staff members from each partner organization. Each training event will be host by the project Partner that has strong expertise in that particular topics. The joint staff trainings events will be focused on the following topics, considered by the whole Partnership as relevant for mobility projects: 1. Competences of tutors and mentors; 2.Intercultural issues in transnational projects; 3. ECVET methodology and the validation and recognition of competences;4. ITCs tools for the implementation and management of European projects ;5. Quality in mobility projects; 6. Dissemination and exploitation of results.After each staff training event, each project partner will organize, in its own Country, a local seminar aimed at spreading the knowledge acquired and the good practices shared at European level, among the staff of other VET organization and relevant stakeholders. The participants in the local seminars will be represented by the staff of VET Institutes and organizations, Local Authorities, SMEs, Associations, stakeholders already active in the field of European mobility projects, as well as newcomers wishing to start implementing these activities. For each seminar there will be at least 15 participants. At the end of the project, a guide of good practices for the implementation of European mobility projects will be produced by the Partnership and it will be uploaded on the project website as a free OER. The project will have the following impacts on the staff and the participants: acquisition of new professional competences and updating of the professional profile, improvement of the capacity of managing and implementing quality mobility projects; fostering the integration knowledge and implementation of new and innovative methods and practices into the daily working activities; increasing of the exchange of good practices, confrontations and cooperation with other European professional operating in the VET sector, specifically in mobility activities. The organizations involved will benefit of the integration of new methods, procedures and practices into their daily activities, a more modern, dynamic and professional environment and a better qualified staff.
The project, according with the principles and recommendations of the 'Bruges Communiqué', was born from the desire to promote internationalization and transnational mobility. It was aimed at responding to the training needs of the staff of public and private VET organizations, educational institutions and company representatives, who had expressed a strong desire to develop transnational cooperation activities and improve their knowledge, skills and ability to implement and manage European mobility projects. The analysis of the needs realized during the project planning phase showed that they wished to know, adopt and apply successful methodologies and tools, already tested at European level by organizations expert in the field. SPREAD was promoted by a partnership of six organizations expert in the field of transnational mobility, each coming from a different European Country: Essenia UETP (IT), the Coordinator, Euroyouth (PT), Europa Training (UK), 3s (AT) , Danmar Computers (PL) and Paragon Europe (MT). Each of these organizations has been involved by virtue of their specific skills with respect to the topics covered by the project. The objectives of the project were: to update the competences and skills of the staff of VET organizations on specific and relevant issues related to mobility; develop and strengthen European networks; increase the capacity of VET organizations to operate transnationally; promote work-based learning through mobility projects. The activities implemented were: six joint staff training events held at European level, aimed at sharing and comparing tools, best practices and methodologies related to the implementation and management of European mobility projects between organizations operating in the VET field. The participants in these training events were n. 3 staff members from each partner organization. Each of the training has been organized and provided by the project partner in possession of specific expertise with respect to the subject of the training. The six topics of the joint staff training events were chosen basing on their relevance for transnational mobility projects: Competences of tutors and mentors; Intercultural issues in transnational projects; ECVET methodology and validation and recognition of competences; ICT tools for the implementation and management of European projects; Quality in mobility projects; Dissemination and exploitation of project results. After each joint staff training event held at European level, each project partner organized, in its Country, a local seminar aimed at disseminating the acquired knowledge and good practices shared at European level. The participants in the local seminars were: the staff of VET Institutes and organizations, Institutes and schools, representatives from local authorities, SMEs, associations, both already active in the context of European mobility projects, and newcomers willing to implement such initiatives. At each local seminar took part at least 15 subjects. At the end of the project a ' Guide of good practices for the implementation of mobility projects' was created, it has been translated in the languages of the partnership, and it is available free of charge on the SPREAD project website as Open Educational Resource. The project 'SPREAD' had the following impacts on the staff of the partner organizations and on the participants in the local seminars: acquisition of new professional skills and updating of the professional profile; improvement of the ability to manage and implement quality mobility projects; increased knowledge, integration and implementation of innovative methods and practices in daily work activities; increasing of the exchange of good practice, comparison and cooperation with other European professionals working in the training sector, particularly in mobility activities. Long-term benefits can be seen in the further application and testing of good shared practices, transferred and disseminated through the project, which will help to improve the implementation of transnational mobility projects.