The project set out to achieve - and successfully achieved — the following objectives: 1. To innovate VET by equipping SMEs and VET providers with a shared techno-methodological toolkit for analysing and assessing training needs. 2. To align the resources of SMEs’ HR functions and VET analysts/designers on methodologies for leveraging AI in people management. 3. To disseminate the CLAIM model and its related tools in order to reduce digital, green, and internationalisation skills mismatches. 4. To promote lifelong e-learning among VET and HRM stakeholders through access to OERs for managing the CLAIM model.
The project originated from the need to reduce the misalignment between the European VET system and the actual needs of SMEs, within a context strongly influenced by the twin transition and the growing internationalisation of markets. The current training model, which is largely standardised and content-based, does not enable SMEs to adapt rapidly to change, nor to develop skills that effectively support competitiveness and growth. In this regard, the project aimed to address the following critical issues: -the rigidity of EU VET programmes, which are often insufficiently customisable and poorly aligned with SME needs; SMEs are rarely involved in the design of training pathways, resulting in difficulties in the timely acquisition of key skills; -the limited capacity of VET systems to systematically and continuously identify the skills required by SMEs; -the growing demand for digital, green and internationalisation-related skills, coupled with low levels of preparedness and limited openness to non-EU markets; -the insufficient internal capacity of SMEs — particularly within HR functions — to analyse their training needs in a structured, competence-based manner, due to a gap in digital mindset and professional tools.