Working in Soft Skills for Employment Erasmus Project

Project Title

Working in Soft Skills for Employment

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

WISE (Working in Soft Skills for Employment) is an exchange of good practices with the aim of supporting the trainers of VET organizations in finding ways to transfer soft skills for the labour market to participant of VET courses, especially initial VET education.
In order to promote VET “as a first choice” for learners to discover their talents and to advance in learning and career, is necessary that VET provides high quality curricula and skills needed in the labour market. In addition to adequate technical and professional skills, companies nowadays look for employees owning a wide range of “soft skills” (e.g. creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, emotional intelligence, problem solving, critical thinking, communication, time management…).
VET Providers then have the commitment to facilitate the acquisition of soft skills within the VET pathways.
As for technical skills, learning is generally based on theoretical lessons and then practical examples followed by a work-placements in a company but, in the case of soft skills, the learning process is not the same and requires very specific and innovative teaching methodologies.
Some countries have adopted reforms that have structured innovative VET systems, some are struggling to overcome regional differences some others have just started focusing on these topics.
The partnership aims at exchanging good practices on tools and methodologies to improve and empower soft skills in trainees.
The nine partner organizations come from Italy, the Basque Country, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Portugal and their core activity is the training of vocational subjects to students (14-19 years of age). The methodologies for transferring soft skills will be exchanged keeping in mind that they will be useful for the insertion in the labour market.
Each partners will involve stakeholders coming from the business sector so as to have a point of view of the companies that normally insert the students for work- based learning experience (WBL).
The “success factors” will be identified, as well as the needs of the companies and the trainers.
During the first phase of the project the partnership will exchange and analyse methods and tools according to indicators agreed during the first transnational meeting: in accordance with the priorities set by the European Union to raise the competencies provided by VET organizations and their trainers, 2 learning activities (“Short Term staff Training Event) will be organized. The events will take place in the Basque Country and in Finland, which have in the past few years developed innovative methodologies supported by VET systems reforms and are the frontrunners in this field. Trainers from all the partner organizations will be involved: they will mainly be trainers who are normally the link with companies but they can also be trainers of general or specific subjects inserting the soft skills focus in their lessons.
Three transnational project meetings are also foreseen to manage the project.
Therefore, the main aims of the project are on the one hand the exchange of good practices and on the other hand, starting from the findings, also the building of a future project of “development of innovation”, developing tools and methodology that can be transferred to other contexts and courses of the partners.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 130024 Eur

Project Coordinator

ENGIM PIEMONTE & Country: IT

Project Partners

• Jåttå videregående skole
• SCUOLA CENTRALE FORMAZIONE ASSOCIAZIONE SCF
• INTER COLLEGE APS
• The Federation of Swedish Ostrobothnia for Education and Culture/YA – Vocational College of Ostrobothnia
• Ikaslan Bizkaia. Asoc. de Directores/as de Inst. pcos. de secundaria que imparten Form. Prof. en Bizkaia “Ikaslan Bizkaia”
• FORPRO – Formação Profissional, CRL
• JÄRVAMAA KUTSEHARIDUSKESKUS