ECVET for Community Development Erasmus Project

Project Title

ECVET for Community Development

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 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Recognition, transparency, certification; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

RATIONALE

The main priority for the ECVET for Community Development (EfCD) is the development of qualifications and curricula for the Community Development sector, in particular focusing on developing and integrating an ECVET approach for an existing qualification – the Level 3 Award in Community Development, accredited by City & Guilds.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The primary aims of the EfCD project are: (1) To use an ECVET approach to adapt the Level 3 Award in Community Development qualification accredited by City & Guilds to enable it to be delivered and recognised in a wider range of European Countries and; (2) To enhance the existing qualification by developing and integrating an additional unit for ‘European Community Development’.

TARGET GROUPS

The primary target groups for the project are:

– VET institutions active in the not-for-profit voluntary and community sector, especially those that are interested in developing specific VET provision related to Community Development work and/or supporting the internationalisation of their VET provision of the sector.

– VET learners interested in pursuing a career in the Community Development sector, who we expect will primarily be young people aged 19-24 facing economic and educational obstacles towards achieving labour market integration within their chosen field

– EU VET Support and the corresponding National, Regional and Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks in the participating Member States

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

The project partnership comprises VET institutions based in Ireland, Italy, Romania, Spain and the UK and project activities incorporate a range of measures to support the development of VET training provision within community development at national and European levels. The partners in the UK and Ireland – DSC Regen and Capacity Ireland – are already accredited with City & Guilds to deliver the qualification but the project will support the other partners – MateraHub, CREED and 3Si – to gain accreditation to deliver the qualification and this will result in the qualification being available in Italy, Romania and Spain for the first time.

The EfCD project partnership will work with City & Guilds to ‘internationalise’ the qualification by creating a new ‘European Community Development’ unit that can be added to the existing qualification. This unit will incorporate European level perspectives and focus on the history and tradition of Community Development within civil society in the participating Member States, we well as regulatory, legal and economic issues related to Community Development in the partner countries.

METHODOLOGY

The project will also incorporate a comprehensive ECVET approach, based on adapted the units, learning aims and assessment criteria that comprise the qualification for use in the partner countries. The project partners will engage with EU VET Support and the corresponding National, Regional and Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks in the participating Member States (to the extent where they are already in place at national level) to facilitate recognition of the qualification in the partner countries and thus support work towards full credit transferability.

Finally, the project partners will also reflect upon the process of adapting the qualification for use in other EU countries and the integration of an ECVET approach to produce a guide for further adaptation that will support wider use of the Level 3 Award in Community development by external organisations – including in other EU countries – beyond the lifetime of the Erasmus+ funding.

IMPACT

The EfCD project will support 50 learners to engage in studying a Level 3 course for the Community Development sector and a minimum of 45 learners will achieve their target qualification and we anticipate that a minimum of 30 will progress into sustainable employment.

Tutors taking part in joint staff training events will also benefit through access to peer learning activities that will enable them to develop new, European perspectives for the Community Development sector and integrate these within both the courses they teach and their own professional development.

Each of the partner organisations is engaged wit local networks of Community Development organisations and participating in the partnership will create positive impacts on local ‘eco-systems’ of small scale non-profit associations and start-up social enterprises.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 261981,23 Eur

Project Coordinator

DSC Regen Ltd & Country: UK

Project Partners

• CENTRUL DE RESURSE ECONOMICE SI EDUCATIE PENTRU DEZVOLTARE
• C.L. ADULT EDUCATION & TRAINING LIMITED
• CONSORZIO MATERAHUB INDUSTRIE CULTURALI E CREATIVE
• Third Sector International S. L.