Europe is facing several major challenges, including:1. There is a huge gap between supply and demand on the labour market (sources: Cedefop, 2015: 'Skill shortages and gaps in European enterprises'; International Labour Organization, 2014: 'Skills mismatch in Europe'; World Economic Forum, 2016: 'The Future of Jobs'; 2016 European Semester of the EU's growth strategy 'Europe 2020'). The skills gap will continue to grow over the next years, especially in the green sector and for workers on lower and middle EQF levels. Many current jobs disappear and new jobs that do not yet exist will emerge. The skill sets required in both old and new occupations will transform how and where people work.2. National governments aims to provide additional challenges to excelling students. VET institutions are currently not contributing enough to foster excellence.3. Education and business don’t seem to speak the same language. Education institutions are insufficiently providing students with the skills the economy needs, and employers ask for more transparency of skills.The aim of this project is to reduce the skills gap in the labour market and increase the employability of workers by contributing to the three main topics of the Skills Agenda and further develop this European agenda.To make this happen, five education institutions from four different EU countries have teamed up with five partners representing the industry (companies, branch organization, cooperative, etc) to co-develop a framework for units of learning outcomes that are based on ECVET principles and align with the Skills Agenda by embedding generic skills, professional skills and social-emotional skills. This way three target groups are served:1. Students with skills on lower and middle levels (roughly EQF levels 2, 3, and 4);2. Excelling students who seek additional challenge (in the context of fostering excellence on all EQF levels);3. Employers who need transparency of skills.The methodology used in this project is action researching, based on a learning organization. As designers and stakeholders, the business and education partners in this project work with others as researchers with the aim to deliver units of learning outcomes based on ECVET principles, aligned with the Skills Agenda plus an appropriate assessment methodology. The project team and steering group will use an In Progress Overview paper as instrument to assure proper project progress, quality of results and dissemination of results.The project results will have a positive impact in several ways and on several levels, including:• The employability of students on lower and middle levels is increasing through ECVET units of learning outcomes because they acquire skills needed by the industry and relevant for several professions, (including entrepreneurial behaviour).• Students may also easier get employed abroad because the learning outcomes are also recognized in other countries, and because students have improved their language skills and strengthened their generic, professional and social-emotional skills after completing one or more ECVET units abroad.• The employability and labour mobility of workers in the green sector on lower and middle levels have increased by describing how (by what methods) skills that are acquired through informal or non-formal learning, can be recognized and validated.• By following units of learning outcomes outside their own curriculum or on a higher level, excelling students have demonstrably increased or expanded their study and are therefore more versatile in the labour market. This will foster excellence on VET institutions. • The quality of teaching and learning in the participating institutions has increased, because the learning goals (learning outcomes) are clearly defined. Teachers and students have a better understanding of the skills that businesses require.• A partnership has developed between VET institutions and businesses who collaborated on the development of ECVET units of learning outcomes. This has created a structure for the exchange of knowledge between educational institutions and businesses. This can be both sectoral and regional.• Employers can utilize the ECVET units of learning outcomes as a tool for human resource policy. The units provide objective criteria to determine which skills are already mastered by an employee, and which skills should be further developed by the employee. Acquiring the skills could happen through formal, non-formal or informal learning.• The ECVET units of learning outcomes take into account that skills can be developed through informal and non-formal learning. As such they provide tools how to develop, recognize and validate these skills - both for students (with or without experience abroad) and workers.Potential long term benefits include a reduction of the skills gap on the labour market and increased employability of workers on lower and middle EQF levels.
Rationale: There is a huge gap between supply and demand of skills in the labour market in Europe. It is expected that is gap will continue to grow over the next years, especially in the green sector. Many current jobs disappear and new jobs that do not yet exist will emerge. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about to create a shift in the skill sets required of workers in green jobs. This holds true in particular for the 68 million people in the European Union with skills on lower and middle EQF levels. Objectives: The project aims to contribute to reducing the skills gap in the labour market and help increasing the employability of people on EQF levels 2-4 by aligning learning outcomes with the EU Skills Agenda. Participating organisations: Five vocational education and training (VET) institutions from four different EU countries have teamed up with five partners representing the world of work (companies, branch organization, cooperative, etc). Main activities and project results: The project partners have 1) Actively participated in a customized training based on the updated ECVET Experience as developed by ECVET.nl, and co-developed a shared and unambiguous framework for units of learning outcomes that are based on ECVET principles and align with the EU Skills Agenda by embedding generic skills, professional skills and social-emotional skills; 2) Produced over 50 units of learning outcomes on EQF levels 2, 3 and 4 in English for multiple job profiles, and added translations in 5 additional languages; 3) Selected and established an applicable and shared assessment methodology that supports the recognition and validation of the learning outcomes; 4) Created a training programme for the assessors of the learning units including a short animation video on the assessment for all stakeholders (students, company tutors, teachers); 5) Trained the assessors; 6) Tested the units and assessment in a pilot with nearly 90 students (twice as much as estimated in the application); 7) Collected and summarized recommendations for adjustments and optimization for future use 8) Organized and implemented multiplier events in every partner country, as well as one joint multiplier event, joining a conference of umbrella organisation Europea International. All together we've reached more than 250 non-partners. Outcomes and impact attained: * The project partners now have a shared language and a better understanding of EU instruments such as EQF and ECVET. Some of the participants had little to no acquaintance with these instruments prior to the start of this project. Their knowledge and understanding of the value of these tools has increased. * The partners have also built a strong common understanding of what working with the EU Skills Agenda means and how to cooperate in developing those skills. * The project partners have built a closer relationship. Attitudes have changed in a positive way, making it possible to contribute to bridging the gap between the labour market and VET. * We can now recognize and validate formal and non-formal learning, also abroad. This has led to an increased number of students who engage in international mobility programs. * The quality of student mobilities has also improved: it is now clearer to all stakeholders, including the learner, the tutor at the company and the assessor, what the desired learning outcomes are. Feedback from students and work placement companies indicates that the students’ commitment to the learning process and self-assurance during the internship has increased. * The considerable dynamism on the job market calls for a greater degree of flexibility on the part of VET. Learning outcome-based courses lead to a more flexible VET because how and where the learning takes place is no longer restrictive, nor are the teaching method or materials. This makes it easier to provide VET courses in accordance with the needs of the labour market. * The co-developed learning units have given the industry partners a better understanding of the skills acquired by graduated VET students who enter the labour market. This aligns with one of the main topics of the EU Skills Agenda: making skills more transparent. * The inclusion of generic and social-emotional skills in the learning units aligns with another main topic of the EU Skills Agenda: understanding the skills needs of tomorrow. * The partners from the world of work intend to use the project results to improve the employability of their employees. Some of them are using the learning units for their in-company training of workers. * The VET providers are also using the project results to fostering excellence. Excelling students who seek additional challenges can now acquire extra learning outcomes, or learning outcomes at a higher level.