Project „European Theatre Technicians Education“ While cultural activities are often performed at an international level, the qualification and education occur on different levels in different countries. Therefore this project has been focused on institutions that are teaching future specialists of theatre, stage and event technology. The objective was to determine the aspects of the professional qualification relevant to health and safety and to develop an internationally comparable level and standards. The partners having taken part in the project are the professional organizations Deutsche Theatertechnische Gesellschaft (DTHG) e.V. (Germany), Vereniging voor Podiumtechnologie (The Netherlands), STEPP vzw (Belgium) and Svensk Teaterteknisk Förening (Sweden) and as professional partners on this area OSAT - stichting overleg onderwijs arbeidsmarkt theatertechniek (The Netherlands) and the Erasmushogeschool Brussel with its Kenniscentrum Podiumtechnieken RITS (expertise center for the technical performing arts) (Belgium). The partners provide a good platform since in their countries the vocational education in the area of event technology is based on similar views and traditions. The project has included the following steps: 1. An agreed description of 10 basic health and safety competences has been developed. These have been written independent of language, local context and technology and are related to the ESCO taxonomy and the different national systems. The ten competences are: 1.Work with respect for own safety.2.Contribute to a safe and sustainable working environment.3.Work ergonomically.4.Use personal protection equipment.5.Work ergonomically.6.Work safely at heights.7.Work safely with mobile electrical systems under supervision. 8.Work safely with tools.9.Work safely with chemicals. 10.Fit up and rig performance equipment. One could argue that there are more competences all workers should have, but there are reasons to limit the choice. The selection was made based on two criteria: •The choice of competences should not conflict with national or EU legislation. We excluded competences that have certification requirements in some countries. •The chosen competences should not be part of a specialisation or a field. We only included competences that are required in (almost) all stage occupations. 2. To be able to train practitioners in their working environment, open Educational Resources for the competences have been developed. The resources can be used in collective education and training as well as in individual or online learning. They are available in the 3 project languages and English. The resources are the ETTE handbook including the ten competences with descriptions and all important content to be known, exercises, links to sources for further reading etc. There are a students' and a teacher's/assessor's version available. The latter contains examination questions and proposals to integrate the ETTE content into lessons, too. The material is available as eBook for downloads from the ETTE website and as printed versions. 3. The project has developed a one-week 'train the trainer' program for the agreed core safety skills. This includes methodology, background knowledge and tools. It is meant for trainers as well as coaches in the work environment. The train the trainer program will be continued in the different countries. 4. A set of agreed standards for assessment of the core skills / competences has been developed, including procedures for testing and quality control. The standards are written in a way that they can be imbedded in the different national systems. The content is available as an assessors guide. 5. By working together, a permanent network between the partners and their stakeholders in the different countries has been developed. It will continue and form an ETTE consortium. 6. To support the previous actions and to disseminate the results the ETTE website contains all developed content in all project languages and English. The competences are connected with an online learning platform. An exchange platform for teachers and professionals has been created in the forum on the ETTE website. The group of stakeholders continues to work together, will enlarge and keep the platform alive. Dissemination has been started parallely to the project's running time in a lot of presentations of the project to relevant target groups on important fairs, events, sector gatherings etc. (despite the budget for multiplier events had been canceled). During the project the website has been regularly updated with results, materials, reports etc. . The partner organizations promote the ETTE project via their social media platforms, especially Facebook.

"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."