This project had several objectives which the consortium set out to achieve. Firstly, the identification of future strategic priorities was a key focus for the ETB FET Sector, with consortium members seeking to build on existing knowledge and skills across areas which would support individual and national efforts within this area. The ETB FET 2020 - 2025 vision is a critical area for ensuring a national joined up approach to ETB FET, defining strategic objectives, critical enablers, and potential challenges, while also road mapping avenues for delivering FET provision which meets the needs throughout national and global contexts. A key objective of this project was therefore to inform the development of this vision, allowing strategic leaders within ETB FET nationally to gain knowledge, skills, and experience throughout targeted learning opportunities, while also gaining insights and lessons learnt from European VET stakeholders who have experienced similar developments and successfully navigated major change within these areas. Finally, the project set out to support developments in internationalisation throughout ETB FET, building successful and impact driven partnerships which will have sustainable and long-term impacts.
The ETB FET (Education and Training Boards Further Education and Training) sector is undergoing several key strategic developments and change nationally. The education sector in Ireland has for the last number of years being undergoing a major paradigm shift which has influenced and shaped learning provision at all levels. Examples of these changes include developments in delivering a unified tertiary education system, while also seeing macro trends such as climate change, Covid-19, and digitalisation having major disruptive influences on the manner in which education is developed and delivered. More locally within ETB FET, these changes coupled with several national FET developments have presented not only opportunities, but also challenges for the sector as it adapts to meet the demands of these transformative changes. The overarching objective of this project was therefore to support the strategic development of the ETB FET sector, in learning from international best practices from European VET stakeholders who are widely recognised as strategic leaders within these domains, with a view to supporting the delivery of transformative impacts from learning and development experienced during this project.