The European third sector is a major economic sector with around 13 million FTE workers, in addition to 16 million volunteers. Those employed in the sector, in the main, are low paid which creates difficulty in recruiting and maintaining quality staff. Sector activities are wide and varied but all staff work with vulnerable groups that need additional supports. This creates additional stress for staff members. Staff progression rates appear to be poor as staff member’s informal learning and experience are not easily recognised and difficult to demonstrate in job applications.This project will address this by providing an entry-level induction programme for staff entering the third sector defined as having 18-month service or less. Unlike an induction programme for a specific company, this programme will be an introduction to the sector with an emphasis on personal development and core sector-specific skills. By using digital badges we can validate the learning made by participants on the programme and allow them to be used for both personal development and career progression.The project will have 4 partners from Ireland, Finland, United Kingdom and Germany. 12 participants will undergo short-term staff training for the programme trainers. 80 participants will undergo the full programme across the 4 countries. The programme will be aimed to upskill new staff entrants into third-sector organisations. They will undertake a programme with 2 modules. Module 1 will focus on sector-specific knowledge and will consist of 2 days face-to-face training augmented by 2 online training sessions utilising webinars and online communication platforms. Module 1 will focus on the structure of the third-sector and working arrangements, as well as, information on policy formulation and advocacy. These are key elements for working in the sector that most new staff entrants would not be accustomed to. The second module will focus on personal and professional skill development. Professional skills will cover basic project management, report writing, engaging with vulnerable groups and approaches to multi-agency working. Personal development skills will cover presentation and facilitation skills, self-care, negotiation skills and other interpersonal communication skills. It will similarly have 2 face-to-face training days augmented by 2 online training session.The programme will use a blended learning approach with both face-to-face learning augmented by online learning. Training will be learner focused with training needs analysis conducted in advance of training. Evaluation will be comprehensive and both certification of completion and digital badges being awarded to participants who complete the programme. The programme will be delivered in all partner countries by the local partner and in the local language. The short-term training element will be delivered through English.In practical terms, the key output is a modular training programme available to third-sector organisations across Europe to be run for new staff entrants. 80 new staff members of third-sector organisations to gain relevant up-skilling and be more effective at their roles. A 3-year sustainability/transfer plan to ensure project modules and materials are utilised post project and mainstreamed will be devised but also validation of learning by participants through open digital badges.Ultimately, the long-term benefits will be threefold. First, it will make the participants more effective at engaging with and assisting vulnerable groups and individuals and achieving their organisations social missions. Second, it will give participants validated knowledge which will support them in their career progression. Third, the materials will be made available across Europe and the investment made in the project will be leveraged widely post project.

"More and more people and organisations are becoming aware of the educational value of volunteering, and of validation opportunities for the voluntary sector. However, ther use and impact is largely unknown. Furthermore the risk of reinventing the wheel by setting up new projects is evident, and on the other hand, there are ‘’missing links’’e.g. in connecting the validation methods with the European Guidelines or instruments like the European Qualification Framework for Validation or in forms of volunteering that are not recognised. The Improving Validation in the Voluntary Sector (ImproVal) project was set out to tackle this problem. The group of five European organisations put together their past and present expertise on skills recognition and validation in the voluntary sector. By bringing together existing information and collecting new data, ImproVal project created an online compendium, a synthesis, a study and policy recommendations for advancing the understanding on validating volunteers' skills.We engaged over 80 representatives from voluntary organisations, volunteers and validation experts in our study on experiences in using tools designed for validating volunteers' skills. Through the webinars and workshops we reached about 100 stakeholders live at local, national and European level, and webinar recordings and videos reached 270 views. Over the 26 months of ImproVal project, we- created a ""volunteering validation compendium"", an online collection of 45 validation tools in 22 languages from EU member states- created a synthesis of the validation tools (46 tools) by analysing their pedagogical principles and other essential dimensions- conducted a study among volunteers and organisations who have participated in validation processes about the impact of validation, combining quantitative data by questionnaires and qualitative data through group interviews- produced an article based on the study and translated the summary to five languages (DE, FI, FR, NL, SK)- produced recommendations for policy makers and organisations interested in validation on basis of the synthesis and study- composed an annex to the policy recommendations, which connects numbers of executed validation projects in different EU member states to national policies of validation and volunteering- engaged stakeholders in a dialogue on validation by using webinars and facilitated workshops, thus raising their awareness and interest in advancing validation. As a result:- Participating organisations have learned to adapt their validation policies and gained new methods as well as reached an overview about existing instruments to validate skills and competencies acquired in field of volunteering- There is an increased understanding of the value of competencies gained by volunteering and volunteering in general among participating organisations and various stakeholders, such as voluntary organisations, educational institutions and policy makers- Various organisations have been informed about the project outcomes, and in the future they will be able to use and adapt existing tools in their validation activities and avoid putting time and effort into creating something that already exists and to focus on more innovative projects- Policy developments can be detected at micro level at some educational institutions in them opening up more to validating informally learning outcomes, and beyond individual institutions in policy recommendations at local, regional and even national and European levels. In the long term, the project benefits a wide number of individual volunteers who will have better access to validation opportunities, thus increasing motivation for learning and employability, and also voluntary organisations through access to methods and tools, educational institutions through an understanding on learning by volunteering and validation which give them the ability to guide their learners more smoothly though formal education, and employers and policy makers by increasing their awareness of the educational value of volunteering and their ability to design policies that advance the use of validation."

"<< Objectives >>The DIAL project aims to address the issue of social polarisation through improving European adults' dialogue competences and sense of engagement, and adult educators' competences in promoting dialogue. It promotes dialogue as a basic life skill with the vision ""dialogue for all"", as dialogue and related skills are not equally accessible to everyone.<< Implementation >>The DIAL project implements the following activities:- design of a research-based model to introduce dialogue and its adaptation in everyday life in 6 languages- design and testing a training model and pilot training courses for adult educators and other who promote dialogue- low-threshold dialogue activites among learners to engage them and help them acquire new skills- mutual learning activities for trainers, other stakeholders and partners<< Results >>The project aims for the following outcomes:- An increasing number of Europeans have the skills and opportunities to engage in dialogue, and have a greater sense of engagement- Trainers, coordinators and other individuals working in educational institutions have the tools and an increased ability to engage people in dialogue in a variety of settings.- Dialogue skills are better understood as a basic life skill, especially as comes to adult learners"

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.

Context/backgroundThis project will offer an opportunity for several organisations to partner up for the good practice exchange project, which would allow to scale up the use of Open Digital Badges within our networks, sectors and countries.Among other priorities, it contributes directly to the Erasmus+ priority on TRANSPARENCY AND RECOGNITION OF SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS, stating that priority will be given to projects “promoting innovative solutions like DIGITAL BADGES to improve recognition and supporting the validation at local, regional, national or European/international levels. The interest in open badges is increasing and more organisations are willing to adapt this technology, but often lack know-how or guidance from others how to build quality recognition system. Few partners of this project were among the first one to adapt Digital badges 6 years ago and are ready to equipp other organisations in Europe with skills to scale the use of Badges for recognition. ObjectivesWe aim at achieving the following objectives:To map, exchange and disseminate good practices and lessons learned from the experience of using digital Open Badges across sectors of education, training, youth work and learning.To train staff of partner organisations to be ready to support the design, implementation and evaluation of badge based recognition systems within our networks and beyond.To promote further the adaptation of digital Open Badges as one of the tools to implement youth policy in the field of validation and recognition of learning and achievements.To build the capacity of partner organisations to be the ambassadors of Open Badges for the benefit of young people in their field of activity.ParticipantsThis project will address the following target groups:Members, volunteers and staff of partner organisationsMembers, volunteers and staff of other organisations belonging to our networks and partnershipsOther youth work organisations, VET schools and organisations, colleges and higher education institutions interested in using/researching badge based solutionsYouth policy and education policy stakeholders at European, national and regional levelsDescription of activities and methodologyThe project partners plan to implement two transnational partner meetings (kick-off and final evaluation) and three staff training activities:Staff training of Multipliers (ToM) for Badge system designStaff training of Facilitators (ToF) for external recognition of Open BadgesStudy visit for ambassadors of badge recognitionAs a follow-up of the staff training activities, partners will implement multiplier and dissemination activities to support other people and organisations in adapting Open Badges for validation and recognition of learning and achievements.The European communication strategy and resources will be developed to support partners in communicating and promoting value and benefits of digital Open Badges. We will hold meetings with other organisations, institutions and stakeholders to influence the education and youth policy to include Open Badges as one of the tools for validation and recognition of non-formal learning.Results and impact The partners of the project will map 12 good practices of using digital badges and prepare selected case examples for dissemination. At least 60 staff members of partner organisations will be equipped with necessary competences and capacity to o support the design, implementation and evaluation of badge based recognition systems within our networks and beyond. They will be training on how to design badges system and plan internal and external recognition of badges. The partner consortium will develop a communication strategy and resources to further promote the adoption of the digital Open Badges. This strategy will be adapted to the national and/or regional realities of partners and will allow reaching more than 24.000 people, 170 organisations and thousands of educators and youth workers in Europe.At least sixty staff members of the partner organisations will be involved directly in the transnational activities of this project. The partner organisations will implement 20 activities within their networks, partnerships and channels.Longer term benefitsWe expect that in the upcoming years, our local partners will create even more badge based recognition and validation systems for other activities they do and will actively join our dissemination efforts as it is in their interests to build an ecosystem of recognition, where participants of their activities can earn badges for diverse learning opportunities; collect, manage and share in places that matter and and have possibilities to open new opportunities by showing their competences gained through non-formal education programmes.