Mobility…at the service of
vocational skills
Dominique Figa
LEONARDO DA
VINCI
Leonardo da Vinci
The European action programme in the field
of lifelong education and training is Europe’s
No. 1 instrument for promoting the
emergence of a knowledge society based on
exchanges, cooperation and mobility.
It was set up in 2007 and has a €7 billion
budget (2007/2013)
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VINCI
The lifelong learning
programme (LLP)
Comenius
and
eTwinning
School
education
Erasmus
Higher
education
Leonardo da
Vinci
Vocational
education
and training
Grundtvig
Adult
education
Transversal programme
Four key activities: policy development, language learning, ICT
and best practice dissemination
Jean Monnet Programme
Three key activities: Jean Monnet action, European institutions,
and European associations
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Structure of the LLP programme
 To enhance the attractiveness, quality and
efficiency of vocational education and training
systems
 To introduce new courses to meet future skills needs
 To improve the transparency and recognition of
skills and certifications by the implementation of VET
cooperation tools and mechanisms (ECVET)
 To promote mobility for young people in initial
vocational training and the sharing of experience
and know-how
 To strengthen the European dimension
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Programme objectives
 Allows students, apprentices and job seekers to gain
professional experience through a placement in a European
company;
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Opportunities offered
 Give VET professionals the opportunity to share experiences
gained in their professional practice
 Cooperate with companies on issues of common interest
 Create or develop new tools or methods
 Use networking to create a reservoir of shared expertise for the
preparation of studies and analyses
 Take part in a European event to find new partners and
initiate a European project
By developing complementary activities
Mobility
A unique opportunity to train or broaden one’s
education with an placement in a company
abroad
Partnerships
A new opportunity for cooperation
Development and innovation transfer projects,
network projects
Vocational training “engineering”
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How?
Through
 Setting up partnerships between all actors in the
vocational education and training field
 “People mobility”
 Implementing new tools and new training methods
(VET)
 Sharing best practices
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In practice
Type of
project
Description
Duration Partners
1.
Mobility
Placement in a company or training 2
centre for young people in IVET
years
VET professionals sharing best
practices for
1-39 weeks
Min. 2
organisations
in 2 different
countries
2.
Partnership
Cooperation project aimed at
exchanging experiences and
professional practices
2
years
Min. 3
organisations
in 3 different
countries
3.
Transfer of
Innovation
European cooperation aimed at
transferring innovative approaches
to a new context, a new audience
or to other countries, integrating
them into existing training systems.
1-2
years
Min. 3
organisations
in 3 different
countries
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The projects



Mobility
Partnerships
Innovation transfer projects
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Programme management
are managed by the National Agencies


Development and innovation projects
Network projects
are managed by the European Commission via
its Executive Agency

preparatory visits and European contact
seminars
 Education and Training Professionals
 Universities, polytechnics and research centres (project
subjects do not involve higher education)
 Trainers, teachers
 Companies, the private sector, chambers of commerce
 Public authorities, the social partners
 Workers and job seekers
 Students on vocational / technical courses or, alternatively,
students in social advancement schemes
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For whom?
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Countries participating in the
programme





27 EU Member States
Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein
Turkey
Croatia
Switzerland
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Countries participating in the
programme
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1. Mobility projects
Cooperation projects aimed at
 Organising placement in companies stages or
training centres
 Organising the exchange of experience
between VET professionals
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What do they involve?
TARGET GROUP
Duration
PLM: People in the Labour Market, recent
graduates and employees
2 - 26 weeks
IVET: students or apprentices in Initial
Vocational Education or Training:
Technical and vocational subsections,
block release training, social
advancement
2 - 39 weeks
PRO VET: Vocational teaching and
training staff and guidance staff
1 - 6 weeks
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Target audience
 Building partnerships
 Information and selection of candidates
 Preparing beneficiaries in cultural and language
aspects
 Placement
 Monitoring and mentoring
 Debriefing, evaluation,
 Debriefing and project evaluation
 Dissemination
 Mainstreaming of the results
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How?
BEFORE and/or DURING the participant's
placement - Never AFTERWARDS!
 Purchase of teaching material, language
courses, etc.
 Information on the history and culture of
the host country, cultural visits, top cultural
events in the host country, etc.
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Preparation in Language and
Cultural Aspects
 Intercultural preparation: Working on how the
country is portrayed, on any myths or fears
 Preparation in company culture, for example:
training in the social economy,
Visit to a company employing handicapped
people
Meetings with business leaders in the sector
involved
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Preparation in Language and
Cultural Aspects
Provides guidance on how to manage participants'
mobility, helping them in their personal and
professional development
Focuses on:
 defining internship objectives
 selecting beneficiaries
 organising monitoring and mentoring
 evaluating internship and project results
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European Quality Charter for
Mobility



-
Project management
Cultural and linguistic preparation
Participants' mobility
Travel to and from the host country
Subsistence cost
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Funding?
 An application form is submitted by the sending
organisation to the National Agency of its country
 Eligibility is checked
 A qualitative assessment is carried out by
independent experts
 The decision is communicated
 A contract is drawn up and an advance
payment made (80% of funds granted)
 Projects can then start
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Selection principles
2. PARTNERSHIPS
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Cooperation projects around a subject of common
interest
With whom? VET institutions, companies and
social partners, as well as political
decision-makers
With what aim? With a view to obtaining a joint
result
a report on the issue dealt with,
the organisation of a conference,
something produced by the trainees,
the development of increased
cooperation,
the setting up of a network
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What do they involve?
European-level meetings and local-level
activities:
 joint work on training contents
 active cooperation between teachers, trainers,
companies and authorities
 production of common training methods
 sharing of experience and transfer of best
practices
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How?
COORDiNATOR
PARTNER
 prepares the application
together with all other
partners.
 takes part in preparing the
application for his institution
 coordinates the action
programme of the
partnership
 takes part in the project on an
equal footing
 may be responsible for a
particular task:
communication, evaluation, …
 receives an individual grant from his national agency
dependent on the number of mobility cases he handles
 manages his own budget
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Coordinator and Partners
Overall amount covering the duration of the
whole project: dependent on the number of
mobility cases each partner deals with
The grant covers:

Local activities: publications, software,
translations, organising a conference,
drawing up a methodology guide,
introducing a teaching tool

Travel expenses, stay and insurance during
mobility period
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Funding?
 Submission of an application file by each partner
to the National Agency of his country
 Eligibility is checked
 Evaluation in the coordinating country
 Selection list drawn up by the Commission
 The selection list is worked down from top (best)
to bottom until the national budget is completely
used up
 The decision is communicated to the applicant
 A contract is drawn up and an advance
payment made (80% of funds granted)
 Projects can then start
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Selection principles
3. Multilateral innovation
transfer projects
• Larger scale projects
• involving organisations in different countries
• for developing working practices in the VET field.
 Development of Innovation projects improve training systems
by creating innovative approaches in teaching and training;
 Transfer of Innovation projects help to propagate the most
promising new developments;
 Networks target key fields;
 Accompanying measures highlight the results of other
projects funded within the programme.
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Multilateral projects
A cooperation project which:
 Identifies an innovative solution (a practice, tool,
approach, methodology, etc.)
 Adapts one of more best practices for another
country, a different business sector, another target
group, etc.
 Customises training materials for the needs of
learners and businesses in the partner countries.
 integrate results into training systems and
practices at geographical, sectoral and/or
organisational level
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Innovation transfer , what
does it involve?
Innovative solution
Tools
Methodology
Scheme
Approach
New context(s)
Target
audience
Country
Business sector
The transfer process =
the project
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The transfer process
innovative = not yet used on the target audience,
•new needs,
•new Products/methods/practices/tools,
•new countries, target groups, new sectors, new partnerships,
helping to modernise the target vocational training system
 training tools, training methods
 schemes for training, guidance, teaching supervision,
and for helping trainees to find jobs
 events competitions, lectures and conferences,
awareness/information campaigns, etc.
 approaches to work or work methodologies, a project
approach
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Innovative solution?
 Priority 1: Encouragement of cooperation between VET
and the world of work
 Priority 2: Support to initial and continuous training of VET
teachers, trainers, tutors and VET institution managers
 Priority 3: Promotion of the acquisition of key
competences in VET
 Priority 4: Development and transfer of mobility strategies
in VET
 Priority 5: ECVET for transparency and recognition of
learning outcomes and qualifications
 Priority 6: Improving quality assurance systems in VET
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TOI European Priorities
the transfer of methods, guidelines and associated tools
aiming at the implementation and use of ECVET principles
the design of qualifications in units of learning outcomes;
development and transfer of units of learning outcomes
dealing with international working skills; the allocation of
ECVET points to units and qualifications;
the associated procedures for assessment, transfer,
validation and accumulation of learning outcomes
achieved in formal, informal and non-formal contexts;
the development of operational partnerships, including
models for Memoranda of Understanding, learning
agreements, personal transcripts.
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Priority 5
The programme has been opened to initiatives
conducted outside "European" fields:
 EU projects (Equal, ESF, Interreg, etc.)
 Regional projects
 Projects introduced within or outside the 31 eligible
countries
 Leonardo projects currently running
Do these projects have to be finished? NO, insofar
as their results are already clearly identifiable,
complete and exploitable
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What projects can we
draw on?
 The ADAM database:
http://www.adam-europe.eu/
 A website devoted to ECVET projects
http://www.ecvet-projects.eu/
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Where can we find ideas for
projects?
 Adaptation to new legal, professional, sociocultural and/or linguistic contexts: updating a
product or method, translation, etc.
 Development, production and experimental
activities
 Managing a project's quality, evaluation
 Integration (or certification) into regional,
national, European and/or sectoral practices and
systems,
 Management of the partnership
 Transnational cooperation
 Activities involving disseminating and exploiting
results
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Activities funded
 Direct costs
► Staff costs: costs
► travel expenses, board and lodging costs:
Actual costs with maximum amounts dependent
on the country
► sub-contracting: max. 30% of direct costs
► equipment: max. 10% of direct costs
 Indirect costs: 7% of direct costs,
Use of own funds
Max. funding = EUR 150,000 p.a.
Max. 75% of total project budget
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Funding?
 Job-related reference material
 eLearning platform for a specific
training course or target audience
 Database
 Virtual lab
 Training modules, teaching tools
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Examples of concrete projects
 Submission of an application file by the
COORDINATOR to the National Agency of his
country
 Eligibility is checked
 Evaluation in the coordinating country
 Decision communicated to the applicant
 A contract is drawn up and an advance
payment made (40% of funds granted)
 Projects can then start
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VINCI
Selection principles
The LLP programme offers you a wide
range of European cooperation
opportunities suited to the size and
activities of your institution
Don't hesitate –
start right now!
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VINCI
Conclusions
Thank you
leonardo@aef-europe.be
(+32) 2/542.62.79