IVEPE-SEV @ Erasmus Partners KA2 Brokerage Event On the 20th of February IVEPE-SEV attended the "Erasmus Partners KA2 Brokerage Event" co-organised by Confindustria together with CBE-Cooperation Bancaire pour l’Europe and EVTA in Brussels. More than 40 participants coming from different countries, 15 participants connected by video call, 10 project ideas were discussed during the two working groups sessions. It has been an excellent opportunity to learn more about the Erasmus+ VET priorities from Mr. Joao Santos (European Commission – DG Employment). He started his intervention by highlighting the main Erasmus novelties of interest in VET and Adult Education for the 2021-2027 period. Erasmus+ is doubling the budget for the next term, going from 14,7 billion euros to 30 billion euros, which will triple the number of learners and staff provided with the opportunity to go abroad: from 650 000 to around 2 million people. Nevertheless, he stressed the importance of making sure that this additional resources translate in additional measures for demand of quality. Other interesting proposals were mentioned such as: opening the international dimension to VET mobility of learners and staff by simplifying the process of outgoing mobility outside the EU, mobility for upskilling and reskilling, support for the set-up of Platforms of ‘’Centres of Vocational Excellence’’, small-scale partnerships and enlarging the concept of staff in mobility actions. That is why in the Actions in Erasmus 2021-2027, partnerships for excellence under KA2 deserve to be a priority.When looking at the numbers of Key Actions from 2014 until now, we can notice there has been a growing demand in terms of a number of projects in KA1. The figure reaches almost 1.6 million applications with a success rate of 50%. Nevertheless, if we look at KA2, we can observe that the demand is decreasing and one of the possible explanations could be that the success rate is of 25%, which could discourage the applicants. In the case of Adult Education, the success rate is even lower. Mr. Santos mentioned some of the priorities at the core of KA2 projects: Promoting mobility Work-based learning as a must Continuing VET-Access for all Key competences (link to Digital Education Action Plan and SELFIE tool) Teachers and trainers Developing skills competition organisations Centres of Vocational ExcellenceThe main goal is to “empower people with skills for fulfilling careers that meet the needs of an innovative and competitive economy’’. The collaborative platforms of Centres of Vocational Excellence are about sharing a common interest in a sector approach, as well as regarding thematic societal challenges. We have to make sure that VET modernises itself by being close to regional development strategies. Mr. Santos mentioned EfVET’s members TKNIKA from the Basque Country as a great example of excellence in innovation and as a model that can be replicated in other centres throughout the EU. That is why it is essential to make sure that good experience can be shared in order to improve the excellence of VET centres at the local level.VET providersAnother raised topic was how can we reach better the VET providers taking into account that there are approximately 40 000 VET providers in the EU and 6 organizations at the European Union. There is a need for a better organization at both National and European level in order to reach VET providers to a wider extent and in this way to make sure they are aware and implementing policies. What can we do to better reach VET providers? Contribute to European Vocational Skills Week Support the development of an internationalisation strategy Increase the quality in VET through feedback loops to adapt VET provision Support for micro companies and SMEs in developing human capital, through upskilling and reskilling of employees Foster innovative learning of key competences in VET Promote tools and opportunities for professional development of teachers, trainers, mentors and/or VET leaders Working group session After the fruitful intervention of Mr. Joao Santos, working group sessions were organsied to exchange views about: Skills for Industry 4.0, Automotive, Social Enterprises, Design for Innovation, New skills for mechatronic. EfVET had the pleasure to take part in a Working group session on Skills for Industry 4.0. One of the main topics was the need to reduce the gap between big companies and SMEs in terms of training tools and financing so that all learners can benefit from the same preparation quality.We also had the opportunity to exchange views with some of our members attending the event: Florence Delseny Sobra (ALFMED), Paul Murray (Foyle International), Tamara Rodriguez (HETEL), Heracles Sioulis (IVEPE-SEV) and Montserrat Renedo (M&M). This article was originally published at EfVET website @ the link: https://www.efvet.org/2019/02/21/erasmus-partners-ka2-brokerage-event/
