This Strategic Association project for the exchange of good practices is the starting point of something innovative, creative and enriching, in which European priorities such as social inclusion are applied, fostering the participation of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in basic vocational training and middle grade with the objective of improving the quality of the offer of the educational offer of vocational training, through the establishment of feedback channels to adapt the offer of vocational training. In an increasingly global and European context, a project made up of teachers and students from different countries with a similar academic background in the field of administration, logistics, management and finance is necessary, in which classes are taught using the CLIL methodology, in which English is used as a vehicular language, which has as its main objective, the use of all the tools of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in order to elaborate by groups and attending to the environment of each participating institution , a business plan that brings together the capacities, knowledge, abilities and skills of the participants, sharing and promoting their creativity and entrepreneurship, with the encouragement of having the support of companies that are relevant at the economic and social level in the towns where the educational centers are located. For this reason, a week-long visit will be made to each participating center in which 12 classes will be organized to prepare a business plan with the minimum participation of 1 teacher and 5 students per country, as well as some relevant companies, from the locality to which a visit will be made and whose agents will participate together with the teachers in the evaluation of business projects prepared by each group. A total of 80 students will participate, 20 per country and 20 teachers, 5 per country, in addition to several relevant collaborating companies from the localities of the participating countries.Our main objectives are to assess the state of bilingual teaching with CLIL in VET (Vocational Educational Trainining) of all the countries participating in the project in order to prepare a common European CLIL teaching guide for teachers interested in this type of teaching, as well as the preparation of a final document that will help to the possible establishment of a theoretical framework of common European reference in order to promote the culture of entrepreneurship and self-employment within basic and intermediate vocational training education.We would like to highlight the following strong points of our project:1º) It is not only about CLIL, which although it is fundamental for its development and novel its implementation at this stage of the educational system, implies the exchange and use of ICT in addition to stimulating creativity and innovation capacity of students .2º) The project prioritizes the action and the exchange of experiences in a way that is active and participatory for all the agents that take part in learning in Vocational Training.3º) Information is exchanged between students, teachers and economic agents with common teachings from different countries, which enriches it by having many more subjects who are part of it.4º) As a novelty, the project is carried out exclusively within the scope of basic and medium-level vocational training where CLIL does not exist in our country, nor professional modules with innovative content or entrepreneurial initiative, although they are procedural.5º) The resizing of VET is proposed based on local and national needs towards the international ones and the possible implantation of CLIL together with the culture of entrepreneurship in our curriculum for VET of medium degree.6º) Apart from the input that the teachers can provide, the contribution that other relevant economic agents from the localities where the classes take place can contribute is considered fundamental for the development of this project.Therefore, this strategic association forms a cooperation network for creative innovation in which students, teachers and professionals from companies from different European locations participate, encourages peer learning, the development of joint initiatives and the exchange of experiences at scale. European. In addition to applying innovative practices that can produce high-quality tangible results, it promotes the development and modernization of participating organizations.

"The aim of in.education was to increase the educational participation of people with a disadvantaged educational background through developing and testing three different strategies. Three curricula were developed and tested with the participants.“IO 1 – The sensibilisation and education offer for persons close to educationally disadvantaged people”: The socioeconomic environment has an influence on the educational pathways of individuals, including on whether educationally disadvantaged people can be reached at all through traditional educational methods. An innovative outreach concept was therefore developed as part of the project. Members of exemplary social environments of the target group were identified and then participated in awareness raising and education offers. These were intended to activate the participants as new multipliers. They should then inform educationally disadvantaged people from their social environments about educational offers and formats and motivate them to participate. Addressed as new multipliers were individuals with a migration background, workers’ councils, volunteers in organisations or churches or councillors of e.g. long-term unemployed people with no specific knowledge of educational disadvantages. As implementing modes, workshops were tested in different designs or modern forms such as webinars. The experiences and results were summarised in a manual: ""Workshops for New Multipliers. Experimental and Experimental Investigations in Europe"". The entire outreach process was evaluated and published: ""New Strategies to Involve Educationally Disadvantaged People in Adult Education Activities"".“IO 2- Curriculum for the collection and validation of informally acquired educational competencies”: In this part of the project, the team focused on the individual level. It developed educational offers for educationally disadvantaged people with basic education problems. In these offers, the collection, description and validation of informally acquired competences was strictly implemented. Through this genuine resource-oriented approach, it was demonstrated that consistent empowerment directly causes educational participation. Approximately 70% of the participants in the educational offers developed in the project subsequently attended other educational programmes, reaching from the completion of compulsory education to the attendance of language or basic training courses to labour market-related educational programmes. Participants were: Single mothers of different ethnic origins and ages, physically and mentally disabled persons, individuals with no specific language skills in the education language of the respective country, young adults from structurally weak emigration regions largely without perspectives, etc. 44% of all participants were motivated to participate in these programmes through the sensibilised new multipliers of IO 1. Experiences and results were published in Manual 2: ""New Strategies to Involve Educationally Disadvantaged People in Adult Education Activities"". The evaluation was made available in the publication: ""(Re)engagement of disadvantaged learners with education through validating informally or non-formally acquired competences"".“IO 3- Trainings for adult education providers to increase their implementation skills as regards less educated people”: The core questions of the intellectual part of this project part was: Which competencies must an organisation develop in order to ensure the successful participation and quality of results for educationally disadvantaged people? Starting from the conditions of the implementation of the programmes in IO 1 and IO 2 and the results of a project-based background study (interviews with education managers in the UK, Ireland and Austria), trainings for employees of adult education institutions were developed and implemented. The content ranged from questions regarding the selection and inclusion processes, diversity-led interactions in the classroom, validation of competencies, recognition of deficits to aspects such as group composition and to questions of educating education staff. Country models, recommendations and conclusions are available in manual 3: ""Training for providers of adult education to increase their competence in the performance of offers, in which educationally disadvantaged people participate. Results and reflections"".The background study with the title ""Necessary prerequisites at the organisational level for (re) engaging disadvantaged learners in education."" was also published.The products contain information on the process, the content and the methodology. Recommendations were formulated and conclusions drawn and they provide insights into the accompanying scientific process. They are available for download on the websites of the partners, e.g. on www.isop.at/in.education."

Context/background of the project The Eureka Project aimed to contribute to addressing the EU 2020 targets of Reducing the rates of early school leaving below 10% by supporting students at the highest end of the spectrum. In particular it also aimed to address two of the 2009 ET 2020 EU objectives to address challenges in education and training systems by 2020: 1. Improving the quality and efficiency of education and training; and 2. Promoting equity, social cohesion, and active citizenship. To achieve this the project essentially set out to upskill teachers and other professionals in the early identification of the most able students through training and the production of resources. The need for the project had been identified from The Talented Child project. The Eureka Project formed a partnership across 4 countries to build on the work of the Talented Children Project (www.talentedchildrenproject.eu) which exchanged best practice in this field. As a consequence It produced significant resources and training as a result of collaboration as well as the facilitation of the exchange of practice.What was remarkable was the energy and thirst for learning that was generated in the project by the inclusion of new partners in addition to a number of partners who participated in The Talented Child project. More in depth work by all partners resulted in activity, resources and strategic thinking far beyond what was envisaged in the bid application. Objectives;The project created a detailed manual for the identification of most able students which can be used across national boundaries. It was created through the exchange of practice from all partners and built on the work of the Talented Child project. In addition a resource directory detailing best interventions was developed.. The project delivered 2 courses for teachers and other associated professionals, based on the exchange of practice of partners, which provided training on the identification of the most able children in education and secondly provided successful intervention techniques and resources. The multidisciplinary training was certificated locally and involved a Higher Education Institution input. In addition a website encompassing all other work by the partnership was developed including case studies and resources for teachers and other professionals working in education www.theeurekaproject.euhttp://theeurekaproject.eu/project-resources/identification-manual/http://theeurekaproject.eu/project-resources/resource-directory/Number and profile of participating organisations5 organisations formed the Partnership. It is a consortium rich in diversity and expertise. It brought together organisations with great symbiosis. The lead organisation TITAN Partnership Ltd manages the most able initiatives for schools in North Birmingham. It leads a consortium of over 50 educational institutions. KPPP Zlín has long experience in the identification of most able children and has a high profile in the Zlin region. BCU the second UK partner brought a rigorous training dimension to the project through its teacher training department. Ellinogermaniki Agogi(EA)is a large school in Athens with a research and development department. Their research experience and methodological experience enhanced the project. Their experience of ICT was exploited . GRETB brought the Irish experience of most able learners particularly from the remoter parts of the country and Irish speaking areas. Two schools from GRETB participated. •Description of undertaken main activities;The Eureka Project developed 2 training courses, and delivered them to 34 international participants which were certificated by institutions. These courses are transferable to other organisations. They have been developed by a range of professionals including Higher Education Institutions and Educational Psychological Services who are at the forefront of delivery in their countries. They have a multi-disciplinary focus and have been developed through audit and analysis of best practice. The training included modules on identification and interventions to enable Most Able students to fully realise their potential. Two manuals also were developed by partners on these topics through the exchange of practice at transnational meetings. These are easy to use and include case studies in a variety of formats. They cover identification and best practice. The project also produced a website which has further resources and best practice. •Results and impact attained;45 national and international delegates undertook Eureka training. Directories are easily accessible,The identification manual has been developed as an ebook. Resources have been widely accessed by education professionals beyond our partnership.Longer-term benefitsWe have provided a model for improvement of teaching for more able students. We have provided resources which have longevity.Our work has pertinence beyond national boundaries.

Vocational skills competitions aim to develop the quality and attraction of vocational education and training. This project is designed to develop further a training program for the needs of the top skill workers that want to compete. Helsinki Vocational college has developed a training model for the practical nurses in a Nordplus Junior project which would now be tested in various professional fields and with a new partner group. The effectiveness and further development is based on the models of training of the partners and experiences gained in this project. The partner group consists of five colleges out of which three offer training in beauty care and three for cooks. Each of the partners are enthusiast in participating in skills competitions and want to improve the training they have to offer for the learners that aim to the top. The project layout gives students a chance to test their limits in a secure environment. 72 young talented students in Europe will test their competences in 5 training camps where there will be a three days Skills competition simulation. These project weeks are the key for the training and give the learners a chance to test how it feels to work with strict limits, with a time pressure and under constant evaluation. The training in the camps project layout allows the learners to learn more of their future profession in a natural way, by normal daily tasks formatted into cases which will work as the base of the project learning teaching training activities. As the learners will not only be the competitors but are also asked to work as judges for one another with a similar criteria as in the skills competitions, learners will have a chance to reflect the methods used in the tasks not only technically but also from cultural point of view. To support the study path of the top skilled workers varied pedagogical approaches are needed. Achieving top expertise requires goal-oriented and long-term preparation which regular vocational training offers few chances for. The purpose is to support the curricular development and learning methodologies so that student can complete a vocational qualification in a manner that takes into consideration one's individual needs, areas of emphasis and learning methods. The knowledge gained in the project aids each participating organization to plan and develop their path for the top-skilled workers as well as develop a common training model for the learners. The produced cases for competitions can be taken into daily use in the teaching but also can lead to use skills coaching as a pedagogical approach to general teaching. After this project the model of the training program and its suitability has been tested in different professions. This should secure that it can be implemented to any vocational qualifications the colleges offer.

ACCenT aims at supporting career counselors, guidance practitioners and coaches working with “hard-to-reach groups” by an innovative online learning environment offering support, training and a peer-community. Europe struggles for adequate approaches for preparing and integrating hard-to-reach groups in the European labor market. One the one side European societies are struggling with the lack of qualified workforce on the other side the long-term unemployed are not (re)-entering the labor market. Additionally over the past years millions of migrants came to Europe that could enter the European society and fill-in the labor market gaps if adequate support via counseling, guidance and coaching is provided. Therefore counseling and coaching practitioners need being supported for developing new skills and competences in order to cope with the multiple challenges European societies are facing. The challenge is a European one. Since Europe’s labor market is an open and mobile one, solutions need to be developed from a European perspective. And they need to integrate innovative concepts in terms of training provision (e.g. online) and counseling approaches (e.g. using e-tools). Counseling practitioners working with hard-to-reach groups face three main challenges: 1. increasing number of migrants entering Europe. Counselors and coaches are keystones in the process of integration in order to provide opportunities to migrants to prove their competences develop new ones and increase their chances into the labor market. 2. Long-term unemployed persons that due to multiple biographies can only be supported at a very individual level and 3. high number of young people facing difficulties moving into a first job. For a better help on both sides – counselors and beneficiaries- it is crucial to provide these career counselors and coaches with motivating further training, information, knowledge, peer-community and support. And that is the motivation of the project ACCenT! It seems crucial that European countries collaborate, accomplish shared learning progresses and gain competences to cope with this very topical subject. Countries can learn from the approaches and solutions of others in order to reach a common higher standard in counseling for challenging target groups. The main output of the project will be an online training seminar, presented in a user-friendly online learning environment, for counseling practitioners. The online training respects the need of the target group for flexible training in term of time and customizable in term of contents, comprising four main topical areas: 1. Information: The main aim of this area of the online seminar is to enable the career practitioners to accelerate and facilitate the integration process in to the labor market and thus: support long-term unemployed to re-enter, help young people to get first access and to prepare the newcomers for a successful long-term integration. 2. Social-communicative and intercultural competence: This part of the seminar supports counseling practitioners in getting aware of communication processes and cultural barriers and helps them to handle difficult cultural situations. Which are the most common cultural challenges a specific group has to face? How can the work of counseling practitioners be influenced by cultural barriers? How communication skills and styles influence motivation? How to detect cultural and social barriers? And how to overcome those barriers? Social-communicative and intercultural competence is a key factor for working successfully with hard to reach people. This area of the online course aims at providing counseling practitioners with the necessary sensitivity and awareness for their work with people from different backgrounds. They get enabled to act as mediators between different cultures and social groups, understanding the background, thinking and acting patterns of a person. 3. Coaching skills & competences: “hard-to-reach groups” of becoming & staying unemployed build a very heterogeneous group. Support is very demanding and challenging and must be provided very individually and often only be fulfilled by individual coaching. Therefore the training will be focusing on the development of coaching competences, especially technical-methodical competences: targeted restatements, identifying, listening, questioning, clarifying to help individuals shift their perspectives and thereby discover different approaches to achieve their goals 4. Using e-Tools in counseling and communication processes: The training approach will use a set of e-Tools (online meeting tools, video-chat, video, social media, scheduling, self-reflection and self-assessment, online cooperation tools, etc. for the communication and counseling process. The tools are both learning tools and learning content. All experiences and outcomes of the project will be compiled in an interactive eBook that will accessible and free to use (cc-license).