"Recent European studies and partners experience have shown a shortage of soft skills among the students entering the labour market. The current labour market needs require new approaches and methods to get the necessary qualified work force. The aim of the project is to reinforce these skills through the direct application of the innovation model and tool, JOPAPP (job placements app), in the implementation of the module called ""job placement"", in which students spend a training period working in a company abroad. Nowadays, students do not seek their own work practices, it is the center who looks for, manages and develops the whole process. The student should lead the development of this process, they should be the driving engine of their own learning process, which would develop their soft skills such as a positive attitude, good communication skills, time management abilities, strong work ethic, problem solving skills, self-confidence, flexibility and adaptability, working well under pressure, competences for innovation in VET students.This JOPAPP model implements the contents and best practices of the RAINOVA model, previous European project, adapting it to a learning environment and creating a Manual of Implementation for teachers and counselors and creating an innovative app to guide students through the process of finding their work placement. Our intellectual outcomes include:O1. The bridge - Diagnosis report. The bridge is a set of tools for diagnosis, reflexion, measurement and learning that allows the organisation to move from standard model to ""my model"".O2. Rainova in the classroom. A shared vision of innovation is the identification of the relations between the different parts of the model, routines, enablers and cultural factors as well as a glossary of terms related with innovation. JOPAPP training material.O3. JOPAPP, mobile application for students.O4. Manual of JOPAPPTo reach these outcomes the partnership will follow a set of activitites for the best implementation of the project, project management and development, Project website, brochure, newsletter and logo, Dissemination and exploitation plan, Quality and evaluation. Internal project documentation is available in the project platform used for it, dropbox.The dropbox project area is organised in folders; 1 Management; Reports, Contracts, Timesheets, Meeting minutes, Finalcial docs2 A2 Brochure, logo, newsletter3 A3 Dissemination and Exploitation; Dissemination folder per partner and each partner has their dissemination plan, activities and evidence4 A4 Quality and Evaluation; meeting evaluation report, quality reports and quality assurance. Quality assurance is per partner and the biannual reports are there5 O1 The Bridge - Diagnosis report6 O2 Training in jopapp7 O3 jopapp8 O4 jopapp Manual9 Transnational meetings; Meeting agenda, meeting minutes, Certificates of attendance ...10 Multiplier events; 1 folder per event with the event agenda, signature list and event evidencesThe project dissemination will be done using project website as well as partners' website. The relevance of the project for the stakeholders makes necessary to disseminate it to VET colleges, to reach trainers and students. VET associations in each country will be the driver to reach this goal, as well as education innovation centers where possible, where the focus on innovative tools and methodologies is researched. All partners are committed to share the knowledge gained through the project with all the relevant stakeholders, specially trainers/counselors and students associations will be addressed. The partnership is working closely with Rainova's coordinator (www.tknika.net) for the project development and implementation."

The InnoVal project aimed to address the urgent need to offer valid and reliable assessment methods that allow all learners to have a chance at validation. The 2012 Council Recommendation gave a strong political impulse to the goal of having national validation arrangements in all countries by 2018. Yet, according to the CEDEFOP 2014 Validation Inventory Report, EU countries still greatly diverge in terms of mechanisms in place. In order to ensure the validity and reliability of assessment procedures, and to avoid additional costs, many educational institutions prefer to use standardised tests. The use of alternative methods such as portfolios, declarative methods and simulations, is on the increase but remains limited. The 6 project partners from 5 EU countries and an Associate Partner (Bertelsmann Stiftung) believe that the use of standardised tests hinders learners’ take up in validation and represents one of the strongest obstacles to their development in Europe. Indeed, validation systems are often targeting adults who have had a bad experience with formal education and formal assessment methods. This has led them to not completing their secondary education and to not participating in any further formal education. Yet, they have acquired many skills and competences in non-formal and informal learning environments that they would be willing to have validated if the assessment method did not bring them back to their bad past experience with formal education. InnoVal aimed to foster a change in practices related to the assessment of non-formal and informal learning across Europe and across sectors. For the certificates and qualifications issued by validation systems to be credible, assessment methods must be trustworthy. InnoVal gathered experience on innovative assessment methods from across Europe in order to determine which ones have proven to be successful. To help foster trust in these innovative methods, InnoVal has illustrated successful innovative assessment methods with best practices. Based on their respective experience and expertise, InnoVal partners have developed a Training Programme based on Open Educational Material and a Toolbox of Case Studies that is adaptable to different national contexts and sectors. By using new technologies (Online Learning Platform) the project provides a solution to many practitioners who have to implement validation mechanisms without always being prepared to do so. It will proposes very concrete modules on how to deal with non-traditional publics, to implement alternative assessment methods, analysing barriers and enablers, to work with external experts and to be cost efficient. The project therefore addressed the need for capacity building of assessors to ensure reliability of results and to overcome initial resistance. The outputs are based on the initial Need Assessment Review that looked at national policies and practices related to assessment methods to validate non-formal and informal learning at VET and HE levels and the specific needs of our target groups (low skilled adults, including early school leavers, and migrants/refugees). In addition, the review explored the demand side - that is employers and education providers - and their views on the appropriateness of alternative assessment methods. It also explored transferability of policies and practices across contexts. An online consultation contributed to develop a deeper understanding of the barriers and enablers to implementing alternative assessments. Those results together with the experience gained from the piloting phase (training workshops to test the Training Programme), an Advocacy Pack with policy recommendations targeted at policy makers and practitioners have contributed to ensure systemic support for alternative assessments. InnoVal was highly innovative as it brought together VET and HE providers who are advanced either in the use of innovative assessment methods, in building links with the labour market and/or in dealing with disadvantaged groups; research bodies who can provide the evidence with a EU perspective and European networks which can ensure policy impact and broad dissemination and exploitation of results. InnoVal covered 6 countries (BE-FL, FR, FI, EL, PT, DE) and generated interest well beyond. The potential transferability of the case studies and of the innovative methods has been included in all of the project outputs. The partners engaged various target groups from the start of the project (Ministries in charge of Validation, EU, NQF Agencies, EU networks, etc.) in order to ensure a broad impact. InnoVal has therefore contributed to build a shared understanding of quality principles of assessment and has explored the benefits of non-traditional assessment methods for validation for low skilled adults as well as for migrants/refugees and has contributed to Europe’s most pressing challenges.

"Since 2008, the EU economy has experienced the deepest, longest and most broad-based recession in its history since the 1930s (European Commission 2009).The average youth unemployment rate in most Member States is more than twice as high as the rate for adults. Almost 5.4 million young people under 25 are unemployed in the EU-28 (EC May 2014), representing an unemployment rate of 22.8% i.e. more than one in five young European job-seekers cannot find a job. 7.5 million young people aged 15-24 are not employed, not in education and not in training (so-called NEETs).More than half of young people without jobs say they simply can’t find one, while businesses across Europe insist they struggle to find young people with the skills they need. One reason for this is the failure of employers, education providers and young people to understand one another, they operate in ""parallel universes"" (McKinsey 2014).A set of European benchmarks, agreed by Member States for 2010-20, include that that lifelong guidance should be embedded into lifelong learning and employment strategies. However although teachers, trainers and counsellors are skilled people in their own area of expertise, they lack the knowledge and competence to embed careers guidance into the learning process. The CAPE project aimed to address this situation by bringing together good practices in employer engagement from across Europe and through the establishment of employer forums and networks, encouraging VET providers and second chance schools to improve dialogue and activity with enterprises. The CAPE consortium aimed to share good practices from across Europe and across sectors (VET , second chance and informal learning)to ensure teachers, trainers and counsellors have the necessary knowledge and skills to support young people to develop career management skills (CMS). CAPE trained teaching staffs, improved links with employers and developed resources to support and improve careers advice and guidance given to young people at risk of ESL.The CAPE consortium consists of 9 partners from Poland, The Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Cyprus,Spain and Portugal, all who are experienced VET providers or specialists in second chance education and have experience of working with young disadvantaged people who are NEET or at risk of NEET. The CAPE partnership set up employer forums and networks to bring together education providers and enterprises, conduct research on existing good practices and a training needs analysis of teachers & trainers. A training the trainer programme was developed and was tested among the partnership. The accompanying Training Handbook and teaching/learning resources will support the teacher alongside an e-learning platform and Employer Engagement Handbook. The expected impact is an improvement in teacher/trainer competence and knowledge of the job market and current career options, enabling young people to develop career management skills and make better career choices. The long term benefit is that lifelong guidance will be embedded into life-long learning."