The project’s goal is to promote, strengthen and structure Work Based Learning (WBL) within paths of vocational training aimed at young people aged 18-35 year old (EQF level 4-5-6). The project targets in particular parts of the manufacturing sector that display skill gaps and resistance to innovation. Goal achievement implies full co-operation between companies, vocational training actors and social partners – both Unions and Employers’ organisations – in order to drive and influence, through shared practices, the pervasive use of WBL within vocational training. The occupational sector addressed by the project is the Architecture, Engineering and Construction Industry (AEC). The project pursues the following specific aims: • Promoting WBL as an innovative experience for companies. The contribution young trainees are able to offer (ICT skills, construction site digitalisation) can weaken resistance to innovation in a sector generally adverse to change. • Promoting training for tutors, coordinators and trainers within the WBL process. • Developing innovative instruments to support WBL within the AEC sector to convey the added value such a methodology implies. WBL can overcome barriers by portraying the workplace as a privileged place to learn. • Valuing a joint approach among social partners in promoting and designing training provision integrated with work-based learning practices The expected outcomes are: • Adoption of the WBL model shared by all partners. An app is identified as the privileged instrument to support WBL. The app will integrate formal and informal knowledge, evaluation tools, abilities and skills acquired throughout both the training process and on-the-job learning. The web-based app will be designed to facilitate interaction between the subjects involved (students, company tutors, training tutors) and to enable a continuous monitoring of the learning process. • Cultural and technologic development of the companies involved. Young trainees can play a key role in the construction sector, in particular in SMEs, by introducing innovative elements that foster growth and that favour the digitalisation of the company. The unique set of skills trainees are equipped with can also provide optimal chances for the transition to work process (allowing the company to hire the trainee at the end of training period). • Appealing skills for young people approaching the labour market. The project aims to develop partnerships between workplaces and vocational training centres so that teaching rooted in WBL enables a smooth transition to work and quality job placement. Stakeholders like Unions, companies, training centres, local, regional, and national governance will play an active role before, during and after the training to secure quality placement. • Training for staff involved at any stage in the WBL process: workshops, company based training, transition to work. • Proposals to upgrade professional qualifications in the AEC sector in line with innovative developments. The proposals will focus in particular on the digitalisation of the construction site and the building process highlighting how digitalisation (for instance Building Information Modelling – BIM) contributes to reshaping professional profiles. The project targets: • Young students attending vocational training courses in the AEM sector to attain professional qualifications equivalent to level 4-5-6 of EQF. • VET teachers, company tutors, VET tutors Indirect targets: • Systems of VET, companies, Unions, Employers’ organisations and vocational secondary schools. The partnership includes: • Istituto di Istruzione Professionale dei Lavoratori Edili (IIPLE): secondary school for vocational training in the construction sector – Bologna, Italy • Centro Ricerche Documentazione e Studi (CDS): research centre – Ferrara, Italy • IRES Emilia-Romagna: research centre belonging to CGIL (national trade union) that participates as social partner – Bologna, Italy • Fundación Laboral de la Construcción (FLC): national professional training body – Spain • Viesoji istaiga Vilniaus statybininku rengimo centras (VRSC): Vîlnûs builders training centre – Lithuania • Bulgarian Construction Chamber (BCC): comprising around 2000 construction enterprises, the Chamber offers vocational training in the construction sector – Bulgaria The expected duration of the project is two years.
The TRANStoWORK Project aims at enhancing, reinforcing and structuring work-based learning (WBL) and the transition to work, in order to promote employment of young people attending in professional training courses (level EQF 4-5-6). The project focuses on the production sectors which show a lack of skills and low propensity to change. To reach the project goals, social partners - trade unions and employers' associations - were encouraged to collaborate with the vocational and educational training system (VET). The project aimed at structuring a WBL model has been developed and tested in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Industry. The specific objectives are: - defining a WBL model that facilitates the matching between job supply and demand in the construction sector and that encourages companies to hire young people with stable and quality job positions; - introducing elements of technological and organizational innovation in companies thanks to the contribution of trainees who have acquired ICT skills and knowledge about digitalization of the construction site, new materials and production techniques; - promoting the training of tutors, coordinators and trainers involved in the WBL process; - developing innovative tools to support the WBL experience that allow companies in the construction supply chain to understand the high added value provided by the WBL training methodology, trying to overcome the barriers to conceiving the workplace as an environment of privileged learning; - enhancing bilateralism (co-decisions between business associations and trade unions) for the promotion of vocational training integrated with Work Based Learning. The main actions undertaken to achieve the described results were: - creation of discussion groups between the various relevant stakeholders aimed at identifying the structural needs of the sector and the short-term needs of the market; - creation of a shared WBL Model starting from the diversity of local experiences and contexts; - design and testing of a web-based APP allowing a constant interaction among the subjects involved in the learning path on the job; - definition and testing of a Toolkit for the training of trainers for an effective use and diffusion of the WBL model both in VET System and in companies; - development of assessment tools for the WBL process; - development of guidelines for the recognition of new skills, updated qualifications and formulation of suggestions aimed at improving the training offer in the construction industry. The direct beneficiaries of the project are young people attending professional qualification courses in the construction sector for the acquisition of professional qualifications at EQF 4-5-6 level; VET trainers, company trainers and tutors. The indirect beneficiaries of the project are trade unions and business associations, vocational education and training institutions. The main results achieved are: - Adoption of a model of the WBL shared with the Partners; - Technological and cultural growth of the companies; - Creation of a model for evaluating WBL experiences; - Identification of proposals to update the qualifications, adapting them to the changes taking place in AEC Industry. The role of VET is an important role in relation to the revitalization of the construction industry, in orientating young people towards qualified professions. Educational curricula must be reorganized assigning a strategic role to the WBL; work-based learning must become the paradigm of the provided training involving the social partners and employers’ organizations in the decisions regarding the training quality, the effectiveness check of the WBL experience and the impact on the Labour Market. All the results and tools created by the project are public and therefore free to use, primarily the Web APP which was tested in the experimentation phase. The commitment shown by local and national institutions and by the social partners constantly involved in the activities reinforces the sustainability of the results themselves as well as their benefit in the medium-long term. However, to make learning in WBL's experiences in the construction sector more effective it will be necessary to proceed further with the development of individual digital skills. The partnership is made up of 6 institutions from 4 different EU countries; they represent: training sector, economic-entrepreneurial system and of the social partners: - I.I.P.L.E. - Institute for Professional Education of Construction Workers in Bologna (Italy) - Fundacion Laboral de la Construcciòn (Spain) Non-profit foundation for the enhancement and development of the construction sector - VIESOJI ISTAIGA VILNIAUS STATYBININKU RENGIMO CENTRAS - Vilnius National Building Training Center (Lithuania) - CDS, Documentation and Research Center (Italy) - Economic and Social Research Institute (IRES) of Emilia Romagna (Italy) - CLUJ CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (Romania)