STARTING NEEDS: COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 20th December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (NFIL) started an European common process the involved quite all UE countries. Many researches put in evidence that this process shows 2 problems: • it is developed in a very local perspective • migrants are not particularly involved in validation of NFIL. In particular this point is not in line with the suggestion of COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION (point 2.c: “disadvantaged groups, including individuals who are unemployed and those at risk of unemployment, are particularly likely to benefit from the validation arrangements, since validation can increase their participation in lifelong learning and their access to the labour market”) expecially because, as reported in different researches: - validation has real consequences for the life chances of immigrants; - the recognition of immigrants’ prior learning is one of the main barriers for immigrants’ integration; - it’s proved the need for specifically tailored systems which give immigrants a central place and provide them with target-oriented support; - there is an “‘‘inclusive’’ view of validation, underlining its potential as a tool for social and labour market integration This is the starting point of Valorize NFIL across Europe project. Main aim : Transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications to facilitate learning, employability and job mobility for migrants. Direct target: national entities involved in the process of recognizing professional qualifications and in assessing and certifying learning outcomes, employment services, education and training providers, as well as civil society organizations are all key stakeholders with an important role to play in facilitating opportunities for non-formal and informal learning and any subsequent validation processes. Indirect Target: • “traditional” migrants in EU Country from non EU Countries • and “new migrants” (INTRA-EU migration) Starting framework: • Valorize high skilled migrants (an Erasmus plus project 2014-2016, aimed to identify and strengthen medium-high skilled immigrants‘ competences) • COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (NFIL) Expected results: • To analyze some specific aspect of the phenomenon of migration in Europe (migrants from non EU and intra-EU, level of qualification of new migrants, internal migration of young workers) and arrangements adopted in different countries for the validation of non-formal and informal learning, following the COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 20/12/12; • To built an open source data base available in different countries in order to share information and methods in order to help direct and indirect target (see above) in the process of o IDENTIFICATION o DOCUMENTATION o ASSESSMENT of individual's learning outcomes acquired through non-formal and informal learning • To create and test a guidance module that could help migrants and vocational operators to reach in one UE country the validation and certification of NFIL acquired in another EU ore non EU country. • To found VYSAE (Valorize Your Skills Across Europe), the PERMANENT NETWORK FOR NFIL TRANSNATIONAL RECOGNITION.
CONTEXT: The project started when all European Countries had already defined their own NFIL validation procedures, as requested by the EU Commission, but the operational measures adopted by each Country were different and, above all, did not take into consideration the possibility of recognizing NFIL in a transnational way. Furthermore, many researches highlighted the inadequate application of these procedures with migrants. GOALS: Obviously, the project could not set itself the objective of modifying institutional practices to guarantee the transnational recognition of NFIL, so the main objective has been defined and summarized as follows: to increase the level of transparency in the process of recognition of skills and qualifications in a transnational context in order to facilitate learning, employability and labor mobility for migrants. NUMBER AND TYPE / PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS The project was addressed to two main categories of stakeholders: a) DIRECT STAKEHOLDERS: The main stakeholders, (who have an important role to play in facilitating the opportunities for NFIL recognition and in managing all validation processes) were national organizations and operators involved in the process of recognition of professional qualifications and in the assessment and certification of learning outcomes, employment services, education and training providers, civil society organizations. b) Indirect TARGET: the work aimed to provide support for the recognition of NFIL to "traditional" migrants from EU and non-EU countries but also to a relatively little taken into consideration category, INTRA-EU migration, which today it represents over 50% of the migrants within European countries REALIZED ACTIVITIES In addition to the usual activities foreseen by each KA2 project (management, transnational meetings, dissemination ...) there are activities related to the 4 Intellectual Outputs provided: • A research on the state of the art of NFIL recognition (in particular on migrant targets), a constantly evolving situation; • A study on how to identify correspondences between similar professional qualifications acquired in different Countries, through the reference to ESCO as a repertoire of professionals recognized at European level; • The creation of an online database aimed to facilitate the identification of which skills can be recognized in a Country different between the one in which they were acquired; • A methodology and training tools aimed to assist people in defining their own migration project which also includes the possible recognition of NFIL abroad. RESULTS ACHIEVED 1) Operational materials were produced (available online at http://valorizenfil.eu/) also translated into the European languages of the partner Countries, in order to facilitate the possibility of use by indirect beneficiaries. 2) two tests were carried out: - one with operators external to the partnership to verify the possibility of increasing the information contained in the database also in the future and by any European operator dealing with NFIL; - one involving 206 migrants of the 3 foreseen targets (non-EU migrants, refugees and intra-EU migrants) to test the methodology and tools developed for the coaching phase A network has also been created (VYSAE network - Valorize Your Skills Across Europe) consisting of 27 hubs scattered in 9 European Countries) to which a migrant can write in order to have information on the possibility of having their professional skills recognized in a specific sector and in a country other than the one in which it acquired the skills. IMPACT and LONG-TERM BENEFITS The pandemic crisis has partly influenced the possibility of directly involving direct and indirect beneficiaries, but the actions realized (both in the phase before the pandemic and during the pandemic, with remote contact methods) have made it possible to achieve some results that can be included among the impact results and the long-term benefits: • A topic was opened (that of the transnational recognition of NFIL) that had never before been at the center of the debate on the recognition of NFIL; • Some significant institutions were involved (European Commission, Piedmont Region and some other public and private bodies) with which tools and results were shared and from which a certain interest was expressed in continuing the work on this issue also starting from results achieved with the Valorize NFIL Across Europe project; • Some tools are available (and can be increased) (the database, the two researches, the methodologies and operational tools, the information tools) that can represent a starting point for the future development of the theme.