"The municipalities of Novéant-sur-Moselle (Lorraine - France) and Luleå (Norrbotten - Sweden) have been united by a cooperation agreement since August 5th, 2011. They intend to stimulate a European intercultural spirit with their young audiences and more particularly with the pupils of schools and local associations dedicated to young people. So, the project ""Rhythm and Seasons"" first aims at encouraging exchanges of experiences between both countries on subjects such as school timetables, the daily routine of a pupil or a young person within their family, educational and territorial communities. Two different countries where seasons, geography, spaces and the sociocultural situation contribute to bring a different contents both in formal and not formal educational offer.Therefore, through the exchanges of experiences, and thanks to the local specificities (cultural, natural, spatial and socioeconomic) new didactic tools can be used with the pupils and the young people allowing a better mutual knowledge between the municipalities. The project also aims at identifying new opportunities of cooperation between schools, non formal education associations of both partner countries.The participants will be at the same time the teachers and a group of pupils for each country; the staffs and the local actors of local authorities, partner associations and schools. Nine transnational meeting are planned, allowing every country partner to realize 24 mobilities, as well as two short-term exchanges of pupils in reciprocity.These exchanges will have as final purpose to develop didactic tools realized by all previously mentioned actors, including the pupils, according to the principle of a “living laboratory” where the final users also contribute to the optimization of the educational and didactic resources.The project intends to improve the skills of the participants; to achieve a better knowledge of the partner countries; to diversify the educational tools to the benefit of users at school or outside school; and to strengthen partnerships between the partner regions. The project aims also at developing and optimizing the services provided by the local authorities within the framework of the formal and not formal education."

CONTEXT AND NEEDSThe 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme is, based on a number of mid-term evaluations in all EU-countries considered as one of the EU's best-known successes not only impacting millions of individuals but educational systems at large. The forthcoming Erasmus+ programme period (2021-2027) will increase the focus on mobility, providing learning opportunities to 12 million people (three times as many mobilities as in the current programme), building a European Education Area and strengthening the European identity. This all means that more schools, in particular schools with disadvantaged students will need to build capacity for Erasmus+ participation in order to for the programme to reach its full impact. This also implies that widening participation in the programme is necessary in order for the Erasmus+ programme to be successful. The BE+ partnership, consisting of school, local school authorities, municipalities and transnational networks from Sweden, Italy, Norway and Germany have found that the participation of schools in the Erasmus+ programs is either not widely spread in their local communities or happening in a way it can fully lead to school development. OBJECTIVESThe objectives of BE+ is to increase the administrative and organizational capacity in K-12 school education so that teaching and management staff is better prepared to transnational collaboration within the Erasmus+ framework. More specifically this means to: -Support schools in identifying their needs in relation to capacity building -Develop innovative methodology and tools to meet the training needs of school staff-Improve the skills of school staff in understanding and implementing a project cycle management -Develop a toolbox that will prepare schools for the next generation of Erasmus+PARTICIPANTS AND ACTIVITIESMore than 500 school staff and policymakers will take part in activities that will be disseminated and have the potential to reach and benefit a minimum of 2000 K-12 schools.The line of events/activities have been organized into 4 core activities ( Project management, IO1 A Self-Assessment guide for need analysis in Schools, IO2 Training course on capacity building and IO3 Capacity Buildning Toolbox) that are key elements in reaching the overall project objectives.Activities related to IO1 provide the partners as well as the project with a more profound, up to dated understanding of the needs of schools in a more holistic manner and will result in a self assessment tool that sets the stage for the other intellectual outputs. Building on IO1, IO2 will start of with a content development phase for the training courses that will be tested and evaluated during 2 Learning Teaching and Training activities. Core activity 4- IO3 summarizes the entire project by collating all of the resources in one accessible and easy-to-use place. The toolbox makes it more likely that the outputs will be used by a larger cross-section of teachers, educators, policymakers and other stakeholders, going beyond the project partners network, beyond the partner countries and beyond the project timeline thus ensuring the sustainability of the project, upon its ending.RESULTS AND IMPACTThe project will result in many outputs related to capacity building, from identified needs of schools, the development and testing of innovative tools and methods, increased knowledge about the Project Management Cycle, increased confidence in engaging in application for Erasmus+ funding to the uptake in in new school contexts and the strengthening of the European dimension in K-12 Education. The long term impacts of BE+ are ultimately to increase the administrative and organizational capacity in the entire educational system so the Erasmus + program can be used as a vehicle of the modernization of European educational systems.

The new-generation information technologies such as the Internet of Things, robotics, and smart connected objects open new horizons for industry and the energy markets. The experiences of the VET partners involved in the projects points to the fact that the VET providers have to get in line with the new technical competencies required by the smart energy sector and, specifically, the area of energy management. Furthermore, with the experience of homeschooling under the Pandemic, the need for developing high-quality digital learning tools and virtual mobility for VET learners became visible. MAIN OBJECTIVE: to enhance technological skills of VET students and their teachers about using digital tools in energy management SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: to train VET teachers/providers in ECVET principles; to improve problem solving behaviors of VET students through project based learning (PBL), their skills in using digital training material, to improve the competence of teachers in designing transnational online learning materialsPARTICIPANTS: 41 teachers and trainers out of: 3 VET schools (Spain, Sweden, Netherlands), 1 non-profit VET provider in the field of energy efficiency (Spain), 1 technical university experienced in training VET teachers (Germany), 1 web-based service provider specialized in implementing ECVET principles (Norway).; 260 students from 5 European countries; 21 experts from energy related companies. As associated partner was involved 1 NGO related to environmental education and 2 VET schools from Switzerland + 1 VET school from GermanyACTIVITIES in the project were: Training of VET teachers/providers in ECVET principles. Identification of training needs related to Smart Energy Management (SEM) through interviews with companies and experts. Both activities led to the definition of a “SEM-technician” on EQF level 4/5 and the related description of some learning outcomes. Partners worked collaboratively together in order to deliver a training Toolkit covering several LOs and to learn how to use and implement the training tools in a MOOC course based on PBL methodology. 4 partners implemented the training material in a piloting program with their students (partially under the Pandemic). All partners carried out the development of a teachers’ handbook for implementing PBL inside the classroom. Additionally, partners organized a virtual mobility through a competition among VET students that promoted transnational exchange. The tangible results of the project are: ECVET Online Training course for VET teachers in English and Smart Energy Manager qualification description (O1) TOOLKIT ON “SMART ENERGY MANAGEMENT” for VET students (EQF level 4), based on ECVET standards and delivered in a MOOC format in basic English. The Toolkit consists in different modules: introductory online module about digital transformation of the energy sector; smart thermal installations; smart lighting and user experience; Smart Energy Management Systems and energy mapping (O2)VET TEACHER’S HANDBOOK on implementation of PBL methodologies, addressing aspects like organizational arrangements (flexible time management, curricula agenda); adaption of classrooms and workshops; defining the new role of the teacher (trainer vs. assessor) and the student team; case study on implementing PBL; Handbook delivered in English and partner languages: DE, ES, NL, SE (O4)VET student competition among VET providers across Europe about ENERGY EFFICIENCY: During the competition, VET students worked in teams to find innovative solutions for improving the energy consumption of a school building. Access to all results through project webpage: www.energyducation.euIMPACT: Through the Toolkit, VET teachers and students enhanced their competence and knowledge of smart technologies and specially students their problem solving behaviors by working in student groups and resolving given challenges. VET providers gained competence in developing a new qualification description based on ECVET principles and VET teachers enhanced their implementation strategy of PBL. Industry partners/experts got involved in the definition of training needs relevant for smart energy management and the partnership laid the groundwork for developing future training curricula. Through the student competition, partners gained experience in organizing virtual mobilities that can be repeated even in a broader setting with more European VET schools involved. On a LONG TERM view, this project contributes to the European Green Deal by focusing on the necessary future skills of “smart” technicians, who are able to manage smart energy solutions that promote energy efficiency. Besides, the project provided a methodology on how VET providers can cooperate to develop a transnational qualification description and training materials in order to provide transnational learning opportunities for VET students.