Disappearing professions on the European job market Erasmus Project

Project Title

Disappearing professions on the European job market

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The project “Disappearing professions on the European job market” resulted from the international partnership of organisations from Poland, Lithuania, and Germany, which are connected with vocational training of the youth. It has popularised disappearing professions and traditional crafts combined with innovative actions in order to improve the situation of young people on the job market. The project aimed to promote education and training in disappearing professions, and to popularise traditional crafts and regional culture at the international level by implanting the idea of entrepreneurship and self-employment, due to the increasing interest in products and services provided in a traditional manner. Acquiring or improving competences in terms of disappearing professions as well as reaching the craftsmen, entrepreneurs, institutions, people related to disappearing professions and interested in their promotion, development of training materials, and promoting trainings in order to broaden the circle of highly qualified craftsmen – all those activities constituted a very rich form of preventing the traditional occupations from sinking into oblivion.
The project involved the participation of partnership organisations employees willing to extend and exchange their experience in terms of the project’s subject and aims, including instructors of vocational training interested in supervising training in disappearing professions in their countries. Furthermore, the trainees were the charges of the partnership organisations, learning or finishing their education in vocational schools, who may have difficulties in finding themselves on the labour market as well as those willing to increase their professional qualifications in order to enter the labour market or self-employment career more easily. Moreover, craftsmen, entrepreneurs, and vocational training institutions co-working with the partnership organisations who were interested in disappearing professions also took part in the project.
Within the confines of the project, the partnership organisations managed to compare: the situation of craftsmen working in imperilled professions, disappearing professions in Poland, Lithuania, and Germany, the demand for and supply of products and services provided within those professions, and the possibilities of recognition and certification of training effects in the EU countries. Moreover, the project website was created; it contains the most important information concerning the project, its results, and an on-line data base of craftsmen and people skilled in disappearing professions in the EU countries. The data base enables various entities from the EU countries such as craftsmen, people interested in traditional crafts, potential customers, entrepreneurs, representatives of associations, and people willing to undergo training in disappearing professions to get in touch and cooperate.
One of the most important project activities was the mobility of individuals during the vocational training, in which 45 charges of partnership organisations and 6 instructors of vocational training/employees of partnership organisations, took part. They underwent a two-week training in chosen disappearing professions, which was preceded by a language and cultural preparation, meetings with career counsellors, and entrepreneurship courses. The training took place on the premises of the Village of Disappearing Professions in the European Centre of Education and Upbringing OHP in Roskosz, and included following professions: weaver, smith, wheeler, baker/confectioner of traditional products.
The project realisation allowed the exchange of experience and good practises concerning vocational training and activities which would make it easier for school graduates to enter the labour market, the transfer of interesting and valuable solutions between the organisations, upgrading the quality and efficiency of professional training in the field of disappearing professions as well as increasing the access to and promotion of those trainings in the EU countries.
The achieved results including materials, training programmes, instructional videos, and the knowledge compendium on organisation of trainings in chosen disappearing professions are a considerable support for entities interested in organisation of trainings in disappearing professions.
Carrying out the project within the international cooperation together with the produced materials allowed the EU countries interested in education in the field of disappearing professions and in adding the forgotten crafts to the vocational training curricula to share and compare ideas, solutions, and methods. Moreover, the project realisation also enabled the exchange of experience and solutions concerning finding the first job as well as promotion of enterprise amongst the young participants of vocational education at the international level. Additionally, it will contribute to the networking of craftsmen.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 77685 Eur

Project Coordinator

Europejskie Centrum Ksztalcenia i Wychowania OHP w Roskoszy & Country: PL

Project Partners

• Landkreis Oberhavel
• Vilniaus technologiju, verslo ir zemes ukio mokykla