SCOPE: Skills Recognition, Capacity Building, and Professional Education for the Third Sector Erasmus Project

Project Title

SCOPE: Skills Recognition, Capacity Building, and Professional Education for the Third Sector

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

A healthy, transparent, and well-resourced third sector is the vehicle for achieving common European goals, and in particular the Europe 2020 targets. From small local action groups fighting social exclusion, to the largest organisations addressing international issues like climate change, the third sector is imperative in putting high-level policy into practice at community level. It is this invisible infrastructure of our society that is often overlooked and misunderstood.

The partners proposing this project are all organisations whose purpose is to support and serve the third sector in their respective countries. It is our job to provide the training, support, advice, and advocacy they need so that they can do what they do best – effecting positive change in communities. However, there are challenges in achieving our mission. Geographical, financial, accessibility, and time restraints can make it difficult for our members affected most by social exclusion to engage in our training. Although our sector has a wealth of staff and volunteers possessing invaluable skills and expertise, communicating those skills can be a challenge that impedes skill recognition, job mobility and employability, particularly as many sector skills are the result of informal and non-formal learning.

This project will aim to address each of these challenges through the development of online learning content for the identified core needs of our members. This will allow us to move our training online so that we can reach more of our members in an easily accessible, time, and location flexible manner. An online platform will house the learning content and will be a sustainable tool for each partner to continue to develop and update in line with each of our organisations’ strategic objectives for improving support, training, and digitisation in the sector. A validation system, based on previous valorised and successful models, will be developed as a means of recognising and communicating non-formal learning through the online platform. Finally, a comprehensive guide to the approach, methodology, pilot, and results of this project will be produced as a model to share with other organisations and as a foundation for further blended learning projects for the sector in each partner country.

Our target group is third sector staff and volunteers in need of capacity building, skills development and recognition of non-formal learning, particularly, those who are socially excluded in such a way that it is difficult for them to access training opportunities, e.g. those who are affected by socio-economical disadvantages or disability, or those who are from isolated communities. Although these individuals are the bedrock of our sector and are the most in need of our support, they are also the most challenging to reach and, fundamentally, this project is about addressing this imbalance.

Through this project we aim to achieve significant impact for our specific target group, the wider third sector, and the partner organisations and stakeholders:
– Third sector organisations (TSOs) are adequately resourced, supported and appropriately recognised and valued – for the contribution they make in achieving a fair, just and a more equal society.
– TSOs have the capacity and capability to effect positive social change.
– TSOs have increased digital competency, paving the way for more digital participation and engagement at community level
– The partners have a valuable, sustainable, and valorised resource to continue to drive accessible professional development and skills recognition in the sector through eLearning
The partners are part of an enduring European network of organisations working for TSOs to continue to collaborate and exchange best practice and innovation.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 260625 Eur

Project Coordinator

ROTHA TEORANTA & Country: IE

Project Partners

• The Shanty Educational Project Limited
• MITTETULUNDUSUHING ARENGUKOOSTOO UMARLAUD
• Opintotoiminnan Keskusliitto ry
• Civic Alliance Latvia
• SCOTTISH COUNCIL FOR VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS