Rural + – Better opportunities though skill growth Erasmus Project

Project Title

Rural + – Better opportunities though skill growth

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning

Project Summary

In the current years, the labor market as well as the nature of work are radically changing. Due to this aspect, future jobs will require a wide and cross-sector set of soft and collateral skills that current VET education systems are not providing today. Future VET workers must be prepared in facing emerging needs coming from competitiveness. Several reports and studies highlighted that there are many gaps in levels of competences and certification of workers. In VET sectors the critical point lies in the fact that it is not clear which will be competences required in the next years or even which will be the job profiles needed by companies. While general studies and HR reports state that there is a need of VET employees with abilities surpassing the level provided by the schooling system, the information provided are still at a general and undefined level that doesn’t allow to specifically identify the soft skills needed and by consequence, the training contents.

As a result, the Rural+ project aim to satisfy two simultaneous needs:

– To know in details key-soft skills needed from companies in order to create awareness on those skills;
– To deliver a set of skills directly to a target group of VET learners and also, in order to amplify and perpetuate the ripple effect of those courses, to deliver them to a target group of VET educators.

In order to do that, the project has devised the following outcomes:

– One Needs Mapping of the VET study – developed and translated in all partnership languages;.
– Three courses, one of Business Etiquette, one of Learning How to Learn and one in Professional Digital Literacy, together with their Trainer’s Kits, developed and translated in all partnership languages;
– One learning platform, in which the first two outcomes will be integrated together with a set of Open Badges that can be attached to the person’s online profile and will attest on their obtaining of the competence;
– Short term joint staff training event on the three soft skills dedicated to VET educators in which they will study the documentation and learn to teach it to their pupils either as a stand-alone course or as additional material integrated with other disciplines;
– Blended mobility “Good things come in three” event, in which the selected participants will benefit from direct exercises on the training materials developed, and the professional expertise of multiple employers regarding their real life capacity.
– 5 “Infocamps”/ Multiplier events in which the results of the project will be disseminated to various representatives of the VET industries.

The 5 main outcomes will be supported by the partnership through the implementation of a comprehensive Project Management Plan, which will include all the planning necessary to successfully deliver the project as well as to properly justify its implementation to the National Agency

Project target group is comprised of 200 stakeholders:
– 80 VET learners in the online Pilot courses (20 persons from the rural area /country)
– 20 VET educators and/or administrators in the blended mobility in Cyprus (5 persons/country)
– at least 1000 (250 per country) Decision makers, Experts, specialists, professionals informed/involved about the project – as results of the dissemination activities.

The target group will find out about the project and will be invited to participate through the implementation of a dissemination plan which will include the development and distribution of a website, 2 social media accounts, a brochure, 3 newsletters, 3 press articles per country, 40 posters, 4 video presentations

The project will be implemented by a strategic partnership involving:
– an NGO actively involved in the development of the Romanian rural area, including the human resources of the respective area (ACoR Romania Calarasi Branch);
– a consultancy and VET training providing company managed by experienced personnel in VET training and European Projects (Mixt Source Management);
– an NGO, actively involved in the development of the Italian rural area and its inhabitants (Polygonal NGO);
– a training provider from Cyprus with expertise in VET competences growth and human capitals (Stando);
– a VET school from the rural area of Portugal (Previform).

Project Website

http://ruralplus.net/?page_id=643&lang=pt

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 143960 Eur

Project Coordinator

ASOCIATIA COMUNELOR DIN ROMANIA FILIALA JUDETULUI CALARASI & Country: RO

Project Partners

• Previform – Laboratório, Formação, Higiene e Segurança do Trabalho, Lda
• SC MIXT SOURCE MANAGEMENT SRL
• Polygonal
• STANDO LTD