International CooperatIon for empowerment and ValidatIon of Competences among nautical Schools Erasmus Project

Project Title

International CooperatIon for empowerment and ValidatIon of Competences among nautical Schools

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 Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); Recognition, transparency, certification; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

The project “C.I.V.I.C.S. – International cooperation for the empowerment and validation of competences between nautical Schools” has been presented dall’IISS Calamatta of Civitavecchia, in partnership with two nautical schools in Finland and Spain. The project is based on a joint analysis of needs, which recognizes the extreme importance of the marine industry for the growth of European territories and, at the same time, the absence of a common framework for the validation and certification of soft and non-formal skills requested from this particular sector of the labour market.

CIVICS achieved with success the following general objectives:
– modernize the educational systems of the partner schools, improve the effectiveness of nautical and logistics education, improving the interrelationship of education and employment, multiplying bridges between formal, non-formal and informal learning and expanding the certification of competences based on experience gained in an international context
– strengthen cooperation between the partners to enhance the transparency of the skills acquired in the course of education in a nautical institution, promoting mobility and lifelong learning

And the following specific objectives:
– launch an exploratory process of validation of competencies, related to the Nautical and Maritime Education, to facilitate the acceptance and recognition of the skills acquired in an EU country and in different learning environments, including non-formal skills
– develop a common methodology for the certification of skills and ad hoc training programs, with special focus on soft skills and skills learned during a long term period of mobility abroad, thus empowering the teaching profession
– support the improvement of the quality of educational curricula provided in the path of education of a Nautical Institute, expanding the international dimension and opening up to the soft and non-formal skills, choosing indicators and instruments for an innovative, common evaluation framework.

CIVICS has organized a series of activities that involved students and teachers and was structured in three stages: preparation, implementation and evaluation/dissemination/ follow-up, structured in Work Streams. With regard to mobility, the project included 5 Transnational project meetings, a joint event training staff and three long-term mobility, lasted three months, for four pupils from each of the partner schools. Scheduled LTTA was functional in the implementation, evaluation and validation of important educational-methodological deliverables, which have been the following:
o training materials developed during the Joint Staff training event and merged in a compendium for teachers, concerning certificason of transversal and non-formal skills in the nautical education and training;
o a Protocol for the certification and validation of skills
o Teaching materials creating the Joint Curriculum that will be submitted to the students participating in the long-term mobility

all three have been conceived OER and loaded on a European Dissemination Platform, thus making these products maximally sustainable and replicable at EU level.

When preparing products, we have intended to reduce the weight of the traditional summative assessment (which searched to establish with instruments that were as objective as possible to assess the ownership of knowledge, skills and competencies focusing on the teaching / learning final product) and have enhanced the use of an authentic formative assessment, which aimed at supporting the learning process of the pupil. As for the managerial part the project management intended to apply the methodology of shared leadership.

The project also has a capillary Dissemination Plan, involving stakeholders and beneficiaries who are not directly involved in the project activities. Partners have conceived an Assessment Plan marked with specific indicators that aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the activities and the correspondence between objectives and expected results.

Both outcomes and outputs of the project were to generate long-term benefits, making an impact on multiple levels. Since this has been a project that included a significant focus on continuing education in the sense of empowerment and lifelong capacity building of teachers, exchange and creation of good practices, and above all it is about the development of a Protocol of Certification of transversal and non-formal skills in the marine industry as well as the creation of teaching materials produced during the joint Staff Training event and learning modules in joint curriculum delivered to students participating in the long term mobility, the project had the highest sustainability possible.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 65943,34 Eur

Project Coordinator

ISTITUTO D’ISTRUZIONE SECONDARIA SUPERIORE STATALE “LUIGI CALAMATTA” & Country: IT

Project Partners

• ESCOLA DE CAPACITACIÓ NAUTICOPESQUERA DE CATALUNYA
• LANSIRANNIKON KOULUTUS OY