The Education and Training 2020 Strategy wishes for a challenging 6% rate of VET students involved in a mobility experience abroad, compared to the current 0,7%. ROI-MOB springs from the idea that quality can increase quantity. But what is quality? All people say work experiences abroad are useful, enriching, favour employability, development of one’s skills, etc.. What are such statements based upon? Are there any studies or statistics about that declared worthiness, or better indicators to describe it and methods to measure it, in order to search for it from the very inception of mobilities and assess it downstream, to improve quality of offer, attractiveness to participants and companies, and to provide data to better focus mobility policies on EU territories?The topic is relevant, considering that in 2014 Erasmus+ KA1 VET co-funded over 3000 projects, involving over 126000 students, of which over 66000 in company training, worth over 264 million Euro. The topic is also a complex one (mobility is useful…to whom? students? companies? “the economic system”? should usefulness be measured as to personal training and development? employability? career perspectives? salary? overall “system” competitiveness?) and impacts also on non-technical, rather social fields (families are involved, as well as psychology, soft- and cross-skills, etc.).Recent and accurate researches are available on the Higher Education side, especially on the Erasmus programme. However, it looks like no up-to-date study and statistics are available about the “Return on Investment” in VET mobility, nor apparently did anybody try to describe it with a single value, able to represent, with proper weights, the range of dimensions and factors affecting it.In the above-mentioned scenario, ROI-MOB partners believe that:- European mobility is a key factor for the success of VET in the present economic and social context.- The success of European VET mobility is not just a feeling, nor does it relate only to emotional factors: precise indicators demonstrate it.- Knowledge and usage of such indicators allow design, implementation and exploitation of more effective and efficient mobility experiences, better fitting to the need for personal satisfaction and employability expressed by participants, for added value expressed by companies, for cultural and social growth expressed by the wider community.ROI-MOB identified and tested indicators suitable to measure the benefits brought by EU VET mobility (especially for 19+ years old participants, and EQF levels 4 and higher), compared to the ‘investment’ made by involved players (participants, schools and training centres, companies), by investigating affecting factors and devising methods and tools for turning them into success factors, with the aim of:- increasing quality in learning mobility;- attracting more participants to EU mobilities;- attracting more companies available to host EU mobilities;- supporting policies for mobility either at institutional and at provider/intermediary organisation level.The project started collecting data from different stakeholders in partner territories: Erasmus+ VET National Agencies, VET providers, companies and associations, students, etc..Collected data set the baseline for the definition of tentative performance indicators for the measurement of the ROI of EU VET mobility. Based on such indicators, partners planned and run a broad investigation round, actively involving a sample of over 1.700 stakeholders, and tested indicators on on-going mobilities.Collected data have then been analysed, indicators weighted and conveyed into a single, composite, statistical figure, and outcomes presented as a comprehensive system of measurement. A final consultation round among stakeholders allowed for assessment and adjustment.Main products are:1. A survey, documenting factors that are perceived as drivers to EU VET mobility usefulness by stakeholders.2. A set of indicators for measurement of “return on investment” in EU VET mobility.3. An algorithm to measure the “return on investment” of EU VET mobility in partner territories and organisations.4. A book, available in 6 languages, collecting all the above and offering guidelines to replicate processes and measures on one’s own, plus recommendations for mainstreaming findings into mobility policies either at provider and at institutional level.ROI-MOB has been developed by a strong Consortium, gathering eight partners from five European Union countries.

The European Union needs competences, innovation, balanced and integrated territory development in order to boost its growth. Indeed, innovation is not only a linear process, a result of R&D activities. On the opposite, more and more innovation sprouts in broad, multi-sectoral socio-economic contexts, strongly application-oriented, and through complex processes, integrating top-down (based on economic development policies) and bottom-up (user- and market-driven) approaches. Higher Vocational Education and Training (HVET), specially for qualifications around EQF level 5, has a relevant role, and a tremendous potential to that aim. In fact, its curricula: - link to high-tech production sectors; - without being academic, fulfil the market demand of technicians with new and high-tech competences, able to foster innovation and master and manage advanced organisational and productive processes; - lay between upper secondary school and university, right at the hub among education, academy and business; - are governed, designed and managed jointly by public authorities, schools, training bodies, enterprises; - are highly interesting to students, as they offer tempting perspectives on several fronts: steady employment, career advancement, continuous training.Aware of such challenges and potential, SHINE targets actors governing and managing HVET programmes, as well as to students, aiming at bridging the gap among individual local economic contexts and goals set by corresponding regional Smart Specialization Strategies, by acknowledging the role and innovative potential of high-level technical professional profiles. SHINE locates in the expertise of actors like ITSs in Italy, Fachochschulen in Germany, and others, the best tools to contribute to the development of local production contexts. The project followed a cycle foreseeing: - survey and evidence of excellence in HVET in partner territories, as to crosslinking HVET and business, management practices, governance; - peer review of excellence and identification of innovations/spillovers for improvement, especially regarding smart specialization and local development strategies, proactive approach to training and skills supply design, business involvement, ability to deliver innovation services; - definition of an innovative model for design and governance of HVET programmes, in order to encompass the above issues at stake; - piloting the model in practice, by local action plans; - assessment of results and subsequent identification of policy mechanisms to improve the use of EU tools (e.g. ESCO, ECVET) by HVET; - definition of possible improvement processes and related indicators for high level (national/EU) policies; - review of the model, by involving the “Triple Helix” stakeholders (training/innovation, business, institutions); - validation and fine tuning. In compliance with what mentioned above, the methodology adopted by the consortium includes a constant switch among bottom-up (collection of information, stakeholders involvement, piloting) and top-down (model definition, process definition) phases, always flanked by monitoring of progress made.Main results achieved are: - improvement of training offer by partners, with subsequent increase in the employment chances for students and in competitiveness for local companies; - improvement in competences of company trainers involved in programme delivery, thanks to sharing and discussion with other EU excellent partners; - set-up of a permanent, relevant EU network, gathering public and private excellent HVET actors; - capacity building of decision makers governing HVET, and subsequent acknowledgement of tools for reviewing innovation policies, with special regard to professional technical issues, as innovation driver inside business; - definition and piloting of a governance system, based on the integration of HVET policy makers and the labour market. SHINE is performed by a strong consortium of 8 partners in 6 EU countries: Italy, Germany, Sweden, Romania, Croatia and Belgium, representing a competent and skilled mix of public and private organisations, profit and non profit, decision makers and technical, with education and training organisations, employers associations, public institutions, European networks, in the spirit of providing for a true strategic partnership.

"The project aimed to contribute to the renovation of VET systems with the ultimate goal of fighting early school leaving and increasing the employability of young people and encouraging their active role in society. In order to address this broad and challenging issue, the partnership decided to focus on some specific priorities that, according to the organisations that joined the partnership, could contribute to solve the problem. These priorities were:(a) strengthening the key competencies of young people in order to reduce the skills gap between the competencies required by the world of work and those provided by educational systems. In fact, it is now widely accepted, and scientifically supported, that strong key competencies are essential to be competitive in a fast-changing labour market;b) promote partnerships and organizational models for WBL approaches that bring young people closer to the world of work.The project aimed to achieve these objectives by analysing and adapting to the Italian, Spanish and German contexts a school model present in the United Kingdom (UTCs). In other words, the idea pursued by the partnership was to transfer an organizational pedagogical model, which had proven to be effective in combating early school leaving and in the transfer of skills required by the labour market, and turn it into good practice for other European countries.ESW project was based on a scientifically established methodology that consisted of the study of an identified good practice (UTC model), its adaptation to other contexts, conducting a trial and an evaluation phase and disseminate the final results. The method was particularly effective because it involved the transfer of an existing practice from a partner provider (UTC Warrington) to other partner users (4 vocational training institutions operating in 3 countries - Italy, Germany and Spain - beneficiaries of the good practice). The task of the user partners was to study/adapt the model to their local contexts in order to make it work.Starting from this approach, the project was divided into 4 main phases and each phase realized a specific Intellectual Output.STEP 1The first step was to develop a transferability model of UTC English schools, including organizational, pedagogical and didactical dimensions.This phase produced IO1, a document that explains the model of UTCs and supported the Institutions to replicate it in their local contexts. PHASE 2The second phase aimed at transferring the model and adapting it in VET centers in other countries by designing training paths (modules/curriculum) per sector and professional profile combining national standards and innovative elements of the UTC model. Tools and supporting materials were created in order to support partners in designing new training paths starting from the UTC model. The goal was to create operative tools that partners could test in an initial pilot phase and then during the official trial phase.This phase produced the IO2 that contains operational tools and a comprehensive explanation of how it was possible to definea) a framework of transversal and employability competencies b) a format for the design of the new curriculum. STEP 3After having developd a transferability model (IO1) and a methodological framework (IO2), partners focused on the trial phase, whose objective was to test the model in some selected VET centers. In this phase each partner had to implement, following the instructions of IO1 and the tools provided in IO2, specific training modules involving the final users (in total about 160 students were involved).Training paths/modules have been designed for several sectors/professional profiles combining national standards and innovative elements of UTC model.PHASE 4This activity consisted in monitoring and evaluating the results and was transversal to the whole project. An output was produced that analyses the overall project results, the on-going evaluation, and a comparative analysis of the results achieved.Other tangible results obtained from the project were:- Dedicated website - 6 Project newsletters- 5 Dissemination events - 2 LTTA (26 VET staff involved)In terms of results, it can be said that the partner users have been able to deal with an organizational-didactic model really different from what they were accustomed to and that has led to changes in the teaching methodology within the institutions with a ""deconstruction of traditional teaching"" to make room for a teaching model focused on the solution of real problems / projects. The project has also significantly strengthened the capacities of some partners to collaborate in a more consistent way, to act at EU level and to develop an internationalization strategy."

"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."

"The issue of missing people and children in particular (whereas these people are potential victims of human trafficking), is increasing in Europe: in 2016, according to the EU’s criminal intelligence agency, at least 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees have disappeared after arriving in Europe. National statistical data of Police and Ministries of European Member States also reveal a high percentage of people never found. The project has focused on the needs of improving the investigation processes by carrying out an in-depth analysis of the subject, providing more information and raising social awareness, and offering training for risk groups and operators involved the area of action of a) THE RESPONSE TO DISAPPEARANCE where different kind of professionals are working on cases of missing children and adults would benefit from receiving specific training and support; b) THE PREVENTION TO THE DISAPPEARANCE, especially in relation to adults suffering from psychiatric and dementia diseases. LOST project concerned two kinds of sectors: 1) FIELD OF THE RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATION where especially law enforcement agencies are working with the help of voluntary associations and 2) FIELD OF SOCIAL SUPPORTING SERVICES provided by NGOs organisations and local public entities, to support the families during the disappearance and the after care support of a person or unaccompanied child who returned or was found after disappearing. The main target groups were: • Trainers and operators of professional sectors involved as social assistants, psychologists who provide support to families of missing people, health professionals and legal doctors; • Members of the police force and police officers, civil protection and other security services • Representatives of voluntary associations • Policy makers and officers of Public entities with social competencies in the field of Child protection and parenthood support/aid • Association supporting Families of people going missing. In particular, the project aimed at 1) improving the competences of the trainers and of the operators of the sector (police, health, voluntary organisations, etc) in the key first investigation phase (informational phase which support the overall investigation process) with aim of increasing the percentage of people found; 2) to define a new core professional profile supporting any law enforcement agency in the research; 3) increasing and improving social policies of local Public Institutions to support and protect families and in general their local communities from this phenomenon and to prevent it; 3) developing a new operative model that can be easily transferred in any EU country by using innovative and open ICT tools; 4) increasing knowledge and awareness among social groups and communities of social society (families, younger, citizens, voluntary associations) with the cooperation of Local Public entities (Municipalities and Regions). LOST project, in order to contribute to fighting the phenomenon, has developed and tested an innovative operational approach and methodology on the investigation process by means of the development of a new professional in “Analysis -Information and Research Missing People -A.I.R.M.P"" , to support and enhancing the overall investigation process and police forces in EU countries by the definition, sharing and validation of an innovative training programme (O2) at transnational level from the participating organisations which has been tested and tuned in Italy, Spain and Denmark (O3). The training package has been based on a competence model, taking into account the European and national instructions in the field of the competencies framework and assessed and widely disseminated in European countries, together with the toolkit for social services in policies. All these intellectual output are available within LOST platform: https://lost.team/, which is freely accessible, with openly licensed documents and media that are useful for learning, assessing as well as for research and transfer purposes."