The project “Partial Certification in the Vocational Field of Information Security” (“Teilzertifizierung im Berufsfeld Informationssicherheit – TeBeISi”) describes the validation and certification of competences in the field of information security with a special focus on the requirements of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) and social skills. The project contributed to the promotion of validation of prior learning practices, considering informal and nonformal learning also in reference to European transparency instruments. The validation of information security competences has been identified as a valuable tool to increase the access to qualified employees in the sub-sector of the information security labour market, in which SMEs in particular are confronted with a great challenge of hiring skilled workers and meeting their individual requirements. Through new training and further education options, the project created viable pathways in the project partner countries Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria, and Lithuania for the identification of suitable employees and correspondingly new options for training to meet the needs of SMEs.To make existing competences visible, the TeBeISi project analysed existing occupational profiles in the fields of information security and conducted a qualitative (focus groups and expert interviews with 20 experts from each country) and quantitative research (with 155 experts in total) on needed knowledge and skills in SME environment. The project target around 550 stakeholders in the course of activity implementation. As a result, the project mapped competence units necessary to perform information security related tasks in SMEs under the umbrella profile “Information Security and Data Protection Officer for SME” (Output 1). Building on these findings and the developed profile, national adaption plans for each partner country were developed to gather information on national educational contexts important for an information security curriculum on the TeBeISi topics Results were discussed with national information security and educational experts (Output 2). Upon information collection and analysis (quantitative studies on competence requirements among practitioners and SMEs in all participating countries), the core results of the project have been developed: The self-assessment tool (Output 3) and the corresponding curriculum matching the developed profile (Output 4). The curriculum supports the capacity building among vocational education and training programmes as well as offering additional certification possibilities for students in higher education. This was done with the scope to include competences located on an EQF 5 level to bridge the gap between theoretically required knowledge (e.g., GDPR) and practice-oriented skills. Following the stated needs of SMEs to find and qualify new and existing employees, a digital self-assessment tool has been developed. The tool allows the self-identification regarding the suitability to take over information security related tasks in SMEs based on personal characteristics and pre-existing competences in the field of information security. Based on the findings from the research as well as the developed curriculum and analysis tools, a report has been drafted to lay out the role of employees in the process of establishing information security in SMEs and the strategic necessity and possibility to support SMEs via systematic changes in the educational pathways of different worker groups (Output 5). Finally, a research report was drafted to provide and contextualize all background data which have been collected and analysed in the preparation of the curriculum and the analysis tool (Output 6).The outputs developed strongly focused on the needs of SMEs, which are unable to compete financially in the battle for skilled employees in the field of information security with larger corporations. The developed solutions contribute on a micro-level in the SME, by providing assistance in identifying the skills needed and selecting qualified workers among the existing workforces. On a systemic level, the project laid out a pathway to include information security related skills in educational programmes, which becomes relevant also in the context of educating sovereign citizenship. The project thereby involved institutional stakeholders like training providers and educational institutions, chambers of commerce and expert networks in the partner countries. Based on the projects results - to intensify awareness rising and informative campaigning among the European public and to thereby strengthen the general availability of skilled workers- a circle of experts has been founded (“European Council on Cyber Security, Privacy, and Risk Management”), which continues the suggested pathway of the TeBeISi project to bring security sensitive and basic adherence to safety principles in the digital realm to SMEs and the general public.

The acronym TeBeVAT 2 stands for “(Teil-)zertifizierung im Berufsfeld Veranstaltungstechnik“ – which means “(partial) certification and/or validation of informal learning in the vocational field of event technology”. To understand the research interest of the project, the topic must be regarded in relation to its political background: The European Strategy 2020 aims at sustainable growth, inclusion as well as a transparent and stable labour market within the EU. To tackle current challenges of e.g. demographic change, digitalization, and immigration, a large package of measures to improve the labour market situation has been discussed. The strategy promotes transferability of skills between companies and sectors, also with the aim to facilitate mobility on the European labour market.One approach to achieve these goals is to include citizens without formal education and qualifications into the labour market. The vocational background of these individuals is often marked by informal learning. This is learning resulting from daily activities related to work, family or leisure. It is not organized or structured in terms of objectives, time or learning support (compare Cedefop, 2008). The outcomes of informal learning and the competences that a person acquired thereby, may be validated or certified (also compare Cedefop, 2008). This means that prior learning experiences are accredited by running through a formal process. It brings prospects of enhanced employability to workers that are currently excluded from the job market. New job opportunities are opened up to individuals that did not complete formal education in their field of labour (like career changers). This approach may in addition have an important impact on addressing skill shortages in fast growing industry sectors and supporting economic growth. Therefore, the European Commission issued recommendations for the validation of non-formal and informal learning in 2012. In the countries, national strategies should be developed.The overall goal of the project TebeVAT 2 was to develop such a strategy for the validation of results stemming from non-formal and informal learning for the industry sector of event technology. Funded with support of the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union, the team with partners from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and UK compared existing national practices and consolidated them in the TeBeVAT approach. The sector of event technology was chosen because it is a prototypic example for an industry field with high numbers of career changers and workers without formal education. There is high mobility and a lot of cross-border employment due to the big productions and shows gathering multinational teams of workers from all over the EU.

CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT:The framework in which we have worked is the family environment, specifically the family business, in which we have to consider the family roles and the marked traditional character of this type of business. With the objective that these family businesses can continue, it is necessary to give these future generations, some of them young people, others heirs of their business, we must have the necessary skills to ensure the continuity of the family business.The project has been aimed for providing future entrepreneurs, managers or consultants with the necessary skills and abilities, providing them with the necessary training so that they feel able to be part of the company, take over the company, and raise the improvement in the business with the objective of ensuring the continuity of the family business.Therefore the project has developed an online tool, which has developed the skills and competencies that every young entrepreneur will need for their future work in the family business.•OBJECTIVES:They have identified what skills are necessary for a young entrepreneur to take over the family business, either their own or others. For this, it has been necessary to identify good practices within family businesses. These good practices ensure good continuity of their business and were explained by the entrepreneurs. This served as a basis for developing the content of the tele-training platform that the students were going to study.• NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS: There have been six participants.1. FESMC UGT CyL (Spain): It is one of the most important national and regional trade unions that cover the sectors of services, mobility and consumption, established in Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain. In this case, our federation has provided a great deal of experience in collective bargaining, in training schemes for workers, in employment regulation files and in succession of companies, so our contribution has provided a trade union and sectoral vision.2. INVESLAN (Spain): It is a private organization working in the field of economic and social research. They have provided us with training and extensive experience in training students and developing European projects.3. SCV, StudioCentroVeneto s.a.s. Di Antonio Brunello & C (Italy): They are a private consultant with extensive experience in the field of European project management (content, administrative, planning, research, etc.). Development of microenterprises and succession of family businesses.4. Wyzsza Szkola Biznesu i Nauk o Zdrowiu (Poland): It is the first non-public higher education institution in Poland. They have provided us with their experience in researching intergenerational education.5. CCIS: GOSPODARSKA ZBORNICA SLOVENIJE - CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF SLOVENIA. (Slovenia). It is the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, a non-governmental organization, business organization. They have provided us with a wide range of experience in business management and human resources which are necessary for the success of companies.6. Kahramanmaras Mesleki Egitim Merkezi (Turkey): They are an institution of professional development directed to students who left the regulated education and who desire to learn a trade in the industrial area. The Turkish partner has provided professional experience in the field of practical education and vocational training as well as in the direct application in companies, necessary in our project.ACTIVITIESO1: Identification and COMPILATION OF THE GOOD PRACTICES AND COMPETENCES necessary for a successful business transfer. Interviews have been conducted with experts and focus groups in all countries. Each partner has collected its findings in its national report and then gathered in a global report, which has been translated by all partners into their national languages. O2: A self-assessment tool has been developed so that users are able to self-assess these skills and focus on those who need more training. The tool is interactive and available in all partner languages. O3: TELE-TRAINING COURSE for the development of competencies for a successful business transfer. It can be accessed through https://www.gzs.si/businessowners/vsebina/ESP/Curso.O4: MANUAL directed to instructors and trainers of vocational training that will facilitate the methodology to train the students of Vocational Training. The manual will be translated into the languages of all partners.RESULTS AND IMPACTS ACHIEVED:They are available to those who visit the website. The impact is guaranteed since all project products are in 6 languages.

The LeGaQual2Do project is the result of one decade long reflection about on-the-job training for low-skilled people, initiated with the LeGaQual method. This reflection has evolved in the past years and is even more relevant in today’s context characterized by high unemployment rate and evolving employers’ demands in terms of professional skills and geographical mobility.The recognition of learners’ professional skills and learning outcomes is necessary so that employers’ job offers and learners’ demands can be met both on the French and European labour market.This recognition should bring an answer to the difficult access of precarious individuals or with specific needs first to vocational training and then to the classical labour market. Hence the main objective of the project, which is the definition and the implementation of a protocol in on-the-job training and evaluation engineering in three activity sectors: cleaning, green spaces, sales and distribution. The aim is to promote access to certification and / or common law qualification for people searching professional integration or with disabilities, which must necessarily be accompanied by evolution of postures of different players involved in on-the-job training protocol: employee - learner, supervisor - trainer, trainer - evaluator. In this purpose, the partnership considered development of tools promoting integration of training models in professional situations, and aiming at certifications of common law within project partner countries. A tool allowing capitalization of skills acquired in the workplace and resulting European skills passports appear as guarantee of professional recognition at European level.The achievement of the project’s objectives and expected results was possible thanks to the composition of the partnership, led by the Régie des Ecrivains, which consisted in an articulation of actions between training centers, experts in pedagogy and certification, learning companies, social enterprises and professionals in the fields of cleaning, green spaces and sale and distribution.The partner organizations come from 5 European countries: France - Régie des Ecrivains, Solivers and INHNI, Belgium - AIGS and IPEPS, Italy - StudioCentroVeneto and Comune di Vicenza, Latvia - SIAMC Austrumvidzeme, United Kingdom - WSX Enterprise. They have implemented cooperation with a training organization, a certification body or a learning company in order to optimize learners’ training paths and skills recognition. The main activities implemented in the framework of the project are the development of the LeGaQual2Do training and assessment method and tools dedicated to learners and trainers supervisors. The training tools (job profile, professional occupational guidelines, training programme, pedagogical support, interactive teaching tools) and evaluation tools (evaluation grids, Mobipass - digital skills portfolio) have been experimented in the framework of training activities for trainers (37 people in total) and learners (120 beneficiaries), of which 16 participated in European mobilities organized in 5 partner countries. All the tools were adapted and adjusted at the end of the experimental phase, as part of evaluation activities conducted with learners, trainers supervisors, managers of partner organizations and certifiers. The experimental and evaluation reports reflect the progress and results of training and evaluation activities. The tools developed and the activities implemented throughout the project were based on the ECVET method, and this in order to ensure better recognition of professional skills and to promote learners' mobility.In order to achieve the widest possible dissemination of project results and achievements, in each country the partner organization(s) organized an event for the dissemination of one or more intellectual outputs. Each dissemination event aimed at gathering together professionals, trainers supervisors and certifiers, as well as people with a low level of qualification who wish to improve their professional and geographical mobility.The main impact of the project is the recognition of beneficiaries’ professional skills thanks to Mobipass, the improvement of their professional and geographical mobility and the implementation of new methods of on-the-job training, evaluation and certification.

"The European Council stipulates transparency in the labor market. Especially non-formal and informal learning outcomes have to be formally recognized in a validation process. The majority of project partners have been dealing with the labor market and European transferable educational content in the field of ""Event Technology"" in two previous EU projects. By means of a “Competence Matrix” they managed to establish European comparability and transferability. In the labor market, there are many people entering the sector of “Event Technology” different from their educational or professional background. Although acting practically and solidly, they do not have any formal degree – with the resulting legal consequences, for example limited and restrictive insurance law and disciplinary consequences. This group of people is exemplarily fed to a validation process in all participating countries (DE, NL, UK, LI, AT ). A diagnostic tool will be developed and a way of formal recognition of the learning outcomes will be identified by investigating a small group of practitioners in each country using the diagnostic tool. The results will be presented to experts from institutions of formal recognition asking them under what circumstances they are willing to recognize this formally within their vocational training legislation. At the same time, the partners investigate in their national context to what extent these results are to be recognized transnationally. This can also lead to part recognitions. Based on the partner’s profound knowledge of the profession, the processes at the labor market and the framework of the formal examination institutions, satisfactory results will be elaborated. It will be investigated how to create confidence and appreciating the practicability of validation amongst formal certifiers by using a solid diagnostic tool. The project aims to demonstrate a method, which enables a mutual recognition of non-formal and informal learning outcomes. The project team assumes that the exemplarily investigated participants can obtain a formal (partial) recognition and that overall the process of validation continues in the among experts itself. Finally, an international project presentation will be prepared in order to present the results to the guests and representatives from Europe during a conference at the University of Bayreuth.A detailed work concept on behalf of the partners and a controlled reporting of the interim results will guarantee a targeted process of the partnerships. The publication of the diagnostic tool in relevant media and the further support by the coordinator BF/M-Bayreuth at the University of Bayreuth, together with long-term advice to stakeholders from other professional fields, will encourage the European Council’s recommendations and promote long-term validation."