STEMSOFT launch pad is an integrated digitalised service addressing the development of 21st century SOFT SKILLS and TRANSVERSAL competencies needed in the labour market targeting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) candidates through open and innovative practices to enhance their employability.Due to the increased demand on STEM jobs in a changing European labour market, especially in an Industry 4.0 perspective, employees need a more diverse skills profile comprising both hard skills, core transversal competences like digital skills and soft skills. Recent research (Deming, D. 2017) showed that since 2000, jobs that require “non-cognitive” skills, such as the ability to communicate and work in teams, grew much faster than jobs mainly requiring skills measurable by IQ or achievement tests. Soft skills are much more valued in the labour market than any time before.The project aims at preparing STEM candidates with non-technical skills such as critical thinking, idea generation and interdisciplinary ways of working alongside their technical hard STEM skills. The consortium comprises different work cultures and training traditions and with input from international perspectives through the range of associated partners. This STEM employability skills project aims to address this by defining relevant non-technical soft skills and transversal skills, described in an EQF/ECVET format, targeting the following groups and delivering them in different digitalised forms: - Migrants with a STEM background who are unemployed or underemployed- Mobile workers seeking employment opportunities in another country or region- NEETs (regardless of gender)- Undergraduates or graduates with a STEM background who are finding it hard to get a STEM job due to ethnicity, disability or gender- People in career transitions (people without a formal STEM background wanting to move to a STEM field as an alternative career) facilitating permeability and flexible learning and training pathwaysBased upon a survey to explore to what extent non-technical skills, soft skills and transversal skills are integrated elements in existing STEM provisions, a competence map of STEM-oriented learning outcomes covering these skills will be developed in an EQF/ECVET format. This mapping will correspond to a Skillsbank and ESCO system to secure transferability between existing training provisions and the additional STEMSOFT training. This in turn will boost the employability of candidates and their access to the labour market. The partnership will collate more than 5,000 OERs (including MOOC-type resources) to be made available via a learning environment which will cater for a wide audience and will provide in addition training courses in soft skills tailored to the above target groups. Wider stakeholders will also be addressed such as employment agencies, HR managers, recruiter, trainers/coaches, educational institutions.In order to reach the project’s objectives, the partnership will develop a range of intellectual outputs: I01 “Competence Matrices and recognition of prior learning” will develop EQF and ECVET compatible qualification matrices and align previous learning acquired to transversal skills sought by the industryIO2 “Training programmes based on OERs (Online Educational Resources)” will design a learning environment with a provision of more than 5,000 OERS and training paths for specific target groups. IO3 “Online platform with Skillsbank” will set up a user service combining the OER provisions and recognition of (prior) learning towards a certificate.IO4 “Piloting Training” will prepare a first rollout of training materials aimed at all target groups through MOOCs and other digital channels , including a facilitator handbook. The main areas of impact which we will see through the project are:-A direct impact on the lives of the candidates who directly take part in the project, in terms of boosting their employability through their soft skills development -An improved knowledge among candidates of the importance of soft skills development to secure a job in the labour market in the STEM sector-An improved knowledge among stakeholders of the value and recognition of soft skills in the STEM sector.-Increased knowledge of soft skills accreditation and recognition of prior learning- Improved digital skills through involvement in a diversity of training and upskilling provisions

The situation in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries with stiff international competition requires a highly skilled workforce to secure quality and productivity. The sector represents a major part of the European process industry and where the industrial production employs 3,3 million Europeans in 94.000 enterprises with a multibillion turnover (2014: 1 078 billion €). This turnover is continually challenged by investments in the development of new products, the fact that patents are time limited, down to 10 years, with immediate releases of “copy products” from other parts of the world, intensifies the need for qualified staff rapidly taking on new tasks and challenges.Laboratory functions and process operation are responding to new requirements as concerns complexity and a safe and sustainable production. This is partly due to new methods and technologies, new types of equipment and respective operational procedures, but over the last years also the emphasis on safety and security in the processes and strict environmental and sustainability criteria.To be competitive in a fast developing market, the training quality, the relevance and flexibility of training provision between schools and work based learning is of utmost importance. Laboratory personnel and process operators with their skills and competences– tacit and tangible –represent a core part of the industry’s intellectual capital. This implies also that critical skills and crucial tacit knowledge acquired in workplace settings are central in the project. Video recordings of these performance based competences will be directly linked to the respective learning outcomes in the ECVET based multilingual qualification matrixes in Skillsbank.To meet the requirements linked to the shared responsibility between schools and companies in the securing of compatible standards between the training providers and in the work based learning, the ECVET principles are basis. Using learning outcomes carefully defined and organised in logical units, the core qualification criteria will be operationally defined. For transparency purposes these qualification definitions will be developed transnationally and in multilingual versions. They will be supported by video clips as best practice examples as well as for the documentation of individual learners’ performance towards certification and employability.A standard ECVET implementation is relying on precise definitions of learning outcomes organised in structured units. When the differentiation between Competence / Responsibility and Autonomy), Skills and Knowledge is activated in the description of individual LOs, certain elements of skills and competence documentation may be lacking. These characteristics are technically labelled as tacit knowledge – “silent knowledge” which forms the parts of a learning outcome which can only be seen, experienced and documented through practical performance.In the context of the priorities of the Erasmus+ programme, the horizontal one“Transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications”, is directly mirroring the project ambitions. With the focus on work based learning the idea is to update and develop in-school training through close interaction with the industry itself. This should secure the relevance aspect, and with the video recording of individual learners’ performance as well as best practice examples the quality aspect are covered as well. This is clearly asked for in the European VET priorities “Developing VET business partnerships aimed at promoting work-based learning in all its forms” and “increasing the quality of VET provision, the establishment of feedback loops to adapt VET provision based on outcomes, including by setting up or testing graduate tracking arrangements as part of quality assurance systems in line with the EQAVET recommendation”.This project pursue the following key objectives:• Improvement of training quality and relevance implementing video technology linked to ECVET oriented learning outcomes in the chemical and pharmaceutical sector;• Enhancing the ECVET defined learning outcomes with inclusion of tacit knowledge as documentation of performance of critical skills among process operators and laboratory technicians uploaded in the Skillsbank system;• Develop VET institutions and enhancement of VET-industry cooperation through work based learning;• Promoting recognition of work based learning, including prior learning independent of arena of experience, for permeability, flexible training pathways and alternative career options within the industry.The partnership comprises 10 partners from 7 countries (AT, CZ, DE, FR, IT, NO, SK)

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The green sector cover a broad range of occupations from floristry and green production into gardening and landscaping. The emerging effects of climate change, the restructuring of retail and a diversity of new approaches to design, development and delivery of green services are all challenging the involved companies – usually small and medium sizes enterprises – as well as training providers and certification organisations. The EGREEN project is established as a transnational partnership covering three different occupations, floristry, gardening and landscaping, with unexplored overlaps and representing seven different countries (AT, DE, EE, ES, FR, NL, NO). It is an effort to use learning outcome descriptions to describe new qualification definitions across occupations. The benefit of using learning outcomes as the common denominator will allow the climbing through five levels, from 2 to 6, in the EQF ladder. It will also open for transversal moves in the labour market to secure flexibility in learning and training pathways and opening for permeability between the core occupations. One of the objectives is to fully exploit the use of learning outcomes as recommended with EQF and ECVET to develop easily applied mechanisms for validation and recognition of prior learning (VNIL/RPL), regardless of being picked up through formal, non-formal or informal learning. To fill the gaps towards full certificates the developed training programmes with MOOC-type provisions will be deployed through the training providers in the partnership and the associated stakeholder organisations. The validation and recognition of prior learning is also a valuable asset for people in a changing labour market, for migrants and refugees and for the general upskilling of the workforce.he partnership consists of stakeholders from the labour market, training providers and an international umbrella organisation supported by technical expertise on competence analysis and IT solutions. With this composition of the partnership the project itself, as well as the outcomes, are well anchored in a professional environment. To fully support the development, the new qualification matrices will be delivered in multilingual versions for a parallel presentation using the Skillsbank system. This will allow comparable assessments of learning outcomes across language borders and open up for more mobile work and learning. Milestones are: •development of new learning outcome based qualification matrices across occupations•availability of the matrices in different languages•availability of relevant and adequate training programmes with VR/AR and MOOC support•options for VNIL/RPL towards certifications•issuing of green sector craft certificates in a common European format

At application time, spring 2016, over 1.1 million people – refugees, displaced persons and other migrants – had made their way to Europe either escaping conflict and serious threats in their country or in search of better economic prospects. More than 60 million people are today forcibly displaced as a result of violent conflicts and natural disasters. The refugee routes have changed during the project’s life time, but still with a common European challenge in how European governments are willing to share the burden. One of the RefuSkills project partners, Turkey, is now serving as a buffer according to the agreements between EU and Turkey.The project consortium comprised 14 partners from 9 countries. The partnership included partners with critical first line experience from reception of refugees and other migrants, and others from handling applications for transit or residency.The RefuSkills project aimed to use the Skillsbank experiences with structured Learning Outcomes in EQF and ECVET format to meet the immediate needs for a rapid competence assessment and a documentation and declaration of skills, competences and certifications of great value to the individual migrant, the recipient country, and to the host community.The main objectives were:1) Establishment of an easy-to-use mechanism, the RefuApp, to give refugees/migrants an opportunity to document their skills and competences (in their own language) by using basic ECVET and Learning Outcome principles2) Facilitation and reduction of processing time in the handling of refugees’ and asylum-seekers’ residence applications, and identification of appropriate/relevant individual career pathways towards employment and training3) Improving the recipient countries’ possibilities for a fast identification of migrants’ skills and competences, and thus for a facilitated integration and participation in work and capacity building programs4) Exploring the possibility of issuing a “RefuPass” stating the individuals competence portfolio based upon Learning Outcomes extracted from Skillsbank and the RefuApp Skillsbank (Leonardo da Vinci 2011 project) is the basis for the RefuSkills technical developments. It is a multilingual web-based toolkit targeting career guidance, recognition of prior learning and individual training support. It is based upon Learning Outcomes and uses principles from EQF and ECVET. The interface is presently available in 14 languages, AR, BG, DE, EE, EN, ES, FR, IT, NL, NO, PL, PT, SI, and TR. The system aggregates Learning Outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills and competences into logical units constituting full qualifications. Skillsbank furthermore offers a Recognition of Prior Learning assessment module where each Learning Outcome can be self-assessed by individuals. Subsequently assessors can validate and conclude with a consolidated assessment to be included in the individual’s competence portfolio.The RefuSkills project has used the Skillsbank options as the RefuApp for a “self-declaration” by the migrant to be matched against selected qualification descriptions defined by partner countries as relevant: cooking, serving/waitering, office work, hairdressing, welding and sales clerk. In addition to these occupations, a section for Core Work Skills / Transversal Skills is available.The Arabic option makes it possible to create bi-/tri-/quadri-/multilingual versions of qualification requirements. The migrant will use the most relevant language for the self-assessment input, whereas the hosting side can work in an available parallel language version.After the self-assessment, several options are available:•The migrant can use a print-out as a self-declaration against a competence profile;•The self-assessment can pass through an external assessor to be formally validated against qualification requirements;•After the external assessment the migrant may have a “compatible qualification document” as a competence passport according to qualification requirements and standards; or•Have a basis for career guidance and further training – formally in a training institution or in the workplace.Depending upon type of output required in a national or a sectoral setting, the output documents are linked to the Skillsbank database for an automatic merge of information into the new layout. This applies to developed documents as well as to a Europass CV or other existing formats and will be extended with a “RefuPass”.The main project steps:•Initial surveying/mapping of refugee status in all partner countries•Identification of Key Competencies expressed as Basic Skills, Transversal Skills or Core Work Skills and Competencies•Identification of the most relevant/requested vocations/occupations and the respective qualification matrixes•Development of ICT solution, the RefuApp, integrated with Skillsbank modules, new documentation, and use on tablets and mobile