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Development of an European Qualifications Framework in the field of timber construction

2019-1-LU01-KA202-0501102019Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and trainingfinalizedGood practice
Countries: LU|SE|FR|DE|AT · Grant: €183,297.5
Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal)Recognition, transparency, certificationInternational cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project summary

The development of the vocational training situation in individual countries may be hampered by the lack of sector-specific competence scales across Europe, which also point to prospects for further development. The lack of orientation towards competences means that the expansion of occupation-specific knowledge, skills and abilities can only be tackled with great effort and does not take place in a targeted manner. This affects the entire timber construction sector, the basis of which essentially depends on well-trained personnel. What applies to the vocational training situation of an entire country also applies to individuals in this country who have turned to training as carpenters as a career perspective. Their prospects in terms of competence development depend to a large extent on the basic conditions of the education system and the competence profiles imparted in the respective country. An overview of these profiles should therefore be available both to the companies and to the personnel employed in them for the future entrepreneurial or personal development of competences and qualifications. The aim of the project is to develop a structure in which the vocational qualifications encountered in European timber construction can be presented in a comprehensible manner. The competence framework to be developed for this purpose should link the degrees/certificates/diplomas with the underlying competences of a person with reference to the European Qualifications Framework EQF and make them visible and communicable irrespective of the country. To this end, the aim is to examine and compare existing degrees and certificates of knowledge and skills throughout Europe and to define them in validated form as competence levels. The project management for the implementation of the project is carried out by Timber Construction Europe and is supported by a consortium of the following project partners: Gemeinnütiges Berufsförderungswerk GmbH (Biberach, DE), Centre de Compétences Parachèvement (LU), Association Ouvriere de Compagnons du Devoir du Tour de France (Paris, FR), Fachhochschule Salzburg GmbH (AT), Alppisalvos Oy (FI). These are further complemented by the associated partners Holzbau Schweiz and Berner Fachhochschule Architektur, Holz und Bau ((Biehl, CH) as well as numerous silent partners from the European vocational training network. The partners make a substantial contribution to the success of the project objective in a balanced relationship of economic policy and technical expertise as well as proven technical expertise in vocational education and training. The project envisages the following development steps: Review of the EQF and various selected national qualification frameworks as reference frameworks and allocation instances for the competence framework to be drawn up, increasing understanding of the education systems available throughout Europe and their differences as a basis for the development of skills and qualifications, compilation of the learning objectives laid down in individual curricula for trainees and competences and qualifications attainable within the framework of regular further and continuing training. The work will first be carried out on a country-by-country basis, then in mixed-country working groups and thus in transnational cooperation in order to get to know the facets of country-specific competences and qualifications in their diversity. In a series of editorial conferences of the participating project partners, the findings collected and validated throughout Europe will be transformed into a European Qualification Framework for Timber Construction (EQF-Timber), which will be set up in eight stages analogous to the EQF. Vocational training centres are given a new basis for designing the range of vocational development programmes on offer. At the company level, the status and development potential of the qualifications of both the company's own workforce and applicants can be assessed much better. Employees themselves have an instrument which, in conjunction with a correspondingly expanded range of training programmes, enables them to make even better use of their personal professional development potential. The EQF timer makes a fundamental contribution to reliably demonstrating individual competences, improving horizontal and vertical vocational development potential and contributing to reducing youth unemployment and the shortage of skilled labour in the overall economic context. The results of the EQF Timber will be available for download on the Internet platform developed within the framework of the project. Further publications on European portals, including dissemination as open educational material (OER), are intended to provide a targeted stimulus for Europe-wide use.

Objectives

The aim of the project was to develop structures and content in which the professional competencies found in European timber construction are presented in a comprehensible way across countries. The competence framework to be developed for this purpose was to link the educational level, the degrees/certificates/diplomas with the underlying competencies of a person with reference to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and make them visible and communicable regardless of the country. To this end, the aim was to view existing degrees and certificates of knowledge and skills across Europe, then compare them within the European project partnership and define them in validated form as competence levels.

Background

A comparable development of the VET situation of individual European countries has so far been limited due to the lack of sector-specific competence scales across Europe. The lack of orientation towards competencies leads to the fact that the development of knowledge and skills is only tackled with great effort and does not take place in a targeted manner. This affects the entire timber construction sector, whose basis essentially depends on the best possible trained personnel. What is important for the vocational training situation of an entire country also applies to individuals of this country knowledge and skills are only tackled with great effort and do not take place in a targeted manner. This affects the entire timber construction sector, whose basis essentially depends on the best possible trained personnel. What is important for the VET situation of a whole country also affects individuals of that country, whose professional development is largely dependent on the basic conditions of the VET system and the competencies provided in the country. Therefore, an overview of these competencies should be made available for both the companies and the staff employed in them for the future development of competencies and aptitudes, both entrepreneurially and personally.

Project partners (6)